Palin goes back on the campaign trail to help Saxby Chambliss

To the delight of many GOP supporters: Sarah Palin is back on the campaign trail. Weeks after her Republican party's heavy loss in the US Election, the run-off senate race in Georgia reaches its climax tomorrow and Senator Saxby Chambliss hopes that recruiting the Alaska governor to come and campaign with him could give him the edge over Democrat rival Jim Martin.

Palin becomes the latest high-profile Republican to throw her weight behind Chambliss, following the likes of Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani onto the campaign platforms.

Martin has also recruited some big names to his campaign – including Bill Clinton – and it will be Ludacris, the hugely successful Atlanta rapper, who appears with Martin during the closing stages to try and ensure the Democrat wins, thus moving Barack Obama's party to within one seat of a filibuster-busting 60-seat majority in the Senate.

On Politico, David Kuhn says that Palin's appearances in Georgia show how she still holds high status in the Republican party. She is "as well positioned as any Republican to make a serious run for the GOP nomination in 2012," he says, but notes that if she does run, Palin risks marginalising more centrist Republican voters. The former vice-presidential candidate is "one of the most divisive figures in politics", he observes. Exit polls from the November election showed that 64 per cent of independent voters felt she would not be a suitable candidate for the Presidency.

Palin may be divisive but the former beauty queen is certainly popular. Both Yahoo and Lycos have released data compiled from the year's internet searches showing that only Barack Obama was a more searched-for political name in 2008. According to the Chicago Tribune, "There's little doubt that she [Palin] will not go quietly into a long Alaskan night. She will be heard from again. And again. And again."

If Palin does want to run in 2012, Republican media consultant Alex Castellanos tells Politico that her appearances in Georgia are a bad move. "She needs to retire from the field, endure a period of introspection, and renew herself before she can attempt to return," Castellanos says. "Unless she retires from the field soon, the cement will set on the Sarah Palin we know now."

FIRST POSTED DECEMBER 1, 2008