I think you bring up a very good point. The electorate right now will likely gravitate to someone who they see as a mature and safe leader who can sort out this mess we are in versus an “orator” or cable news personality which is sort of where I see Palin and a large portion of the GOP field at the moment.
The primary weakness of Obama (besides being a socialist) is that he flat out isn’t a leader. He doesn’t have that gene in him. I wasn’t very high on Perry when he announced a month ago, but have gradually started to view him as a safe pick due to the fact he does have some pretty good leadership qualities. Being a Governor of a very successful State the last ten years carries with it a certain legitimacy very few of these people have.
I am going to watch Perry closely in these three debates over the next two weeks to see if the hype is real. If he performs well, he could seal the deal.
I agree completely about him not being a leader. Kinda makes ya wonder where all of those community organizing “skills” went!