Palin Will Not Be Headlining GOP Fundraiser
Erika Bolstad is reporting that Palin will not be headlining the joint NRCC/NRSC fundraising dinner on June 8th. The statement from the NRSC:
After initially confirming her attendance, Governor Palin’s team informed the Committees that her gubernatorial responsibilities in Alaska prevented her from committing until the end of the legislative session. We completely understand and respect Governor Palin’s focus on her official state business; however, there is obviously an enormous amount of planning that goes into this annual event. For that reason, we invited and are honored to have former Speaker Newt Gingrich join us as our speaker at the 2009 Senate-House Dinner. As one of our Party’s brightest minds and most energetic speakers, we are looking forward to having former Speaker Gingrich provide the keynote address on June 8.
I can't blame the Congressional Republicans, they've got to get the planning finished up. And I can't blame Governor Palin either - she can't confirm until the end of the legislative session, especially with talk of special sessions, and Mount Redoubt erupting.
I wish I could say that her demonstrated focus on Alaska would earn her credit in the press, or stop the whining from the people who say she's only concerned about her national political career. But I'm not that naive.
UPDATE: Ugafish points out this article by Chad Pergram at Fox News that is dripping with disinformation. We get our familiar East Coast anonymous sources:
Sources familiar with the Palin snub fumed openly about how the governor handled this.
"She was a disaster," one Republican source told FOX News. "We had confirmation."
[...]
Another source familiar with the invitation indicated that the campaign committees were so incensed with Palin that they did not even bother to officially notify her that they rescinded the invitation.
[...]
Palin withdrew at the last moment from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington earlier this year. Palin also insisted on doing a TV interview while turkeys were slaughtered behind her while on the air.
The last paragraph is particularly egregious. Readers here know that she never confirmed for CPAC. And really - she "insisted" on doing an interview while turkeys were slaughtered? Did she say "Sorry, guys - I'm not answering a single question until someone starts killing some turkeys!" (note: Pergram has now modified his article without explanation to remove the turkey comment.)
UPDATE: Surprisingly, the Politico piece is more balanced than Fox's, and includes this quote from Meg:
“The Governor never confirmed her attendance at the event. She was honored to receive the invitation and asked to confirm her attendance at the end of the legislative session,” said Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for SarahPAC. “Governor Palin is thrilled to hear that Newt Gingrich will address the audience as the governor continues to focus on Alaska.”
UPDATE by RAM: Right after the election, conservative pundits instructed Palin to go home to Alaska and focus her energy on being a good governor of her state. She is doing that. She promised to always "put Alaskans first." Her duty is first and foremost to the people who elected her. She wanted to serve us all. But the country rejected her offer. Now she's back to serving the people who didn't reject her offer.
UPDATE III by VO: Sigh. Cillizza at the Washington Post reveals the Democratic/media plan for this:
The seeming confusion of whether Palin ever confirmed her attendance or whether she pulled out of the event or was pushed is sure to keep this issue in the spotlight for days to come.
UPDATE IV: The News-Miner includes a further explanation from Meg on the difficulties of the government/politics firewall:
Asked about possible miscommunications between the leadership committee and the governor's office, Stapleton said, "We are always working hard to make sure the bright line exists between official and unofficial business as we respond to thousands of requests for Governor Palin's time."
UPDATE V: Folks, I know this stuff gets discouraging and exhausting sometimes. But you've got to keep your heads up and keep fighting. The Governor never stops smiling, and never stops fighting, through all of this petty crap.
Techno likes sports analogies. I like military analogies. The tidal wave of filth that was unleashed during the campaign was Pearl Harbor. Right now we're fighting some tough battles with limited resources and inexperienced troops, like Guadalcanal or Kasserine Pass. But history is on our side, and soon enough we will have our Midway and our D-Day.
UPDATE by RAM: Just a thought... I wonder which event ordinary people will pay more attention to -- this NRCC/NRSC thing or this event?
Posts
227 comments:
Here we go:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/31/republicans-disinvite-palin-major-fundraiser/
Sources familiar with the Palin snub fumed openly about how the governor handled this.
"She was a disaster," one Republican source told FOX News. "We had confirmation."
As for inviting Gingrich, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain said the GOP "decided to go in another direction."
"Speaker Gingrich is a leader," Spain added.
Another source familiar with the invitation indicated that the campaign committees were so incensed with Palin that they did not even bother to officially notify her that they rescinded the invitation.
