I'm surprised Kay Baily Hutchinson's name has not been mentioned...
Currently, she is a United States Senator from Texas (Republican). In 2001, she was named one of "The 30 most powerful women in America" by Ladies Home Journal. She is the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, the first Republican woman to win election to the Senate by defeating an incumbent, and is currently the most senior Republican woman in the Senate. In 2000, she became the first U.S. Senate candidate in Texas history (male or female) to poll more than four million votes.
She is planning to leave the Senate and very likely will be elected Texas governor in 2010.
I think she may want to stay closer to home as governor, but there's been speculation...
http://www.texansforkay.com/ All that said, I was very impressed with Palin. I think the left-wing media (branch of the democratic party) would not have made such fools of themselves attacking her if they did not see her as a real threat.
She's young, sharp, personable and has a common sense conservative approach and appeal. I don't know if she could get elected President, but I hope we have not heard the last of her.
I dreaded and feared a Hillary presidency... and if you had told me a year ago that someone would be elected president that I feared MORE than Hillary, I would not have believed it. She must have been very frustrated... to watch this guy come along, who dared to run for president while having LITTLE to NO experience (arrogant), and then to watch him attain rock star status... I almost felt sorry for her.
