Gassen: Oh great, Sarah Palin's back.

Sarah Palin is back.

Sigh.

To be fair, among a segment of hard-core conservative fans she never went away. Fox News eventually dropped her, but she still found her audience of simple folk eager to consume her stream-of-consciousness word salads.

I listen and wonder why people don’t see through Palin and Donald Trump’s acts and why their statements are treated as fact. They say ridiculous things and people cheer. But each is expert at exploiting the us-versus-them classism that runs throughout American culture, particularly in a changing economy. They seek to solve their credibility problems by pointing fingers at the media. It’s all such a formula.

Endorsing Trump in Iowa this week, Palin gave a meandering speech that was more let’s-get-rid-of-Obama than an argument for Trump over the other GOP candidates. She opened with the political version of the call-out song, where the songwriter includes cities and towns in the lyrics so listeners in each one will buy the song because it’s about them.

“Looking around at all of you, you hardworking Iowa families. You farm families, and teachers, and teamsters, and cops, and cooks. You rockin’ rollers. And holy rollers! All of you who work so hard. You full-time moms. You with the hands that rock the cradle. You all make the world go round, and now our cause is one,” she said.

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Palin gives Trump something he needs — the mantle of the “everyman super rich guy who hugely loves the little guy.” He’s one of us folksy folks who are real, true Americans. Trump’s immense wealth means he doesn’t need anyone’s support, so he’ll look out for the little people, the “We the People.”

Palin said: “He’s not an elitist. And yes, as a multibillionaire, we still root him on, because he roots us on. And he has, he’s spent his life with the workin’ man. And he tells us Joe Six-packs, he said: ‘You know, I’ve worked very, very hard. And I’ve succeeded. Hugely I’ve succeeded,’ he says. And he says, ‘I want you to succeed too.’ And that is refreshing, because he, as he builds things, he builds big things, things that touch the sky, big infrastructure that puts other people to work. He has spent his life looking up and respecting the hard hats and the steel-toed boots and the work ethic that you all have within you.”

Born into great wealth, Trump hasn’t been the workin’ man, but he’s spent his life with the workin’ man. He’s been workin’-man-adjacent. But that’s close enough on the campaign trail.

Trump has said Palin has a job in his government if she wants one, but that she probably doesn’t want one. He’s not sure. She may not. But it’s hers if she does.

Add that to the list of things to remember at the polls, folks.