A question’s been teasing the political world all day long: Is Sarah Palin planning to endorse Donald Trump today in Iowa? We have our answer, and the answer is, “You betcha!”

In a statement released by the Trump campaign, the former GOP V.P. candidate and media lightning rod declares, “I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President.”

“I am greatly honored to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” Trump says in a statement of his own, “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support.”

The tantalizing possibility of Palin teaming with Trump kept pundits heated up on an otherwise blustery, bitterly cold day in Des Moines.

On Sunday night, Donald Trump posted on his Facebook page that at his event this evening at Iowa State University he would “have a major announcement and a very special guest in attendance.” Since Trump barters in hyperbole the way Iowa grows corn, not much thought was given. After Trump’s speech Monday at Liberty University, some chatter suggested Jerry Falwell, Jr would be the one doing the endorsing.

However, last evening, Palin’s name began to surface. And when a charter jet from Anchorage arrived in Des Moines at 7:55 pm local, the speculation went into overdrive. With the excitement of a kid tracking Santa’s flight Christmas Eve, the Daily Caller follows the movements of the charter plane.

The Washington Post’s Philip Bump laid out the pros and cons of why the former Alaska governor might toss her weight behind Trump. He also noted the “political minuet” the two have performed this year: “The two appeared at an anti-Iran-deal rally at the Capitol (along with Ted Cruz and others). Trump suggested he might tap Palin for his Cabinet (she’d like energy secretary) and Palin interviewed him (sort of) for One America News.”

FiveThirtyEight numbers guru Nate Silver drew up a graph and stats indicating how Trump and Palin have similar policy positions — at least  as Trump’s positions stand today. (No, Silver doesn’t make clear which is which.)

Trump & Palin have pretty similar policy positions: https://t.co/ON1mp20aVL https://t.co/j69EbQGzFT pic.twitter.com/SzTacdLhZl

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 19, 2016

The pairing of Trump and Palin was enough to make the heads of establishment Republicans explode like watermelons at a Gallagher show. Even Guy Benson at Townhall was not feeling the love, warning:

Should Palin’s endorsement both come to fruition (there have been clues along the way), and push Trump over the top, emotionalist nationalistic populism will have officially — perhaps temporarily — supplanted principled, policy-driven, limited-government conservatism as the dominant strain within the American right-wing.

The thought has him seeking, however jokingly, the comfort of the bottle.

Gonna watch the Trump/Palin rally with the largest bottle of bourbon I can find.

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2016

What had Hot Air’s Allahpundit curious is why Palin would side with Trump when there’s a “true conservative” in the race.

The irony of Palin endorsing Trump this year of all years, if it happens, is that the tea party finally has a candidate running who not only passes nearly every litmus test they can throw at him but who’s run a brilliant campaign and stands a shockingly good chance of winning. That’s Cruz, a guy whom Palin herself has praised repeatedly in the past.

In fact, Palin said last month on Newsmax TV that having Trump and Cruz being the last two candidates standing would be a “great problem to have,” praising both for their willingness to “fight for America.”

This morning, Cruz communications director Rick Tyler said he’d be “deeply disappointed” if Palin picked Trump. When asked by CNN’s New Day whether it’d be a “blow” to the Cruz campaign, Tyler said it’d be “a blow to Palin” because “she would be endorsing someone who’s held progressive views all their life on the sanctity of life, on marriage, on partial-birth abortion, he supported [the] TARP bailout — it goes on and on.”

Bristol Palin was not pleased with the Cruz camp’s “negative knee-jerk reaction,” posting a blog titled “Is THIS Why People Don’t Like Cruz?”  Addressing Ted Cruz directly, she writes:

I didn’t go to Harvard Law School, but I know this:  You can like two people in a race, but there will only one president.

The audacity to suggest that because she chooses one over the other will somehow “damage” her just shows arrogance.

You’ve also said, “She can pick winners!” I hope you’re right, and that she endorses Donald Trump today for President.

The Mama Grizzly quickly put more fuel on the fire by tweeting her daughter’s blog post.

Now Bristol’s gotten her wish, and late this afternoon two of the greatest political shows on earth combine on the frigid plains of Ames, Iowa.

It’ll be standing room only entertainment. But will Palin’s endorsement play out when it counts, 13 days from now in the Iowa caucus?