In what appeared to be Sarah Palin’s lowest attempt to stay in the public spotlight last Tuesday, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and current governor of Alaska launched a new political action committee, SarahPAC.

The model, which is an obvious mirror to that of Hillary Clinton’s HillaryPAC, already has people in Washington, and throughout the blogosphere talking about what appears to be Palin’s almost definite 2012 presidential run. The PAC is going to be raising money for Republican candidates, and most likely exploring a winning strategy for Palin in 2012.

Before going any further with my analysis of Palin’s new PAC, I must say that although she appears to be a genuinely good person, the governor has quite a few obstacles to hurdle to be recognized legitimately by most voting Americans in a 2012 election — including this writer.

But then again, regardless of whether I or the majority of Americans agree with Palin, it is hard to disregard the fact that the astonishing amount of support she has garnered since her entrance into the public spotlight, which arguably was second only to that of Barack Obama. And through all the lack of experience and knowledge of crucial issues facing the U.S. heading into the 2008 election, Palin was able to stick around.

Evidence of this can be easily found in the countless interviews she gave to cable news after the election, her selection as one of 2008’s “Top 10 Most Fascinating People” in a Barbara Walters ABC special, and her campaigning for Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia in his bid to be re-elected to the Senate in a December run-off election.

However, my problem with Palin is hardly personal; it’s just political and happens to be a two-fold disagreement.

First, I can’t understand all of the hysteria and what oftentimes seems like an undying love for a governor that heavily detracted from one of the most deserving Republican candidates in recent memory, Sen. John McCain. I mean, I can’t simply disregard the fact that until she showed up at the scene, McCain was never able to draw the thousands of individuals from all over the country as Palin so easily did. Not to mention she appears to be extremely popular with younger people, as evidenced by her near 500,000 official Palin fans on Facebook, and the cornucopia of Palin-related fan groups on similar site.

Certainly, regardless of political allegiance, nothing of this sort has existed in the Republican Party since Reagan, although I find Palin to be a far cry from the politically-savvy Reagan. I mean, sure, she has the potential in the next four years to be a more adroit and encompassing candidate, but it would be foolish to avoid the obvious reason why more than 60 percent of Americans felt she was not qualified to take office: She reduced herself to consistently regurgitating neo-conservative talking points during countless interviews after her nomination.

Now, it comes to the second part of my problem with Palin, and that is the fact that the 2012 election is too important for the GOP to have a 2008 Palin accepting her party’s nomination. To be very honest, Palin is at the near bottom of conservative candidates that I feel would best restore the GOP to its proper place as the keeper of classical conservative principles such as limited government, maximum individual freedom and opportunity. The fear is that Palin can easily be elected in a GOP primary, regardless of whether she takes the strides to develop into a more credible candidate.

And with a 2008 Palin in a 2012 national election, the repercussions the GOP could face from another disastrous loss could indefinitely hurt the Republican Party.

Reach Joseph at joseph.hermiz@asu.edu.