Multiple efforts to reach Palin's staff in Alaska for comment were unsuccessful.
The decision to book Gingrich instead of Palin seems to be indicative of growing discontent in the party with the Alaska governor and her potential ability to lead the GOP. And it's the latest in a series of gaffes that have plagued her since the November.
Palin withdrew at the last moment from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington earlier this year. Palin also insisted on doing a TV interview while turkeys were slaughtered behind her while on the air.
This is all a smoke screen. Sarah's hands are tied. Until April 17th every potential rival or existing foe can take potshots at her to score points at undermining SarahPAC and her credibility without her able to fight back.
But as they say in sports she'll remember or take note of their numbers and payback will eventually be forthcoming.
It has already started. I find it interesting that it is being played up on hotair and they dont even use the quote that you cite in your article in which they state they understand her duties as gov. keep her from going.
I wonder why he didn't add that in his post over there?
To keep myself from being depressed, I'm going to go with the idea that the good Gov is really doing her job as AK governor, which she is for 18 more months, and which I think she see's a basically a 4-year contract as it is in the private sector, so she's going to finish the work she was hired to do.
Yes, she is ambitious and would like to have a national influence as well, but really the next shot at that is 3 1/2 years away, so she is tending to what's in front of her now.
And as an unaffiliated voter, I take glee in snubbing these parties. If you look at the Fox comments section, there are some Independents there saying they are sick of both parties. Amen to that!
BTW, those stupid unnamed sources in the Fox story reaffirm that I hate party politics and cowardly party hacks. Hate is strong, but I do seriously dislike and am disgusted with ...
"I can't blame the Congressional Republicans"
Huh?
This was a setup all along - why didn't they talk to palin directly initially. They just trolled around until they got a "yes", then published and be damned.
Its a major problem.
Enough of this nebulous support from the RNC.
They don't support palin. Who cares. And more importantly its out in the open, not the charde it was before. let the grassroots show them that they way out of line.
Michael Steele has some explaining to do as well.
Let's face the fact: we'll never see Sarah Palin as president if she remains in Alaska past 2010. If she is serious about a presidential run, even in 2016, she has to get out of Alaska the day her term of governor ends.
She can make a small fortune on the speaking trail - enough to buy a place in DC. If she doesn't make such a move in 2010, we'll always have the last five months of 2008.
These "unknown" Republicans will coming begging when the SarahPac numbers are posted.
"The decision to book Gingrich instead of Palin seems to be indicative of growing discontent in the party with the Alaska governor and her potential ability to lead the GOP. "
Growing discontent? Whenever was it waning? They were always gonna latch onto anything to make sure she wasn't the leader of GOP next time around? But let's face it, she'll be one when she chooses to and there's nothing you guys can do to stop her.
To look on the bright side, maybe Sarah's calculation is that she's going to court special interest groups that support her values but stay away from the GOP party machine.
Face it, she screwed up. If her PAC jumped the gun in accepting, she should have said that, while she had not intended on accepting any political invitations until after the 19th, her PAC had accepted, it was very important to the national party, and she would honor it. The political fallout in AK would have been minimal if this was the only political event she had accepted before the session ended. Instead, she made herself look foolish and, if the Fox story is correct, royally pissed off a lot of people she will need for a national run.
People here can say she has the voters and doesn't need the GOP elite. But, Reagan needed BOTH the voters AND the party structure behind him in 1980. Granted its three years to a serious run, but she is raising a lot of doubts about her skills with people who, whether we like it or not, MATTER.
Governor, I love you, but you are not bigger than the party. To use a sports phrase, get your head in the game, now.
Bill O'Reilly is about to do a segment on the ethics charges.
Bill O'reilly doing a piece on ethics complaints.
Wow, first I was ticked at O'Reilly because of all the wrong stuff he
said, but then he said straight at the camera "Palin if you set up a legal defense fund, I'll promote it hear and I'll commit the max $1,000 to your fund."
I'm feeling much better now. Palin does NOT need the DC Repubs.
From fox report "Palin also insisted on doing a TV interview while turkeys were slaughtered behind her while on the air."
Insisted??? Must have come from an RNC source.
The knives are out.
Palin's has two clear choices now.
1) State publicly she is dissappointed in the RNC. Wait for the RNC to beg forgiveness and promise to do better and'or conservative anger with RNC. If not, stick to Alaskan politics exclusively and bide her time.
