Sarah Palin Going to Iowa

The Drudge center photo and this piece merit some attention after President Obama’s continuing fall in the polls.

Sarah Palin’s scheduled political trip to Iowa this month marks a shift from near silence in the leadoff presidential nominating state to the kind of outreach common among White House prospects.

Palin’s plan to headline the Iowa Republican Party’s annual fall fundraiser on Sept. 17 is solely to help raise money for the state party’s candidates, the former Alaska governor’s aides said.

And one trip to Iowa is a long way from a successful campaign for the state’s 2012 presidential caucuses, still 18 months away, Iowa party insiders said.

But Palin’s recent overtures to Iowa reveal a change in posture that puts her in a position — like other 2012 presidential prospects already laying campaign groundwork in Iowa — to build goodwill and relationships with influential activists, state Republican officials said.

“It does signal an interest in helping Iowans be successful in 2010,” state Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said. “Iowa Republicans are going to look favorably on anybody that has come to this state this year to help us win in 2010.”

Palin aides confirmed Tuesday that she plans to be the featured guest at the Iowa GOP’s Reagan Day dinner on Sept. 17. Palin is also planning yet-announced political stops that day, with the state party’s marquee Ronald Reagan dinner that evening.

Sarah is keeping her 2012 powder dry and, in the meantime, collecting political favors for future use. If Obama continues to drive the economy south and his poll numbers fall below 45% my bet is that Sarah Palin will run.