She may not have joined the fray yet because she does not want to align herself with the Republicans at all. IMO she’s going to go third party. I agree with the third party part, but for different reasons. As the primary process heats up, the candidates will have to begin to differentiate themselves from each other. Right now it's mostly fun to say we're all here to defeat Obama. As Iowa and New Hampshire get closer, the candidates will have to start getting competitive amongst themselves to percolate to the top of the hearts and votes of republicans. Which means that the candidates will have to go for each others throats.
Palin doesn't want to have to be on the receiving end of any of that. BUT, she is interested in residing at the White House. To minimize her exposure to criticism and comparison, she'll wait until the primary process is over and go rogue with a third party candidacy.
LOL! I'll bet if Palin goes 3rd party, she gets almost 2% of the vote. Just ask Presidents Buchanan and Perot. Oh, well Perot did almost 25% and did help get Clinton elected with the smallest margin in election history.
Palin doesn't have that kind of money OR ability however.