2) After mid April come out fighting on the National Stage, and see what support is there. If not enough, then focus on Alaska.
Palin can no longer sit on the fence ... its the right thing for her own career to keep all options open, but unfortunately, she does not have the support fron the RNC to do that.
When are the first numbers from SarahPac supposed to be posted?
SCSoxFan, you sound like one of those "party first" people who keep me from ever joining the party. Why should you have to be more loyal to the party than to the country?
If O'Reilly does promote her legal defense fund, that will clear up her legal fees in one night.
He just said again that he's the top-rated cable news show for 100 months.
SCSoxFan, how do we know that SarahPAC screwed up? Perhaps it was the NRSC/NRCC that screwed up. They may have agreed not to press-release her attendance until after the session (which is what the indication is in the ADN), but they jumped the gun and did so early, perhaps to force the Governor's hand. This may have angered her as well. We likely will never know the real story, but in the scheme of things, it's nothing. No way Newt can raise the kind of money the Guv can.
On a bright note, O'Reilly just told the Guv to let him know when she sets up her legal defense fund. He'll publicize it and kick in a grand himself. Sweeeet.
SCFoxFan:
For the umpteenth time Sarah Palin did NOT screw up. She could not do anything to indicate her appearance at the dinner, including phoning, e-mailing or writing of her acceptance or rejection.
This spin is to undermine Sarah's credibility and ultimately the fundraising ability of SarahPAC.
Techno's first rule: follow the money.
Read the thread below :'What they feared in Reagan, they now fear in Palin' to get a better perspective on Palin's popularity. On the contrary her star is ascending and that is why dark forces in the GOP and Obama are determined to stop her pronto before she gets up a head of steam and becomes unstoppable.
Conservative Comeback:
From what I hear it is now to be posted semi-annually. The first date supposedly is July 31, 2009.
Thanks Techno
I disagree militantfeather that Sarah has to say anything publicly to the RNC.
Just for kicks, is EVERYBODY here a registered Republican? Is that why you're so personally upset about this?
I know she's a Republican but she's more of an Independent Libertarian Republican who follows her own path to what's right. I think she's a Republican because she agrees with more of the R planks than the Dem planks, namely small govt, low taxes, pro development.
She has said many times that the politics stuff makes her roll her eyes and how much she dislikes the slow pace of govt, mostly because of political kowtowing and backrubbing that has to go on.
I hope she uses the Repubs as little as possible. Are there any other Independents here?
Just heard on OReilly that he will advertise Sarah's legal defense fundwhen she sets one up, on his show and will donate $1000.
"Sometimes I get fed up with my own party that I'd like to ditch my party label and run as an independent."
Sarah says it and GOP quakes with fever and remorse.
Stupid GOP deserves to sit opposition if they keep treating their star politicians like this. They'd have to cover up when their politicians fumble instead they keep piling on them and give the Dems the satisfaction. Another RNC-clothes issue in the making. when'll they ever learn?
"No one confirms attendance without checking with the boss. But it's becoming quite common for organizations to announce that Palin is attending their function in order to spark immediate interest and lots of news coverage."
Yes, but why the RNC. Man these people are absolute fools. Some people should be sacked immediately....whoever "pretended' they had a firm confirmation and went public with that.
i say "pretended", because how can they assume from wherever it comes until an official acceptance. And secondly, why stoke the fires going public again about "misunderstanding" when its obvious there is some misunderstanding...can't they put it more diplomatically.
Palin has been set up here.
This is the kind of junk that really gets me mad at her.
Accept the invite and rub it in the Anklebiters' fat faces, or politely decline, but don't play this one hand doesn't know what the other is doing game. It is an open invitation to miscommunications and screw-ups.
I know we want it for her, but she has to want it for herself. Mistakes like this don't help.
If she really wants it, she will get the heck out of Alaska come 2010. The local politics are only holding her back. (Easy for the guy from the East Coast to say...)Sarah is held to a standard of perfection, while the crooks up there got away with murder for two generations.
On the other hand, perhaps the NRCC doesn't quite understand the political realities of life in Alaska. It seems to me that they are being somewhat insensitive to a difficult situation...
Hey
Meghan issued this statement from the Pac
UPDATE III: Palin's staff continued to deny that she had ever been scheduled to attend. "The Governor never confirmed her attendance at the event," said Sarah PAC spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton. "She was honored to receive the invitation and asked to confirm her attendance at the end of the legislative session. Governor Palin is thrilled to hear that Newt Gingrich will address the audience as the Governor continues to focus on Alaska."
