Nightly News   |  May 26, 2011

Palin tour prompts presidential bid rumors

Sarah Palin announced an East Coast bus tour for Memorial Day Weekend, raising questions about whether it's a prelude to a presidential run. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

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>>> now we turn to politics and a name that keeps coming up -- sarah palin . mostly because she seems to want to have her name keep coming up. this time, it's her plans for memorial weekend that are drawing our attention.

>>> in that republican race, already wide open , the palin factor. aides tell me she's seriously considering a run for president. it's a clearer sign she just might do it. a bus tour starting this weekend with the rolling thunder rally in washington. stopping in gettysburg and the liberty bell , all the way to new hampshire. new hampshire?

>> i want to make sure that america is put back on the right draak, and we only do that by defeating obama in 2012 .

>> and then a film debuting in iowa. a redesigned website for her political committee . pop on it and a pop-up clicks up for a generous donation. high-profile appearances at this week's " dancing with the stars " and the white house correspondents dinner .

>> anyone who speculates she dozen knoep what she's going to do doesn't know her. nobody knows what she's going to do. she marches very much to her own drummer.

>> and a new tell-all book by a former aide.

>> she couldn't handle criticism. it would send her into a tailspin wasting entire days of business.

>> a recent nbc news wall street journal poll shows she's a positive figure. solidly rejected by democrats and most independents. if she does run, it could spark michele bachmann . she's under heavy pressure not to run not to steal the limelight from people like mitt romney and tim paw lenlty.

>> you can't control what other people are going to do or not do.

>> one of palin's employers said the bus tour this weekend won't change their status with them, not unless she announces she's running. so far, that's the one thing she hasn't done.

>> andrea mitchell in washington with the latest.