Inside the Beltway

YOU BETCHA

The face of Sarah Palin — goddess edition — could soon loom over Highway 101 near San Carlos, Calif., showcased on a 14-by-48-foot billboard that touts her political prowess.

But the sign was almost a no-show thanks to some locals who were willing to compromise the First Amendment for their cause. In September, city planners voted to bar the “Sarah Palin for President 2012” billboard, citing restrictive ordinances on size and scope.

Jeffrey Herson, who originated the billboard idea, then sued the city of San Carlos, claiming that officials favored “commercial speech” and “community activity signs” on the byways, but not political speech — the kind protected by the First Amendment.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco agreed, and placed a temporary restraining order on the city’s decision, noting that local officials appeared to claim “unfettered discretion to determine who may or may not speak.”

It’s still a cliffhanger, though. The city plans to declare an emergency 45-day ban on new signs Monday until “constitutional issues” get worked out and yet another Palin-centric cultural moment unfolds.

“This demonstrates the passion people have for Sarah Palin. I can’t think of any politician in American history that has generated such enthusiasm from the people,” LaDonna Hale Curzon tells Inside the Beltway.

She is executive producer and co-host of Sarah Palin Radio on the WS Radio network.

Folks are still eager for the Palin story, meanwhile. Though it will not be released until Nov. 17, Mrs. Palin’s book “Going Rogue: An American Life” remains No. 2 on the Amazon best-seller ranks, and ranks ninth at Barnes & Noble.

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Chronic spendthrifts and foot draggers, heads up: The chief of performance police is now known.

Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, has been appointed chairman of the Senate Budget Committee’s new bipartisan Task Force on Government Performance, which will scrutinize the federal government’s shoddy management framework and identify “opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness.”

Of particular interest to the Virginia Democrat are “best practices” and “lessons learned” from private and nonprofit sources in the United States and Britain.

“I strongly believe that ‘what gets measured gets done,’ ” Mr. Warner says. “We have to take on the difficult challenge of making our government agencies and programs perform better through better measurements, enhanced transparency and greater accountability.”

Watch this space. The first hearing is Thursday. Perhaps the oddsmakers are already wondering if a Democrat can lead the charge against big, bad, burgeoning government.

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