I think she'll probably have to at some point dump the celebrity approach, which has worked well to an extent, but has also made her seem less than serious as a world leader.
I absolutely agree the media has been horrible, and there is no doubt that ANY conservative is going to get the same treatment.
There's still plenty of time: 22 months. And Obama can revert to his fumbling, arrogant self---but even then, if you look at RealClearPolitics going back to last March, with the exception of one PPP poll about every quarter (out of several PPP polls), Obama is just crushing her: mid- to high double digits. (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_palin_vs_obama-1169.html#polls and click link at the bottom for older polls).
The really bad thing about that is that she didn't gain much ground when he had collapsing poll numbers everywhere. She kinda got close just as they polled right before the November election.
LS - Thank you for your insight. Much appreciated.
This year looks like it is on track to be as interesting as any in our history.