As I've said before in this thread & others, that is a tougher proposition. But there's clearly a combination of her looks, her gender, and some form of "it" charisma (as in "whatever it is, she's got it) in play.
Then you can add factors like the sheer level of annoyance she brings to the left, that's not a drawing card that should be ignored. Anyone who can rile 'em that much has to be reasonably okay in most cases.
She is capable of hitting the long ball very quickly & in few words (her "how's that working out for ya" riff this weekend was a line drive rocket that splashed into the bay)
She's not the dismal lukewarm disappointment of McCain, probably can't count that out either.
A man certainly familiar with the whole charisma thing (whether I saw it or not) is Bill Clinton. And his comment during the last campaign was this:
Bill Clinton said Monday he understands why Sarah Palin is popular in the heartland: because people relate to her.
"I come from Arkansas, I get why she's hot out there," Clinton said. "Why she's doing well."
Speaking to reporters before his Clinton Global Initiative meeting, the former president described Palin's appeal by adding, "People look at her, and they say, 'All those kids. Something that happens in everybody's family. I'm glad she loves her daughter and she's not ashamed of her. Glad that girl's going around with her boyfriend. Glad they're going to get married.'"
Clinton said voters would think, "I like that little Down syndrome kid. One of them lives down the street. They're wonderful children. They're wonderful people. And I like the idea that this guy does those long-distance races. Stayed in the race for 500 miles with a broken arm. My kind of guy."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ntonpalin.html
Regular contributor to the
NYT Stanley Fish said about her book that
"I find the voice undeniably authentic (yes, I know the book was written “with the help” of Lynn Vincent, but many books, including my most recent one, are put together by an editor). It is the voice of small-town America, with its folk wisdom, regional pride, common sense, distrust of rhetoric (itself a rhetorical trope), love of country and instinctive (not doctrinal) piety."
Combined, those describe another part of her appeal, the image (myth?) of being "one of us", and seemingly able to do it to multiple constituencies at the same time. Much like the old gag about how important sincerity is ("once you can fake that then you've got it made"), part of her appeal lies in her talent for making people see her as they want to see her. If you can do that then you've won a big part of the battle. Don't ask me to explain how she does it, if anyone could fully do that then they'd be a far sight wealthier than I am today.
I think if you're looking for any one answer, or even a fairly narrowly defined answer then you're probably going to be disappointed. Her popularity doesn't seem to be about any one thing, it's the combination of those things that makes up the whole.