Sarah Palin's rise from mayor of Wasilla to Alaska governor and then John McCain's presidential running mate
Created by StevePro on Jun 10, 2011
Last updated: 06/10/11 at 04:54 PM
Palin's camp announces that she will set off on a national bus tour, starting from the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally on May 29 in Washington, D.C. Palin's "One Nation" tour will wind through "historical sites that were key to the formation, survival, and growth of the United States of America,” says her political action committee website. The tour is being "cast as a way to 'energize Americans,'" says Jena McGregor in The Washington Post, "but it sounds suspiciously like a rebuild-my-image tour in advance of a presidential campaign to me. Whether it is or not, Palin isn’t saying."
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
In her least coy comment on the subject to date, Sarah Palin told Fox's Greta Van Susteren that she would run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination if no other candidate "were to step up with the solutions" the country needs to "get the economy back on the right track" and fight "those on the extreme left who seem to want to dismantle some of our national security tools that we have in place." This is a "straightforward statement of interest in the presidency," says Allahpundit at Hot Air. But the GOP's 2012 nomination won't come down to issues like the economy and national security. The Tea Party has Republicans so scared they'll probably all stick to Palin's "true conservative" line. (Watch a clip of Palin's appearance on Fox)
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
Palin releases a video commercial that ostensibly promotes conservative female candidates running for office in 2010 (a.k.a. "Mama Grizzlies"), but is widely perceived as a quasi-Palin-campaign statement. Watching this "slick political ad," says The Washington Post's Greg Sargent, made me think "for the first time [that] she really may run." Meanwhile, news breaks that Palin's political action committee has raised more than $865,000 in the past three months, prompting speculation that she's amassing a war chest for a 2012 run.
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
Off again? Palin signs up with the Discovery Channel to appear in "Sarah Palin's Alaska," a reality TV show "travelogue," leading Susan Davis at The Wall Street Journal to question anew the presidential ambitions theory. Jeremy Helligar at True/Slant also weighs in: "Is this the future candidate she wants to put forward? Someone following in the footsteps of Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian?"
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
The tide turns again when Palin makes an ebullient keynote speech at the first Tea Party convention that, as Politico notes, can be seen as "an aggressive play to become the leader of the Tea Party, which could boost her prospects of securing the 2012 Republican presidential nomination." After her speech elicits chants of "run, Sarah, run" from the grassroots audience, Palin tells Fox News, "I would be willing to [run] if I believe that it's right for the country." It's the "strongest hint yet that she has her eyes on a 2012 campaign," says Ed Pilkington in The Guardian.
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
Palin's decision to sign up as a Fox News contributor dampens rumors of a 2012 run. While Mark Greenbaum at The Christian Science Monitor observes that "she is no longer a politician but a pop culture icon and a celebrity," Rick Klein at ABC News says the new direction appears to be a "step away from elected office." Palin is building up her political brand "in ways that don't necessarily include a run for the presidency in 2012."
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
Palin's memoir, Going Rogue, hits bookstores, prompting the Associated Press to publish a damning report on its factual "errors." In the book, she says her decision to retire as governor of Alaska was made, in part, to "disarm [her] opponents" and "free [her] up to travel and raise money." Teddy Davis at ABC News reads this as a veiled admission that "her resignation has left her in a strong position to run for president."
http://theweek.com/article/index/205108/sarah-palins-rumored-2012-run-a-timeline
Partway through her term, Palin announces her plan to resign, citing time wasted fighting "frivolous" ethics complaints.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Independent investigation into the Troopergate affair finds she was within her constitutional rights to fire Monegan but had abused her power for personal reasons.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
John McCain's team gets in touch with Palin to sound her out about being his running mate in the 2008 White House race. Five days later McCain announces she will be the vice-presidential candidate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Sacks Walt Monegan, public safety commissioner, allegedly for policy differences. But critics say it is because he refused to sack Trooper Mike Wooten, who was target of family vendetta after divorcing Palin's sister. This becomes known as Troopergate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Gives birth to fifth child, Trig. Early testing had shown baby would have Down's syndrome.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Says Alaska must rely less on federal money and cuts lots of construction projects, but has made a campaign promise to build a $233m (£140m) federally funded bridge to an island of 50 inhabitants – dubbed the Bridge to Nowhere. Later, in 2008, as vice-presidential candidate she claims she was opposed to it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Honours campaign promise to sell the governor's private jet, initially putting it up on eBay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Approval ratings soar, reaching into the 80s and 90s.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Inauguration as governor.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
She is a low-budget, outsider candidate but trumps the established Frank Murkowski. She campaigns on ethics reform and ending the old boy network and its close relationship with big oil.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/sarah-palin-emails-timeline-governorship
Her previous experience was as mayor of her hometown, Wasilla, and a failed campaign for the lieutenant governorship of Alaska.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/alaska
Update Sources
