I think Snow has more unoffical power than she realizes, especially now that Charming has throughly screwed the pooch after his election. I'm actually suprised that someone else hasn't called for an election, considering how there doesn't seem to be a time limit of when elections are called, and everybody's pissed at him.

Yeah, having to work hard for what you get does sharpen a persons skills, and I think that Snow had to deal with a lot of crap to get where she was. (e.g. Crane.)