Is Sarah Palin going to announce she's running for president on September 3?
Sarah Palin will run for president, and will announce her candidacy sometime around Labor Day 鈥� perhaps September 3, when she鈥檚 scheduled to address a big Tea Party event in Iowa.
That鈥檚 what former Bush administration political advisor and all-around GOP smart guy Karl Rove predicts, anyway. In an appearance on Fox News Saturday he said he believes ex-Alaska governor Palin is going to run, in part because of a slick campaign-style video about her trip to the Iowa State Fair released by her PAC last week, and in part because of where she鈥檚 popping up.
Palin 鈥渉as a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity,鈥�
Rove's not Nostradamus 鈥� he's been wrong about stuff before. Still, it's possible he's right, and that months 鈥� nay, years 鈥� of feverish media speculation are about to end. Will Palin finally say once and for all that she鈥檚 in it to win it 鈥� the brass ring of the presidency, that is?
Could be. At the least, it looks like she is fast approaching a make-or-break date, when she will either have to announce, or announce that she is not going to announce a run, lest her coyness exhaust the patience of her faithful.
Just look at her . If it鈥檚 a campaign commercial, it鈥檚 a good one. It starts with quick shots of her bus, a rolling Iowa corn field, and the Iowa State Fair midway in full swing. There are adorable kids on parental shoulders, and then Palin herself appears, as voiceovers from news reports of her visit come up on the sound track.
And then 鈥� and we think this is really clever 鈥� there comes a quick rolling shot of a blue ribbon. 鈥淚owa State Fair, Des Moines. First Place鈥�, it says.
You can guess how the rest goes, with shots of average Americans interspersed with excerpts from a Palin speech.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e seeing an awakening of the American public, individual Americans who want to put the exceptionalism back into our country,鈥� Palin says at one point.
At the end, suddenly there is a shot of a rising, roaring grizzly bear. 鈥淭hank you Iowa. See you again September 3,鈥� appears on the screen.
That鈥檚 when Palin is scheduled to speak at a Tea Party of America gathering. This event, which is free to the public, has already been because local authorities are worried the turnout will clog roads.
After all this, if Palin does not announce, will she just annoy those who鈥檝e showed up? After all, what鈥檚 she鈥檚 doing so far is perfectly normal if she鈥檚 going to run for president. But it smacks of exploitation if she鈥檚 just trying to remain a celebrity and sell books.
If she does not run for president than the video is 鈥減erhaps the most extreme example of narcissism I鈥檝e ever seen,鈥� at The Atlantic.
It鈥檚 possible that Palin will do something to clarify her political future that does not involve her running for president. She could announce she鈥檚 backing Rick Perry, for instance. Or Mitt Romney.
Just kidding about Mitt 鈥� that won鈥檛 happen.
At this point, what would be the practical effect of a Palin candidacy? That鈥檚 a subject for greater examination at a later date. But we鈥檒l note that even some conservatives worry that at this point all Palin would do is take votes away from Bachmann, Perry, and other Tea Party favorites, making it easier for the current front-runner to cruise to victory.
鈥淚f Sarah Palin does decide to run, she will ultimately accomplish nothing other than completely sucking the wind out of almost all the non-Romney campaign operations on the ground,鈥� writes Leon Wolf on the conservative RedState blog.
