Or maybe it’s both.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008, was to attend the premiere of a flattering documentary about her, “The Undefeated,” at the Pella Opera House in this small Iowa town on Tuesday night.

She is visiting a day after Michele Bachmann, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives who is often compared to Palin, launched her own presidential campaign in Iowa, and at a time when many candidates, even President Barack Obama, are touring the early voting state to seek support.

The Midwestern state holds the first contest on the road to the Republican 2012 presidential nomination.

Palin has carefully left the door open to a campaign. Her appearance in Iowa was likely to encourage those who think the former Alaska governor still might jump into a wide-open race.

Palin’s daughter Bristol, a mini-celebrity in her own right, added to the political buzz by saying on Fox News that her mother had made up her mind already about whether to seek the nomination and that she would like to see Sarah Palin run.

“She definitely knows,” Bristol Palin said when asked whether Sarah Palin had made up her mind. She said the decision would remain within the family for now.

Palin’s visit created an air of excitement in Pella, a town founded by Dutch immigrants in 1847 and boasting a picturesque windmill. Taking in the scene was John Anderson, riding a bicycle with a sign draped around his neck that said, “It’s now or never, Sarah, America is calling you.”

“She’s an inspiration,” said Anderson. “I like her spunk, I like her drive, I like her charisma.”

Palin launched a “One Nation” bus tour in late May of the eastern United States and plans are said to be in the works for another tour at some point.

But Palin has almost no campaign infrastructure or team, while the race to be the Republican candidate to challenge Obama is now well under way.

If Palin were to run, she and Bachmann would likely be competing for the same social conservative voters who are powerful in Iowa, whose caucuses next February are the first voting contest of the 2012 nomination battle.

The biopic is likely to keep Palin in the spotlight, much as her reality TV show, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” did earlier this year.

The documentary traces Palin’s rise from mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, to state governor and her rise as John McCain’s 2008 running mate.

The movie’s writer and director, Stephen Bannon, said he did not intend the film as a promotion for Palin as a potential presidential candidate.

“I would love for her to be an active candidate. I have no idea if she’s going to be. I think she would add a real voice to this,” he said.