Sarah Palin Rebukes Chris Christie, Showing Her Power and Influence

COMMENTARY | New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Mitt Romney supporter, opined that Newt Gingrich, his man's main rival for the Republican nomination, had embarrassed the Republican Party. This fetched him a sharp rebuke from Sarah Palin, according to Hot Air.

The imbroglio started when Christie, according to the New York Daily News, laid into Gingrich on "Meet the Press," stating Gingrich had been "Run out of the speakership by his own party" and that he "has been an embarrassment to the party."

This statement brought a response from Palin, who stated Christie had made a "rookie mistake" and had played into the media's hands. Just to turn the knife a little, Palin reminded everyone that Christie has done some embarrassing things as well such as using a state helicopter to his child's baseball game.

It should be noted Palin is still not giving a general endorsement of Gingrich or any other candidate. While she had coyly suggested she would have voted for Gingrich if she lived in South Carolina, she refused to state the same advice presuming she lived in Florida while on the "Sean Hannity Show," according to Newsmax. With becoming albeit disingenuous modesty, Palin said her endorsement doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

Also a nuclear bomb does not make a very big explosion and a hurricane doesn't make a lot of wind and rain.

Palin was accused of teasing when she publicly weighed the possibility of running for president during the summer ! and fall . It is more likely that she was really conflicted about the prospect and at the last minute decided to let the cup pass from her lips.

But now she is just teasing with the endorsement issue. Whether she will or won't endorse and whom gives her Fox News counterparts something to open with before the conversation goes to the meat of the matter.

That means she will be a frequent commentator on the election, which further means she will cast a broad shadow over the contest. Candidates and their surrogates like Christie are going to have to take into account the question: What will Palin say? Her influence thus is as great as if she were actually running.