DES MOINES - Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will deliver the keynote speech at the Iowa Republican Party's Ronald Reagan Dinner on Friday night in a move that has rekindled speculation about a possible 2012 run for president.
Hours before her speech, Palin gave another hint that she is open to running in 2012. In an interview with Fox News, she said that, if the American people were ready "for someone willing to shake it up...of course I would give it a shot." She quickly added that she believes she can help shake things up without a title. "I'm having a good time doing exactly that right now," she said.
Palin's Iowa appearance drew comment from the White House, where Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing he believes the former governor is likely to dip her toes into the presidential water. "I have no doubt that she is a formidable force in the Republican Party and may well be, in all honesty, the most formidable force in the Republican Party right now," he told reporters.
Palin will be in Iowa at the end of a week in which she once again demonstrated her influence in the party by backing two winning candidates in hard-fought primaries: Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/17/AR2010091702932_pf.html