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BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

You're watching multisource politics news analysis from Newsy.

Sarah Palin is hittin’ the road again-- revving up for another leg of her One Nation bus tour.

One of her first stops? Iowa. Just in time for the Ames Straw Poll.

Palin won’t be on the ballot-- but she’ll be half an hour away at the the Iowa State Fair.

So...what’s she up to?

“The trick is that none of us know and I think that’s the way she likes it.”

“She overshadows almost everyone else in that field.”

“I think she’s keeping her brand relevant.”

“I mean this is really a strange bid for attention.”

“She found out 700 journalists have shown up so she suddenly, I guess, wants to come over here.”

The question now-- does this pit-stop in the lead-off caucus state signal a presidential bid for the former Alaska governor? Newsweek’s John Avlon says-- don’t count on it.

John Avlon (Newsweek): “Clearly it's no coincidence, but there doesn't seem to be any larger plan, just a lot of self promotion, strategically timed to distract from other Republican candidates. It’s kind of bizarre behavior frankly.”

But The Daily Caller’s Mary Katherine Ham says-- Palin could get in the game this late if she wanted to.

“I’m not sure she has a specific plan. She says she is not going to decide until late August. Frankly, because she’s so famous and because she has so much energy around her she can wait until super late and not pay the price that other people would for not having organized before that point.”

In fact-- without actually being in the race-- Palin is taking bronze in a new CNN/O-R-C poll.

Political strategists say-- she’s a thunder-stealer. And she’s good at it.

Cornell Belcher (Democratic pollster): “She overshadows almost everyone else in that field, even those front-runners, she overshadows them and makes it hard for t-paw and the other candidates to gain traction. That's the real problem, that's who she is really hurting.”

Chuck Todd (NBC): “It says something about this field...I think there’s an absolute battle inside the party right now between Republican heads and Republican hearts. Romney is sort of the pick you would make using your head but I don’t know if that’s where primary voters are this year.”

Palin also indicated she would swing through a couple of Midwestern states on the new leg of her tour. Whether a ploy for attention-- or a political move-- The Alaska Dispatch points out...

“Whatever weaknesses Palin may have as a politician, timing isn’t one of them.”



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