Palin bus tour to roll into Iowa
(CNN) - After a more than two-month hiatus, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is planning to crash the presidential party once again with a heartland-themed re-launch of her "One Nation" bus tour this week in Iowa, according to a Palin fundraising email obtained by CNN.
Palin is bringing her Constitution-draped bus to the Iowa State Fair, just 30 miles south of where the Republican presidential field will take the stage on Thursday for a presidential debate in Ames.
It's not yet clear which day the tour begins, but her surprise arrival in Iowa will happen before the closely watched Ames straw poll. Palin is not on the straw poll ballot.
According to a video link included the fundraising solicitation for Palin's political action committee, Sarah PAC, it appears the bus will also take Palin to Missouri and Illinois to visit the respective hometowns of former presidents Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan.
"The heartland is perfect territory for more of the One Nation Tour as we put forth efforts to revitalize the fundamental restoration of America by highlighting our nation's heart, history, and founding principles," Palin wrote in the email.
Sarah PAC Treasurer Tim Crawford would not provide more the details about the tour.
During the opening act of her bus tour in May, Palin toured historical sites along the East Coast, grabbing countless headlines along the way and stealing a share of the political spotlight from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who announced his presidential bid in New Hampshire at the same time her bus was driving into the state.
Federal paperwork reveals that her political action committee shelled out nearly $20,000 on the tour this spring.
The bus tour sequel adds even more drama to a blockbuster political week in Iowa, which holds the first contest in the presidential nomination fight.
Along with the debate and the make-or-break straw poll, most of the Republican candidates are slated to deliver stump speeches this week at the Iowa State Fair on the Des Moines Register-sponsored political soapbox.
And on Sunday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Palin ally who is on the verge of joining the 2012 race, will make his Iowa debut at a Republican fundraising dinner in Waterloo.
Palin's re-emergence in Iowa just hours before the debate is a reminder that the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee intends to remain part of the presidential discussion as long as possible, despite being largely dismissed by party insiders.
While polls show that Republicans harbor doubts about whether she should run for president, Palin would undoubtedly be a factor in the GOP primary thanks to her popularity among conservative activists and a knack for attracting media attention.
A Gallup survey out Tuesday showed that Palin generates more enthusiasm among GOP voters than most of the candidates already in the race. And as Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently put it, "she could raise enough money to burn a wet mule."
Her advisers have long emphasized that such star power gives her the ability to delay a decision about joining the race until after Labor Day.
Palin has pointed to September as a loose deadline for making a decision about whether she will seek the GOP presidential nomination.
There is also anecdotal evidence that Palin has the potential to shake up the Republican race in Iowa.
Despite having no formal campaign infrastructure in the state, hundreds of supporters turned out in June to catch a glimpse of Palin when a sympathetic film about her rise to power debuted in Pella.
She has plans to return to the state over Labor Day weekend for a Tea Party rally in the Des Moines area.
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@ Max Leygrume...... Sarah, is that you?
You got your wording a little wrong. It should read:
IF Palin ever became president SHE will destroy what little is left of this country.
What credentials does this woman have? Partial term governor. That's it. Nothing else. She's a complete joke. She's no better than Heidi and Spencer Pratt just milking the attention to make as much money as she can. Go away!
Oh please, P-L-E-A-S-E run 1/2 govenor!
god this woman is pathetic
Sarah equals one word "joke"
Good lord palin is pathetic. I've never seen such craven attention mongering in my life. I think she senses that her 15 minutes are up. she's not running for president, she never was, she was just using it to make up. shame on the suckers that fell for it.
Koch brothers pimping her brand of hate AGAIN??
Why does the thought of having a President who is not beholden to the special interests scare many of you? Will the free Obama slush fund that pays you to sit on here in your jammies and spew vitriol about a mother of five go away if Obama goes away?
Palin 2012! Believe it!
OMG, her son got his girlfriend (now wife) pregnant out of wedlock! For someone who claims to be a "family values" kind of right winger, what happened to her son and daughter? She would go after our President if this happened to one of his children (which won't). She goes after him for everything and anything and frankly, I wish she'd shut her stupid mouth and go away! Drive to the ends of the earth, SP, because you probably still think it's flat!
Run, Sarah. Get us away from Michelle Bachmann. She's too smart - and you're purdier.
Hundreds of people turned out they say? Considering that at least half of them would have shown up to see a two-headed dog that doesn't leave many Palin fans out there. Even so, it's darn nice of those fans to keep paying for her family vacations.
She has the right to to anything legal that she desires. However, if she's going to do this sort of thing, she should take herself off the Fox News payroll. If this isn't campaigning its too close to call.
In Palin's book she states that her political envolvement is a "calling". We've not heard the last of her yet, I'm sure.
Get on your bus and drive back to Alaska. This woman is pathetic.
"Gosh. My biographical movie, 'Undefeated,' cost about $1,000,000 to make and has only netted about $100,000–it's a monumental flop! And my latest ghost-written autobiographical book about me and/or my daughter not selling well. We need to do a publicity stunt quick to get back into the spotlight so we can rake in more cash from these stupid Tea Partiers! Ah ha! I know! Let's make a "spontaneous" trip to Iowa that is "coincidentally" timed with the Republican straw poll! I'll act all coy about whether I'll run for President or not! That'll guarantee that I get media coverage and more book sales–because, and let's be honest, my movie is destined for the Razzies Hall of Shame.
Wrong turn Sarah. Alaska is the other way. You remember, near Russia. Up there with your secessionist-bent husband.
One step closer some excitement...battle royal of Jesters: Palin, Perry and Bachmann
Market must be down again, so it is time to run another Palin story.
What a dumb bag of rocks.
She is what this country needs to resolve this crisis we are in right now. Hopefully she decides to run so we can get our country back on track.
Am I watching murdoch news? Palin, an irrellevant bubblehead, gets more headlines here than Fox news.
If only Keanu Reeves were driving that bus
This woman can mess up a soup sandwhich.
She can't stand not being the center of attention.
give her a lollypop and send her home