Palin running would be the best thing that could happen to our country - conservatives could unite behind the most qualified and most thoroughly vetted candidate alive.
Palin not running and announcing that she would not run would be an adequate option; the elimination of uncertainty would allow conservatives to unite behind the best remaining candidate to beat both Romney and Obama.
For Palin to intentionally maintain that uncertainty, when she has (hypothetically) already decided not to run would be to weaken the opposition to Romney and to Obama, making it more likely that America will be destroyed as a free country or will require a second civil war to regain our freedom. I have listened to most of Palin's speeches and read a significant fraction of her writings, and such an action is incompatible with what I have seen from her. No, given the massive evil currently occupying our White House and the importance of replacing the Obama Regime with a lawful government that respects our Constitution, I don't believe that Palin would permit uncertainty over her election plans if she had decided not to run, certainly not for money which she now has in abundance.
Based on what? Certainly not her record as an ineffective mayor of a town of fewer than 6,000 residents or her half term as governor of a state with fewer than 700,000 residents.