If I am wrong on this issue, there is a record of it BUT, as John O'Sullivan points out, the snobs often get it wrong.  Palin's instincts seem dead on to me.  O'Sullivan offers some comparisons with the Iron lady and some advice:

"They are far from identical; they rose in different political systems requiring different skills. As a parliamentarian, Mrs. Thatcher needed forensic and debating skills which her training in Oxford politics and as a tax lawyer gave her. Mrs. Palin is a good speaker, but she needs to hone her debating tactics if she is to match those of the Iron Lady.

On the other hand, Mrs. Palin rose in state politics to jobs requiring executive ability. Her successful conduct of the negotiations with Canada, Canadian provinces and American states over the Alaska pipeline was a larger executive task than anything handled by Mrs. Thatcher until she entered the Cabinet and, arguably, until she became prime minister."

Read on.

Thanks, David.