Sarah Palin could be throwing a wrench in Mitt Romney’s plans.

Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, grabbed the national spotlight last year when he entered the Republican party’s presidential primary. Things looked good for a while, but Romney’s dreams were shattered after party loyalists scoffed at his dubious conservative conversion and past associations with liberal lawmakers like Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Despite losing out in the primaries, Romney hoped to redeem himself by supporting the party’s candidate, John McCain, for whom Romney helped raise $20 million. And, according to friends close to Romney, the politician hoped his post-loss actions would endear him to party insiders and loyalists, thus setting the stage for a potential run in 2012. In fact, on February 7, the day Romney suspended his bid, a campaign aide told Politico that the 61-year-old would "consider" running in the next national election. That was before, however, he had to consider Palin, who has become a star since McCain picked her as his running mate. Now friends and aides are suggesting Romney’s rethinking his future. Republican operative and former Romney advisor Charley Manning remarked, “I’d be surprised if Mitt ever ran again for president."

Former Republican National Committee chairman Rich Bond went a bit further by pointing out that Palin’s quite popular with the party’s base. "While [Palin] may not be popular with the winning majority that Barack Obama put together, she’s enormously popular with the losing minority that John McCain put together — and that pretty closely mirrors Republican primary voters." But Bond said he wouldn’t count Romney out too soon: "If I were him, I would be looking at my greatest asset — his national fund-raising base — as well as his grass-roots base, his enhanced name identification and the fact that he countered Obama’s ‘spread-the-wealth’ tax policy better than John McCain ever was able to. He’s got a lot going for him, so why rule him out prematurely?"

Romney’s team isn’t even entertaining the topic — his spokesman insisted Romney’s focused on the upcoming holidays and bringing America together for the next administration: "Gov. Romney believes that now is the time for all Americans to stand above partisan politics and help our president-elect address the pressing needs of the nation." That may actually be the best thing for Palin, too. One bemused strategist for a potential rival had this to say about rumors that Palin is angling for 2012: "Fine with us. Let her be the sacrificial lamb for 2012." Other leaders are focusing on 2016.