Is Sarah Palin prepping a presidential run?

AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Updated 5: 34 p.m. Eastern Time

Much of Washington has written off former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin as a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate. But quietly, Palin may be laying the groundwork for a late entry into the race.

The evidence? Start with the fact that Palin may well have left her home state, from which travel to the lower 48 is not easy. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Palin has purchased a $1.7 million home in a secluded neighborhood in Scottsdale, Arizona; as Ben Smith notes, a local Fox affiliate appears to have footage of Palin and her husband Todd on the recently-sold property.

Arizona, of course, is the home of former Palin running mate Sen. John McCain; it's also where her daughter Bristol recently bought a home. Palin would have a much easier time traveling to key early voting states if she bases her campaign in Arizona as opposed to Alaska; it would also put her and her advisers on a schedule much closer to that of national reporters, making it far easier for them to respond quickly to news stories and requests.

Uriel Sinai/Getty Image

Then there's the fact that a two-hour laudatory documentary on Palin will be released next month - in the first-in-the-nation voting state of Iowa, no less. The film - which has Palin's enthusiastic backing - then rolls out in other important early states.

Palin has also rehired two aides who help with travel and public events and "is expected to resume a schedule of public events soon -- perhaps as early as this weekend," according to the New York Times.

Palin said last week that she has the "fire in my belly" for a presidential run, though she is concerned about "the huge amount of scrutiny and the sacrifices that have to be made on my children's part in order to see their momma run for president." The Fox News contributor is, along with Mitt Romney, polling at the top of the wide-open Republican field of presidential contenders.

But only 18 percent of voters in last week's Gallup poll chose Palin as their preferred nominee, and serious questions remain about her electability. CBS News polling in October found that just 22 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Palin, while nearly half view her unfavorably. It's not just Democrats who aren't fans: Only 44 percent of Republicans said in the October poll that they view Palin favorably, suggesting she could face an uphill battle to win her party's nomination.

Palin has not been laying the traditional groundwork for a campaign in the same way that Romney and Tim Pawlenty have, and she lacks staffers or fundraisers in the key early states. But that's less of a problem for her than it would be for other candidates because of her massive name recognition. And Palin's popularity with social conservatives - who make up more than half the electorate in Iowa - could give her a victory in the first state in the voting calendar, and with it a massive shot of momentum.

No matter how it plays out, one thing is for sure: A Palin entry into the field would upend the nominating contest, and potentially alter the identity of the eventual nominee - even if Palin isn't it.

[trueblueusa]

Democrats ; Come Together

Pray for Sarah to run,...
It`s a Guarantee that the Re-Cons
Will Not be in the White House for at least 4 more years !
" The Reader " Will Unite Democrats,Independents and All sane Republicans in an effort to lock out " Quitters,Inc."

[kevjustice]

palin is teasing her run for pres so she can keep getting money from her gullible followers. SUCKERS!!!!

[JV1970]

You just might find out differently this summer!

[billclintoon]

Palin doesn't need to falsify her long form birth certificate like Pinhead (obama) had to.

[bilrobi1]

Are you still harping on that? Really?
Pinhead. Where is Palins college degree. She would have to falsify that.Our President went to Columbia then Harvard.President of The Harvard Law review. Served in the Illinois State Senate. The U.S.Senate and now as President of the United States. If he's a pinhead,how dumb must you be?

[realtimecoffee]

Hey Palin worked hard for her education. And here is a bulletin: Obama is President. I don't care what happened before January 2009. Since then is the President's walk. If you want to talk about Harvard Law Review show me some articles or be gone. I care more about Executive orders than Rhodes scholarships. Where's the beef as Walter Mondale said. I'd love to see President Obama go down in history and the best President ever. Hell every President should be the best ever, but that's up to the guy in Office. People gotta see something or they go for brand B. Pelosi knows.

They don't know if they want to be Matt Dillon or Bob Dylan -
RIP Gil Scott Heron

[billclintoon]

One thing for sure, Palin will love & respect America. She will not be apologizing to our enemies. She will not be vilifying the private sector, the people who create jobs and prosperity. She will be more experienced than Pinhead (obama) who needs to be removed from office.

