Doc Z corrects Allahpundit:

I’m sure Petraeus would receive an eager and respectful hearing from both Republican and independent voters, if he decided to pursue a career in politics. (Democrats would haul those disgraceful “General Betray Us” signs out of storage, and begin inventing imaginary racist quotes they could post online, citing each other as reliable sources.) I find the classification of Palin as “poisonous to moderates” debatable, however.

Allahpundit didn’t pull this description out of thin air – various polls show her doing much better among conservatives than moderates, and of course liberals hate her the way that creepy little kid and long-haired girl in “The Grudge” hated anyone who came into their haunted house. A recent Pew Research poll gives Palin a 62% approval rating among moderate Republicans, which is a little north of poisonous, but far below her 85% rating with conservatives.

Why should Palin be such a hard sell for moderate voters? After all, she was tapped as a running mate by the most moderate moderate to ever moderate his way to a crushing electoral defeat, John McCain. She’s clearly much more conservative than he is, but are we supposed to believe the people who adore McCain’s maverick centrism will completely disregard his… shall we say… moderate endorsement of Palin, and treat her like a radioactive wolverine? What did she ever say, or do, to send these enlightened, open-minded moderates stampeding for the hills? Her style isn’t “divisive” or confrontational, unless we are meant to conclude that strong criticism of the radical Barack Obama automatically infuriates middle-of-the-road types…in which case they seem more like a herd of sheep than a wise company of level-headed independents. All of the superficial reasons cited for Palin’s alleged inability to connect with moderate voters are exactly the kind of trivia they’re supposedly able to think beyond.

They’re also a direct result of media manipulation and outright falsehood, fabricated for the precise purpose of creating that “toxic” aura Allahpundit was talking about. And that fact alone ought to be enough to rally more thoughtful and aware people to her standard, if only to thwart liberal-bloc designs and undermine their effectiveness. But we’re after bigger fish here:

Liberal Republicans would actually be the hardest of the three moderate groups for a serious conservative to win over, given their long-standing distaste for the right wing of their own party, but they might be willing to jump onto a campaign headed for victory. They were certainly quick to bail out of the Straight Talk Express, despite their ostensible love for John McCain. If Sarah Palin ran against Obama and looked like a winner in the last months of the campaign, she shouldn’t be surprised to see some fawning op-eds from people like Peggy Noonan, as they suddenly discover a luminous aura of energy and charisma around her. That’s what courtiers do. “Moderation” can dissolve in the frantic scramble for relevance. Anyone who could swoon over the “superior judgment” of the guy who filled his administration with tax cheats, 9/11 conspiracy morons, and NAMBLA supporters will have no trouble revising their opinion of the “seemingly very nice middle-class girl,” if she’s up six points over Obama in the October 2012 polls.

How does Sarah Palin improve her standing among moderates? By talking to them. A true moderate can hardly define themselves through stubborn closed-mindedness. Palin’s book sales suggest people are interested in hearing what she has to say. Her writing and speeches show that she’s gotten better at saying it. Of course, not having to shamble along with the zombies of the McCain campaign helps with that. Everything I’ve seen of Palin since the end of the 2008 campaign is remarkably consistent with the performance that brought the house down at the Republican National Convention. That speech was intoxicating, not poisonous.

Yep. But we ought also to remember who and what most “moderates” really are, as long as we’re deciding whether they’re worth courting or not: they’re liberals who don’t want to admit they’re liberals, and pandering to them will only serve to drag us all further leftward. The good Doctor is right that Palin ought to be talking to them, sure. But she — and everyone else on our side — ought also to do it in a specific way. That way is to clearly enunciate the values promoted by the Founders; to express reverence and respect for their blueprint for the wise governance of a free people — to wit, the US Constitution; and to demonstrate how lamentably far we’ve strayed from those things at the behest of statist frauds, corrupt boodlers, and the Democrat Socialist rogue’s gallery of others who do NOT have the nation’s best interests foremost in mind.