Unlike you I still care about 2012. But you are right about the current crop of Republican candidates. They aren't very good.
About Palin, she waited way too long to say "no".
I don't know about that. I never thought much of the media's timetable. I don't think she waited too long (she certainly didn't miss any real deadlines), any more than Chris Christie did. But yeah, the current crop of candidates is . . . ugh.