Democratic Insider: Palin Was Wise to Quit as Governor

Even Democratic strategists seem to agree that Sarah Palin has written a blockbuster of a book that will soar to the top of the bestseller lists when it comes out next month. The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee remains very popular among conservatives, and they should provide enough support to guarantee the success of her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life. The book is already among the top sellers on Amazon.com because of prepublication orders, and Palin's publisher is planning an initial printing of 1.5 million copies. "You can sell a lot books to the right," says a prominent Democratic strategist, "and you can get a lot of lectures."

Palin is increasingly expected to take on the mainstream media in Going Rogue, which is a surefire way to cultivate conservatives who consider the media far too liberal. But the strategist, along with many other insiders in both major parties, says all this won't necessarily translate into political success if Palin runs for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. The criticism of Palin as a candidate is that she is too undisciplined, too ignorant of major issues, and too harsh to succeed. On the positive side, some Democrats are revising their thinking about Palin's decision to resign from the Alaska governorship to pursue her private interests earlier this year amid nearly constant criticism of her policies and the personal problems in her family. "It was probably pretty smart to leave all that trouble behind," says a Democratic insider. "Now she can move beyond all that and support her family in a way she never could before."

• See photos of Sarah Palin and her family.
• Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Sarah Palin.