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Is Sarah Palin getting in the way of Republicans who are more serious about running for president in 2016?

That鈥檚 certainly possible. She appeared in Iowa over the weekend at a big conservative convention and made a speech widely criticized as incoherent and rambling. Liberals were predictably gleeful about what they termed Ms. Palin鈥檚 "word salad." More interesting was the reaction of some conservative commentators, who complained that Palin鈥檚 (apparently) poor performance contrasted with and distracted from the polished presentations given by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and other GOP hopefuls.

For instance, John Fund of the right-leaning National Review listed Palin as one of the 鈥渓osers鈥� of the confab, the Iowa Freedom Summit.

鈥淭he former 2008 vice-presidential nominee told reporters last week that she was 鈥榮eriously鈥� considering running in 2016. But her meandering and often bizarre 33-minute speech in Des Moines proved she wasn鈥檛,鈥� .

Let鈥檚 back up a bit here 鈥� last Thursday, Palin indeed told ABC News that 鈥渙f course鈥� she was interested in a presidential race. She was serving wild boar chili to the homeless at the time.

As we noted at the time, this got the typing fingers tingling on every political reporter in America. Oh, if only she would! But come on, it鈥檚 not happening. Palin hasn鈥檛 hired staff, raised big bucks, wooed local supporters, or made any other preliminary moves toward a presidential candidacy. It鈥檚 too late to just mull over a bid. The folks that are talking about making a decision 鈥� we鈥檙e looking at you, Jeb Bush 鈥� are already paddling hard under the surface.

By the way, Palin鈥檚 got a TV show that started a new season last week, 鈥淎mazing America with Sarah Palin." We鈥檙e sure that鈥檚 just a coincidence.

Then came Saturday鈥檚 speech. By most accounts, it didn鈥檛 go well. Palin appeared to ad lib the address 鈥� it鈥檚 possible her teleprompter malfunctioned.

First, she engaged in what called an 鈥渆xtended stream of consciousness complaint鈥� about her media coverage. Then she went on a 鈥渇ree association ramble鈥� that linked Obama with Hillary Clinton, the energy industry, her daughter Bristol, and so on.

The person who preceded Palin 鈥� former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 鈥� gave a serious talk that left attendees wanting more, according to Mr. York. Palin didn鈥檛.

鈥淭he experience leaves Iowa Republicans with a lot to think about,鈥� York wrote. 鈥淵es, Palin is still a draw. Yes, conservatives still empathize with her over the beating she took from the media in 2008. But if there is indeed nothing behind her 鈥榮eriously interested鈥� talk 鈥� and it appears there is not 鈥� should she be included in events leading up to the 2016 caucuses?鈥