Palin: Lose or win she is set to become a superstar

By Ed Stoddard

Sarah Palin has emerged as the new darling of social conservatives, and this political capital could make her an influential vice president — or propel her as a candidate for the prime spot in 2012 — if John McCain loses to Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday.

But even within Republican circles the moose-hunting Alaska governor is a polarizing figure who highlights her party’s divisions between fiscal conservatives and conservative Christians united by their strident opposition to abortion and gay rights.

"If they do in fact lose on Tuesday she becomes one of the central figures for 2012," said Matthew Wilson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

"Clearly, Palin is a star with the social conservatives but many of the country-club Republicans just find her completely unpalatable," he said.

The 44-year-old mother of five has become the northern light that has electrified the Republican Party’s conservative evangelical base -- its most reliable voting bloc.

She has won conservative hearts and minds on many fronts: she is a devout evangelical; she chose to have a child even when she knew through prenatal tests he would have Down syndrome; she is a populist; and she knows how to use a gun.

Rising star

A number of influential conservative Christians including Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention have pegged Palin as the rising star of the Republican Party’s social conservative wing.

If McCain loses tomorrow, this puts her near or at the front of the Republican pack for 2012.

"I think that she will be a major contender ... and she will certainly be in the running," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an influential conservative lobby group with strong evangelical ties.

But the same qualities that endear her to this wing of the Republican Party repel some moderates within its ranks.

There are also jitters about Palin’s lack of economic experience. Still, if McCain wins he will owe Palin and this wing of the party a huge debt which could give her a lot of clout. She would clearly be viewed as their White House insider.

If McCain loses the exit polls will be scoured but many pundits seem likely to blame it on centrist concerns about Palin during a financial crisis.

— Reuters