I take Sarah Palin at her word. She told Bret Baier she will not run if there is another candidate willing to make the sacrifice to uphold true conservative principles and steer clear of the establishment web. She would be that person’s biggest supporter (and that is not just an expression-—her endorsement and efforts would be absolutely vital). If there is no such person seeking the nomination, she will run.
That is not a bad outcome-—we would have a true conservative in the White House and still have Sarah Palin in the media as a very powerful voice.
But if she runs I’ll support her 110%. At this point I see no solidly conservative alternative to Palin except for perhaps Mike Pence, Jim Demint or Paul Ryan, and two of those three have expressed no interest in running. There is Chris Christie, too, but his social conservatism is questionable.
>>>. ...uphold true conservative principles and steer clear of the establishment web. <<<
That’s the qualifying part of that statement right there.
If the supposed candidate doesn’t have those creds... She’s in.
Palin’s endorsement of a candidate early in the GOP primary would prevent the “conservative split” that resulted in McCain getting the nomination last time. A primary field that features 2-3 decent conservatives and 1 RINO always results in the RINO winning the nomination.
It is important that we (as conservatives) rally behind a single candidate to prevent this, and I think Palin is the key to this happening. If she gets behind someone early, that should be who we rally behind. If she decides nobody running is worth supporting and runs herself, well ditto.
It will be less controversial if Palin endorses someone than runs. Whichever way it goes though, the GOP nomination this time runs through Palin.
So if Pence, or DeMint, declare, she won't. Right?