The Hill News

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said on Friday she won't decide whether to run for president for "some months still."

The onetime GOP vice presidential nominee said that she would wait some time before declaring her intentions for 2012, adding to the crowd of Republican contenders for president who appear set to kick off their campaigns at a later point, compared to the 2008 cycle.

"It's a prayerful consideration. Other people can jump in and that helps you make that consideration," Palin said of her thought process on "Good Morning America" on ABC. "But my decision won't be made for some months still."

Palin has steadily opened the door to running for president in 2012. And after a drubbing for the president's party in this fall's midterm elections, more and more Republicans are flirting with an opportunity to challenge President Obama in two years.

But the contest seems set to get underway later in the cycle than in 2008, ! when Republicans were quick to announce their campaigns. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has signaled he's inclined to jump in later, and other candidates, like Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), are waiting to finish up home state business first.

Palin brushed off polling this week that had suggested she wasn't electable in 2012. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults said in an ABC/Washington Post poll that they definitely would not vote for Palin in 2012, and an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that Obama! would b eat Palin, 55-33 percent.  

"Speaking about competition, that's what competitive primaries are all about," Palin said.

"I'm all for contested primaries," she added. "If I were to participate in a contested primary, I would be in it to win it."