Palin's Star Fading Fast

Steven Thomma of McClatchy Newspapers writes, in "Even GOP activists are turning against Sarah Palin,"

As Sarah Palin wonders whether to run for president, she might want to talk to people in places such as South Carolina.

She'd find her star fading, and her prospects daunting.

Republicans still like her, but now they openly question whether she could or should be nominated for president, let alone elected.

At a recent gathering in South Carolina, the site of a crucial early presidential primary next year, party activists said the former Alaska governor didn't have the experience, the knowledge of issues or the ability to get beyond folksy slang and bumper-sticker generalities that they think is needed to win and govern.

Many are shopping for someone else. They're looking at Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., for example, and seeing what they call a smarter, more experienced candidate who's equally as conservative.

"Sarah Palin with a brain," said Gail Moore, a Republican from Columbia. ...

Several people were interviewed for the article, and they freely criticize Palin for her inadequacies. Then the article concludes:

It's been a surprising turn since 2008, said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducts the McClatchy-Marist Poll. Despite a barrage of criticism of Palin by Democrats and the news media, she came out of the election looking as if she'd be the major force for the party's nomination.

"She doesn't appeal to the center, and she hasn't been trying to," Miringoff said.

"There's a general sense among Republicans that this is someone they like being part of the 2012 narrative," Miringoff said. "They don't mind her pushing the edge of the envelope on issues. But there's concern about electability, about polarization. They're not necessarily sure she should be the nominee."

Don Long of Lake Wylie, S.C. said of Palin, "Her major weakness is that she needs to bone up on how the government works. I don't know if she's done as much of that as she needs to." I believe that the reason why Sarah Palin hasn't boned up on government is that Sarah Palin has no interest in government, and that, in turn, is why she came to hate her job as Alaska's governor.