Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday that while GOP front-runner Mitt Romney "is a great candidate," he's still evolving as a conservative.
Palin is not yet convinced Romney is "instinctively" a constitutional conservative.
"I am not convinced and I don't think that the majority of GOP and independent voters are convinced," Palin told "Fox News Sunday." "And that is why you don't see Romney get over the hump. He's still in the 30-percentile mark when it comes to approval and primary wins and caucus wins. He still hasn't risen above that yet because we are not convinced."
Palin said she believes Romney is still "evolving" as a conservative after five years on the campaign trail and millions of dollars spent. But, she added, that's a high hurdle for all the candidates to demonstrate.
"He still needs to be able to articulate what his solutions are to the challenges facing America -- but not just Mitt. All four of them," she said.
"What I want to see is that candidate and I believe that most voters in the GOP and independents, we will want to see that candidate whom we can trust will just inherently, instinctively turn right, always err on the side of conservativism, which means smaller, smarter government, more empowerment for the individual, for the private sector," Palin said.
Palin, who said Saturday that a contested GOP convention would not be a bad thing, said each of the GOP candidates has his strengths and they are able to hone them -- and deliver a more concise message -- if the race keeps going.
"Each of them I believe they are getting stronger, they're getting better and that's what competition provides and that's why I want to see the competition continue," she said. "They all have something to offer and that is why it is a good democratic process in our republic."
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