So she did ask the stupid GOP to wait until after the session.
This is such a set up
I'm sure Newt will draw a huge crowd -- just like the massive crowd he draws whenever he's at the Reagan Library. I've seen it myself, folks. I tell ya, those 50 people were really fired up!
This party is dead. The only thing that made me give it a second glance was Sarah Palin.
Her Anchorage Lincoln Day speech -- video taped by some dude with a camcorder -- got more attention that GOP fundraiser speech I've heard. It was second only to Rush's CPAC speech in garnering attention.
Wait till the SarahPAC numbers come out in July. These DC GOP lackeys will be singing a different tune.
Enough conspiracy theories. The RNC and national party organizations are not out to get her. They have their doubts about her readiness, but know a political natural when they see one. They WANTED her for this dinner. She screwed up and pissed them off in the process.
She has a lot of political fence mending to do, plus she has to show a lot of people with organizational clout that she has the chops to do this. This is just one more reason for them to doubt her. She has to make some serious decisions, quickly, and she is going to need help to make them. She's a political force of nature, but she has to go from 0-120 MPH in less than 60 seconds and she doesn't have the car to do it. She also has no idea how to do it. She ran in ansurget campaign in Alaska, but that is ZERO help in establishing a national presence. She's got to reach out past Alaska, to the very people who are doubting her, and ask for advice on how to do this. I read that national GOPers have tried to reach out to her and she has declined, either because she isn't ready or because she doesn't trust them after the campaign. Well, she'll have to trust them. It's obviously her present staff is either inadequate in numbers or in over their heads.
I've been a skeptic about her not running for re-election in 2010, but I am beginning to think she may have no other choice. She will either have to find some way of developing a shadow political organization outside of Alaska (without alientating AK voters) or else decide she's running in 2012 and just forget about re-election and focus on developing a national organization, NOW.
When she does finally come out and make another speech as a national political figure, which she understandably has not been inclined to do for months now, it has to be something which really shows the way for the direction of conservatism and the Republican Party. If she does that, this keeping us waiting will have been worth it, but there are risks to it. Still, her words will be more effective at the national level if either or both the negative image of her and the positive image of Obama are discredited by something of such important political substance that it can't be ignored even by her critics.
"On the contrary her star is ascending and that is why dark forces in the GOP and Obama are determined to stop her pronto before she gets up a head of steam and becomes unstoppable."
Yes, but she may need to start now. They want to marginalise her.
I see Steele's hand in this ... its the same thing he did to Rush.
He's undermining true conservatives. Mark my words, he will be attacking Bush very shortly as well. He's another MSM showpony.
I've taken at face value that there is some magic to the legislative session being over, and Sarah can't engage in any partisan activities until then, but what is the rule? I find it hard to believe that she can't make a telephone call while she's commuting to or from work.
What are the realities that keep her from saying "Don't say anything until after April 17 - I'll be there..."?
Jody, where did you find that statement?
RAM
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/31/palin-replaced-as-headliner-at-republican-dinner/
This is even more reason to send back all the RNC fundraising letters with the notation that all your donations are going to SarahPAC.
The GOP, instead of understanding the political process in Alaska, and work around that, are attempting to put Gov. Palin on the spot, that is truly disgusting.
Nat Hound:
Do you want Sarah to go to jail, incur more debt or get impeached?
I know you're mad but it's not Sarah's fault.
The ethics code of Alaska has got her by the ? and you know it, until April 17th when the legislature adjourns.
It is what it is, Nat Hound. And I hate saying this because you were one of the first to come on board with me regarding Sarah not running for re-election in 2010.
Forget the spin. Keep your eye on the ball, There are dark forces in the GOP, Obama and the MSM who are on a search and destroy mission.
They have until April 17th to inflict any serious damage to Sarah and SarahPAC before she is able to fight back.
But after April 17th-just like Tiger Woods resuming his mantle on top of the PGA tour, Sarah will resume her mantle in the lower 48 as the de facto leader of the GOP.
