Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has not spoken to close allies in recent days and is set to break her own self-imposed deadline of the end of September to make a decision on a presidential run.

Becky Beach, Palin’s top fundraiser in Iowa and a close friend who is usually kept in the loop on the former governor’s plans, told The Hill that she had not heard from Palin in weeks about whether or not she would run in 2012.

{mosads}“I don’t have any idea of her decision or her timing. The only thing I’ve heard her say is that the legal deadlines are the real deadlines, and I share her sentiment,” she said.

The deadline to get on the Utah primary ballot is Oct. 15, while the deadlines for many other states land on Oct. 31. In some states it can take weeks to gather petition signatures and get the paperwork ready to make sure candidates get on the ballot, meaning Palin is running out of time should she decide to run.

Palin indicated in a Fox News interview Tuesday that she might be leaning against a race.

“[For] somebody like me, is a title and is a campaign too shackling?” Palin said. “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 political 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 has slipped into single digits in numerous polls of potential Republican candidates since Texas Gov. Rick Perry got into the race, and many of the top Republican campaign operatives have already been scooped up. It looks increasingly unlikely that she will run for president.

But Beach said that if Palin does decide to run she could still be a formidable candidate.

“I think it’s going to be so unconventional if she decides to run a few weeks aren’t going to matter one way or the other. If she decides to run the enthusiasm will be there, I don’t think she’s going to be handicapped [by the timing].”

Spokesmen from Palin’s political action committee did not return repeated calls for comment.