You guys don't remember that she had played it all perfectly and was building to an announcement although the media and the GOP was against her she was pulling off something that we had never seen, but then suddenly, Rick Perry stepped in and squashed her momentum just long enough to keep her out of 2012.
Perry mysteriously and ineffectively jumping in, neutered the Palin effort towards beating the bipartisan system that was united against her.
Palin could have wiped the floor with Perry. She had better poll numbers, name recognition, star power, and a far better ability to express conservatism.
I remember that week, and her reaction to Perry stepping in. You could almost feel the breath go out of her. She was double crossed by him. He had promised the people of Texas that he would not run if they gave him a third term as Governor, but he broke that promise, which surprised Palin as well.
I agree that it was one of the major factors that kept her out of the race, although I believe there were others. It's my personal belief that she could have prevailed over everything that stood in her way, if she'd only run.