Ames, Iowa — Political organizerPeter Singleton tells National Review Online that Sarah Palin will likely launch a presidential campaign by the end of September. “I believe that she will run,” he says. “I can’t see her sitting this election out.”
Palin, a former Alaska governor, is scheduled to address a tea-party rally on September 3 in south-central Iowa. Singleton is one of the forces behind the event, working with grassroots groups. “Labor Day will kick off the Republican campaign for the nomination,” he hints. “She is going to make a major, major speech.”
Advertisement
Since late last year, Singleton has crisscrossed the Hawkeye State, connecting a network of supporters at rubber-chicken dinners and Republican picnics. He has huddled with county GOP chairmen, spoken with a number of conservative state lawmakers, and assembled a close-knit team of pro-Palin activists.
All of Singleton’s efforts have been self-directed, with no official involvement from Palin’s political apparatus. Still, he says, “We have not been on a lark. But we are happy, delighted even, to have people think that.”
GOP presidential contenders, from Rick Perry to Mitt Romney, will be in for a shock when Palin makes her entry, he predicts. “When she gets in the race, I would not want to be the other candidates, who have shamelessly whispered to Iowa Republicans for months that she is not running,” he says. “There will probably be some defections.”
Singleton, a 57-year-old former software salesman, says he has already compiled an extensive e-mail list of Iowans ready to join her ranks. With the help of Michelle McCormick, his fellow Organize4Palin state coordinator, “we have laid the groundwork for her,” he says.
Singleton points to Palin’s June visit to Pella, Iowa, as an example of how she is ready to make a splash in the run-up to the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Palin spoke at the premiere of The Undefeated, a documentary about her gubernatorial record, then attended a barbeque with attendees in the sleepy Midwestern town. Singleton and McCormick helped the film’s creators reach out to Palin’s Iowa base, drawing a big and boisterous crowd to the downtown square.
Filmmaker Stephen Bannon, who directed The Undefeated, tells NRO that he is amazed at how popular Palin remains in Iowa. Her reception in Pella, he says, was indicative of how a campaign could be received. “There is something happening under the surface here,” he says. “It’s pretty powerful.” Since the premiere, Singleton and Bannon have organized screenings across the state, hoping to generate interest in the governor’s story and her message.
The unofficial, on-the-ground Palin movement in Iowa has been boosted by the governor’s visits to the state this summer. Palin caused another stir earlier this month when she appeared at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, greeting families and farmers as scores of reporters and television cameras trailed her. Following the visit, her political team released a video chronicling the spectacle. The clip, which Palin posted on her Facebook page, ends with a message to her Iowa supporters. “Thank you, Iowa!” it reads. “See you again September 3rd.”
Over the weekend, Karl Rove, a former senior adviser to Pres. George W. Bush, noted that Palin’s flurry of activities, from her recent bus tour to the upcoming rally, signal a coming campaign. “I think she gets in,” he said in an interview with Fox News. “I’m not much of a gambler, but I’d put a little more money that she gets in than if she doesn’t, because of the schedule she’s got next week in Iowa. It looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity.”
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), who tapped Palin to be his vice-presidential nominee three years ago, told CBS Newsthat he would “certainly put some credence to Karl Rove,” but cautioned that he does “not know” if she will run.
Singleton, for his part, will be ready to welcome her back to Iowa, expecting her to announce, if not at the tea-party rally, then soon after. The event, which was originally booked to be held on a farm in Waukee, Iowa, was recently moved to nearby Indianola due to space concerns. The buzz, he reports, is palpable. “At the end of [Labor Day] weekend, people are going to be equipped and informed,” he says. “They will walk away inspired.”
— Robert Costa is a political reporter for National Review.
OK, when she hit the national stage I really loved her speeches attacking Obama. But I am now, officially, tired of her schtick. If I hear her say "common-sense solutions" again, oh hell, I just have to put up with it. She has become to me like Obama and Alan Colmes. When they come on the TV, I change channels.
Seriously. I've given this woman endless opportunities to show me something, and I'm still just left with the sick feeling that she has millions of people under some kind of spell. This even includes a small handful of people who I otherwise have tremendous respect for. I'm simply at a loss.
