As Palin hits trail, some old fans wary

Two more Republicans are exploring whether the time is right: Governor Rick Perry of Texas said yesterday he would consider running after the state Legislature ends its session Monday. And former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who topped a CNN poll of GOP potential contenders yesterday, will visit New Hampshire Thursday, the day Mitt Romney officially kicks off his presidential campaign in the Granite State.

Tea Party activists admire Palin’s conservative views and incandescent star power, but few in New Hampshire seem ready to commit to supporting her for president. Many activists are equally excited by businessman Herman Cain and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican who has hinted she will get into the race.

And, they say, Palin must campaign in the New Hampshire primary the traditional way — by showing up in living rooms and town halls, not with a single stop on a bus tour .

“If a candidate is not in the state doing retail politics, shaking hands with activists, they can’t win here,’’ said Corey Lewandowski, director of Americans for Prosperity New Hampshire, which has been inviting Palin to New Hampshire since 2009, with no response. This will be her first visit to the state since the 2008 campaign.

Nationally, Tea Party leaders are intrigued by a potential Palin candidacy, but they say the antiestablishment conservative movement is too fractured to move monolithically toward any one candidate so early in the race.

“Most Tea Partiers know Palin is going to run — the big thing is, so what? What does she bring?’’ said Shelby Blakely, a spokeswoman for the Tea Party Patriots, a national group that sprung up from Tax Day rallies. “What the Tea Party is looking for is not political rhetoric but actual details and a plan, and something more than just vague platitudes.’’