Yeah, but can she win? I agree with Palin almost right down the line on every issue. But I want to WIN in 2012. The last poll I saw showed her last among Pubs running against Obozo.
The Democratic strategy in the 1980 primaries was to cross over and vote for Reagn in the GOP primaries, because they had determined (via lots of polling) that not only would Reagan be the easiest to beat, but that Reagan was unelectable.
And we know how that turned out.
Carter actually led in polls through most of the race. It was only as they got to election day that people decided “we can’t make it through four more years of Jimmy Carter” and then decided to pull the lever for Reagan. The 1980 election was less a pro-Reagan election as a rejection of Carter.
I think as we approach election day 2012, no matter who the GOP nominee is, people will come to the same conclusion about Obama—we can’t make it through another 4 years with him as president.
I remember that election very clearly as I had just gotten out of high school and 1980 was the first year I was eligible to vote. During the 1980 primaries, many Republicans had a "anybody-but-Reagan" approach as it was felt he was too divisive and extremist in his conservative beliefs. So strongly did some Republicans feel that way that even when Reagan wrapped the nomination up, they supported one of Reagan's GOP opponents in a third party run (John Anderson).
As for the liberal media pundits, they had a field day with Reagan. He was a washed up B-movie actor who was so dumb that he had to co-star with a chimp. Further, he was a loose-cannon warmonger that would surely drag us into WW3. Above all, according to the media elite, Reagan was just not sophisticated and polished enough to be president.