What are politicians REALLY like?

Some people think that Sarah Palin is playing the simpleton role on purpose. Or at least Alec Baldwin does:

She reads her palm in order to send a message to her anti-Eastern establishment, Obama-hating, OK-You've-Had-Your-Black-President-Experiment, Tea Party types. That message is, "I'm just one person, doing the best I can with what God gave me. Like all y'all out there."

Now, I'm sure that much of what she does is 'calculated' in a way.  Politicians on that end of the spectrum are going with their strength:  appealing to the 'simple folk' in the US, those that don't want a lot of change, and that don't look kindly to those 'academic' types.

But I can't believe that she (and others like her) are that good at acting.  It's too seemless.  I think she's honestly "doing the best [she] can" with what she has and what she knows.  I think that she honestly believes that this is the best thing she can do.  Sure, she probably has doubts now and then but overall, she believes she's right.  Like all of us.  What we think is right is usually based a lot on what we have known growing up.  If you grow up in a conservative world, you'll be conservative.  If you grow up in a liberal world, you'll be liberal.  (By world, I mean whatever environment molded you significantly, so it's somewhat tautological.)  Sometimes people can be broken out of their expected worldview by a major event in their lives but for the most part, you are who your family and/or friends are.

I disagree with much of what she says because it seems to boil down mostly to "guns and force are good" and if you're not American and Christian you've got some work to do.  If I thought that she did not necessarily believe these things wholeheartedly and was instead putting on a political act, I'd see as pretty smart but also somewhat evil instead of merely misguided and dogmatic.  The latter is quite common and perfectly human.  The former scares the hell out of me.