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Sarah Palin may not be done with politics after all.

The former Alaska governor, who was also 2008's GOP vice presidential nominee, said Tuesday she's contemplating a bid for U.S. Senate against Democrat Mark Begich. He's up for re-election in 2014.

"I've considered it because people have requested me [to] consider it," Palin told conservative radio host Sean Hannity on his show. "I'm still waiting to see what the lineup will be. And hoping there will be some new blood, new energy. Not just kind of picking from the same old politicians in the state that come from political families."

Begich, a former mayor of Anchorage, was elected in 2008. He defeated longtime GOP Sen. Ted Stevens, who died in 2010 in a plane crash.

The 2014 race is labeled "lean Democratic" on the Cook Political Report, and the Rothenberg Political Report rates the race as toss up/tilt Democrat. Both are non-partisan political handicappers.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and Joe Miller, a Republican who lost a U.S. Senate bid in Alaska in 2010, have both said they'll run against Begich next year.

Palin, who currently acts as a commentator on the Fox News Channel, told CNN last month she would definitely hit the campaign trail for fellow Republicans next year.

"Time's-a-wasting. Things are moving really quickly and if we don't get out there and defend this republic then America will be transformed into something we do not recognize," she told CNN. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/09/palin-im-considering-a
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Rick Perry 2016: Did he just announce for president?

Governor Perry didn’t say explicitly that he plans to run for president in 2016. But his remarks in San Antonio might as well have been his opening campaign speech. We heard about his humble origins in Paint Creek, Texas. We heard his case for the Texas economy during his 14 years as chief executive, including 1.6 million jobs created and seven balanced budgets.

Perry also said he would “truly miss serving in this capacity” (emphasis added) – a signal, perhaps, that he wasn’t done serving, just getting ready to finish serving as governor of Texas.

Less than two hours after Perry’s speech began, a press release went out from the website, RickPerry.org, touting his record as governor and linking to his speech and a transcript.

Other clues have emerged pointing to a likely do-over for Perry as a presidential candidate, following his less-than-impressive attempt in the 2012 cycle. For example, he’s just rehired his former presidential campaign communications director, Mark Miner.

Now, assuming he is planning another run, he is doing so with plenty of forethought, and time to build up a warchest, bone up on policy, and hope that most primary voters don’t care that he was the guy who said “oops” on national TV during a presidential debate.

But if the latest survey on 2016 by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) is to be believed, Perry has his work cut out, even in his home state. PPP found that Texas’s junior senator, Ted Cruz, is the top choice among the state’s Republican primary voters for the next GOP presidential nomination, with 27 percent.

“Rick Perry’s presidential aspirations appear to be dead in the Lone Star State, as only 18 percent of Texas Republicans wish for him to run,” PPP said in its release on July 3. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/0708/Rick-Pe
rry-2016-Did-he-just-announce-for-president

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