Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P. Sarah Palin said Saturday that Republicans should be in no hurry to wrap up the presidential nominating contest, declaring that a competitive campaign until the August convention in Tampa would not complicate the party's efforts to defeat President Obama. "People who start screaming that a brokered convention is the worst thing that could happen to the G.O.P., they have an agenda," Ms. Palin said in an interview. They have their own personal or political reasons, their own candidate who they would like to see protected away from a brokered convention. She added: "That's part of competition, part of the process and it may happen." Ms. Palin, who arrived here to deliver a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, said that she was enjoying watching the newly-competitive Republican presidential primary. She said the campaign has made Mitt Romney and his rivals stronger candidates. In a brief interview with The New York Times and CNN, Ms. Palin said that she had not decided which candidate to support. She has repeatedly praised the candidacy of Newt Gingrich, saying a month ago that she would vote for him if she lived in South Carolina, but she did not repeat those accolades on Saturday. When asked if Mr. Gingrich should step aside to allow conservative to coalesce behind Rick Santorum, Ms. Palin said, "Not yet." She said that there was "room for more debate, for more discussion, adding: "I wouldn't encourage anyone to drop out." Ms. Palin, who last year decided against joining the Republican presidential race, offered no regrets about her decision. She was upbeat as she discussed the party's nominating contest. A day after Mr. Romney stood before thousands of conservative activists at the conference and called himself a "severely conservative governor," Ms. Palin conceded that she was puzzled by his description. "I wasn't quite sure what the word "severely" meant," she said with a smile. It sounded severe. Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has struggled to win over conservative activists in his bid to win the party's presidential nomination. Ms. Palin said that he "still has a lot of time" to explain his record and his evolution on positions like abortion and other issues. She urged him to spend more time reaching out to Tea Party activists. "If the Tea Party patriots are dismissed, if they're marginalized, they're going to be much less enthused and much less willing to put it all on the line for the G.O.P. candidate in the general election," Ms. Palin said. We can't afford to have low voter turnout in the general election. But in the interview, she did not criticize Mr. Romney. "The best thing that he has going for him - he still has time to make the case," Ms. Palin said. Don't let the political experts in the party say that we need to sew this thing up now. Ms. Palin, who frequently offers her take on the race as a commentator on the Fox News Channel, did not rule out making her preference known as the campaign moved forward. "My contract does not prohibit me from endorsing, thank goodness," Ms. Palin said. So I'm just like 60 percent, 70 percent of Americans still trying to decipher who's best.