From what I can tell, only Sarah Palin is immune from FR backlash.
Not true. She gets trashed by at least one poster every time McCain stabs us in the back because she endorsed him for reelection. As if that was what got him over the top (it wasn't).
I see that you have not met humblegunner yet.
I dunno. I think the days when she was routinely compared to Ronald Reagan, Spartacus, Winston Churchill, Betsy Ross, Sgt. Alvin York, Paul Revere, etc., etc., etc. without even the faintest hint of irony, are long gone.
If and when she runs again, I suspect she will make a couple of moves toward the libertarian side of the GOP, and then you will see some of the kitties uncover their claws.