I do believe that Sarah has that same optimism, along with the right amount of skepticism ("trust, but verify") that Reagan had, and if she can get herself heard, beyond the continual negative drumbeat of the MSM, people will respond positively to her.
There is one scary scenario in which Palin IS very much Reagan for the millennium, but we now lack the voters to appreciate Reaganism. I'm afraid (literally afraid) that so many of them have been so dumbed down, so beaten down, and so inculcated in the helplessness mentality that that kind of message won't resonate like it did in 80.
Even if that's the case, it's not an argument against nominating Palin (picking some appeasing RINO like Willard the Giant Rat is pretty much preemptively surrendering, and where did THAT ever get the GOP?), but it is a worry just the same.