Sarah Palin announced that she won’t enter the 2012 presidential race, making it certain that the current GOP candidates has been set. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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In a letter to her supporters, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and Fox News contributor said her decision was based on a “review of what common sense conservatives and independents have accomplished, especially over the last year.”
“I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office — from the nation’s governors to congressional seats and the presidency,” she said.
“I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for president where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables,” she said.
“We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen and allow the private sector to create jobs.”
Palin’s announcement comes one day after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie affirmed his decision not to jump into the race after Republican leaders urged him to reconsider. Republicans have been searching for an alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and were disappointed when Texas Gov. Rick Perry delivered a lackluster performance in the most recent GOP debate.
Romney and Perry remain the frontrunners in the race but pizza executive Herman Cain has been surging in the polls recently after turning in consistently strong debate performances and winning the Florida straw poll late last month.
A McClatch-Marist poll showed last month that Palin could have been just as competitive against President Obama as any of the top-tier GOP candidates. In the poll, she trailed the president by just 5 points, 44-49 percent. The poll also showed Palin doing better than the other candidates, including Perry, who trailed Obama by 9 points and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who trailed by 13 points.
But the poll also showed a large majority of voters did not want her to enter the race, with 72 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents saying she should stay on the sidelines.
