Are you surprised? Are you disappointed? Are you relieved?

With the battle for the GOP presidential nomination well under way, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has announced that she will not be in the running.

Palin perhaps has enjoyed the speculation that she might be a candidate. She is colorful, newsworthy and well-known, and she has a base of ardent conservative supporters. But she won't be seeking the GOP nod to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

That leaves a number of Republican candidates, though only a few appear to have a reasonable shot.

They include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Georgia businessman Herman Cain, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and perhaps a couple of others.

But Palin's announcement that she will not seek the nomination should not be read as a sign that she will become uninvolved in politics.

Though she is one of the Republicans whom liberals criticize most fiercely, she is a crowd pleaser when she gives speeches around the country. So undoubtedly the eventual Republican nominee would be well served if he or she could persuade Palin to deliver some speeches on the candidate's behalf.

It will be interesting to see over the next year how non-candidate Palin chooses to take part in politics.