In strictly technical terms, the "starting bell" would be the Iowa Caucus on February 6, 2012. That is the first contest in which actual delegates are won and lost.
Obviously there are filing deadlines involved in order for a candidate to be part of those contests. Not sure when the filing deadline for Iowa is but I assume the candidates and potential candidates (including Palin) would have a handle on that.
Yes, candidates do have a history of announcing their candidacy well in advance and expend a lot of money and resources doing so. Usually it is candidates that have a strategy of building early momentum so they can generate some buzz and get themselves at the front of the pack early on.
I believe that it would be wasteful for Palin to do this. She already has near 100% name recognition. She is one of the few candidates that is capable of coming into the race at the last minute and make a big splash. Hell, in Palin's case, I think it will be more on the magnitude of a nuclear bomb. If she gets into this race, by the time of the Iowa caucus on Feb 6 (still almost four months away) - people will have seen so much of her that nobody is going to remember that she waited until late September or October to get into the race.
Until writing this post, I had no idea that Clinton himself waited until October to enter the 1992 race. All I know is that I was already sick and tired of him by that Christmas!
So while many here seem to have their panties in a wad over the fact that Palin hasn't deigned to inform them one way or the other on the status of her running, it will all be forgotten about in a few short months.
“In strictly technical terms, the “starting bell” would be the Iowa Caucus on February 6, 2012. That is the first contest in which actual delegates are won and lost. ‘
Are you claiming that she can announce the day before and suddenly she will win the next day?
“already has near 100% name recognition. “
She sure does. She also has a huge negative rating.