Sarah Palin says presidency "not on my radar screen"

Reuters ^ | Tue Nov 17, 2009 | Andrew Stern

[IrishMike]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sarah Palin said a run for the White House in 2012 is "not on my radar screen right now" as the Republican carefully did not close the door to a possible candidacy in an interview that launched her big book tour.

Palin spoke to TV talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey as she began the roll-out to her memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life." Palin made clear she wanted to concentrate on the 2010 congressional elections in which Republicans hope to make inroads into Democratic majorities in the U.S. Congress.

"I'm concentrating on 2010 and making sure that we have issues to tackle," Palin said in the interview taped last week and broadcast on Monday. "I don't know what I'm going to be doing in 2012. (Running for president is) not on my radar screen right now."

The former Alaska governor and unsuccessful 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, who is popular among many U.S. conservatives, has embarked on a campaign-style media tour to promote Tuesday's release of her book.

Her appearance on Winfrey's program, one of the most watched daytime shows on U.S. television, comes as political insiders watch her every move to see if she may launch a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

[TheZMan]

Somehow I expect she’ll actually start campaigning for 2012 at the right time.

[ducks1944]

Go Sarah Go!
RUN SARAH RUN!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sarah knows how to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

When she makes her move, the Democrat/MSM-complex won't know what hit them until after she wins the election.

[Night Hides Not]

Radar screens are so 20th century! I’ll bet the nomination for 2012 is on her GPS.

[fortheDeclaration]

which Republicans hope to make inroads into Democratic majorities in the U.S. Congress.

No, Republicans plan on taking BACK Congress.

[LADY J]

Smart move by Sarah!

She wants to be sure she has a Conservative mojority in place for her Presidency.

[onedoug]

It’s on mine.

[TurtleUp]

She wants to be sure she has a Conservative majority in place for her Presidency.

Exactly. By keeping this ambiguous, she can be more effective in helping other real Americans to toss the socialists out of our Congress in 2010. I suspect a 2012 Sarah campaign is about a 99% probability, but by avoiding that question, she can keep the focus on our issues and not on allegations about her family or about people who may have met members of her family and neighbors of those people.

[Russ]

"...the Democrat/MSM-complex won't know what hit them until after she wins the election."

That's never going to happen. David Brooks said so...

[Captain Kirk]

Of course, she’s lying but then I suppose all polticians do that.

[4rcane]

everything is dependant on her poll numbers by then. She has said, if ppl would want her, then she will, but having a 40% approval rating is not enough. So lets get as many ppl to support Palin by 2012, to improve the chance of her considering running

[4rcane]

even if she wants to, she can’t if the ppl is not with her. Her current poll number is not good at moment, so we need to help her. She will be helping her prospect as well between now til then, but we could help her as well by introducing her to ppl who don’t know her. She’s a reformer

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Of course, she’s lying but then I suppose all polticians do that..

Maybe, maybe not but if she said she was running then everything she says and does from now on out will be spun as having a political purpose with the election in mind, thus dismissing anything serious she may say.

[Fetid Facts]

"I suspect a 2012 Sarah campaign is about a 99% probability, but by avoiding that question, she can keep the focus on our issues and not on allegations about her family or about people who may have met members of her family and neighbors of those people."

Well said. The MSM and other Democrats may have been ankle biting recently, but the moment she announces they'll go into full smear mode. Rumor, innuendo, and bold-faced lies will be reported as fact. Retractions and corrections will be buried under breaking news of the latest revelations based on even more rumor, innuendo, and bald-faced lies.

[techno]

This is typical ‘presidentialspeak’ in which potential candidates are actually getting their ducks in a row and laying down an organizational infrastructure to get them prepared for the long road ahead.

In simple terms nobody declares a house inhabitable when the framing and foundation is now being laid and the construction workers are on site.

[Fetid Facts]

The liars are pretty bold but it shoulda been bald-faced both times.

[techno]

Yesterday Rasmussen came out with a poll on Palin’s F/UF that show it at 51/43.

That’s not a bad starting point considering Rasmussen has not had Obama polling that well in his daily tracking poll since the fall.

[TurtleUp]

Of course, she’s lying but then I suppose all politicians do that.

Actually, I suspect Sarah Palin is telling the truth - one of the reasons so many real Americans love her. My guess is that she doesn't particularly want to be president (where she now knows that the usual rules of civil discourse don't apply to media coverage of her family) and would be happy to see someone else as qualified and patriotic as herself with a real chance of throwing the socialist out of our White House. "Not on her radar screen" means exactly that. She may think it's likely that she will run, but I suspect that she genuinely hasn't made a final decision and doesn't plan on doing so until after the 2010 elections.

[r9etb]

Smart move by Sarah! She wants to be sure she has a Conservative mojority in place for her Presidency.

Oh, piffle. It's as transparently obvious when Sarah Palin says it, as it is when any other unannounced presidential candidate says it. Nobody in their right mind believes a statement like that... of course it's on her radar screen.