Rahm Emanuel: 'I'm Beginning To Miss Sarah Palin's Insights'

Former White House chief of staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had plenty of partisan jokes for the audience at a dinner for Iowa Democrats in Des Moines over the weekend.

Leaving no stone unturned, Emanuel took shots at Newt Gingrich, who he claimed was excited to "spend the holiday with his loved ones ... the salespeople at Tiffany," Mitt Romney -- notably absent from Iowa -- and Herman Cain, whom he joked was getting a lesson in foreign policy from his tutor, Rick Perry.

The teasing was well-received, ABC reports. With the crowd laughing loudly, Emanuel gave a taunting explanation of what the GOP's "collection of turkeys" had made him realize.

From ABC News:

"I've watched a number of them, and I've got to be honest, I never thought I'd say this," said Emanuel, his words dripping with sarcasm, "I'm beginning to miss Sarah Palin's insights."

Not so fast, Mr. Mayor. Though the former Alaska governor has largely fallen from the political spotlight since her long-teased presidential run failed to emerge in October, Palin's insight could soon be at the forefront of GOP primary talk again.

According to a report in New York Magazine this week, one of Palin's advisers says she has an endorsement ready to go:

But Palin knows that she still has value as a gatekeeper to her grassroots base. A Palin adviser told me that she is planning to make an endorsement for a candidate in 2012. Palin, being Palin, is keeping it tightly held. "I have an idea of who it is" the adviser said, "but I'm not telling." What's clear is that Palin would be smart to make that announcement on Fox News.

Christian Heinze over at The Hill's GOP12 blog predicts that she'll come out for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, after a string of gaffes seemingly debilitated another top choice, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain.