“Again and again, Palin urged her audience to confront ‘the permanent political class,’ ‘crony capitalism’ and ‘the good ol’ boys,’ whom she said she took on as governor of Alaska.

“‘The challenge is not simply to replace Obama in 2012, but the real challenge is who and what we will replace him with,’ the 2008 vice presidential candidate said before pausing a full 30 seconds to allow the cheers and chants of ‘Run, Sarah, run!’ to finally dissipate…

“‘She needs to be president,’ said Karen Lander of Latimer, Iowa. ‘People can understand her because she’s a common person. Whether she runs or not, she’s changing America. She’s a people’s candidate.’…

“‘She’s able to articulate the true passion she has for this country,’ Jepsen said. ‘It’s so contagious. It sends shivers down your spine.'”

“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Obama earning 47% of the vote to Palin’s 35%. Fourteen percent (14%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided… That’s a bit closer than the results from three weeks ago…

“Obama now picks up 83% of the Democratic voter against Palin and leads among voters not affiliated with either major party by a 45% to 32% margin. Palin captures 66% of the Republican vote, with nearly one-in-four GOP voters (22%) favoring another candidate or undecided.

“Eighty-four percent (84%) of Tea Party voters prefer Palin. Sixty percent (60%) of those who are not members of the grass roots movement opt for the president.”

“‘At the end of the day, the rules usually prevail,’ said former New Hampshire Atty. Gen. Tom Rath, a Mitt Romney advisor. ‘I don’t know any candidate that makes the race into the one they want. Once she gets in, she becomes like every other candidate.’…

“‘She is not capable of raising anywhere near the amount of money necessary for a serious presidential campaign,’ said [a veteran Republican] strategist, who like several others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid damaging professional relationships. ‘Maybe a couple million. Not $50 million.’…

“‘I don’t think she would burrow in in any one state,’ said a close advisor to a top-tier Republican candidate. ‘The one thing about Sarah Palin which is impressive is she does it her way. She doesn’t follow orthodoxy. I think she is a much more gifted politician than people give her credit for.’

“Even so, from a purely logistical level, her task would be daunting.

“‘To build the kind of organization you need takes several months,’ Fagen said. ‘The infrastructure and lawyers alone amount to putting together a Fortune 500 company overnight. It’s a massive undertaking.'”

“Her five point plan could have been taken from just about any candidates’ Standard Stump Speech, and I include Jon Huntsman when I say ‘any candidate.’…

“Palin got lots of attention for a speech that turned out to be extremely bullet-point and frankly trivial.

“I don’t consider this an achievement. I just consider it manipulative, and I don’t just laugh it off as playing a prank on the stupid media…

“Who’s being pranked here? The media in attendance were all paid to be there. Their travel arrangements were comped. They’ll get back their vacation day. And it was either covering this or covering Jon Huntsman.

“What about everyone else?”

Via Mediaite.

Via RCP. “Polls are for strippers and cross country skiers.”