Ann Coulter: Sarah Palin has become ‘the Obama of the tea party'

(By Jeff Poor, The Daily Caller) - It has been three years since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made her splash as Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential running mate. Since then she has acquired a very loyal following – but is that helping her or hurting her?

On Tuesday’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” substitute host Laura Ingraham asked conservative columnist Ann Coulter if Palin can maintain her status as a tea party favorite by stringing people along about her potential 2012 candidacy.

“Maybe not,” Coulter replied. “Newt Gingrich carried it on for 15 years and I kind of think that might be what we’re getting here, largely because of the polls. I mean, you just showed the Fox News poll. Gallup took a poll — I don’t know — five, six months ago, showing that … 65 percent said they would never definitely, positively, ever vote for Sarah Palin.”