Rush should have come out more forcefully for Palin (not endorse her, but actually gone out of his way to state her positions), and possibly she might have had more incentive to get in. But, you're right. Rush seems to have tuned out on the actual history behind each of the candidates, has essentially formed his opinions on what the MSM has provided. Sad day for America when this is the best we can do in times such as these.
Well, I would have liked to have seen him do that too, but that's just me being biased in favor of Palin. It's his show, and he can do what he wants. Some other so-called conservative talk show hosts have been down on Palin from the get-go. At least Rush gave her a fair shake.
As far as incentive goes, I don't think Sarah ever needed approval or encouragement from the media. She's a self starter, and was duty motivated to step up and do something to help steer this country back to sanity. I believe that she was on the cusp of stepping in, but something large stopped her from doing so. We'll probably never know why she really stepped aside, but in my opinion, it was a great loss for our country.