DES MOINES, Iowa — 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Friday that she still hasn’t decided if she’s going to run for president.
Palin is also undecided about whom she would endorse if she ultimately decided against entering the race.
Swarmed by media and supporters at the Iowa State Fair, the former governor of Alaska told The Daily Caller that she’s not concerned that Mitt Romney is considered the frontrunner at this time.
“No, nothing worries me at this point,” Palin told TheDC. “Could I support somebody like Mitt Romney? Yeah.”
When TheDC pointed out that some tea partiers have pledged to make sure Romney doesn’t get the nomination, Palin said, “I’m of the mind of ABO — Anybody But Obama, at this time.”
“We’ve got to get this country on the right track, we need fiscal conservatives with executive experience who’ve run businesses, run a state, [and] understand what it takes to allow the private sector to create jobs,” Palin said, in full stump mode.
“We don’t see that in Barack Obama,” Palin added. “We don’t see that in the Pelosi–Reid agenda. So that has got to stop and we need a Republican to get in there. And whether that’s Mitt Romney or one of the other candidates or one of the potential candidates, I have great faith that we will get back on the right track when things change in 2012.”
It is widely speculated that if Palin were to skip the 2012 presidential race herself, she could support Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is poised to officially enter the race on Saturday. Palin on Friday wished Perry well.
“That adds to the debate,” Palin said. “It adds another choice for Americans to consider heading into 2012. I appreciate that he’s willing to jump into this arena to be apart of this.”
She also insisted that she’s “glad Michele Bachmann is in the arena.”
“I’m glad she’s had the opportunity now to be on stage debating some good ideas,” Palin said. “[I’m] proud of anybody, male or female, willing to put it all on the line and get out there and fight for what’s right in this country and Michele’s one of those.”
It’s a big weekend in Iowa, and declared candidates are spending the weekend at the state fair ahead of Saturday’s Ames Straw Poll.
Palin said she chose to visit the fair as part of her “One Nation” bus tour, “to experience this wonderful historic event.”
She told onlookers how the event puts the spotlight “on the heartland of America, here at the historic Iowa State Fair, where you get to meet the farmers, you get to meet their kids, you get to see the future of America in these kids.
“It gives me hope for the future of America.”
UPDATE: In a subsequent phone call to The Daily Caller on Friday, Palin said her remarks to TheDC should not be interpreted as support for Romney in the race. Palin reiterated that she’s for ABO — “Anybody But Obama.”
A representative of SarahPAC also told TheDC that Palin has complained to Fox, whose site Fox Nation aggregated this article, for what she calls a misleading headline for this story.
