I can tell you that in Oklahoma, Sara Palin engendered actual excitement in 2008. The only people I know excited about voting for Romney (and not merely against Obama) are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
That’s how it was in my corner of Texas. The GOP headquarters in 2008 was perpetually empty and had virtually no foot-traffic, but once Palin was announced, the place exploded with people and excitement. Palin tapped into something I hadn’t seen since Reagan’s days. Regular people finally felt they had someone who represented them, both ideologically and culturally.
What a non-surprise that the GOP-E sided with the Libs and their vile media minions to try to extinguish all that, with an endless smear campaign. Just like they did once again with the Tea Party.
Conservative populism from flyover country scares the HELL out the ruling-class elites. They’ll do absolutely anything to kill it, whenever it pops up.