Palin hints at presidential bid during Beck double act

Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, teased a packed convention hall in Anchorage this weekend about whether she would run for the US presidency in two years.

With the Fox News conservative firebrand Glenn Beck at her side, she said to cheers: "Evidently, I'm supposed to make a big announcement here, Glenn and I together, make some big announcement, maybe about the 2012 election or something."

Two weeks ago, Beck and Palin also played their double act at the "Restoring Honour" rally of hundreds of thousands on the Mall in Washington DC. This Friday, she will speak at an event sponsored by the Republican Party in Iowa, the first state traditionally to kick off the presidential nomination contest.

Ms Palin, 46, also appears on Fox News and has been revelling recently in the slipping fortunes of President Barack Obama. At the Anchorage event, she said the US was becoming complacent about the dangers of a terrorist attack like the one of 9/11 nine years ago.