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Sarah Palin's Iowa trip points to 2012 presidential run
World news | The Guardian:
Attendance at Republican dinner in key state is seen as biggest sign yet that Sarah Palin aims to take on Obama in 2012
There are boxes that US presidential hopefuls have to tick early. They have to start building a campaign team, albeit discreetly. They have to set up a fundraising machine. And they have to visit Iowa, the small but politically crucial state that traditionally kicks off a White House run.
Sarah Palin has ticked the first two and on Friday will tick the third when she is the main speaker at a $100-a-seat Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. The party's sole superstar has not yet said whether she will seek the nomination to take on Barack Obama in 2012. But all the indications point to a run, and Friday's visit is the biggest sign yet.
Democrats may detest her, and so does the Republican establishment, for her perceived lack of sophistication and polarising effect on the electorate. But neither will make the choice in the Iowa caucus. The party activists will, and they are shifting behind her. Long before the contest has formally begun, Palin is fast on the way to becoming unstoppable.
Marilea David, a lifelong Republican, is typical of the fan base, seeing in Palin an alternative to the old-boy network. "I think she is great. She is the only person I am excited about just now," David said over coffee in west Des Moines.
"She is fiscally conservative. She married her husband for love, not money. She does not have perfect kids, which is big for me. She has been totally vetted by the liberal media and they did not come up with anything other than she is a 'hick'.
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