Sarah Palin's Mixed Messages On Being a GOP Leader

Video: Palin continues to delight her fans but perplex independent voters.

Sarah Palin continues to delight her fans, unsettle her adversaries, and perplex independent voters who aren't sure what to make of her. Through it all, the former Alaska governor remains one of the most polarizing politicians in the country, which is saying a lot, given how divided and hostile the political world has become.

Several recent events have prompted a renewed focus on the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Next week, Palin will be on Jay Leno's Tonight Show. Last week, Palin attacked the portrayal of a cartoon character with Down syndrome on the Fox animated comedy series Family Guy. In a Facebook posting, Palin called it "another kick in the gut" and asked, "When is enough enough?" Her youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome, and Palin has always been ferocious in protecting him and other people with disabilities. Earlier this month, she criticized White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for describing some liberal activists as "retarded" (for which he apologized).

Palin's stand on this topic is a reminder that she gave birth to Trig even though she knew in advance that the baby would have Down syndrome. Her supporters see this as an example of how Palin lived up to her moral position against abortion. And even though she is now a paid commentator on Fox News, in the case of Family Guy she took on the entertainment side of the Fox empire, one more demonstration of conviction.

Another Palin event, however, contained a mixed message. In a recent appearance at the tea party convention of conservatives and populists in Nashville, Palin got strong approval from the crowd with her anti-President Obama speech, in which she mocked Obama's 2008 campaign themes by asking, "How's that hopey, changey thing working out for ya?"

But what caused the fuss was Palin being captured on camera referring to notes she had scrawled on her palm to help her get through a question-and-answer session. Her critics pounced, arguing that Palin is an intellectual lightweight who isn't ready for the presidency, a job that many grass-roots conservatives want her to seek in 2012.

She also seemed to get in former Vice President Dick Cheney's cross hairs. Appearing on ABC's This Week, Cheney was shown a clip of Palin talking about how Obama could toughen up his image on national security. "If he decided to declare war on Iran," she said, "or decided really to come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do, if he decided to toughen up and do all that he can to secure our nation and our allies, I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, 'Well, maybe he's tougher than we think he is today.' "

Cheney offered some veiled criticism. "I don't think a president can make a judgment like that on the basis of politics," he said. "The stakes are too high, the consequences too significant to be treating those as simple political calculations. When you begin to talk about war, talk about crossing international borders, you talk about committing American men and women to combat, that takes place on a plane clear above any political consideration."

Yet Palin continues to animate many conservatives with her homespun charm and her anti-Washington, anti-Obama rhetoric. Some Republican strategists say she appears to be trying to become, at minimum, a leader of the tea party movement and a power broker within the GOP.

But she has done little to reassure centrists that she is presidential material. As a celebrity politician, Palin can draw enormous crowds and presumably could raise lots of money from conservative donors for a presidential campaign if she decided to run. But her fortunes have declined with the general electorate. Seventy-one percent of Americans don't consider Palin qualified to be president, and 55 percent have an unfavorable view of her, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

"Sarah Palin is a performer," says a prominent Republican who has advised two presidents. "She has star quality, but she's content free. Her audience consists of the 25 to 35 percent [of Americans] who are totally disaffected, totally disenchanted." Palin defenders, however, say that she has much more potential than her critics think and that she realizes she needs to learn more about issues.

So far, it's clear that the former Alaska governor knows how to push the hot buttons of the right. The question is whether she can, or wants to, broaden her appeal to the center, where most presidential elections are won. 

• See photos of Sarah Palin and her family.
• See a slide show of the GOP’s 10 Most Wanted.