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Page: Palin is den mother to political orphans

What? Another Sarah Palin piece? A lot of people say the media pay too much attention to Sarah Palin. Forget that. I think we need to pay more attention to her. I'm not just saying this because she sells newspapers or draws eyeballs to TV screens, although that tantalizing bottom-line incentive does not chill my curiosity.

I think we need to know more about why so many people are so crazy about her, whether the craziness happens to be for her or against her.

We recently witnessed the opening days of Palinfest, her national tour to hawk her book, "Going Rogue," mostly through talk shows and the small-town folks she rhapsodized as Sen. John McCain's running mate. Watching 1,500 people happily line up for hours for a chance to get her autographed book in Grand Rapids, Mich., I wondered: Do conservatives hold government in such low regard that they actually think Sarah Palin could run it?

Quite a few do, judging by the polls. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll found only 17 percent of Republicans said they "definitely would" vote for her, but another 58 percent said they "would consider it." That's more than enough of a base for the self-described maverick from Wasilla to wage a battle reminiscent of a conservative Arizona senator who Republicans nominated to be president in 1964, the year Palin was born: Barry Goldwater.

Like Goldwater, who went down to a crushing defeat in the general election against President Lyndon B. Johnson, Palin excites her party's base too much to be ignored, no matter how much her own party's leaders wish they could - even as she wages war with the moderate voters her party needs to win elections.

But the polls don't tell you how much of her support is a genuine belief that she is presidential material versus how much is wishful thinking. Many of her followers are content to have the cathartic pleasure of hearing someone with her star power give voice to their frustrations with government as it has been run by both parties.

They delight in hearing her stick it to their nemesis, President Barack Obama. Palin doesn't have to actually run for presiden

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