By Peter J. Boyer
Mitt still hasnt invited Sarah to the GOPs nomination assembly in Tampa, and the Tea Party is livid. Peter J. Boyer on how the snub could sabotage Romneys tenuous ties to the grassrootsand why Palin is keeping the week open, just in case.
On the day that Mitt Romney formally announced his run for the presidency last year, he found himself competing with a stiff New Hampshire wind, which stood his hair on end and played havoc with his microphones. What blew in later was even more distracting: the red, white, and blue bus bearing Sarah Palin on her One Nation tour. Palin stole the headlines, and Romneys buzz, that day (Coincidence, she said), and beyond. Through much of the summer, she hovered at the edge of the Republican primary campaign as a shadow candidate, once predicting that she could not only beat Romney, but President Obama, too, before finally declaring herself out of the race last fall.
But Palin continued to vex Romneys candidacy, questioning his conservatism, encouraging the non-Romneys still in the race, and publicly cheering for the prospect of an open convention. Even after Romney clinched the race in late spring, Palin remained pointedly hesitant about the presumed Republican nominee. She has not yet extended to Romney her full endorsement, and, while she speaks animatedly of the urgency of defeating President Obama in November, her support for Romney derives from the fact that Romney meets Palins threshold qualificationas anybody but Obama.
Much More: Sarah Palin Still Waiting for Romney Invite to Tampa - Newsweek and The Daily Beast
