If she had dirt, it would have been all the media talked about at any point Sarah Palin's name was mentioned. It would have been Sarah Palin, who was involved in somethingorothergate today said or did, something completely unrelated to her activities in somethingorothergate. She is as squeaky clean a candidate as you will find in America today.
As far as the Republican Presidential candidate field goes, I have my preferences. I don't see any reason to vote for a senator, any senator, they don't have a spine amongst the lot of them. That leaves governors meaning Huckabee, Romney, Barbour, or Palin. Huckabee and Romney are liberals of one stripe or another. Barbour isn't going to beat Obama, not in a full campaign season. That leaves a Palin, at least as conservative as me, and likely able to beat Obama in a general election.
I have no idea why the Republican party establishment seems to detest her.