Palin Mystery Grows in Iowa

Chris Field | April 22, 2011 12:32 PM

Who is Peter Singleton?

DES MOINES, Iowa—Prominent Republicans here pretty much splinter into two camps on the question of whether Sarah Palin will jump into the 2012 presidential race.

One side points to a mysterious California lawyer named Peter Singleton as proof the former Alaska governor will definitely run. The other side points to Mr. Singleton as proof she won't.

"When it comes to Palin in Iowa, it's pretty much Peter Singleton," said Iowa Tea Party Director Ryan Rhodes.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Singleton is "visiting obscure county GOP chairmen, befriending tea-party activists, buttonholing lawmakers in the lobby of the state Capitol, and amassing a database of potential Palin supporters."

Is he some sort of Palinista working on the sly? No one knows for sure.

Mr. Singleton swears he has never met Ms. Palin and has no contact with her team. "I'm just a dedicated activist working on my own," he said.

Ms. Palin's aides concur, insisting that she hasn't met with Mr. Singleton and that he is in no way coordinating with her political-action committee.

But not many Republicans here buy the lone-wolf theory.

"I came away from our conversation convinced Mr. Singleton is organizing for her, and has an inside track on her 2012 campaign," said Jeff Jorgensen, GOP chairman of Pottawattamie County in the state's southwestern corner. He met Mr. Singleton for breakfast last month.