Ok ..here's my take on the entire thing. They invited Sarah...Sarah wanted to do it...she (or her spokes person) explained to them that she couldn't officially accept until after the 17th, but SHE WOULD BE THERE. Someone at the RNC..says to Steele..."Do you have a firm confirmation from Sarah??" Steele says "No..I can't get a firm confirmation until after the 17th"
Then..these power players at the RNC that didn't want her in the first place..say to Steele..."You had better get a firm confirmation because if she doesn't show you will be holding the bag"....thus..she was pressured to give a firm confirmation when she couldn't. They didn't TRUST her confidential word..I am sure she is pissed by this as much as anyone else...and she isn't going to be jerked around like she was during the election.
I do not believe that Meg and the Pac are not communicating..I think that is a falsehood spread by the MSM
Credit where credit is due - this isn't the RNC's deal. This is the NRC/SC, a totally separate entity. These are the guys and gals with the 30% approval rating.
I asked this question rhetorically this morning. I ask it more pointedly now. Does Sarah realize how important she is to the conservative movement in this country? Does she care?
Sarah Palin must be the recipient of more unsolicited advice than anybody else on this planet except a football referee. She is not like a senator or congressman who just really has to be a windbag - she has a real job and has to make decisions that will impact on real people in her state maybe for the next 50 years. And when the legislative session finishes she still has regular tasks plus be ready for unexpected events that crop up out of the blue (like an oil spill)...some people say they admire her because she is an independent spirit with a will of her own then complain because she wil not dance to their tune. If you are in a sailing boat you can't whistle down the wind you can only work with it because it is an elemental force that you can never control - perhaps it is the same with Sarah Palin...
This is a setup.
palin MUST NOT lie down and accept it. If sarahpac did not confirm, then that should be made very clear.
I want names. And written acceptances, not verbal. Show us the proof RNC.
no proof, then an apology from Steele is in order ... he's used to it anyway.
With all the ups/downs since the election, this pisses me off more then anything. Just imagine the MSM, bloggers, forums - it'll be full of ... the RNC doesn't want Palin either.
SCFoxFan:
"The RNC and national party organizations are not out to get her."
Follow the money. If SarahPAC is siphoning off money that normally goes to the RNC to fund future campaigns like the 2010 midterms do you think they may be pissed off at Sarah? You betcha!
This is all about undermining SarahPAC and Sarah's credbility with the base of the GOP.
This will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The GOP is in still in disarray and dysfunctional. Most of the public still have a negative view of the GOP. The Republicans in Congress are failing to show leadership. Sarah is smart to keep her distance until things change. The RNC needs her more than she needs the RNC. Sarah has plenty of other events on her calendar.
Could Newt be behind this drama to upstage her? once he knew there was a communication gaffe, he got in and wedged Sarah out, maybe?
techno:
That's why I asked what the rule is. Like I said, I find it hard to believe she isn't allowed to make a call while she's eating dinner or working out on the stairmaster or flossing her teeth. It's unreasonable on its face.
I don't get it. She could confirm the Indiana pro-life events, she could confirm Seward Day in NY, but she couldn't make a call one way or another on this dinner. If anything, this was the one to get right because its DC and because of the egos involved. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Someone at HA posted that Sarah should leave the GOP and start a Bull Moose party in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. Now that would be cool!
"Could Newt be behind this drama to upstage her? once he knew there was a communication gaffe, he got in and wedged Sarah out, maybe?"
The drama started earlier with the miscommunication. maybe newt, but i wouldn't say that.
This has been a festering sore since then, how about Politico's article on this etc. It was started by the RNC, all I can think is that it was planned, a set up.
there was no support just the converse, petrol was put on the fire with the latest announcement.
Reminds me very much of the clothes debacle. RNC again.
A couple of things --
First, I am not a "party first" person. The GOP has fried me royally for five years now, and I don't feel I owe them anything. But, Sarah Palin will NOT be the GOP nominee in 2012 if that same GOP thinks she is not ready or unserious or not competent. Real doubts about her readiness were raised during the campaign, THROUGH THE FAULT OF THE McCAIN CAMPAIGN. Regardless, though, SHE has to dispel those doubts. So far, she is reinforcing them with unforced errors like this.
I love Gov. Palin, and think she has the potential to be on a par with Reagan or Thatcher. But, I also think I owe her honesty and I will say I think she has screwed up when I think she has screwed up.
This was not some plot by Michael Steele or her political enemies. She was invited by the Senate and House campaign committees. John Cornyn supported her during the campaign. He is NOT out to get her. But, however it happened, she has pissed off some politically valuable people and she WILL have to resolve this.
