Newsweek rolls out another cover story on Sarah Palin next week, with a piece by Lisa Miller that declares: “To white evangelical women, Sarah Palin is a modern-day prophet, preaching God, flag, and family--while remaking the religious right in her own image.” See the cover HERE.

What is this media fascination with Palin? Well, as Miller points out, she is rising in polls and seems to have a bond with conservative women. But when will the real digging into some of her actions begin?

“Palin has been antagonizing women on the left of late by describing herself as a 'feminist,' a word she uses to mean the righteous, Mama Bear anger that wells up when one of her children is attacked in the press or her values are brought into question,” Miller writes. “But while leftist critics continue to shred Palin as a cynical, shallow, ill-informed opportunist, and new polls show her unpopularity rating to be at an all-time high--53 percent--Palin is now playing to her strengths. Even if she never again seeks elected office, her pro-woman rallying cry, articulated in the evangelical vernacular, together with the potent pro-life example of her own family, puts Palin in a position to reshape and reinvigorate the religious right, one of the most powerful forces in American politics. The Christian right is now poised to become a women's movement--and Sarah Palin is its earthy Jerry Falwell.”

Still, Miller retells some falsehoods, like crediting Palin for supporting Carly Fiorina, a victorious California Senate candidate, and Nikki Haley, who won her primary for governor of South Carolina. Dave Weigel of The Washington Post did a great primary postmortem that showed Palin had little influence.

But Miller eventually points out some of the Palin unknowns: “For all her apparent authenticity, though, Palin's real motivations remain hidden. (She declined to be interviewed for this article.) The Trig story, moving in its first hearing, turns discomfiting and self-serving upon repetition. Further, Palin's lack of expertise on policy questions--and her apparent lack of curiosity--bothers not just her critics but even some of her most devoted fans.”