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Sarah Palin has joined the growing list of Republicans expressing an interest in running for the White House in 2016.
“Yeah, I mean, of course, when you have a servant’s heart, when you know that there is opportunity to do all you can to put yourself forward in the name of offering service, anybody would be interested,” she told ABC News at the Las Vegas Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, where she served chili to the homeless.
The former Alaska governor ran alongside Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. Many establishment Republicans criticized McCain for picking the little-known governor and blamed her in part for the party’s loss to Barack Obama.
{mosads}With Hillary Clinton the presumed front-runner on the Democratic side in 2016, Palin mentioned the appeal of the U.S. electing its first female president.
“America has had enough of seeing that sign on the Oval Office door saying, ‘No Girls Allowed,’ ” she said.
There are at least two other Republican women weighing a 2016 bid: former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).
Palin said she “can’t wait for new energy” during the GOP primary, a possible swipe at two front-runners: former Govs. Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush. And she added that while “it doesn’t necessarily have to be me,” there should be a robust primary competition to help the best candidate prevail.
“Big competition, and that competition in the GOP … will surface that candidate who can take on Hillary, be ready for Hillary and show the nation what it is going to take to get the country back on the right track,” she said.
“This next person has got to realize this is war, this is war for our hunters’ future.”
Palin flirted with a bid for president in 2012. Her political action committee, Sarah PAC, raised almost $5 million between 2011-2012 as supporters urged her to jump in. She ultimately decided against it.