Ed Andrieski/Associated PressSarah Palin?s trip, beginning Memorial Day weekend, is another sign that the former governor of Alaska is seriously weighing a Republican presidential bid. 1:59 p.m. | Updated Sarah Palin will begin a bus tour of the East Coast on Memorial Day weekend, the latest and most significant evidence that the former governor of Alaska is still seriously considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination this year.
Ms. Palin will begin the series of high-profile public events in the Washington area, starting with the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally and continuing on through the Northeast, according to a statement on her Web site.
Her purchase of a house in Arizona and recent additions to her staff have prompted renewed speculation about her political intentions even as the field of Republicans who are vying to challenge President Obama has dwindled in recent weeks.
The bus tour, which will extend beyond the weekend, will take Ms. Palin and her family through the Northeast in a decorated, red-white-and-blue charter bus, heightening comparisons to a campaign whistle-stop tour.
One source familiar with the trip said Ms. Palin would make a stop in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first presidential primary. But such a stop, if it happens, could complicate efforts to describe the events as something other than the beginnings of a presidential exploratory campaign.
With the announcement, Ms. Palin proved once again her outsize ability to seize the political spotlight while simultaneously depriving her potential rivals of much-needed news media oxygen.
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was said to be ramping up toward an announcement that she will run for president as early as next week. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is due in Iowa on Friday for his first appearance there this year.
But it is Ms. Palin and the start of her bus tour that is now sure to command the attention of a political press corps that has been anxious to know her intentions for the 2012 campaign.
Ms. Palin, who exploded onto the national political scene in 2008 as the running mate of Senator John McCain of Arizona, has remained coy on whether she will run on her own in 2012. She has made sporadic forays into the public debate via her Facebook page and Twitter feeds, and she has maintained a steady stream of conservative commentary as a paid analyst for Fox News.
The bus tour is also likely to draw scrutiny from Fox, which dropped other Republican commentators as they moved closer to announcing presidential campaigns. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, and Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, had their contracts suspended, and then canceled, before formally announcing their campaigns.
If Ms. Palin?s tour is perceived by Fox executives to be a stand-in for a campaign roll-out, they may decide to pressure her to declare whether she is running or not.
In a statement on her Web site, Ms. Palin hinted at the kinds of themes that will be highlighted by the bus tour ? and that could power a presidential campaign.
?Our nation is at a critical turning point,? she wrote. ?As we look to the future, we are propelled by America?s past. It?s imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward. A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation?s historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures.?
Ms. Palin said the tour will ?celebrate the meaning of our nation?s blueprints? and said the ?pro-America? events were designed to touch on, among other things, the ?survival of American exceptionalism,? a topic that she has used to criticize Mr. Obama in the past.
The trip has clearly been in the works for some time. Pictures on the Web site show the dark blue bus emblazoned with the logo ?One Nation,? with the Liberty Bell as the ?a? in ?Nation.? (View the photos.)
It also shows an enlarged copy of the Constitution with the words ?We the People? on the side and the words ?Join the Fundamental Restoration of America? on the back.
Moments after the tour was announced, Ms. Palin?s Web site also sought to raise money for her political action committee. Visiting the site now prompts a pop-up window asking for donations.
?SarahPAC is excited to announce the One Nation Tour,? the site says. ?You can show support for the ?Fundamental Restoration of America? and the One Nation bus tour by making a generous donation to SarahPAC today and following the bus tour every step of the way on our SarahPAC Web site.?
Her Web site adds that the ??One Nation Tour? is part of our new campaign to educate and energize Americans about our nation?s founding principles, in order to promote the Fundamental Restoration of America.?
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Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/palin-to-launch-public-tour/
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