I say this as a conservative: no matter how much candidates and elected officials preach openness in government, there are always two forces at work: those who would use an "open" process to advance their own agenda (such as congressional committees that spend more time making speeches than listening to answers), and those who seem to think openness is for the other guy.

Hiding from an inquiry could backfire, especially since there seems to have been good reasons for firing the ex-brother-in-law as well as firing the appointed official who would not quit trying to undo the governor's budget and policy decision behind her back. But voters in the middle mioght wonder if Gov. Palin has something to hide and whether that stands in contrast to the "reformer" posture the ticket has taken.