Republican win gives Sarah Palin new hope

Buoyed by its take-over of the US House of Representatives in the mid-term elections, the Republican Party is assessing its chances at winning the 2012 presidential race, and political heavy weight Sarah Palin, is being considered as a front-runner for the top job.

The New York Times, for instance, pointed out that for Palin, the Republican win was "also a time to begin laying the groundwork for a bid to capture their party's presidential nomination."

"Republican Sarah Palin was drawing especially close scrutiny from some in the GOP for signs of her viability as front-runner," according to The Wall Street Journal.

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At the beginning of the year, in a television interview, Palin who was the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, said that she would consider running for the job of the president in 2012.

"If I believed that that is the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family," she said.

"Certainly, I would do so."

"It would be absurd to not consider what it is that I can potentially do to help our country," told Fox News.

 "I won't close the door that perhaps could be open for me in the future."

During her first campaigning stint, Palin quickly became subject to ridicule in political circles, the public and the media because of several gaffs she made on issues related to foreign policy and the economy.

At the same time, she won herself a large fan-following, which has expanded in the past year.

Since the 2008 campaign, Palin has been in the spotlight for writing a best-selling biography and endorsing several of the Republican candidates that won on Tuesday.

The Times noted that since several of the candidates endorsed by Palin, including Indian-American Nikki Haley, were winners on Tuesday, the former Alaskan governor will have plenty of supporters if she decides to run for the top spot.

The self-described "Mama Grizzly" had plenty at stake on Tuesday night as she sought to bolster her credentials as the Republican Party's most powerful kingmaker," The Times said.

However, two candidates with heavy Palin backing in Nevada and Delaware lost their democrat opponents, which highlighted gaps in her leadership.

"Sarah Palin is a beloved figure in the Republican Party, but now we shift gears -- and, in the party, ideas are going to matter," Katon Dawson, former chairman of the South Carolina GOP, told WSJ, noting that Palin would "get fully vetted on her service in Alaska."

In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in mid-October, Republicans cited her most often as the "most important leader or spokesperson for the GOP, the daily pointed out.

Meanwhile, Palin is appearing on a reality television show called "Sarah Palin's Alaska" about enjoying life outdoors, which begins on November 14.

"I love watching these mama bears," she said in the advertisement for the show. Several comedians on American television have already made fun of the show.

While running for the vice-president position, Palin said that Russia was visible from Alaska, which made the state important for the country's defence and added to her foreign policy experience.

This week, she wrote on her Facebook page, "Alaska's Position on the Globe (Yes, You Can See Russia)."