I don’t see anything “rough” about her record — TIME’s bias reeks.....
I agree. It sounds like she was a fiscal conservative/late-bar-opening libertarian to start, but she wisely used or permitted the resources of her party and kindred coalition (pro-life) organizations to help her get started. Then as she moved up the hierarchy and encountered corruption she responded to that. (Perhaps leading successfully what would then be seen as a reform movement that she simply joined with.)
It also sounds like she’s never hid or denied her pro-life conservatism, but she hasn’t governed as a juanita one-note either. We know she sold the governor’s plane on ebay and cut out the governor’s chef, so I don’t see that she weakened or lost her small-government bona fides along the way.
She ultimately sounds genuinely like the ideal candidate to reunite the small government, conservative Reagan coalition nationwide.