{alltv} Palin a no-show for fans wanting Gettysburg view

GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Sarah Palin has found a new way to keep her political faithful guessing.

Palin was a no-show for supporters, celebrity-watchers and media waiting hours for her at the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg on Monday, but her tour bus reportedly was spotted at a nearby hotel, making it likely she would appear in public Tuesday.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, is on a tour of historic sites on the East Coast -- fueling speculation she might be testing the waters for a run at the presidency in 2012.

But the former Alaska governor isn't advising the media of her itinerary, leaving supporters as well as reporters guessing where she will appear next.

Palin, who had 13 percent of the support in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll last week, also is leaving everyone wondering whether she will run for the Republican nomination.

It all started on Sunday when Palin entered Washington on the back of a Harley-Davidson in the Rolling Thunder motorcycle parade that has become part of the Memorial Day weekend observance in the capital.

On Monday rumors, then Twitter messages, then posts on her website showed Palin had visited sites around Washington -- the National Archives, where the U.S. Constitution is under glass, first President George Washington's mansion at Mount Vernon, and Baltimore's Fort McHenry, where the rockets' red glare of battle described in the U.S. national anthem took place.

A photo on her website late on Sunday showed the closing words of the Gettysburg Address, the famous speech President Abraham Lincoln delivered after the 1863 battle, which was taken as a hint about her next destination.

WHERE'S SARAH?

Several hundred people gathered on a hot, sunny day for a glimpse of the woman who supporters are hoping will inject some life into a slow-moving race for the Republican nomination to take on President Barack Obama next year.

Some of those gathered at Gettysburg were puzzled by the goal of her tour, which seemed designed to attract public attention despite a lack of information.

"In a way it's cool. In a way it's, 'Whaa?'" said John Hower, a baker who drove for three hours from Berwick, Pennsylvania, with two friends to see Palin. "She's trying to avoid the media. But I'd like to see the bus. We're, like, where's this bus?"

A charismatic and polarizing figure who resigned as governor and became an author and a Fox News commentator, Palin's entry into the Republican field could spice up a race among candidates who so far have failed to arouse passion among core party members.

"I think she'd kick the mix up," said Janita Carlton of Green Forest, Arkansas. "I think she's a smart lady and she has back bone."

By the evening, reports of her bus being at a Gettysburg-area hotel reached the crowd. Many stayed on at the battlefield in the hope that a visit to the memorial would come as temperatures cooled late in the day. Eventually, after hours of waiting, the crowd thinned out.

"I'm disappointed. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen her," said Sharon Danielski, who left after a nine-hour vigil.

The crowd awaiting Palin's arrival was a mix of the politically passionate and the curious.

"She's a big name, she's always in the news," Hower said. "She might be a future president. Maybe not this time but sooner or later she might get it right."