The Next Sarah Palin?

(The Dailybeast).Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire’s GOP rising star, is a folksy, gun-loving mother of two who has her eyes on a Senate seat. Shortly after a relatively unknown New Hampshire attorney general, Kelly Ayotte, resigned her post last month to consider a run for U.S. Senate.

So why are Democrats spooked by a 41-year-old attorney general from New Hampshire? Maybe it’s because they’re worried Ayotte, with her budding star power and folksy charm, might actually be another Sarah Palin, a star who rockets out of nowhere. “She’s an absolute up-and-comer,” says one Republican political consultant. “She’s charming, nice, and polite. She’s untested, so the name Sarah Palin comes to mind—you never know exactly what the end result will be.”

New Hampshire political analyst Dean Spiliotes said Ayotte is definitely a rising star, but it’s unclear how she will do out on the stump,“She’s young, she’s got a nice family, two little kids, married, photogenic, articulate, etc…” Spiliotes said. “All the things you want in a candidate. And she’s fresh. A lot of other Republican candidates have already lost other races. The flip side is, we don’t know much about her as a campaigner.....

But Ayotte is already doing well, according to a University of New Hampshire poll, which had her leading her opponent, Paul Hodes, by 39 percent to 35 percent. Another poll by Research 2000 for the liberal Daily Kos Web site had the two at a tie.