A look at the Palin crowd

BBC:

Whatever happens in American politics in the course of the next three years, we will remember this as the day when Hurricane Palin blew through the normally placid streets of Grand Rapids Michigan.

And there are plenty of supporters of Sarah Palin who are hoping we will look back on it as the day when the opening shots of Campaign 2012 were fired.

...

So, let's consider the evidence.

Mrs Palin's book is a little light on ideology and big ideas but that probably does not matter very much in modern America where politicians run on their life stories and their ability to relate it to the lives of voters.

It worked for Barack Obama (although he did throw in a bit of ideology) so there is no reason why it should not work for Sarah Palin.

The book tour too looks a little like a campaign swing - running as it does through key marginal areas, regions of high unemployment and a couple of places (like this bit of Michigan) where any credible Republican contender for the presidency will have to do pretty well.

She is a little coy on the matter herself, but then these are early days and so is everyone else.

She talks of working to support other conservative candidates for office in the 2010 mid-terms when Republicans might do rather well.

And of course as she points out, you can serve the public without holding public office.

...

But the most compelling evidence of all that there is plenty more to come from Sarah Palin was in the nature of the crowd she drew here.

Her followers do not merely agree with her, they love her and, while she may alienate other Americans in equal or greater numbers, that makes her a force to be reckoned with.

Whatever other American politicians may say about her, however hard she may be for foreigners to understand and regardless of the pundits, any rival candidate looking at the crowds in Grand Rapids - and the crowds to come - will be envious. And perhaps a little worried.

This is an unusually positive story from the BBC where a conservative is the subject matter. While the writer may not necessarily like Palin's politics, He does comprehend her appeal. That is something that many in the US media still do not get.