Palin’s announcement, which also cited the needs of her family, ends nearly a year’s worth of media speculation about her political aspirations that she fueled with regular public comments and posts on Twitter and Facebook — and with a high-profile bus tour over the summer that included stops in key early-voting states.
Among the questions now are whether she will choose to play a role in winnowing the Republican field or confine herself to remaining one of President Obama’s chief adversaries. GOP strategists said Wednesday that Palin’s popularity with tea party activists and her fundraising prowess would help any candidate with whom she aligns herself. Candidates quickly started sending out complimentary statements after Palin’s announcement, suggesting that the courtship for her endorsement has begun.
“Sarah Palin is a good friend, a great American, and a true patriot,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. She will “continue to be a strong voice for conservative values and needed change in Washington,” he added.
Palin’s decision did not come as a surprise to most political strategists, who believed it was too late for her to build a winning organization so close to January, when primary voting is expected to begin. In that respect, the news ends an era for Palin, who rocketed to stardom after being chosen by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as his running mate in 2008 and since then has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Speculation about whether she would run again for national office has never stopped.
Palin added that she considered the thought that, by not running in 2012, she may forfeit any future chance to do so.
“I would go back and forth about whether now is the time, and if I say no to the opportunity that’s in front of me, be it running for office now, politically speaking will I die? Will I be ineffective?” she said. “After making the decision today, and making the announcement, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt after great confirmation today too, Greta, personally speaking, I know that it’s the right decision and I know that I can join others and be effective in helping change what’s going on in our country and helping wake up Americans to what is going on in our country.”
The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee first announced the news to conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin and in a letter to supporters Wednesday evening.
“I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States,” she wrote. “As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.”
Asked if she will support the GOP nominee, Palin told Levin: “I have confidence in that. I look forward to supporting our nominee. … The right candidate will be elevated that will be our nominee. We’ll be able to get behind that person and make sure that Barack Obama is replaced.”
Though the timing of Palin’s announcement was a surprise, GOP operatives have long expected her to pass on a 2012 race. She did not build an infrastructure that could have been used as the foundation for a campaign, her political action committee did little to build a staff and she remained on the Fox News payroll as a contributor while 2012 candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich saw their contracts terminated.
Palin had repeatedly dangled the possibility of running in interviews in recent months while sounding off about the candidates in the race and appearing in person at several key moments. She brought the first leg of her One Nation bus tour to a close in New Hampshire just after Mitt Romney announced his candidacy there in June, and she started a second leg of the tour in Iowa the day before the Ames Straw Poll.
But while she still can draw large crowds and claim six-figure speaking fees, a Palin run for the presidency would have had significant roadblocks — in addition to the lack of structural preparation for a campaign, a poll released Tuesday found two-thirds of Republicans didn’t want her to run.
Palin’s announcement, made a day after Chris Christie held firm to his “no” on running in 2012, solidifies the incredibly slow-forming GOP contest in a race that polls show as a Romney-Perry slugfest, with Herman Cain surging despite a lack of staff, money and infrastructure.
Perry, like to be the largest beneficiary of Palin’s absence from the race, quickly issued a statement praising Palin.
“Sarah Palin is a good friend, a great American and a true patriot,” he said. “I respect her decision and know she will continue to be a strong voice for conservative values and needed change in Washington.”
And Sen. John McCain, who catapulted Palin into the national spotlight when he plucked her from Alaska to be his 2008 running mate, tweeted: “Sarah announces she’s not running for president — I am confident she’ll continue to play an important role in our Party and for our nation.”
There remains chatter that she could run as an independent hopeful, a possibility that would let her continue to stoke speculation about her future heading into the spring and keep her relevant in the conversation.
Palin did not explicitly rule out a third-party run for the White House during her interview with Levin, though she said, “I would assume that a third party would guarantee” President Barack Obama’s re-election.
However, Palin was the last hope for Romney that a candidate would ding Perry from the right and shave off some of his support. Without that, and with Perry armed with a hefty war chest, Romney is going to have to move fast to solidify support.
Palin is scheduled to speak Saturday at a Christian women’s conference at Liberty University in Virginia and then is appearing at a business conference on Monday in South Korea.
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