She's either actively loathed or treated as a joke by the great mass of swing voters/moderates out there.
Mind you, I'm not talking about dedicated left-wing activists, I'm talking about people that voted for Bush twice, etc.
That may well be true. However, once "Palin Fever" takes hold following her nomination, those same people will be singing a different tune. The same thing happened with Reagan in '80. Everyone wanted to be a part of that movement, everyone wanted to share in the excitement. It's a lot like a Super Bowl bound team, every marginal fair weather fan all of a sudden becomes ardent, die hared supporters.