Palin Jabs Romney Just Before He Announces Candidacy

Talk about stealing the show -- or at least attempting to. Less than an hour before former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took the stage to announce his 2012 presidential run, Sarah Palin unleashed some criticism over his stance on health care. The Hill has more:

"In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, so obviously ... there will be more the explanation coming from former Governor Romney on his support for government mandates," Palin said, according to NBC News.

Palin made her remarks in Romney's home state of Massachusetts, where she stopped on a leg of her bus tour throughout the Northeast. She is expected to make the short trip up to New Hampshire Thursday evening, her first since 2008, when she was the GOP's vice presidential nominee.

When asked if she believes Romney's health care stance will hurt him among Tea Party supporters, Real Clear Politics reports that Palin wasn't afraid to speak her mind:

"That perhaps will be a big challenge for him because tea party activists are pretty strident, in a good way, in making sure that the candidate that many of the tea party patriots will support -- the candidate has a record of living out the principles that tea party patriots do embrace," she said.

Some believe that Palin's statements so close to Romney's announcement are a clear indication that she was attempting to steal some of his spotlight. Either way, if Palin does, indeed, decide to throw her hat in the ring, current polls show that she could give Romney a run for his money. Public Policy Polling has the two Republicans currently deadlocked at 16 percent.

You can watch part of Romney's official campaign announcement below: