Palin Heading To Iowa To Headline Reagan Dinner, And...???

[Amerigo Vespucci]

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin is on a roll as she heads to Iowa, the state that's made and broken more than its share of presidential dreams.

Endorsements by the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee have helped propel a number of upstart Republican contenders to victory in recent primaries, including a double win Tuesday in Delaware and New Hampshire. Her cable TV show makes its debut in November.

But first Iowa.

Palin will be the big draw at Friday's Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, the Iowa Republican Party's biggest fundraiser. The question that will be on everyone's mind is whether she'll run for president in 2012.

Iowa, home to the nation's leadoff presidential caucuses, can be tough terrain for celebrity candidates. Those who try to ride their fame to victory in Iowa without organizing a grass-roots campaign often find themselves on the outs.

Remember John Glenn? The former astronaut and senator drew huge crowds and intense attention here when he sought the Democratic nomination in 1984 – and got just 4 percent of the vote.

"They were coming out to see John Glenn the astronaut, not John Glenn the Democrat running for president," said veteran Republican strategist Eric Woolson.

If she runs, the former Alaska governor would start with strong appeal among the social and religious conservatives who play a crucial role in Iowa's Republican politics. But that appeal wouldn't necessarily last if it's not backed up by a strong effort to reach out to caucus voters, said Steve Scheffler, head of the Iowa Christian Alliance.

"The track to success in Iowa is slogging around all of the small towns in bad weather and sleeping in downscale motels because that's the best in town," said Rich Galen, a GOP strategist based in Washington. "That certainly doesn't seem to fit the Palin theory of how she should conduct her life."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/17/sarah-palin-heading-to-io_n_720728.html

[glinda]

1. How is it that the Dems don't see that Palin, Beck, Huckabe, on and on

use tv as an around the clock AD for the extreme Right?

[KharmaTrain]

2. She Smells $$$$$$$$$$$

She's got another "book" coming out and gotta start milking the suckers. Wave the dreams of her being the "Great White Hope" and let them throw money at you. She's gotten real good at this...with a lot of help from her friends in the corporate media.

As many others, I hope she decides to play to her narcissistic side...which usually dominates and tries to run in 2012. It'll make for quite an amusing and bruising GOOP primary and with her high negatives among anyone with an iota of sense she'd make Alf Landon look good.

But she doesn't need to throw her pitbull in the ring for quite a while...in the meantime she's gonna soak the suckers for all she can.

[Raschel]

3. Beam me up Scotty.

[mitchum]

4. ...prepare for the bendy straw poll?