“The longer you stay away, the more conspicuous it gets,’’ said Fergus Cullen, former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. “Part of what baffles me is she’s been doing political events in other states. She’s gone to Iowa, and she’s spoken at party committee events in Oklahoma, Florida, and Oregon. It’s not like she’s got a blanket prohibition on these sorts of things’’

Palin did not return e-mail and phone messages yesterday, but her publisher said it’s all about demographics and dollars.

“The cities on the book [tour] were chosen based on where we have strong retail accounts and where Harper believes Governor Palin’s fans are strong,’’ said Tina Andreadis, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins. “We have a limited amount of time to conduct this tour, so we want to maximize the attendance at all the events.’’