Palin 2012

Check out this article in the Sunday Times, London.

Palin ended 2008 with a striking run of personal successes in high-profile popularity polls. According to a poll by Gallup she was the second most admired woman of the year, after Hillary Clinton. Time magazine chose her as the world’s fourth most influential person, behind Barack Obama, Henry Paulson of the US Treasury and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Last week she triumphed in an annual poll, commissioned by a property website, as the person Americans would most like to have as their neighbour. She finished ahead of Oprah Winfrey, the television chat show queen, and Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer.

If she were pull it off and become the Republican nominee the Democrats will surely welcome that.

But four years is a long time. She could be better prepared on everything from world history to domestic policy, Obama and co. could mess up real bad, Romney could switch all his positions and move to the center, Huckabee could decide to stay with Fox rather than run for office etc. For now, despite the Republican disaster this past year, she still appears to be very much in the game for 2012. Is this the party that is trying to re-invent itself?