Palin lacks ‘gravitas’ to be president says Karl Rove

Sarah Palin's homespun image may have won over Tea Party supporters, but it is unlikely to convince the American public that she should ever be trusted with the keys to the Oval Office, according to senior Republican strategist Karl Rove.

The man who helped persuade the US to elect George W Bush, twice, believes that Palin lacks the necessary "gravitas" required to become president, which he says is the "most demanding job in the world".

However, Palin is widely believed to be planning a tilt at the top job in 2012 and her latest attempt to build her brand is a reality TV show in which she and her family explore her home state of Alaska.

The rather soupy trailer to the show, which includes clips of Palin eulogising about family life and the benefits of the great outdoors, contains a line that has Rove worried about her chances.

"I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office," she declares at one point - shortly after announcing "Family comes first, it's just gotta be that way" and screaming "this is flipping fun" while canoeing down a river.

Talking to the Daily Telegraph, Rove said: "With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office'."

The show - Sarah Palin's Alaska - will actually be broadcast by The Learning Channel when it debuts next month. But Rove should know where the public draws the line when it comes to judging the suitability of presidents.

He was deputy chief of staff to George W Bush, who was hardly regarded as an intellectual colossus and once interrupted a round of golf to tell reporters: "I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive."

No matter what Rove thinks of her chances, rumours that Palin will stand in 2012 will only be fuelled by an interview on Entertainment Tonight, set to be screened on this evening in the US. In it Palin reportedly tells interviewer Mary Hart that she will run for president "if there's nobody else to do it".

If she does indeed make a run for the White House, perhaps she will heed Rove's advice and leave the documentary-making to her namesake and former Monty Python Michael. ·