Sarah Palin was one of Donald Trump's earliest and warmest supporters during the Republican primary contest, abandoning her former favorite Republican, Sen. Ted Cruz. Now Palin and Cruz are on the same side again, as Palin is slated to stump for Trump in Michigan and North Carolina during the last weekend of the general election campaign. She will also attend what Team Trump hopes is a victory party in New York on election night.
Palin, ever since she was selected to be John McCain’s running mate in 2008, has been a force of nature in American politics and popular culture.
Admired by many, reviled by a few, Palin played a role in the tea party victories in the midterm elections in 2010 and 2014. She declined to run for the presidency in her own right in 2012, a decision that proved to be a disappointment to many of her supporters. Palin might well have won that election against Barack Obama owing to her greatest willingness to engage in political combat than the eventual Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.
Palin’s re-entry into politics comes at a time when a number of states, formerly considered locks for Hillary Clinton, have suddenly moved into the toss-up or even lean Trump column. Michigan, where Palin’s first stops will occur, is suddenly in play for a Republican for the first time in several election cycles.
The situation is ironic as Palin, in her memoirs, recalled being appalled that the McCain campaign had written off Michigan too soon and had considered “going rogue” and campaigning in that state anyway.
North Carolina is also seen as a tossup and is regarded as a must-win state for Trump. Its conservative rural population is balanced by a more moderate urban voters in the high-tech industries located in large cities.
Palin has been mentioned for a cabinet post in a Trump administration, either energy secretary or interior secretary, covering issues she has great familiarity with from her days as governor of Alaska. She has not yet ruled out getting back into elected politics at some point, however.
