page_title: Sarah Palin
section_title: 2012 election cycle and candidacy speculation
hierarchical_section_title: Sarah Palin / After the 2008 election / 2012 election cycle and candidacy speculation
caption_attribution_description: English: Sarah Palin speaking at CPAC 2014 in Washington, DC.
context_page_description: Sarah Louise Palin is an American retired politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality, who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. As the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election alongside Arizona Senator John McCain, she was the first Republican female vice presidential nominee and the second female vice presidential nominee of a major party, after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.
  Palin was elected to the Wasilla city council in 1992 and became mayor of Wasilla in 1996. In 2003, after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor, she was appointed chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, responsible for overseeing the state's oil and gas fields for safety and efficiency. In 2006, she became the youngest person and the first woman to be elected Governor of Alaska.
  Since her resignation as governor, she has endorsed and campaigned for the Tea Party movement as well as several candidates in multiple election cycles, prominently including Donald Trump for president in 2016. From 2010 to 2015, she provided political commentary for Fox News.
context_section_description: Beginning in November 2008, following Palin's high profile in the presidential campaign, an active "Draft Palin" movement started. On February 6, 2010, when asked on Fox News whether she would run for president in 2012, she replied, "I would be willing to if I believe that it's right for the country." She added, "I won't close the door that perhaps could be open for me in the future."
  In November 2010 Palin confirmed that she was considering running for the Presidency, and was "having that discussion with my family". She said she realised her level of experience could cause problems with winning the nomination, and criticized the "lamestream media" for focusing attention on her personal life.
  In March 2011, Palin and her husband toured India at the invitation of Indian newsmagazine India Today, subsequently visiting Israel. During the tour she was asked about her future candidacy; she said, "I don't think there needs to be a rush to get out there as a declared candidate. It's a life-changing decision." In response to another question, she said "It's time that a woman is president of the United States of America."
  In 2011 Palin said the home she had recently purchased in Scottsdale, Arizona was not a full-time residence, and denied that she was planning to run for the Arizona Senate seat of the retiring Jon Kyl. On October 5, 2011, Palin said she had decided not to seek the Republican nomination for president.
caption: Palin speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:09 19:47:16", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "980", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1094", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8942", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:03:08 16:10:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:03:08 16:10:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "67/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "73", "EXIF SubSecTime": "24", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "24", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "24", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5616", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3744", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5616000/1459", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1872000/479", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}