Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin To Tea Party: You're Winning. Don't Blow It Now

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 5, 2011, 1:44PM

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin addressed a Tea Party Express rally in Manchester, New Hampshire on Monday, a day after Mitt Romney addressed his first-ever tea party event in the same state.

For Romney, it was a political gamble. As a rule, tea partiers don't like him much -- and some even conspired to embarrass him publicly as he took the tea party mic.

Speaking Monday, Palin seemed to send those tea partiers a message. Romney's new kowtowing shows you are winning in a big way, she told the crowd. Now don't blow it.

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Sarah Palin

Comedian Speaking Before Palin In Iowa Calls Liberals 'Special Needs Children'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 3, 2011, 4:23PM

Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) in Madison, Wisconsin, April 16, 2011.

Well, this has the potential to become awkward.

Sarah Palin made her much-anticipated Iowa speech in Indianola Saturday, and the news is there's not much news. Palin didn't announce her candidacy for president during her address, though she told a reporter afterwards is she is still considering jumping in.

But what another speaker at the event said before Palin spoke is making headlines, and threatening to add another layer of embarrassment to the strange, petty drama that surrounded the event -- and Palin -- last week.

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Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin Still Flirting With Presidential Run

Igor Bobic | September 3, 2011, 3:30PM

Sarah Palin

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is still not running for president. She just doesn't want you to forget she might, though, however slim her chances may be.

Palin, greeted by cheers of "Run, Sarah, Run" at a Tea Party rally in Iowa on Saturday, attacked President Obama, Washington, and her fellow Republican rivals, but declined to announce whether she would enter the race in 2012.

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2012

71% Of Republicans Don't Want Sarah Palin To Run

Benjy Sarlin | September 2, 2011, 3:19PM

Sarah Palin

It seems Sarah Palin has worn out her welcome with Republicans. An astounding 71% of GOP voters say they don't want Palin to run for president, according to a new poll by FOX News, with 25% supporting a bid and 4% unsure.

The numbers are brutal for Palin, who was long regarded as a potential frontrunner for the 2012 nomination. Even among Tea Party-identifying Republicans she fares poorly: 68% say she shouldn't run versus only 28% who say she should. The numbers aren't that far off from the general electorate, 74% of whom don't want her to run versus 20% who do. Outside of Tea Partiers, more than 70% of every demographic broken out in the poll's crosstabs -- men, women, white voters, non-white voters, voters with college degrees, voters without college degrees -- are against a Palin run.

As TPM noted this week, there hasn't exactly been a clamor going up among Republicans for a Sarah Palin run while she's tested the waters in recent weeks. Maybe the disastrous box office returns for a movie celebrating her Alaska governorship were an early warning sign.

h/t Gawker

Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney Says Sarah Palin Hasn't Explained Her Resignation

Benjy Sarlin | September 2, 2011, 12:37PM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney is not impressed with Sarah Palin's presidential resume, telling a radio host that he is concerned about her decision to abruptly resign her governor job in 2009.

"I've never gotten around the question of her having left the governorship of Alaska, mid-term," the former Vice President told radio host Laura Ingraham. "I've never heard that adequately explained."

He added that he'd "like to know more about that." Palin offered a plethora of reasons for the decision at the time she stepped down, most notably citing a slew of ethics investigations that she said paralyzed state government and required huge legal costs.

Cheney and Palin are generally considered two of the least popular Republican leaders in the country based on polling.

Sarah Palin

Christine O'Donnell Takes To Twitter After Tea Party Rejection

Benjy Sarlin | September 1, 2011, 8:33AM

Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell

The epic drama between Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell, and the Tea Party of America over who would appear at an event in Iowa this weekend appears to have reached its conclusion: Palin is in. O'Donnell is out.

But that's about all they agree on. According to CNN, Palin's camp was upset after O'Donnell's staff told the Tea Party group that they had the ex-governor's support in joining the event, even claiming that the two had been exchanging text messages. The group's president, Ken Crow, finally dropped O'Donnell (after briefly re-inviting her) once Palin put her appearance "on hold."

O'Donnell, who is promoting her book "Troublemaker," took to Twitter to defend her behavior and suggested reporters were inventing Palin sources as part of a conspiracy to hurt the Tea Party.

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