ts ok, you can come out from behind the sofa…… for now. The moose hunting, former vice presidential candidate from Alaska has barely even set up an exploratory committee (the preamble before a formal presidential bid) and already Sarah Palin’s recent movements are being tracked by the US media like Caribou on the GPS system of Todd Palin’s ski-doo.
However the speculators do have a point, based on Sarah Palin’s recent maneuver’s there is only one conclusion for analysts to make: Palin has eyes for the oval office. Since resigning as governor of Alaska a year ago she has become a well paid after dinner speaker and has gone on a book tour around the country. This is not an atypical path for former high profile politicians. What has interested onlookers however is her recent engagements at tea party meetings (the new populist right movement in the US), endorsement of tea party sponsored candidates for the 2010 mid-term elections and her fundraising team. The Guardian reported that this team raised almost $1m in the Spring alone. Although this is small fry compared to the $1billion campaigns that were seen in the 2008 election, such political fundraising could raises questions for someone who is “Out of Politics, period” .
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All of this evidence for a White House bid pales in comparison to the recent news that Palin is hosting a Republican fundrasing dinner in Iowa, the starting blocks for the presidential race. The ludicrous intricacies of the American electoral system make this miniscule, otherwise uninfluential state, the key indicator for early presidential prospects in January every four years.
Palin’s lack of subterfuge in her early political tactics may make her next movements easier to second guess than husband Todd’s caribou. Which poses the next question, will the Republican establishment be able to ease the furore around the selection of such a divisive candidate and buddy-up with the tea party movement? One things for sure, if the speculators are right and she wins the party’s nomination, Sarah Palin could be a dream ticket for Democrats hoping to divert questions on their handling of the economy with the divisions within the Republican machine.
humdrum 
‘Palin has eyes for the (moose) offal office’ x
Brilliant dear
Kit
As you say the real question now (or in the next year anyway) is which side the RNC picks – it seems like it’s allowing itself to be pushed in the populist direction as Tea Party-ers replace more pragmatic Republican congressional candidates. Ultimately the midterm results will be a good test of how much America’s conservatives can stomach the Tea Party. Either way finding a candidate as high profile as Palin (which itself is mad considering she was a near-unknown before the last election) will be a challenge.
Sam
p.s. “What’s Sarah Palin’s favourite food?” – “Hold on a second, Alaska” (get it?)