This will be a disaster. Trying to be Reagan circa 1976-1980 will end poorly for all concerned. She needs to be Reagan 1962 instead. She is at her best when articulating principles and smacking the media types around with impunity and manifesting their stupidity, not making us defend what so many others believe is hers.
That is unfortunate. I believe she is seen as buffoon by most of this country and her antics are not going to help us convince moderates that Republicans are the party of sanity. She's simply not electable and she's going to be a distraction from a candidate who is.
If she is running, and I will believe it when she says she is running, this might be the most incompetent roll out I've seen this election cycle, either that or she does not want to win and waited for her supporters to become committed to other candidates to lower her chances.
It probably won't hurt her too much if she fails to get the nomination, if she finishes third behind Perry and Romney, which is a highly likely outcome, those two are in their 60's and this will probably be their last run if they don't win it this year, so she would end up maintaining next in line status, it would arguably be her turn in 2016 or 2020, or at least that might be what she's thinking. Especially with the crop of talent that should be ready for the 2016 election, she might want that to avoid fading in to the background. Personally I don't think it matters, Rubio will have the nomination when he wants it, but that seems like a less insane justification for getting in, and I don't thinks she's crazy.
I'm probably wrong, but I don't think she's running. I hope a Republican is elected president and they tap Sarah Palin as Energy secretary -- unless they totally dismantle the Energy Department...which wouldn't hurt my feelings. I hope she sticks around in some capacity. She totally ticks off the left (and some Republicans too). That's a good thing!
Just what we needed. An unelectable conservative to draw votes away from electable conservatives to guarantee a liberal nominee in romney. Paul Ryan please run.
Mrs Palin has great conservative chops but is utterly unelectable. Unfair as it is, she is an object of pop culture derision. I love her for her beliefs, courage and conviction but fear that her mere presence in the race, like that of the Good Doctor Paul, will diminish the "Republican Brand" as a whole even as Kucinich and Jackson did every time they ran.
Please, Sarah, don't run. Be a servant to the eventual nominee, carry the message, fight the good fight, but please don't run.
I love what she symbolizes, but I do not love her. I much prefer her as a pundit than a candidate. Her candidacy will only hurt the GOP leading up to 2012.
Excellent. I really want this quitter to run so she and her cult would be crushed once and for all. I bet she would not win a single primary and then she will do what she does best, "Quit".
Those "millions" under her spell barely constitute 15% of the Republican base and around 5% of the total electorate. Her supporters are far short in numbers to give her the nomination and very far short in numbers to give her the Presidency. However I say it again, I want her to run so she and her cult would be crushed once and for all in the primaries.
If this is true I am sorely disappointed. I lose more respect for Palin every day. The idea of her candidacy maybe had a little bit of merit with only Bachmann and Perry as front-runners. But with Perry in the race, what does she add to the conversation? He's more way experienced, just as conservative and is just as much a fighter.
This is a huge gamble for her personally. If she throws the nomination to Romney she will be a pariah among conservatives. And if Perry ends up winning anyway even after she splits the conservative vote and causes all kinds of chaos, what role could she play in a Perry administration? Stupid, stupid.
Palin gets more annoying by the day, and I say this as a former fan. She has the potential to do a lot of good for the conservative cause if she would use her influence wisely. If by some strange chance she manages to win the presidency, god help us all. She may be right on substance but I believe less and less that she actually would be an effective administrator. And the howls of hatred that would ensue would really sting when we as conservative know they have a grain of truth to them. No Sarah, for the love of God please don't run!
Sarah Palin can do more good for the country as an advocate for conservative government than she can as a Presidential candidate who will never win the nomination. If she enters the race, the focus will be on her lack of qualifications, along with her hair, her clothing, her family and her early departure from the Governor's office. She'll receive the same treatment she received in 2008, only worse.
And many of the attacks will come from Republicans which, in the end, will be to the benefit of President Obama and to the detriment of the GOP candidate. Political in-fighting is not a good look when trying to convince undecided voters your candidate has the right answers for America. While those in the know claim Mrs. Palin will enter the race, I can't imagine why she would. She didn't get where she is today by being stupid.
Follow
