JUNEAU, Alaska — Sarah Palin is disputing online reports that she has canceled her bus tour of historic American sites, saying in a Facebook posting, titled "*Sigh* Reports of Tour Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated," that her schedule will be tight the next few weeks because she's been called for jury duty.
"As I said myself at the end of the east coast leg of the tour, the summer is long, and I’m looking forward to hitting the open road again," she wrote on Wednesday. "The coming weeks are tight because civic duty calls (like most everyone else, even former governors get called up for jury duty) and I look forward to doing my part just like every other Alaskan."
Palin said that her "One Nation" bus tour would resume "when the time comes." She added that she's looking forward "to hitting the open road again."
Real Clear Politics reported earlier in the day:
Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak.
It should be noted, however, that Real Clear Politics never indicated that Palin was officially cutting her trip short.
The Huffington Post reported earlier in the day that Palin's bus tour appeared to take a truncated route after it was reported that the former governor's tentative itinerary included stops in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Iowa.
The 2008 vice presidential candidate traveled from Washington, D.C. to New England by bus in May in a trip that generated intense interest and fueled speculation about her national ambitions.
Palin is among the top tier of potential 2012 presidential candidates in polls of Republican voters. She has said she plans to visit Iowa, where the state's caucuses begin the nominating season next year.