The Republican Party has a pretty big tent and after their reckless behavior while they were in power followed by their humiliating defeat in 2006, the GOP has been in turmoil, trying to figure out which direction to go. The Tea Party protests set a precedent for the direction much of the GOP took. Many people rushed to the Ron Paul (libertarian) camp. Many people started looking for a serious moderate who could offer real solutions and be taken seriously by both moderates and conservatives, which looks to be Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty. Still, the conservative, Hannity-watching, camp of Tea Party crowd is very much behind Sarah Palin.
As much as I like her personally, I still don't think she has a chance. But some people still take her seriously.
For me, I'm looking at Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor. They are young, very smart, very sensible, and extremely pro-active. They actually put their name to pieces of legislation that address the most important issues facing this nation. I hope one of them runs for President - even if they aren't the nominee, at least the Republican Primary will be issue-driven and not merely rhetoric trying to appeal to the different groups within the GOP.