Desperate Dems have put hooves on the ground in Alaska, where their agents are snuffling the dirt in hopes of snorting something sordid up their snouts. John Fund reports:

Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau and Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background. My sources report the first wave arrived in Anchorage less than 24 hours after John McCain selected her on August 29.

If they can't find any facts that can be distorted into scandal, they'll start from raw fiction. Already the nonpartisan "consumer advocate for voters" FactCheck.org has devoted a whole section of its site to debunking the smears Obamunists have been circulating in hopes of derailing the Saracuda Express. A splash of cold water on some rumors Obamatrons wish would catch fire:

• Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn't cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.

• She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time.

• She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She's been registered as a Republican since May 1982.

• Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.

• Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

It also may need to be established in advance that Trig was not conceived in the course of a Satanic ritual, nor has Palin adopted Glenn Reynolds's old hobby of running puppies through a blender.

Hat tip: Hot Air; on a tip from joe. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.