Reagan also caught flak, pressure and criticism for delaying his entry and here is his response from June 21, 1979 (unearthed by Al.B) in which he gives cogent reasons for late entry, which obviously didn’t hurt him because, like Palin, he had 100% name recognition, needed the money and could afford to wait.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTeh4ziH8ak&feature=youtube_gdata_player
There is no doubt in my mind that Sarah Palin is using Reagan's campaign strategy from 1980. Like Reagan, Palin is an ex-governor who played a major role in the previous presidential election so gaining national name recognition NOT A FACTOR. Like Reagan, Palin has the national press following her around and hanging on her every word so TOTALLY NOT NECESSARY to enter the campaign at this time. Like Reagan, Palin has access to a national audience as a paid consultant to Fox News (Reagan through his syndicated radio show) and thus has no need to start a national campaign so early.
Bottom line is that Sarah Palin can wait to officially start a campaign. All the caterwauling about how her fund-raising will dry up if she waits too long is nonsense. Once she is in the race, she can raise more money over the first weekend than the other candidates have raised up to now. All the hand-wringing over the fact that she will have no resources to run her campaign (if she waits too long) is also nonsense. Just today, we hear that Pawlenty is dropping out of the race and so all his staffers are out in the street looking for another campaign to work for. Several other candidates will drop out as well in the weeks and months ahead. So Sarah will have no issue hiring quality staffers when the time comes.
With respect to the comparison to the 1980 campaign, there is even a more striking difference. When Reagan finally announced in November of 1980, he was faced with the task of getting his message out. Back in those days, you had basically three national (broadcast) news networks and the newspapers (talk radio was in its infancy not not a major force). Thus it took a little time for Reagan to get the base fired up.
Today, the ability to instantly communicate with average Americans via Facebook, Twitter, etc., puts Palin in position to transform the race within hours of her announcement.
Bottom line: Sarah can afford to wait. Let the other candidates flare out like Roman candles. When she does enter the race, look out.