This article seems flawed in its argument. Palin is not "an enormously talented politician." She's a local hack who happens to have garnered national attention. The US is full of local wacko's like Palin. Fortunately most never see the national spotlight. She is not "very, very appealing" except to a small minority of people attracted to wacko's. The idea that "the evangelical community might be a stronger force in 2012 than it was in 2008, " is also highly unlikely. Picking McCain this year shows how little concern the party has for the evangelical community so why imagine this will change? The Republican party is in disarray, but is not a complete shambles, and they aren't stupid. We don't know the specifics concerning what will happen during Obama's first term so we have no idea what the Republicans will do to in response.
John Thornton