Originally Posted by kane

That is very possible. But something you might be overlooking is that the republican primaries are closed primaries so only republicans can vote in them. These would be the same republicans that voted for and elected as their candidate Palin backed Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. They had a low turnout in the vote, she only got about 30,000 votes in a state of about 900,000 people, but it was enough to beat the other republican contender. Of course she got crushed in the general election.

If Palin comes out strong and wins Iowa and then wins or comes in a close second in the next couple of states after that, she could conceivably knock out a bunch of the field just with those wins. When you look back at the last election Huckabee did really well and hung with McCain through the early stages and the bible belt because the religious right supported him and they were not very happy with McCain. There is no guarantee the religious right would support Romney (they didn't last time) nor Gingrich. If they decide Palin is their candidate she could make some noise.

All that said, I don't think she will run or at least she won't run in a serious manner. Running for president (if you want to be serious about it and actually try to win) is basically a full time job that takes two years of your life and a lot of time and money. She could raise the money, but I have a feeling she is having fun raking in millions writing books and being on TV and running for president could put a damper on that.