I'm one of those people who thinks that, if she's not elected vice president, Sarah Palin will be the GOP's rock star the next few years.
Spurred on by Palin herself, the reassessment of the Palin candidacy has already begun. We've already heard that it wasn't her fault, that she was mismanaged and ineptly handled, that Palin wasn't allowed to be Palin, that she wasn't properly prepped by the McCain people, that her rollout was badly handled, etc.
No other GOP candidate this year so excited the party faithful. Her crowds were bigger than the ones that came to see John McCain. And when you think back to the Republican primaries, it's hard to see how any of the other candidates could have duplicated that excitement.
Palin is likely to be the one that Republican candidates most want to have show up for a fundraiser in 2009 and 2010. This will be especially true of the socially conservative wing of the party that's been absolutely enthralled with her candidacy.