This piece by a "right wing" commentator in the Sunday Times, conveys the sense of fear and loathing in which many conservatives hold Sarah Palin

From The Sunday Times February 14, 2010

Fear Palin, a warrior messiah on a mission
Sarah Palin's speech last weekend revealed a woman driven by a sense of divine destiny
(Ed Reinke)
Sarah Palin

Andrew Sullivan


So does tomorrow truly belong to her? I refer, of course, to the former governor of Alaska, who quit when she was barely past the middle of her first term because, as she explained, she was not a quitter. I refer to the first vice-presidential nominee in modern times to run for office without holding a single press conference.

I refer to a person who had no idea why there was a South Korea and a North Korea; who had trouble understanding that Africa is a continent, not a country; who believes that the first amendment guarantees the right of politicians not to be criticised too harshly; who thinks climate change is "snake-oil science"; who thinks gays can — and should be — cured; and who last weekend electrified a small gathering of Tea party supporters in Nashville, Tennessee, with a speech deemed so important that it was broadcast live on a Saturday night on every cable news station.

The answer, I am sorry to report, is: possibly. I watched Sarah Palin's speech live and, if you leave any consideration of substance out of it, it was the most talented and effective performance of any Republican politician since Ronald Reagan. She has astonishing levels of charisma and a profound connection to her constituency: white, rural, evangelical, fundamentalist voters now roiled into ever greater levels of populist ire, with a president called Barack Hussein Obama who does nuance pretty well. She is also prepared to go where other, more — shall we say — responsible conservatives usually don't.

Two lines stood out for me. The first was a sign that she believes and her followers believe that she has some kind of divine destiny. She has repeatedly written and said that everything is in God's hands and that her future is simply to obey his will. In her question-and-answer session she explicitly called for "divine intervention" to save America from its current president, while openly declaring that she could well run for president in 2012.

Last week she cast herself in the mould of the biblical figure of Queen Esther, a story deeply embraced by the religious right. There was also her Eva Peron moment on Saturday in Nashville: "I will live, I will die for the people of America."

This is not the rhetoric of a politician. You cannot imagine even a late-stage Margaret Thatcher saying such a thing without being laughed off the stage. It has the apocalyptic tones of the leader of a movement.