Ah yes, the old "GOP establishment". Personally, I have no idea what that is, who they are, and where they can be found.
Whomever that may (or may not)be, what they aren't is the "Party". The Party must remain completely neutral, and they shouldn't wade into these controversy de jour, unless of course we're talking about a sitting Republican politician, in which case the Party does have an obligation to come to the defense of that person, if the person's actions are actually defensible.
Only in extreme cases - like when David Duke ran as a Republican back in the early 1990s, and the National RNC and the LA state RNC quickly and forcefully endorsed his rival - should the Party interject itself.
Every time some politician with populists positions, both on the right and the left, fails to win their party's nomination, they blame the old standby - the establishment. Frankly, I find it intellectually lazy and ridiculously tiring.
John McCain was ANYTHING but the establishment candidate, being "mavericky" and all, but he had no problems securing the nomination, and in fact, did so quite handily. If Palin deserves to win, she'll win. If she doesn't, she won't. It's that simple, and she'll have no one to blame but herself if she doesn't.
Ah yes, the old "GOP establishment". Personally, I have no idea what that is, who they are, and where they can be found.
Whomever that may (or may not)be, what they aren't is the "Party".
You actually believe that?!? LOL!!
Personally, I think the "GOP establishment" argument, as it is formulated by many folks, is nothing more than excuse to be lazy and politically inept. We get to sit around, cheerlead for a candidate without actually doing anything substantive for them, and then when the Rudy McRomney candidate wins, we get to whine and moan and complain about having a RINO as a candidate, followed by a healthy dose of bluster about how we're never gonna vote for a RINO again and we're gonna stop off like a five year old and vote for some third party candidate or another. Since the "GOP establishment" snookered us again. By, you know, actually working to get their candidate nominated.