Palin's 2012 campaign begins; GOP working to get her out to Iowa

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/09/iowa-gop-to-palin-come-to-des-moines/#more-59806

As first reported in the Des Moines Register and confirmed by CNN, the state GOP is courting the Alaska governor to be the keynote speaker at their annual Ronald Reagan dinner this autumn. The event is the party's largest fundraiser of the year, and has become a popular stop for White House hopefuls.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090709/NEWS09/907090361/1007/NEWS05

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley plugged the idea of inviting Palin to help raise money. He recalled Palin's reception in Iowa during the presidential campaign. Palin was greeted by a big, enthusiastic crowd during her first trip to Iowa with Republican presidential nominee John McCain in September. She drew even larger crowds for solo stops in Sioux City, Des Moines and Dubuque. "I think she has quite a following in Iowa, and maybe I'm impressed because, at the three events I spent with her in Iowa during the last campaign, she had bigger turnouts than McCain had," Grassley told reporters.



...Wow, that didn't take long! On the one hand, aggressive early campaigning by Palin could scare off Palin's potential rivals for the 2012 race; on the other hand, it could impel the few remaining GOP grownups (if any) to choose an anti-Palin and rally behind him. Just like 2007 when everyone was wondering when Edwards would step forward to be the anti-Hillary (only to be outsmarted by Obama). Watch to see what the GOP pragmatists like Haley Barbour do -- do they really want to go down in flames with Sarah?