I don't care how my accountant speaks, but if I am looking for a conservative leader then I want someone that has the charisma and speaking ability that can enable them to draw the voters to them and beat the entire media in a one on one game of head to head.
It is no wonder that Governor Palin was the most popular elected official in the nation and the most popular Governor in America, she persuades people to her side.
I believe the operative word in your statement is "was". Her popularity dropped precipitously after her failed VP bid. I believe she had fallen to the mid-fifties shortly before her resignation as governor; an approval rating in the fifties for a Republican governor in a very red state, isn't all that remarkable.