Take a look at their methodology:
Sarah Palin was a sitting governor, and at that time, before the Obama campaign and their allies in the press spent months relentlessly smearing her good name, she had the highest approval ratings of any governor in the country.
Sarah held progressively higher office; she has many years executive management experience at local, regional and state levels and has a history of being a reformer and taking on powerful interests for the benefit of ordinary people.
She was a fiscal conservative who made the largest veto cuts in Alaska history, reined in the reckless waste, cut her own expenses, sold the governors private jet, let the personal chef go, and put away billions of dollars in savings for Alaska for a rainy day.
She was a tough CEO who went toe to toe with the Big Oil companies and fought to get the best deal for Alaskans, the resource owners she represented.
Taking on corruption and crony capitalism has always been a cornerstone of Sarah Palin’s agenda; in Alaska she did take on the old-boy network the oil companies and her own party. As oil and gas commissioner, Sarah Palin called out the unethical practices of members of her own party. As Governor, she sought to end the back room deals and improper relationships between oil companies and politicians.
And she did all of this as a woman from a modest background who was entirely self-made without the benefit of a rich or influential father or husband. All of Sarah Palin’s success was due entirely to her own hard work and intelligence.