Maybe they were around all along, and I didn't notice them until now.

But all of a sudden, I see Sarah Palin look-alikes everywhere in St. Paul.

I got conned into doing double-takes not once, not twice, but three times in the women's bathroom here. All three women had the same somewhat messy upsweep of brown hair and fringe of bangs, the same square-ish glasses.... By tomorrow I'm sure I'll see a half-dozen more.

Too bad. If it had been Palin, I would have snagged some hot quotes, even though I would have had to take notes on the paper towels, writing with Clinique sheer lip color.

For ready reference: Three views of Sarah Palin. (left and center, Joe Raedle/Getty Images; right, AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)