I figured that distinction out years ago when I was trying to understand what drove the plotlines of various authors. But it applies to politics just as well.

Liberals tend to be love-based -- helping, caring, compassion, bringing people together, peace-making. All of that.

Libertarians tend to be freedom-based. From a liberal point of view, they can get a bit obnoxious about it -- but they're also a valuable counter-balance to the liberal tendency to get a bit smothering or busybody-ishy.

Conservatives are power-based. At best, they see life in terms of a military model -- clear lines of authority, assigning roles in order to get things done efficiently, and so forth. But all too often, they're just about domination, control, and random ass-kicking.

Like the balance of powers among the three branches of government, each type is useful to offset the weaknesses and limitations of the others. The problem is that right now, our society has gotten out of balance, with the worst kind of conservative power-trippers exercising disproportionate influence.

But there's something beyond that going on with Palin. That is, she's making appeals to both the love thing (handing the baby around) and the freedom thing (the whole mooseburger trip) -- but you just know that down at her core she's about nothing but power. That falsity may be why she can come across as evil.