I agree; that is one of the things that Perot failed on, as well. Her nasal whine, endless repetition of catch phrases, swallowing of last syllables and confusing mispronunciation of vowels drives me crazy.
Unfortunately, Palin has apparently done nothing about it, whereas Mrs. Thatcher took voice coaching to lower her voice and practice other techniques to make her sound more authoritative and palatable to her audiences.
It’s sad that it matters, but it just does. Southerners and Texans aren’t going to hold it against her, because they experience the same thing. Upper mid-westerners and Northern Plains folks won’t, because that’s how they sound. Both coasts and D.C. will and do hold it against her, and that’s where virtually all of our media originates.