“[K]ey early state players are tiring of trying to read the tea leaves about whether she’s in or out. They’ve reached the point where they just want to know the answer.

“‘Trying to figure out Sarah Palin reminds me of the ancient practice of extispicy, divination by examining entrails for meaning,’ said former New Hampshire GOP chairman Fergus Cullen.

“‘I’ve become convinced that there is no grand strategy behind Palin’s activity,’ Cullen added. ‘There is no rhyme. There is no reason. The only common theme to her schedule of activities, statements and appearances is her seemingly unending ability to attract media coverage.'”

***
“Sarah Palin will run for the White House in 2012 and conduct an ‘unorthodox, grassroots campaign the likes of which you’ve never seen’, according to the man who has spent the past eight months organising for her in Iowa.

“Speaking to me after the premiere of the film ‘The Undefeated’ in Pella, Iowa, Peter Singleton, a California lawyer who has been assiduously courting Republicans across the state where the first contest of the 2012 election will be held, said it was ‘unthinkable’ she would remain on the sidelines.

“‘She’s the right person at this time,’ he said. ‘If you look back at Churchill’s time, in 1938 Churchill was unelectable, in 1940 he was indispensable.'”

***
“Singleton and his team of Palin organizers have personally met with most of the county GOP chairs across the state. That is something that none of the current presidential campaigns can say that they have done. Instead of selling Iowa activists on Palin, they instead make sure that people understand that there is a possibility that Palin will run.

“The Palin organizers also soak up any Iowa political knowledge they can get. A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking to a conservative breakfast club in western Iowa. After conversing with those in attendance for an hour or so, I noticed that one of the women was taking extensive notes. I was worried that I might have missed the fact that a reporter was present at the meeting. It wasn’t a reporter. It was a Palin organizer who I had yet to meet.

“Even though Sarah Palin doesn’t play by the same rules that seem to govern the rest of the field of Republican candidates, she has developed an extensive ground game in Iowa, even if it’s not being officially coordinated by her or her advisors. In many ways, I think that Palin is probably more organized in Iowa in terms of grassroots communication than most of the current field.”

***
“Unlike Sarah Palin, who has brandished the feminist moniker and spoken of an ’emerging conservative feminist identity,’ Bachmann told me in an interview Tuesday that she wouldn’t call herself a feminist—instead, she simply described herself as ‘pro-woman and pro-man.’ When I pressed her on the matter, the Minnesota congresswoman said she sees herself as an ’empowered American.’…

“Unlike Palin, who frequently decries the ‘lamestream media,’ Bachmann doesn’t attack the attackers. ‘The media is what the media is,’ she says. ‘It’s part of the territory. A person has to accept that there are difficult questions and unfair questions and it is a part of this process and it is what it is.'”

***
“Judging from Bachmann’s performance over the last few months, she had the luxury of observing [Palin] from the sidelines, and learning from her errors.

“Bachmann has message discipline. She’ll throw out red meat to her base but subtly and smartly so as not to be labeled a nut.

“She is deeply entrenched in the issues of the day from foreign policy to the budget and boasts an impressive resume that she has no problem touting, unlike Palin, who relied on McCain advisors to assist in her branding…

“Lessons have been learned. She won’t give the press the fight that they want. She won’t let her gaffes (and all politicians make them) define her. And she will not resign from office to pursue her passions.”

***
Via Breitbart TV.

***
“Coulter also addressed rumors that Rep. Bachmann and Palin didn’t get along– ‘they like one another!’ These she attributed to sexism: ‘liberals are just so shocked that there are so many conservative women politicians,’ she argued, and assume ‘there are two girls in the race; they must hate each other.'”

***
Via Caffeinated Thoughts.