Sarah Palin bus tour starts: No bus, but there are motorcycles
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rides into a motorcycle rally at the Pentagon wearing black leather and declaring, 'I love that smell of the emissions!' It's an untraditional start for such an event, which is usually highly orchestrated.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rides into a motorcycle rally at the Pentagon wearing black leather and declaring, 'I love that smell of the emissions!' It's an untraditional start for such an event, which is usually highly orchestrated.
Sarah Palin's much-publicized "One Nation" bus tour got off to a chaotic and rumbling start Sunday in Washington, with no bus in sight and the potential presidential candidate only occasionally popping into view.
The former Alaska governor, who has indicated she is still contemplating a run for the White House in 2012, showed up at a motorcycle rally at the Pentagon, clad in black leather, a black helmet and sunglasses, riding on the back of a motorcycle driven by an unidentified woman.
Fox News, with whom Palin has a contract for political commentary, said Palin attended the rally with her husband, Todd, and some of their children.
Asked by those in the crowd whether she would run for president, Palin replied, "I don't know yet," Fox said.
Amid the rumble of motorcycles, Palin was asked whether all of her tour events would be that loud. "Oh, it would be a blast if they were this loud, if they smelled this good," Palin declared. "I love that smell of the emissions!"
Once back as a passenger on one of the bikes, Palin traveled with other riders to the Vietnam memorial on the National Mall, and later was seen riding down an adjacent street, waving to the crowd from her perch.
The bus tour has been a staple of presidential campaigns, but Palin's effort was as much a mystery as her future political plans. Tours are usually highly choreographed to present the candidate making multiple speeches in front of rapturous crowds, as a sort of rolling campaign commercial.
In Palin's case, however, there was no indication where she would appear next or whether she would even speak publicly.
Last week's announcement of the tour, which Palin said on her website was meant to start the "fundamental restoration of America," set off a paroxysm of new speculation about whether she would run for president. In a short essay on her website, Palin wrote that her tour would be a celebration of "historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures."
"We'll celebrate the meaning of our nation's blueprints -- our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which are the threads that weave our past into the fabric necessary for the survival of American exceptionalism," Palin wrote on SarahPac.com.
A person with knowledge of Palin's plans said the bus tour was conceived not as a whistle-stop speaking tour, but rather as a way for her to pay homage to touchstones of American history and give her a physical presence in the early-voting states. The bus tour will be divided into several legs, ending in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa.
The annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle run in which Palin took part Sunday brings tens of thousands of riders to Washington each Memorial Day weekend in an effort to publicize the fate of soldiers they believe are still missing in action or imprisoned in Vietnam.
Later on this leg, Palin was thought to be planning to visit the Civil War battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg, where she would lay a wreath at the cemetery. She also is expected to visit Philadelphia -- the Liberty Bell is a big graphic feature on the side of her bus -- and wind up in New Hampshire toward the end of the week.
New Hampshire is generally considered favorable territory for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has a summer home there, and is expected to announce his candidacy there on Thursday.
Besides the announcement of her bus tour, Palin also has put forth other clues that suggest interest in either a presidential campaign or a renewed national presence after months in which voter sentiment toward her turned sharply negative.
A favorable biopic, "The Undefeated," by Newport Beach filmmaker Steve Bannon, is in the final stages of post-production and is to be unveiled in Iowa, site of the first nominating contest of the presidential season, in June.
Palin also reportedly has purchased an expensive home in Scottsdale, Ariz., leading to speculation that she would use the state -- more convenient for travel in the lower 48 than her remote Alaska hometown of Wasilla -- as a base for a potential campaign.
"I have fire in my belly," she said recently on Fox News when Greta Van Susteren asked her about running for president.
Some doubt whether her organization is up to the grinding task of mounting a serious presidential bid. Spread around the country, it appears to be having some growing pains.
She recently hired a chief of staff, longtime political operative Michael Glassner, and also rehired two former staffers, Jason Recher and Doug McMarlin, Bush White House veterans whom she met when she was John McCain's running mate in 2008. Recher and McMarlin had left her political committee, SarahPac, in February, amid speculation of a falling-out. The pair, who helped manage Palin's book tours, are experienced hands with events that have many moving parts -- like bus tours.