Palin is a charismatic, historical figure that has met the national media in face to face battle for almost 3 years, and is till standing firm, and in front.
What would your candidates "negatives" be about three months after they won the primary, do you remember the media hero and beloved Republican, John McCain? After decades of love and worship, the media instantly reversed after he became the nominee. The media cannot do that with Governor Palin. Governor Palin was extraordinarily successful with 93% approval.
I haven't settled on a candidate yet.
But, let's take Rick Perry as an example. There is no chance that Perry with the record he can run on is going to have then negatives Palin has. They don't have the time or ammunition to turn him into Dan Quayle. He has never quit as a public servant.
Palin, unfairly, has been portrayed as stupid by the media and Hollywood. She has self-inflicted problems that are going to be hard to overcome, like quitting as governor to starring in reality shows with idiots like Kate Gosselin and her eight kids. The narrative will be: She quit, writing in emails she hated the job, to make money and become a reality TV star. That could be as devastating as the Willie Horton ads were to Michael Dukakis.