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Assessing the Palin Nation Tony Katz September 5, 2011 When former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin took the stage at the Restoring America Tea Party Rally in Indianola, IA, the crowd that had sat through two and half hours of rain and humidity jumped to their feet and cheered. The view from your TV could lead you to believe it was just another rally. Being there, however, gives a whole new look into what Palin means to those who love her, and what Palin Nation will do to get her to run, and elected. Palin’s speech, at least the bullet points,...

It’s been three years since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made her splash onto the national stage as Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election. And since then she has acquired a very loyal following. But is that helping or hurting her? On Tuesday’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” conservative columnist and author of “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America,” Ann Coulter expressed her concern over the Palin phenomenon. She was asked by substitute host Laura Ingraham if Palin can maintain her status as a tea party favorite by stringing people along about her potential 2012 candidacy....

A coy Sarah Palin talked a lot yesterday about the type of leader this country needs, but in what is turning into an extended national tease, she stopped just short of saying she will be that leader. "I don't know yet," Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate turned best-selling author, told the Herald yesterday after her rousing midday speech at a Tea Party Express rally. A fed-up Victor Luebker of the Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots [team stats] - a group of former military men and women who support the Tea Party's platform - said he's tired of Palin's...

Sarah Palin said it is important whom Republicans choose to run against President Obama, but didn’t directly address whether she’ll join the 2012 presidential race during her much-anticipated speech before a tea party crowd in Iowa on Saturday. The former Republican governor of Alaska and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee referenced the 2012 election many times throughout her remarks, calling out the “permanent political class,” “crony capitalism” and “entrenched political interests.”

Republican activists in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire generally speak of Sarah Palin’s presidential prospects in encouraging terms. She’s a star, they say. If she decides to run, she’ll shake up the field. Lately, the praise has been tempered with warnings about how her time is growing short. But on Monday, the day Palin appeared before a large and very enthusiastic crowd at a Tea Party Express rally here, and two days after her much-anticipated speech to the Tea Party of America in Indianola, Iowa, a plugged-in New Hampshire Republican said he believes her window has already...

Indications are that Sarah Palin will sound increasingly like a presidential candidate at the Iowa tea party rally, with barbs aimed at both GOP rivals and Obama. But a formal declaration is apparently not in the offing.

The bad news for Palin fans? If NRO’s Robert Costa and CNN’s Peter Hamby are right, tomorrow’s not “the day.” The good news? Per Hamby, “the day” may still be coming. The source said Palin is attempting to burnish her image as an outsider and a reformer, reminding the audience of her record in Alaska and specifically highlighting her battles against what she called the state’s corrupt Republican political class that was in cahoots with the oil and gas industry. Palin plans to unleash a furious criticism of “crony capitalism” and attack the “permanent political class” in both parties: thinly...

To gleam an insight as to what Sarah's intentions are now, take a brief look at this short clip from 2009 from two 'insiders' to Sarah's 2008 campaign who co-wrote the book "Sarah from Alaska": Scott Conroy writes for Real Clear Politics and is always a good source for Palin info.Shushannah Walshe is a reporter for ABC news.