Palin on Senate run: ‘I’ve considered it’

“But I’m still waiting to see, you know, what the lineup will be and hoping that, there again, there will be some new blood, new energy — not just kind of picking from the same old politicians in the state that have come from political families that have sort of reigned up there,” she continued.

{mosads}Palin recently signed on again as a Fox News contributor, and Alaska Republicans say she hasn’t been around the state much in recent years, a sign that she’s less than likely to run for the seat. Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) is already running and is
viewed as the front-runner in the primary, while 2010 Senate nominee
Joe Miller (R) is also in the race.

Begich is viewed as one of the more vulnerable incumbents in the heavily Republican state, and whether he can win his race may determine which party controls the Senate after the 2014 elections.

The Tea Party Leadership Fund, a California-based Tea Party group, has been pushing a “draft Palin” movement and released a poll in early May showing she’d start out with a slight edge over Treadwell in a three-way primary. But that slight edge comes despite voters knowing her much better than Treadwell, the latest sign that even some Republicans don’t love Palin in her home state and that Treadwell would have a strong chance at winning a competitive primary.

The former vice presidential candidate was critical of Begich in the interview.

“He has not done what he has promised to do for the people of Alaska, and that was to represent what it is that the nation needs in terms of energy development,” she said. “Because he’s on the wrong side of the aisle, he has to go along to get along with his Democrat leadership. And that’s a shame. That’s a waste of opportunity for our nation.”