One of the (many) issues of Sarah Palin OTL was that she was rolled out too early. She was an inexperienced first-term governor from a state that's isolated from the issues of the rest of the country.
She's criticized a bit too much for being dumb (I'd say unknowledgeable and opportunistically populist culturally is more accurate) and had she not gotten all the attention from 2008 could have been a strong 2012 contender. The OTL Alaska Public Safety Commission scandal is referred to as denting her popularity, but her approvals were pretty consistent and positive throughout her governorship and only declined after she resigned.
With an extra 4 years of governing I think she'd be be a lot more polished/knowledgeable too.
As for her running mate, I'm thinking it'd be somebody leadership/establishment types would be happy with who'd have decent DC ties, experience, and perhaps FP chops. Of the OTL 2012 candidates and VP-list members, there's Romney, Ryan, Huntsman, Cornyn, Frist, Daniels, and Portman who possibly fit the bill. Portman seems like the most balancing of them all, though Huntsman might work as well.
She's criticized a bit too much for being dumb (I'd say unknowledgeable and opportunistically populist culturally is more accurate) and had she not gotten all the attention from 2008 could have been a strong 2012 contender. The OTL Alaska Public Safety Commission scandal is referred to as denting her popularity, but her approvals were pretty consistent and positive throughout her governorship and only declined after she resigned.
With an extra 4 years of governing I think she'd be be a lot more polished/knowledgeable too.
As for her running mate, I'm thinking it'd be somebody leadership/establishment types would be happy with who'd have decent DC ties, experience, and perhaps FP chops. Of the OTL 2012 candidates and VP-list members, there's Romney, Ryan, Huntsman, Cornyn, Frist, Daniels, and Portman who possibly fit the bill. Portman seems like the most balancing of them all, though Huntsman might work as well.