Palin Testing Waters in Iowa

Sarah Palin operatives have begun putting out presidential feelers in Iowa, asking potential allies and activists whether they’d support a campaign, sources tell RealClearPolitics. Iowa’s politicos had until now assumed Palin wasn’t running, because most hadn’t heard from her, even as other would-be 2012 nominees jockeyed for their support. But a SarahPAC adviser says they’re building a discreet groundwork for a campaign.

“The idea that we’re not in Iowa is inaccurate,” the adviser says. No SarahPAC staffer has been assigned to work on the ground in the state yet, and reports that she was looking for real estate in Des Moines proved false. But she has been in contact with at least one Iowa Tea Party official, who is trying to land her a fundraising invitation, and aides insist that, unlike Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson in 2007, Palin's eager to do the traditional retail politics legwork required. (More Sarah Palin stories.)