Sarah Palin’s new book, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, is out today. It’s a good book that reflects exactly what people like about her — her passion for (as it happens) family, faith, and flag.

Palin has always been good at highlighting good things that might not otherwise get national attention, and she certainly does that in this book. She praises “unsung heroes” like the Catholic women religious Sisters of Life, “whose members not only pray for the protection of human life but do the hard, selfless work of caring for human life. They help mothers have and raise their children, and they counsel and comfort those who have made decisions they regret.”

Speaking of regret, she also mentions AbortionChangesYou.com, “a safe, nonjudgemental place for women and men who are troubled after their own abortions or those of someone close to them. It’s beyond politics or proselytizing, place that honors the legacy of feminists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by helping women heal.”

The two things I found most immediately politically interesting? That she quotes Mitt Romney — on his excellent 2007 faith speech — and Newt Gingrich. Romney earns her praise for doing the famous JFK religion speech right. “The difference is striking: where Kennedy seemed to want to run away from religion, Mitt Romney forthrightly embraced it.” And she quotes from Newt’s Rediscovering God in America on the reality of prayer in American history.

Watching MSNBC this morning, I got the impression they hadn’t even read the book. “Playbook for 2012″? This isn’t your traditional campaign book, by any stretch. This is more Book of Virtues meets biography, with long blockquotes and candid reflections. It stands on its own as a nice little contribution to our culture, campaign or no campaign.

Full disclosure: I’m cited in the book (for this), as are a number of NRO friends and fathers. Right there alongside Plato? You betcha!