Sarah Palin's 'mama grizzlies' have tough summer: Is she losing her touch?

Sarah Palin has endorsed conservative candidates in dozens of Republican primaries this year. But her chosen office-seekers have been mostly unsuccessful. Has Sarah Palin lost touch with the Republican primary voters who make up her base?

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In Alaska, the tea party group has drawn smaller crowds. And Palin, too, who abruptly resigned the governor's office in 2009, enjoys limited reach in her home state. A Dittman Research poll in April found just 46 percent of Alaskans with favorable opinions of Palin.

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"I would expect Sarah's going to be very embarrassed by the results Tuesday," said Republican pollster Marc Hellenthal, who is not involved in
the primary. "She's been delivering everybody else's state but she won't be able to deliver her own."

Palin's endorsements apparently did help South Carolina's Nikki Haley capture her gubernatorial nomination in June and Rand Paul capture Kentucky's Senate nomination in May. And her backing has proved helpful to Republican candidates trying to assure voters they are sufficiently conservative: former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina who is challenging Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in California, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry who turned back a primary challenge from GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

She also has appeared with Sen. John McCain, whose presidential bid elevated her to the national stage and whose re-election bid drew tea party favorite J.D. Hayworth to Tuesday's Arizona primary.

But Palin has seen victory in just two competitive Republican primaries this month: John Koster's U.S. House bid in Washington state and Tom Emmer's "hockey dad" bid for Minnesota governor.

Her star power wasn't enough to help Colorado lawyer Bob McConnell earn the nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. John Salazar, nor did it give a win to Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state who was vying to become herstate's first female governor.

"Are you ready to elect a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, commonsense constitutional conservative, who will fight like a mama grizzly for you and
the values that you hold dear?" Palin asked a cheering crowd in a hotel ballroom on the eve of the Aug. 10 runoff. "The eyes of the nation are on you, Georgia, to see if you get rid of that good ol' boy network," Palin said.

Handel – and Palin, by proxy – fell short to former Rep. Nathan Deal.

IN PICTURES: Sarah Palin's fashion