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A Palin presidency: Too “shackle-y?”

That’s what Sarah Palin suggested on Fox News’ “On The Record with Greta VanSusteren” tonight, saying that she’s concerned jumping into the 2012 presidential race will muffle her message.

“Is a title worth it?” she asked, rhetorically. “Does a title shackle a person? Are they someone like me who’s maverick? I do go rogue and I call it like I see it and I don’t mind stirring it up in order to get people to think and debate aggressively.”

“Is a title and a campaign too shackle-y?,” she continued. “Does that prohibit me from being out there, out of a box, not allowing handlers to shape me and to force my message to be what donors or what contributors or what pundits want it to be? Does a title take away my freedom to call it like I see it and to affect positive change that we need in this country? That’s the biggest contemplation piece in my process.”

Palin expressed a concern about “being caricatured” if she runs, and asked again “whether a title is needed to make a difference or someone can be rogue, can be maverick, can be passionate about issues and can get people to think very wisely about issues.”

Palin also said she didn’t know anything about a recent e-mail her political action committee sent to supporters saying she’s “on the verge” of making a 2012 decision: “Well I don’t know what went out to voters that said I’m on the verge.”

But she admitted it’s getting late.

“For logistical reasons though, certainly, decisions have to be made,” she said. “You have to get your ducks lined up in order to get your name on ballots.”

And she still thinks she could beat President Obama.

“I do,” she replied, when Susteren asked if she could win over the current president. “I wouldn’t have gone this far in my thinking about whether to run or not had I not had the confidence to believe that Americans are ready for someone out of the box.”

Palin also assessed the existing Republican field. She called the current coverage of the GOP race a “quasi reality show” and chalked up the speculation surrounding New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s presidential ambitions to a game of “who’s going to be the next flavor of the week?”

“I think a lot of the push for Chris Christie and others comes from not just from those within the party but from those inside baseball within the media,” she said.

But the GOP’s current underdog, she suggested, is “Herm Cain,” better known as Herman Cain: “He’s, I guess you could say, with all due respect, the flavor of the week.”