I neither "hug" them, nor disregard them.
A question: if not polls, where do you obtain your sense of Mrs. Palin's "populartity" or "electability" throughout this land?
I have no definitive sense, one way or the other, Palin's popularity.
I would guess that right off the bat, Palin would probably have at least 43% of the vote in the general election and that there a plenty of additional voters who don't like Obama's policies and would be available for the taking.