[Zann-Zel]

LOL! Exactly how could she be "more experienced than Obama" ?

At election time he will have been President of the United States for FOUR years!
How long will she have been President of the United States?

[san850]

@billclintoon....Sara Palin loves and respects Sarah Palin...that about sums it up. She's the most self-centered, dishonest, narcissistic, airhead to ever hit the political scene.

She has experience alright ....governing a state that has more reindeer than people. Can you imagine her carrying on a conversation with foreign dignitaries ... or discussing foreign policy with anyone? Or even discussing any governmental affairs with anyone? Her "youbetcha's" and "winks" just won't cut it.

[Bojax39]

"Is Sarah Palin prepping a presidential run?"

God I hope not!

[JV1970]

I hope so!

[san850]

......."Palin also has hurdles on the question of fitness for office. Some 67 percent of the country does not think she is qualified to be president, according to a Washington Post poll from last year. Seventy percent of independent voters hold that view. Even among Republicans, 46 percent hold that view."

Only a fool and a narcissist like Sarah Palin would even THINK of running with such negative numbers. She is such an arrogant bimbo, and as usual just thumbing her nose at the American people.

She will ride around the country spreading her hate, fear, and lies in an effort to get more fools to jump on her bus. She should realize that rats are jumping from her bus now, not on it. Even her own party has turned against her.

[signseeker1717]

Quite so. Maybe riding that bus will teach her some history (the Confederates won) and geography (You can see New England from New Hampshire), but it's really just a gravy train she'll ride as long as she can. She's already proven she can't handle state authority, much less the scrutiny and pressures of a national campaign. She'll just keep rackin' up the dough from her cult followers. I don't see her joining the other Seven Dwarfs. No one in their "right" mind takes her seriously.

[mary-miami]

Sarah Palin is buying a house in Arizona...no surprise...that is the base of fascism. Arizona has made laws that are racist and bigoted...that represents the true ideals of Palin and her teaparty buddies. Republicans and Teaparty candidates have a dream of creating a two class system of rich and poor, with no middle class; because the middle is the ladder up from poverty. The rightwing dislikes having to listen to the working class give opinions because the rich consider themselves a superior class of humans. The teaparty believes that all the rights afforded in the Constitution should be considered privileges that only the government would bestow on certain people...meaning the wealthy. The GOP wants their servant's child to be a servant also.
Note, the rich CEOs close their factories here and open them in China, because in China they don't have to follow environmental laws and the workers have no rights. That's what the republicans and teaparty wants in the US...slave labor. The only party that respects and defends equal rights and opportunities for everyone is the Democrats. Re-Elect President Obama in 2012.

[ricardo4max]

From the mountain of evidence currently available, it would appear the the base of fascism is the White House.

[JV1970]

ricardo4max is right! If Obama gets another term his going to destroy this country as we know it! It's clear that his goal is to turn the US into another USSR. He must be stopped! He must be voted out before it's too late!

[rlacroix4]

Sarah for President
Vice President - Harold Camping!

VOTE
PALIN / CAMPING

[pixman55]

Let's see...Palin gets the nomination...Obama can bank all the campaign money. He sure won't need much to combat anything Palin has to say. And, if this is the best the GOP can do, I hereby turn in my GOP campaign buttons, and my 'I Like Ike' pins! Good grief, has the GOP fallen this far from being a wise, well-focused political entity? What a shame...Palin, leading the pack. If only she'd have stayed awake during political science classes....what a shame

[ricardo4max]

Alfred E. Newman could beat the community organizer in an election. All that needs to happen to for Al to espouse conservative values and the Giant Democrat vote fraud machine to fail!

[jeffers13450]

Starvation is not the only issue, malnutrition itself is a great crippler. In a malnurished child there is demonstrable impact on cognitive growth, physical growth, resistance to disease, etc. etc.

Republicans are not against spending, they're just against spending for poor people.