In a Washington Post op-ed this morning, Sarah Palin blasted the “cap & tax” bill, and in the process she fired a shot across the bow of the progressive political-media complex.

In criticizing the cap & trade bill, Palin makes two smart moves: first, she appropriately credits the Obama administration for the initiative (not Waxman et al); second, she explains why the bill will be a burden to working families. Palin reminds readers that U.S. prosperity was built on abundant, affordable energy – an idea that resonates with voters, many of whom will always have an affinity for V-8 engines, open highways, air conditioned mega malls, and unapologetic industrial dynamism. She contrasts that vision with the costs of cap and trade: new energy taxes, job losses, and higher costs for doing business. In turn, working families will have to pay more for home energy, food, and other consumer goods. Palin writes that Americans have long been both economic and environmental leaders. By tapping into our “God given resources” – oil, gas, coal – and by building new nuclear power plants, we can decrease our dependence on foreign energy sources without having to destroy our economy in the process. In this op-ed, Palin is playing to one of her strengths – energy policy.

At the same time, Palin’s op-ed successfully links Americans’ anxieties about the economy and rising deficits to the elite political-media complex:

Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:

I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.

Usually, politicians are hesitant to take on the “progressive” elites, fearful of what they can do to their political enemies. After already being brutally savaged by the political-media complex, though, Sarah Palin might now be in an ideal position to fight back. Really, what else can they say about her, or do to her, at this point? If progressive media and political hacks respond to Palin’s policy arguments with more ad hominem attacks, that would only discredit their cases.

Sure, they will now hammer away with the “quitter” label, but Palin won’t be acting like a quitter. Besides, people nowadays have very short attention spans/memories. The American public loves underdogs and comeback stories. There is a law of diminishing returns on most things, including smear campaigns. Palin’s opponents have spent most of their ammo and now it’s her turn to take aim and, for a while at least, she gets to pick the issues on which she wants to engage.

If the progressives respond to Palin on the issues instead of relying on dishonest attacks, they will lose political traction the more they talk. After all, when you get down to the details, how do you defend something like the Waxman bill, which is an energy tax larded up with hundreds of rent seeking scams? The Obama/progressive blitzkrieg is predicated on the idea that you ram through a major expansion of government while few people are paying much attention – including the Congressmen. Well, one of the biggest celebrities in America is paying attention and now she has more latitude to speak her mind.

Obviously, things could change if the promised major scandal ever surfaces, but the odds of that seem quite low. Why would Palin write a Washington Post op-ed about cap & trade if she knew that the hammer was about to drop on her?

One irony is that the vicious, dishonest attacks on Palin convinced even more G.O.P. elites to come out against her. Now, as Palin begins to counterattack the progressive’s political vulnerabilities, it will be more difficult for her opponents to portray Palin as a partisan attack dog, establishment figure, or to dismiss her as carrying water for the “same old failed Republican policies.” Perhaps that is why Palin went on the record to say that she would help conservatives regardless of party affiliation. Palin has the potential to become an anti-establishment voice for the middle class and tea party voters in general and anti-leftists in particular.

AJ Strata believes that Palin will now position herself as a center-right “moderate” politician. That’s quite possible, but I doubt it. If the economy does not improve within the next few years, the likely political backlash will once again leave centrists holding the bag. Palin has been dishonestly attacked by progressives as being an archconservative “Christianist” on social issues, which is far from the truth. But she has given every indication that she gravitates toward classical liberal economics. In her op-ed this morning, she even wrote: “The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.” Considering that progressive political and media elites have been able to convince many low-information voters that free market policies are responsible for much of our economic problems, Palin’s op-ed is not an example of playing it down the middle.