Politics

Rove on Palin: ‘I think she gets in’

Alec Jacobs Contributor
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Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff in the George W. Bush White House, said Saturday morning on Fox News that he thinks former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin will enter the 2012 presidential race around Labor Day.

Palin “has a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity,” Rove said, adding that Palin’s campaign-style video released when she traveled to the Iowa State Fair makes it look like she’ll make a run for the White House. (Mark Levin: ‘I believe Sarah Palin will run for president’)

Palin is schedule to speak at a Tea Party of America-sponsored event in Iowa on September 3. The event was recently moved to a bigger location to host a larger crowd.

“This is her last chance. She either gets in or gets out. I think she gets in,” Rove said.

A late announcement “always raises questions about whether a candidate has the time to raise money, build an organization and meet voters face-to-face,” the Washington Examiner’s Byron York writes.

But Rove addressed that issue on Fox: “[Palin] thinks the normal rules don’t apply. If you’re Sarah Palin, you just show up and the money comes and the organization comes and the people come.”

York writes about a Fox News appearance in May where Rove said much the same thing. Asked if Palin was right that the rules don’t apply to her, Rove replied then: “Look, politics is changing. My sense is her people don’t think she needs to have county chairmen and organizations and go around and line up people. It’s just going to happen.”