There are a lot of people, apparently, who really, really dislike Sarah Palin. Fine. They are entitled to their opinion. But their visceral distaste obscures the fact that the public remains fascinated with the governor of Alaska. Consider:

1) Palin's speech at the Republican convention was the highest rated convention speech in history.

2) Palin's debate with Joe Biden was the most-watched of this year's presidential debates, the highest-rated veep debate in history, and drew more viewers than the 1992 three-way presidential debate between Bush 41, Clinton, and Perot.

3) Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend gave the show its highest ratings in 14 years.

Shouldn't pundits be spending less time dismissing Palin, and more time investigating the strong pull she exerts on the public?