In the end, though, Rollins expects that Palin “will be very similar to [Dan] Quayle.”

“When he started to run, [Quayle] got nowhere,” Rollins said. “The potential is there [for Palin] but out of 10 weeks she had two good weeks.” For the 2012 race, “she’s now not starting at the top but starting at the bottom,” he said, adding that Palin would have to campaign for years in Iowa and New Hampshire to mount a viable campaign…

“Palin needs to demonstrate growth above all else, if she is capable. She needs to retire from the field, endure a period of introspection, and renew herself before she can attempt to return,” said Alex Castellanos, a GOP media consultant who most recently advised Mitt Romney during his 2008 presidential campaign. “Unless she retires from the field soon, the cement will set on the Sarah Palin we know now.”…

“‘Never’ is a word you don’t use in politics. But having said that, it is difficult for me to imagine her as the Republican nominee in 2012 or 2016,” said John Weaver, McCain’s top strategist in his 2000 presidential bid. “You know, some of the negatives about her are now ingrained in the public lore. They are not the negatives that you accumulate in the rough-and-tumble campaign. These are negatives that go to the core of a person, whether she has the ability to serve in national office.”