Palin admits she’s seriously considering a 2012 run

Make no mistake about it: Sarah Palin is seriously considering a run for the presidency in 2012. In a just-released story for this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Alaska's former governor tells writer Robert Draper that she's talking to her family about whether she should seek the White House and weighing whether she would bring unique qualities to the GOP field.

"I'm engaged in the internal deliberations candidly, and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here," Palin tells Draper.

She says there are no meaningful policy differences between her and other potential GOP candidates--but acknowledges she will face more pressure to prove that she has what it takes to be a serious presidential contender. "I know that a hurdle I would have to cross, that some other potential candidates wouldn't have to cross right out of the chute, is proving my record," she says. "That's the most frustrating thing for me--the warped and perverted description of my record and what I've accomplished over the last two decades. It's been much more perplexing to me than where the lamestream media has wanted to go about my personal life. And other candidates haven't faced these criticisms the way I have."

Asked whether her unwillingness to talk to the national media is partly to blame for how the public views her, Palin said she's been accessible on Fox News and through Facebook and Twitter. "I haven't been avoiding anything or anybody," she said. Because of the media's unfairness toward her, Palin said, "I fear for our democracy."

Still, Palin's willingness to talk to the Times Magazine is perhaps the biggest hint yet that she's serious about a White House bid. If she is to have a real chance at the GOP nomination, Palin will have to engage the national media more than she has over the past two years.

In a similar vein, Palin admits to Draper that she'll have to change the way she's handled her political operation since leaving the Alaska governorship two years ago. At the moment, Palin World consists of fewer than 10 staffers, only a handful of whom have direct access to her. While she doesn't have a formal chief of staff, Palin's husband, Todd, increasingly fills that role, serving as a gatekeeper to his wife.

"The organization would have to change," she said. "I'd have to bring in more people--more people who are trustworthy." Citing her experience as John McCain's running mate in 2008, Palin admits she remains deeply suspicious of political types, especially those from Washington.

Palin's biggest struggle may not be wooing public support; rather, she'll be hard-pressed to win over Beltway players working against her candidacy. In the story, she again trashes the unnamed Republicans who have criticized her potential White House run. "They want to be trusted to take on the likes of Ahmadinejad, but they won't take on a hockey mom from Wasilla?" she asks.

Still, the story notes that Karl Rove, who recently declared that Palin lacks the "gravitas" to be president, has tried to make nice with her. Draper writes that they ran into each other on election night at Fox News, where both are contributors. As Palin left the set, she spied Rove nearby, conspicuously reading a book called "Alaska for Dummies." Palin, Draper writes, laughed and took a photo of Rove with his book, never mentioning his criticism.

(Photo of Palin: Julie Jacobson/AP)