Professional marketers know that when you’ve got a winning product, stick with it. However that doesn’t explain what Fox News is doing with their promotion of Paul Ryan.

The Sarah Palin script was a non-stop parade of effusive flattery for her appearance, her stage presence, and the fresh invigoration she allegedly brought to the doddering campaign of John McCain. Fox News considered her a “rock star” who was the “future of the party.” Rich Lowry of the National Review was bewitched:

“I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, ‘Hey, I think she just winked at me.’ And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.”

Unfortunately, what Fox appears to have forgotten was that Palin lost. When a campaign goes so dreadfully wrong it makes no sense to reprise it four years later with an even less appealing subject. What’s more, Palin is widely believed to have been a drag on the ticket, and she is now a washed up reality TV star and Fox News contributor who isn’t even invited to the GOP convention. Perhaps Ryan should be more worried than flattered.

Nevertheless, Fox has dusted off the Palin script, changed the names to Paul Ryan, and started the whole loser campaign over again. Only this time the “manly” men on Fox have to awkwardly profess their adoring attraction to another man who is best known for being a numbers wonk.

Will Fox calling Ryan a rock star propel him to victory? Will Lowry see starbursts and imagine Ryan winking at him? Will recycling the Palin script work any better on a budget committee chairman than it did on an Alaskan former beauty queen runner-up? I guess we’ll find out in about two and a half months. In the meantime, I hope that Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly can control themselves.