Palin Tea Party keynote raises speculation

Reinstating U.S. goodness and strength is key to its future, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said in a statement, fueling speculation she'll run for president. "We don't need a 'fundamental transformation' of America. We need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free," Palin said in a Tea Party of America statement announcing she'll deliver the keynote address at the political action committee's Sept. 3 "Restoring America" rally in Waukee, Iowa, near Des Moines. The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee's Labor Day weekend appearance would take place as the 2012 Republican nomination fight begins in earnest. She did not say whether she would declare if she was running for president. But Real Clear Politics, a political news and polling data aggregator that first reported her appearance, said "all signs now point to September as the month when Palin would throw her hat into the ring." Palin earlier said she would likely make her decision known in August or September. "Gov. Palin embodies the spirit of public service that our founders believed was essential to the survival of our liberties and our republic itself," Tea Party of America co-founder Charlie Gruschow said in the statement. "We couldn't be more delighted to have this citizen leader who represents the values that Iowans and Americans hold so dear." The Iowa group was founded in May. The visit would be Palin's second to the key election state this year. She attended the Pella, Iowa, premiere of the laudatory documentary about her governorship, "The Undefeated," last month -- a day after Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., announced her GOP presidential candidacy elsewhere in the state. Palin's keynote address would come two days after "The Undefeated" is released on pay-per-view and video-on-demand, ABC News reported. Palin started her "One Nation" bus tour of Northeastern U.S. historical sites Memorial Day weekend. "The Undefeated" had its general premiere just before the Fourth of July weekend. A June Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers indicated Palin was tied for second, at 58 percent, with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in highest percentage with a favorable opinion. Bachmann was first with 65 percent favorable, the poll indicated. More than a third of likely Republican caucus-goers viewed Palin unfavorably, the Register poll indicated.