If one of the side-effects of Sarah Palin's sudden resignation as governor of Alaska is comments like this one from Ed Morrisey, then what she did was definitely beneficial to herself and the GOP.

Sarah Palin is not an issue.  Sarah Palin is not a political principle.  Sarah Palin is a politician.  If her supporters demand no criticism of a politician, they risk turning Palin and her supporters into nothing more than a cult of personality, the kind we derided with Barack Obama.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The issues are reining in an out-of-control Federal government, keeping America strong overseas and cleaning up the cesspool of corruption in D.C. To paraphrase Slick Willy, it's the issues, stupid.