Depends, whether the Republicans want to have any chance at beating the Democrats next time. If they choose Palin, they will surely help Obama to four more years in office.

So no, I don't expect Palin to be nominated. Schwarzenegger would have a better chance, if he were born in the US.

Maybe if whe holds the party-members at gunpoint?
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Yes, I think she does have a serious chance of winning the nomination in 2012. While many democrats derided Palin, her selection as McCain's VP candidate injected life into what many republicans viewed as a lackluster campaign. She may not have done herself many favors by stepping down from the Alaska governorship, but since then she hasn't exactly disappeared from the national scene.

Would Palin's nomination in 2012 guarantee an Obama victory? I don't think that's an open-and-shut case. Palin showed a willingness to distance herself from Obama's platform during the campaign, and the argument could be made that one of the key problems with McCain's platform was that it was too similar to Obama's on too many fronts--only with McCain lacking the eloquence and magnetism of Obama's persona (and that McCain was too unwilling to point out the places where his platform differed).

Palin isn't afraid to distance herself ideologically from her opponent and she resonates to some degree with the republican base, so I'm not going to write off her chances in 2012.
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I don't think so. Despite Sarah's complaining that the republicans sandbagged her, I think she lost the election for McCain. Palin has zero experience on the international level (but oh, how can we ever forget that she thinks she's an expert because Alaska is near Russia!), doesn't believe in global climate change or evolution, bailed on her commitment to serve Alaska, and is just generally a joke. Listen to her interview with Katie Couric. It's just painful! She doesn't know what magazines or newspapers she reads, excepts that it's, you know, all of the ones that have crossed her desk over the years. She doesn't know what her particular experience or accomplishments are, but, umm, she'll get back to you with that!

There's a reason everyone started referring to her as Caribou Barbie. She is an airhead, who got as far as she did because she was a novelty. A young, female republican who wasn't a scary skeletor like Ann Coulter.

The republicans accused Obama of only getting elected because he had "star power." If anything, Sarah is the one who plays upon her celebrity. She is wish-washy, undefined, and inexperienced, but she can pose with a gun or a fishing rod and call herself a maverick! That earns votes, but only of the stupid.

Some people would vote for her, just because they only ever vote republican, no matter how unqualified the candidate (yes, us dems will sometimes do that too). Some will vote for her because she's "one of the folks!" and aww, ain't she cute? But really, I think most people understand that outside of a sitcom, Palin isn't qualified to lead the country.
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I think that quitting the Governonrship of Alaska is going to be a problemfor her nomination. What if she decides to resign as "president" as well? or maybe midway though the election? The reasons she gave were not serious enough to justify her decision. That is the major, and perhaps fatal obstacle I see for Palin. It seems that she doen't take a political office of that caliber seriously.
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If the Republican Party was interested in seriously changing the direction of things right now, I'd recommend that they encourage a different role for the former Governer of Alaska. I don't think she is presidential material, and pushing her into the spotlight proved inefficient before, so I'd say it would be a bad idea in a few years as well.

She was a victim of both being unsuitable for the position of vice and the passion that was the drive behind Obama's election. Why was she unsuitable? Inexperience . . . tact. . . smear campaigns. . . pick one. She just didn't "work" in the position. She was awkward. That doesn't mean she's not capable of any serious role in the Republican Party in the future, but it really doesn't seem advisable to utilize her in that way.
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Polls will be indicating a landslide for Obama when election time rolls around, so no serious Republicans, if there are any left, will want to run. So Palin has a good shot at the Republican nomination. She might become the first major party candidate not to get any electoral votes at all.
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not any more. she resigned as AK governor. she only has 2 1/2 years to re-invent herself before the primary.

by the way: If you look at all the presidents we've had starting with Kennedy, only two have been Senators.

If you don't count the 1974 and 1963 VP ascendancies of the VP into POTUS, here's a chart of the winners and what their jobs were when elected:

5 (38.5%) President
4 (30.8%) Governor
2 (15.4%) Senator
1 (7.7%) Vice President
1 (7.7%) Former Vice President
13 (100.1% -so solly, rounding errors add up)
So, the best way to win a Presidential election is to be a President, and get re-elected. The next best way is to be a Governor. The third worst way is to be a senator, followed by a tie for Vice Presidents and Former Vice President.

If you chart the loser of the same 13 elections:
5 (38.5%) Senator
3 (23.1%) President
3 (23.1%) Vice President
1 (7.7%) Former Vice President
1 (7.7%) Governor
13 (100.1% -again, rounding errors)
You see that the most likely sort of candidate to lose an election is a Senator. and then the list goes down, so that only one Governor has been nominated, then lost.

We love to re-elect presidents. (Under the current Constitution, in 2012, Obama will be eligible for re-election.) Next, we love to elect Governors. We rarely elect Senators.

As a former Governor, Palin will have a hard time being elected POTUS.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election and the biographical links from that page.

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Nope, she may be in the top 3 front runners *early* on simply due to her name recognition.

However, I think Republicans want to move on and find someone new. She will be popular in the Republican base, but though she has some loyal followers, she doesn't have enough. Her novelty has run out. Once again, Republicans want a newcomer to breath life into their failing party.
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