Sarah Palin keeps America guessing about presidential bid

Sarah Palin has kept Americans guessing for months about her 2012 presidential aspirations, and she did so again on Sunday, saying there was a 50-50 chance of her throwing her hat into the ring.

But that did not stop the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee from laying out how “President Palin” would tackle certain issues, or from skewering current White House occupant Barack Obama for policies that she said have driven the US economy into “a brick wall”.

When asked on Fox News Sunday where she was on the presidential campaign decision spectrum, Palin said she was “still right there in the middle ... still trying to figure out what the lay of the land will be as these weeks and months go by.”

But with just eight months before the first presidential caucus in the state of Iowa, and a Republican field rapidly congealing, Palin is being seen as one of the last hold-outs.

The former Alaska governor has made millions of dollars on her books, speaking tours, television shows and other appearances since her 2008 bid came up short.

She continues to mystify pundits, politicians and the public alike with her refusal to declare definitively whether or not she is running for the White House.

After lying low politically for a few months earlier this year, she reappeared last weekend in a massive rally in support of US veterans, then teased reporters on a cat-and-mouse chase around American landmarks.

Her mini-tour “hasn’t changed my mind as to whether I want to be a candidate or not,” she said.

But she stressed that “we have got to turn things around in 2012 – whether it’s me throwing my name into the hat or just supporting the right candidates, the response (to her recent “One Nation” bus tour) has been great confirmation of the need for real positive change in this country.”