I think it's much like 2008.
Some ppl want "anything new and different, that is the opposite of the prez in office".
Obama wasn't as experienced as Hilary, Kerry, Gore, or a number of others. But he was new and different, and NOT BUSH.
Now, people on the right know that Palin is a lesser candidate than Newt, Rudy, Tancredo, and a host of others in terms of experience, knowledge, and ability to understand issues. But she's new and different and looks hot in shorts, and NOT OBAMA, so they'll settle.
Just as dems settling for a mediocre candidate left us in this 2009 shitstorm, settling for a shiny anti-obama dunce in 2012 will put us in a new kind of shitstorm in 2013, no doubt.