Sarah Palin and her magic baby.

But the most striking evidence of her son’s impact has been Palin’s book tour promoting her memoir, “Going Rogue.” As she descends from her tour bus or private jet to meet her fans, 19-month-old Trig has been a conspicuous presence — and generated a huge response. “There’s a lot of people who come through the line to see Trig instead of to see her,” says Jason Recher, a campaign aide who remained close to Palin and is now accompanying her on her book tour.

And those people, says Greg Mueller, a veteran anti-abortion political operative and former spokesman for Pat Buchanan, are getting a powerful message. “She’s going out there as a pro-life woman to say that there’s great joy in special-needs kids — and that we shouldn’t be aborting them.”

Though the anti-abortion movement remains strong and deeply rooted on the right, the recent conservative resurgence has been driven by anti-government sentiment — not by the abortion battle. Palin’s own ability to infuriate and delight often has more to do with her notions of patriotism and her views of the White House than with her place in the abortion wars. But Trig is part of what makes Palin so singular among conservative leaders.

“You just can’t escape it — she really is cut from a completely different cloth than most men, but also women, in politics,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports anti-abortion candidates. “She had the audacity in the eyes of the abortion rights world to actually have this child and then has the audacity to bring him along with her and feature him as a centrally valued person in their family.”

Palin’s increased focus on abortion rights, an aide said, was driven by the passionate response to Trig during the final days of John McCain's presidential campaign.

“It was something we were all surprised by — the reaction to Trig and the reaction to the special-needs portfolio that McCain had given her during the campaign,” said Recher.

Palin, like most politicians, has sought to capitalize on her family’s story without subjecting her children to unpleasant scrutiny, but with decidedly mixed results. Her daughter Bristol’s unmarried pregnancy took center stage at the 2008 Republican National Convention, and Bristol's breakup with Levi Johnston, the baby’s father, continues to generate headlines.

But if Palin had any ambivalence about exposing her older children to the spotlight, there’s none for Trig. He enjoys the crowds, said Recher, and at every stop, there are admirers who have come specifically to meet him.

“It’s always a special moment when he meets somebody else who has Down's,” said Recher. “I get emotional, the security people get emotional, the parents get emotional.”

I received a lot of blow back from people when I made the statement that Trig is not only NOT Sarah's, but that he is also NOT Bristol's. The comments have been like this:

"Well WHY would she adopt a baby if he were NOT her daughter's?"

"Why would a person, who clearly does not care for that child, cart him around if he were not a member of her family?"

"You just hate Sarah because she did not abort that baby like any liberal mother would have done!" (That is actually one of my favorites.)

Well the answer to that question was first addressed by Max Bluemnthal in his book "Republican Gomorrah" when he made the following point.

After learning through a sonogram that her child would have been born with Down Syndrome, Palin bravely chose to carry him to term.

Her decision excited James Dobson (of Focus on the Family), and he wrote her a letter congratulating her for having what he called "that little Down Syndrome baby." "What a way to emphasize your pro-life leanings there," Dobson declared on a September 2 radio broadcast. Tony Perkins, who phoned in from the Family Research Counsel office in Washington, DC, echoed Dobson: "It's one thing to support the policy. Its another to live it out."

And as crazy as that may have sounded at first we are now seeing just how powerful the "baby Trig prop" has proven to be.

So WHY would Sarah Palin adopt and carry around a child that is no relation to her? Because it serves a very important function. It give Palin IMMEDIATE credibility within the "Right to Life" camp and it supports the mythology of the selfless, loving working mommy. There are literally millions of women around the country who feel a tug at their heart when they see Palin with her little Down syndrome toddler.

Now I can feel women all over the country getting ready to pound out a response on their keyboard to the above statement. "WE are not fooled by her! Not ALL women think that her toting that poor child around makes her a good mother!"

Of course you don't. But YOU are women that are visiting THIS blog. You are not Sarah Palin's constituency. You are thinkers, not just believers. She never had a chance to get your support no matter what she did, because she is a liar and a fraud, and you were smart enough to have seen that. I know that sounds like kissing up, but I am really making an important point about WHO is drawn to Palin.

The women who see Sarah, and feel drawn to her, are women who want to feel validated for simply being mothers. They want a role model that "has it all" so they can feel that someday so will they. However they are unwilling to look even one layer beneath the surface for fear of having that image damaged in some way. They are happy simply accepting that Palin is what they imagine her to be. And Trig Palin is key to that mythology.

And that is why it is time to demand that Sarah Palin produce his birth certificate. Palin cracked open the door with her statements on the Rusty Humphries show yesterday and it is time for us to "plow right on through".

So I am asking you my friends to make that request on every Sarah Palin story that comes out in the weeks to come. "Where is Trig Palin's birth certificate?", should show up in the comments section of every pro, or con story about Sarah Palin until her camp finally feels compelled to address it.

Sarah cannot stand this kind of thing and she will have to do something, I don't know what, but something. But whatever it is I am very sure it will NOT be to provide a birth certificate. She simply can't.

And yes I will keep working on getting my information out to the public as well. We have made a lot of very good progress lately, and yes we are getting closer.

Sarah Palin has given us a wonderful opportunity so let's make sure we capitalize on it. Is it really any wonder anymore WHY the McCain campaign did not like her to give interviews? The woman is her own worst enemy.

Update: It looks like Progressive Alaska is on the same page too.

And Phil also brings up another good point. Just where the hell is CBJ?

Update 2: Andrew Sullivan joins the party.

Update 3: I just got off of the phone with Alaska Center for Resource Families, which provides information about foster care and adoptions in Alaska, and learned a few facts.

For instance once you adopt a child the birth certificate ONLY has the name of the adoptive parents and the name of the child, which can be their original name or, if you want, have your last name.

In all respects it looks EXACTLY like any other birth certificate.

But one interesting point, and I asked this specifically, is that the birth certificate CANNOT change the actual birth date of the child. In other words, if you faked a birth and needed a child that was born on...oh let's say....April 18, 2008, you MUST find a child born on that EXACT day in order to present a birth certificate that matched your story.

I have discussed the reasons WHY Palin would not have been willing to present a birth certificate in the past, and THIS seems to be the main reason. If little Trig was born on some other day than the one that Palin identified, and notified the news to report as accurate, that would be a very big hole in her story.