He is a part of the latest meme that she can/will/has replaced Sarah Palin. Of course the unsaid part of their plan is that though they are singing her praises, they know she has no chance to win, but can pull enough primary votes away from Palin to let anybody else but Palin win the nomination and then lose to Øbama.
This option makes the most sense to me. To the media, this is the Palin blocker that. Let’s Romney walk away with it.