On Election Night 2008, defeated Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin left the stage in Phoenix, Arizona, without being given a chance to speak the words she had prepared to deliver: “Now it is time for us go our way, neither bitter nor vanquished, but instead confident in the knowledge that there will be another day, we may gather once more and find new strength and rise to fight again.” Many believed that the 2012 presidential election would present that opportunity for Palin to fight again, this time at the top of the ticket.

Heightening speculation that she would run in 2012, Palin launched her own political action committee – SarahPAC – in February 2009. Five months later, she resigned as governor of Alaska, citing family needs and numerous ethics probes that she claimed were impeding her from doing her job. In November 2009, Palin released her autobiography, Going Rogue; just more than one month later, she signed a multiyear deal with Fox News. In 2010, Palin continued to make news as a pundit, reality-TV star, and top endorser for Republican candidates in the midterm elections. Her intentions with regard to the presidential race were unclear through much of 2011, despite her strength in some Republican primary polls. In May 2011, Palin launched her One Nation bus tour with a stop in New Hampshire. In August, she took the bus to Iowa one day before the Ames Straw Poll but continued to hedge on when or whether she was going to announce her candidacy. It was not until October 5, 2011, that Palin officially announced that she would not run for president in 2012.