Michelle Bachmann founded the House Tea Party caucus; she did not wait meekly for the castrati in the Pubble hierarchy to give her the go-ahead. Cain went directly to the people through the free media. Palin fought the corrupt establishment in her state. Those are my kind of people. Not some hack politician who panders to our nation's enemies, while parroting conservative rhetoric.
Being 'viable' means looking at the past. Generals. Governors. The occasional senator. The 'other' category you could count on one hand.
There's been about two people with as little qualification as Bachmann. Not in the 20th or 21st centuries, though. There have been no businessmen with no elected experience elected as President, ever.
Palin's resume is, comparatively speaking, light, but it is sufficient by historical standards. Even those standards are getting tougher. Our last 20+ years have had Ivy League resumes or multi-term governors. GHWB's resume is so strong you'd think it's fake. Reagan was a multi-term governor of a very large state. You see where I'm going with this.
Representatives and businessmen are simply not Presidential material. That's not some kind of media whammy. It's 200+ years of American tradition.