She is a populist. Her favorite movie is about populism. Did you read her books?
Populism has many flavors. Some people think a populist cannot also be conservative, but that’s not the case. Palin is a conservative populist, as is Perry to some degree. Even Trump came across as one (the legitimacy of such a view is in question).
You can also have a liberal populist - Dennis Kucinich comes to mind.