Sarah Palin rolls into the spotlight

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rolled into the nation’s capital on Sunday aboard the back of a Harley.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008 and a potential front-runner for the 2012 presidential nomination, joined the riders of Rolling Thunder, an annual motorcycle rally in honor of Vietnam War veterans.

The former governor did not speak at the Rolling Thunder event Sunday morning at the Pentagon, but by noon, she rode across Washington’s Memorial Bridge as the passenger on a black bike. Palin and her female driver were near the front of the pack of riders.

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Wearing all black, including a black helmet, Palin drew lots of attention from the crowd.

There were some mixed reactions amongst on-lookers. Among the many signs in the crowd, one said “Sarah honors fallen heroes” on the front and “run Sarah run” on the back.

But Kim Cransey, who came to D.C. from Zionsville, Pa., with the Sons of the American Legion, said she wasn’t happy with all the attention the politician was getting.

“She has a right, that’s all I’ll really say,” Cransey said. “But she doesn’t have a right to be where she is in the lineup.”

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Later Sunday, Palin released a statement on her website praising Rolling Thunder for placing its focus on veterans issues.

“I’m thankful Rolling Thunder keeps the mission of honoring our vets
alive! For in doing so, they remind us what is good and free and worthy
in America,” she wrote. “So roll on, Rolling Thunder! Like Martin Luther
King, Jr. said about the great struggle for civil rights, ‘we will not
be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like
a mighty stream…'”

Palin said she met with Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a Tea Party-backed freshman lawmaker who was also in attendance at the rally. West is a retired Army officer, having served in the Iraq War.

The ex-governor started a nationwide bus tour on Sunday in a move that seems designed to drum up support for a potential presidential bid.

The bus tour starts Sunday in Washington and is expected to last several weeks and include stops in key early primary states. But details of where and when events will be held are sketchy.

“Starting this weekend, Sarah Palin will embark on a ‘One Nation Tour’ of historical sites that were key to the formation, survival and growth of the United States of America,” a statement on the SarahPAC website reads. “The tour will originate in Washington, D.C., and will proceed north up the East Coast.”

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— This story was updated at 5:57 p.m.