joining us on the phone is the executive editor, amy walter. let's ask about this story of this dinner, both the remarks by the former speaker of the house, and the on-again off-again appearance of the alaska gov.. guest: so much of this is driven by the ambivalent feelings that a lot of republicans have about sarah palin as a messenger for the party. on the one hand, she is still somebody who i think will be able to raise money and energize the base. there will be candidates running for reelection in 2010 who will watch her on the campaign trail with them. on the other hand, there are lots of republicans who look at the election results from last time, especially those in suburban areas, who say that part of the problem was that she was unable to broaden the message, and we need to find a new messenger for the party, and we need to stop looking backwards, and start looking ahead to who the next leader will be. host: let me share with you one of the clquotes from "the hill" newspaper. host: do some people view sarah palin as a joke? guest: if y

amy walter is joining us from the hot line offices. the headline is "state to get a disputed $700 million." >> this long-running battle between south carolina's republican governor and the republican-controlled legislature is finally over. mark sanford had refused -- he argued that it would actually devalue the dollar and run up a deficit in the state. he had refused to implement the legislature's plan. they argued it was to fill gaps in the education funding for the state. the supreme court weighed in yesterday saying that the legislature, not the governor, is the one with the purse strings. the legislature wants to spend the money. it is their right to do that. the governor must help them do that. in other words, he cannot block them from doing this. in some ways, it was a blow to mark sanford, who had made this a very big cause. he even embroiled his attorney general, who is also seeking the governor's seat in 2010. mark sanford is not seeking reelection. the question is what impact it will have on his 2012 ambitions. today, the sta

>> my name is amy walter, editor in chief of the hotline, unlike most people i have dreams for what out like to read this summer although i don't know how many will get red but top of my list is john mecham, his new book american lion about into jackson. i love to get at least one good political biography in a summer and believe it or not sitting on the beach with truman one year was quite lovely. it seems odd but it is true. i have started but not yet made its as much of a event in the new book breakthrough and so that is another goal of mine as well. if we are going into the fiction category, although this is non-fiction fiction, quirky, some people don't necessarily appreciate his sense of humor. i personally find him hysterical. when you are engulfed in flames is a book that came out i think probably a couple years ago that has been sitting on my nightstand, that one will get red especially. a good play in a book or a pick me up for those days when i just can't slog through much else. what is also going to get read this summer because i have a two and a half year all the, in a lot o