Sarah Palin will run for president, or so thinks former Bush chief political adviser Karl Rove, who said as much in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” The man who was once President George W. Bush’s White House deputy chief of staff said it was evident the former governor of Alaska will run and that she was displaying a “candidate’s schedule” with her appearances earlier in the month in Iowa and with her future itinerary.
According to the Washington Examiner, Rove noted Palin’s recent actions seemed to look “more like a candidate’s schedule than that of a celebrity.” He pointed out that Palin had also released a campaign-like video last week that reflected her interactions among the crowds at the fair.
But pundits and political analysts have been noting Palin has been running for president since she lost the vice presidency bid in 2008 at Sen. John McCain’s side. More recently, each time there has been a flurry of activity surrounding the former Alaska governor (the One Nation Bus Tour, the gaffes, the premiere of the documentary “The Undefeated”), it has been met with a round of speculation that she was either gearing up or already in campaign mode and that an announcement of her candidacy was only a matter of time.
Palin, ever one to use the media to her advantage, has maintained a maybe-maybe-not stance for months, stating she had plenty of time to decide. She has been saying for months that she would make a final decision in August or September. It is generally believed her name recognition and ability to raise campaign funds were factors that allowed her to delay her entry into the 2012 GOP race.
And there are other indicators the time has come for Palin’s announcement. She has again taken to the road on her bus tour to cities in the Midwest. She will be the keynote speaker Tea Party of America’s “Restoring America” event in Iowa on Sept. 3. It is at the rally that Rove believes Palin will make her announcement.
“This is her last chance,” Rove said on the broadcast. “She either gets in or gets out after this visit next week. I think she gets in.”
But will she have Rove’s support? Given his comments about Palin in the past, it is doubtful. Back in October, Rove said his fellow Fox News contributor colleague did not have the “gravitas” the electorate expected of their presidents and that she seemed only capable of attracting “true believers.”
Rove told “Fox News Sunday” that Palin’s late entrance into the 2012 presidential race may not be the last. He noted there was still pressure on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to announce a bid.
Late bids may become the hallmark of the 2012 GOP presidential campaign. If Palin decides to run, she will be the second candidate to announce relatively late in the run-up to the Republican primaries, which begin in February. Texas Gov. Rick Perry jumped into the GOP race on Aug. 13, the same day as the Ames Straw Poll and nearly two months after the poll’s winner, Rep. Michele Bachmann, entered the race. Most the possible Republican candidates announced they would or would not run in May and early June.
Although some think a late start could hurt candidates, the Perry entrance might lend encouragement to possible latecomers like Palin. Two days after his announcement and Bachmann’s Iowa straw poll win, the Texas governor soared to the top of a national poll of likely Republican primary voters, placing 11 percentage points ahead of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who had led most national polls since May.