Decision day looms for Sarah Palin

By Sioux City Journal

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Turns out she didn't try the fried butter after all. But there was plenty of waffling to go around when 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin visited the Iowa State Fair recently.

Upon arrival, Palin immediately headed to the livestock barns and the media cattle call ensued. Were there more cameras than cows? Maybe not (this is the state fair after all), but the scene was surreal.

Palin and her husband, Todd, feigned amusement and surprise that the “lamestream” media was making such a spectacle of her return to the Hawkeye State. She merely accepted an invitation to visit, she maintained. Never mind that she fired up her idled bus tour just a day before the biggest political event of the year so far - the Iowa Straw Poll.

And she did talk politics. A lot. She spoke to everyone from Journal Des Moines reporter Mike Wiser to Jake Tapper of ABC News and journalists from the influential website Politico. In nearly every conversation, she criticized President Obama. When asked what Americans were looking for in the next president, she described a candidate that looks remarkably like a certain former Alaska governor.

Was she buttering up potential caucus goers or simply taking the opportunity to seize some of the spotlight? We don't know. But it is interesting to hear Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn raise doubts and point out that he sees no evidence of a Palin organization that could be ready to compete in the caucuses.

Her recent visit is nothing new, though, for Palin. She clearly enjoys the attention and clearly takes delight in bashing the president, the media and “the establishment.” And we in the media make it easy for her, following her everywhere and reporting every syllable she utters.

Iowans will quickly grow tired of this act if Palin doesn't make her intentions clear soon. She told the media throng a decision will come sometime in September or October. We'd like to see an earlier timetable, but today we will settle for simply encouraging Palin to be a woman of her word and let us know where she stands.

So far, her track record on promises here appears mixed. She nixed the fried butter and opted for corn dogs instead. But we won't hold that against her just yet.