It is a measure of how completely scripted and captive Palin has become that there are now people offering counterintuitive theories that she is cunningly lulling her captors into a false sense of security before taking over the entire operation herself:

Her few genuine words on foreign policy indicate her positions are hardly the modern Republican norm.  She is “unusual” on pot smoking and benefits for gays and juror nullification.  The Republicans are underestimating her role as a Hegelian agent of world-historical change [bold mine-DL], just as the Democrats did at first.

Which narrative do you find more plausible?:

“Lovely Sarah, she’s saying and doing everything we want her to.  What a quick learner.  How pliable she is.  Remember Descartes on tabula rasa?”

“Once John and I are elected, they’ll need me more than I need them.”

The people who are right now the happiest may end up the most concerned.  For better or worse, they’re about to lose control of their movement.

Hegelian agent of world-historical change?  Frankly, this is even crazier than the “she’s a secret Buchananite secessionist” notion that briefly enchanted some of my colleagues.  Let’s be very clear about this: she will either become a predictable vessel of everything that is wrong with the GOP today, or she will be marginalized and steadily undermined from within by those who support everything that is wrong with the GOP today.  You can hope that she will be a champion of Republican transformation, or you can hope that she will be influential and will become the heir apparent leader of both movement and party, but it has become simply ridiculous to expect both at the same time–they are mutually exclusive.  To respond to Rod’s question, “Might Sarah Palin steal the conservative movement out from under the noses of the old guard?” I’m afraid the answer is no.