My hand cramps up just signing checks when I pay my bills.

I can't imagine how Sarah Palin is going to make it through three weeks of book signings like the one she had at the

Maysville Road Meijer on Thursday.

There were reportedly about 1,200 people waiting in line to see her in Fort Wayne, where she signed copies of her book, “Going Rogue, An American Life.” It was the second stop on a book tour that started in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday and will have her in Pennsylvania and New York today, Virginia on Sunday and will wind up, according to the schedule, Dec. 7 at Barnes & Noble in Bloomington, Minn.

I counted 13 states on her schedule, and they're saying other stops could be added. In fact, an early update will have her signing books Dec. 4 at Fort Hood, Texas, the scene of the recent mass shootings.

Book signings are nothing new. But Palin's has proved to be a huge event so far, certainly in Grand Rapids and here as well as Noblesville later Thursday and Cincinnati and Columbus in Ohio on Friday. The hoopla created by enormous media coverage early on as well as the hundreds who show up to see Palin have fueled the magnitude of this tour into something more than just selling books.

Gee, it's almost like a campaign tour. The big tour bus with Palin's 10-foot-high picture and the words, “Going Rogue” emblazoned on the side contribute to that impression as well.

Oh, but Palin told Oprah recently the 2012 presidency isn't on her radar screen right now. Well, semantics aside, maybe it will be after the book tour, which it seems isn't hurting her popularity any.

While she discounts running for president in 2012 at this point, a OneNewsNow.com poll shows nearly 42 percent of the 16,384 respondents think she'll be on the presidential ticket next election as opposed to about 33 percent who think she won't.

Speaking of polls, an ABC News/Washington Post poll says 60 percent of respondents think Palin is not qualified for the job of president. Only 43 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of Palin, compared with 52 percent who had an unfavorable opinion. And I understand “favorable opinion” is critical in the world of political aspirations. Palin had a 58 percent favorable stamp of approval in 2008 after she was nominated to be John McCain's running mate.

But polls are opinions. Opinions change. And 2012 is a ways away. Something as grass roots as Palin's book tour, where she's shaking hands and smiling at people and calling them by name, can make a difference.