I don't know about character, but I would say intelligence: I think all along she knew that she had certain polling hurdles to overcome, and I'm convinced she had a pollster checking this during the bus tour and during the showings of "Undefeated," and that the meter didn't move. So long as she never entered the race, she never had to be embarrassed by single digit poll numbers among "real" candidates.
Who knows how she would have done in debates? But does anyone think she'd have gotten any softer questions than the junk they threw at Perry? Nope.