No, I agree. I think we're exactly in agreement.
It's the timing. Palin either never truly intended to run, OR, she waited too long and was beaten to the punch by Perry. Either way, he has moved in to the center stage.
A lot of her power derives from the fact that no one knows what she's going to do. The suspense is killing journalists and politicos everywhere, and it's kept her very prominent.
Now that Perry is in, he basically demolishes the need for Mitt (the "pro-business governor") and Palin (the "popular social conservative"). He's eaten up the ground that either Palin or Romney would need to take to advance, making it easier to pick off either of their supporters. By this time next month, unless a dramatic game changer occurs, Romney will be on suicide watch, and Palin will be looking at a Huckabee-like show on Fox.
Bingo. My thoughts exactly.