“We are always thrilled to have Sarah Palin join one of our rallies,” Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer said in a statement. “She is an electrifying figure in conservative politics and a hero to the tea party movement.”
SarahPAC confirmed the Tea Party Express announcement of Palin’s New Hampshire appearance.
Palin is heading to New Hampshire after a weekend trip to Iowa to address another Tea Party event on Sept. 3. The former Alaska governor will headline the inaugural event of the Tea Party of America in Indianola.
Palin’s two-state swing along with a campaign-style video she released earlier this month highlighting her recent trip to the Iowa State Fair could be a sign she is preparing to jump into the presidential race. But, it could just as easily be a tease.
News of Palin’s New Hampshire trip was first reported by Craig Robinson of the Iowa Republican.
Palin’s presidential intentions have been the subject of heightened speculation, especially after former George W. Bush adviser, Karl Rove, who does not have a particularly close relationship with Palin, recently said that Palin has a schedule “that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity.”
While speaking to reporters at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12, Palin indicated that she was likely to make an announcement about whether or not she would jump into the race by the end of September, but not necessarily by Labor Day.
“I don’t know if within the next couple of weeks I will be ready for an announcement or not,” she said, adding that the end of the month “is still a possibility for a timetable.”
Palin’s speech to the Tea Party Express event in New Hampshire is part of the group’s “Reclaiming America” bus tour that will culminate on Sept. 12 with a CNN/Tea Party Express debate in Tampa, Florida. Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is speaking at a similar rally in Iowa on Wednesday and Mitt Romney will attend one of the group’s events in New Hampshire on Sept. 4.
Palin, who has a history of upstaging other candidates, was invited, but has not said she will attend, a presidential forum in South Carolina on Labor Day.
The event is being organized by the American Principles Project and will feature a panel led by Tea Party leader Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. Romney, Bachmann, Rick Perry and several other candidates plan to participate.
Palin will not be the only Tea Party superstar in Iowa this weekend. Failed Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell will be there too.
O’Donnell’s on-again, off-again appearance at the Indianola rally — the same one where Palin will also be speaking — appears to be on again as of Tuesday night.
O’Donnell had initially confirmed her attendance at the Tea Party of America event on Saturday but the organizers later rescinded the invitation. On Tuesday night, O’Donnell tweeted that even after getting bounced from the event, the invitation had been re-extended and she decided to go.
“In Troublemaker I talk about ‘rising above it’, and have humbly re-accepted the re-invitation to speak in Iowa on Saturday,” O’Donnell tweeted, referring to her new memoir.
Charlie Gruschow, co-founder of the Tea Party of America, confirmed that O’Donnell is indeed back on the agenda and will be speaking on Saturday.
