I think Rove and the elites want her in. The more the votes are split, the better Mitt's chances. They only care about Mitt! Sarah Palin wouldn't pull 10 votes from Mitt. She would pull votes from Bachmann, Cain and Perry.
I was thinking Rove believed Sarah Palin joining the race would draw from Rick Perry to divide the conservative vote, paving the way for Romney (Rove’s pick), but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
According to this poll, Sarah Palin would draw some from Rick Perry, but it would be a smaller percentage overall since he is already so far ahead, plus supporters are now polling that most will stick with Perry, and Sarah Palin would pull a little from Rick Santorum and slightly from Newt Gingrich, but mostly from Michele Bachmann with Michele Bachmann taking the biggest hit from a Sarah Palin candidacy. Looking at these poll results, a Sarah Palin candidacy would basically take Michele Bachmann OUT.
However, Sarah Palin, who is somewhat liked by some independents, does draw some from Mitt Romney as well, as the poll here shows.
You will see in the poll results below that even if Karl Rove thinks Sarah Palin would take out Rick Perry to make way for Mitt Romney, it doesn’t look like it would work that way.
From:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_US_0824513.pdf
Excerpt:
Q11 What if neither Sarah Palin nor Paul Ryan ran
for President, and the candidates were just
Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt
Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry,
Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Who would
you vote for?
Michele Bachmann ......................................... 16%
Herman Cain................................................... 6%
Newt Gingrich ................................................. 8%
Jon Huntsman................................................. 3%
Ron Paul ......................................................... 6%
Rick Perry ....................................................... 33%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 20%
Rick Santorum................................................ 4%
Someone else/Not sure .................................. 5%
Q9 If the candidates for President next year were
Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt
Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Sarah Palin, Ron
Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick
Santorum, who would you vote for?
Michele Bachmann ......................................... 10%
Herman Cain................................................... 7%
Newt Gingrich ................................................. 7%
Jon Huntsman................................................. 2%
Sarah Palin ..................................................... 13%
Ron Paul ......................................................... 6%
Rick Perry ....................................................... 27%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 17%
Rick Santorum................................................ 3%
Someone else/Not sure .................................. 7%
True enough, but only because, once Palin announces, Mitt ain't getting 10 votes.
Deal with it, Siz.
;^\