Press continues to demean Sarah even as they report on her unmatched ‘charisma’ at event

‘Leadership conference’ headlined as ‘beauty’ contest?

Sarah Palin storms ‘beauty contest’

Sarah Palin signs autographs after speaking at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans

When Republican activists poured into a New Orleans conference hall to greet Sarah Palin last week, they found gift packages of chewy Alaskan moose meat waiting on their seats. And when the queen of American conservatism eventually made her entrance, many female delegates leapt to their feet and waved tubes of lipstick.

No other Republican leader at the party’s biggest political gathering of the year provided anything like the verve, charisma and entertainment that the Palin juggernaut rolls out.

Yet even as they chanted “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah”, and cheered her attacks on President Barack Obama on Friday, there was sobering news for party officials plotting a return to the White House in 2012.

Despite polls showing that after its divisive wrangle over healthcare reforms, Obama’s Democratic party is languishing at record levels of unpopularity, America remains far from convinced that Palin is a serious presidential contender.