dk: I think I've proven (even if Richie disagrees with my conclusions) that I go major on issues with a minor on character. The funny thing is, I was once accused of being as conservative as Atilla the Hun. At the sime time, I was described by soeone else as a liberal "pro-death windbag" (neither situation on this board).

I try to take the issues individually and I don't like being pigeonholed.

But if you want to know why Sarah Palin inspires such vitriol, I think I might have SOME of the answer.

Fear. But maybe not the way you might think at first.

Start from a *decent* liberal's point of view - not one I really agree with but believing that government has more of a role in lives than conservatives would believe. Now, look at Palin's charisma. Even her detractors (like me) have to admit - she draws a crowd and hangs on to them. She DOES get followers.

The fear is almost identical to what conservatives feel when some liberal goes off on "tax the rich to solve all our problems and we'll have milk and honey for everyone". Conservatives are afraid that enough people will believe it that the nation will be led to ruin.

Well, the same holds true for liberals in how they view Palin. She big on rhetoric and can sloganeer with the best of them. However, I haven't seen one single proposal out of her - but that doesn't really matter right now because she's not a candidate. Oh, I think she's lying through her teeth when she says her bus tour is 'just a family vacation' and was quoted to a reporter saying "Thanks for ruining our vacation".. She's not that dumb. I think she's taking the pulse of various regions. She's seeing what the crowds will be like - ad she tested those waters in heavily Democratic districts (Philly, NY, Boston).

When it comes to some political savvy and campaign know-how, at the moment she's crazy - crazy like a fox.

The REAL test will be if she annouces. Personally, I think she will. You don't go around saying you feel the fire in your belly if you haven't already decided that it's a possibility. When THAT happens, the campaign shifts. THEN you have to start getting into specifics.

She's certainly smarter than Trump. No matter how negative an opinon I might have of Palin, she wouldnt' DARE go off saying she had something she didn't have, the way Trump did with his "You won't believe what my investigators are finding in Hawaii" line of bull concerning Obama's birth certificate (and then refuse to answer any questions when the certificate came out). If Palin had a bombshell, she'd use it.