Palin Answers Budget & Worldview Questions in Long Island's business organization luncheon

In a luncheon appearance before the Long Island Association, which bills itself as the state’s largest business organization, Ms. Palin engaged in an animated exchange as she took questions about current affairs, her worldview and, of course, her political future. She said that she was still weighing whether to join the 2012 Republican presidential race, but said voters craved an unconventional candidate.

“People are ready for our governmental establishment to be shaken up,” Ms. Palin said, adding that if she decided to become a candidate, she would campaign aggressively face-to-face with voters, not simply from a distance. “In a heated primary, it allows for some great debate – very heated discourse – all those things we need in order for those voters to decide.”

At the conclusion of more than an hour of discussion, Ms. Palin did not offer a definitive answer about whether she would be a candidate:

I’m not saying it’s going to be me offering my name up in the name of service. There is so much to be considered, but I certainly believe that this is going to be an unconventional political cycle.

It was a rare public outing for Ms. Palin and unlike nearly any other public appearance that she has recently made. She did not deliver a prepared speech or simply offer her opinions on television through her role as an analyst on the Fox News Channel. Instead, Ms. Palin took a seat at the front of a country club ballroom and took questions from the president of the Long Island Association, Kevin Law.

The tone was friendly, but the length of the event offered at least a small and unscripted window into Ms. Palin, the former Alaska governor, that is seldom seen since she made her debut on the national political stage as Senator John McCain’s presidential running mate more than two years ago. (Read Full story at NYT)