The statement by Meg Stapleton is foolish. All it will do is piss off the NRCC/NRSC more by stating she never accepted. Whether she intended to or not, they BELIEVE they had confirmation. Her denying it doesn't change their minds.
She had better decide quickly what political events she is going to attend this summer. She had better come out on all cylinders in order to show her doubters that she DOES have star power and CAN manage a national presence. And she had BETTER make amends with the GOP leadership and start reaching out. Or, she will start out in 2012 with a lot of baggage she doesn;t need and doesn;t have to have.
Nat Hound, both the Indiana and NY events are not partisan. NRSC dinner is. That's the difference.
Yeah, she is not allowed to call, email or any of the stuff.
She asked the NRSC people to wait till the legislative session is over.
If they had, they'd have made up the time very early on because Sarah's mere presence would have brought in the dollars in very short time. Now just because they can't wait 20 days, they have lost the chance to make millions. Cutting the nose to spite your face. Good job, GOP.
Techno: Maybe she had confirmed on the telephone and stated that she couldn't OFFICIALLY confirm until after the 17th. Therefore, they would have to trust that she would be there and if she were asked she would have to say she hadn't confirmed....Then Steele was pressured by the "Good Ole Boys"..you need to get a confirmation...and he caved...It would have put Steele in a bad position, but that is how she had to handle it.
Nat Hound:
Believe it or not she is virtually considered incommunicado when it comes to communicating to any Republican outside of Alaska if it has anything remotely to do with 'GOP business-that means phone calls, e-mails, letters, third parties (like Meg)-nada until after April 17th. That's why I often refer to Sarah as being 'locked in a cage' in Alaska.
As to those other dinners they are considered NON-PARTISAN and thus do not violate the ethics code.
Now do you understand why I am so passionate that Sarah not run for re-election if she plans to pursue the Presidency in 2012.
Techno, the money for this does not go to the RNC. It goes to the House and Senate campaign committees. They have always been independent of the RNC and I doubt anyone there feels SarahPAC is draining money from them.
They clearly wanted her for this dinner. If the PAC mistakenly accepted, she should have just bitten the bullet and gone along. I doubt she would have paid a huge political price in AK for this one event.
I have said it a hundred times before, she needs a trained assassin to run her outfit in Washington.
Yes, she was set up. Naturally, I suspect that both Gingrich and Romney, with an assist from a deeply pissed off Kay Bailey Hutchinson, are in on this.
However, I suspect that the amateurishness of the Palin Washington Staff is making itself felt in allowing themselves to be sandbagged like this by a bunch of old lizards. Sarah should have found an indirect way to "accept without accepting".
Still, after the 17th, she should be able to come out guns blazing.
Let's be clear about one thing: Sarah needs the Party and the Party will find out that it needs Sarah. However, it would be nice if the RNC were to start finding a bunch of empty envelopes in its mail that said "Gone to SarahPAC."
My god, this lil' lady from Wasilla is just about the biggest rock star on the planet. Millions and millions of friends and enemies hang on her every word.
All this without the fawning media
machine behind her.
Sniping from a Sarah hater at Hot Air. Would make for a charming post but I am afraid it may get Sarah slapped with another ethics complaint:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to come to Evansville for what could be the largest event in The Centre’s history was aided by an intense, weekslong wooing campaign by mail.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
News of Palin’s visit to Evansville was reported first locally on courierpress.com.
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Announcing Palin’s attendance at their Spring Banquet on April 16, Vanderburgh County Right to Life officials said Thursday the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee received several packages from local businesses that dovetailed with a list of “top 10 reasons” she should say yes.
The packages included baked goods, doughnuts, long johns, barbecued meat, ice cream, plants and a hockey stick signed by members of the Evansville Thunder traveling youth hockey team.
“One boy put his telephone number on the hockey stick, hoping that Gov. Palin would call him,” Right to Life Executive Director Mary Ellen Van Dyke said with a chuckle during a news conference at Swonder Ice Arena. “(Palin’s) office told us that was one of the highlights of their week was to receive our packages.”
Palin will not be paid for speaking at the banquet, which Van Dyke called “the largest pro-life banquet in the country,” but Vanderburgh County Right to Life has offered to pay her travel expenses. Lodging will be provided by an unnamed Right to Life donor.
Palin will be accompanied by her husband, Todd Palin, and the couple’s baby son, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome. While here, she also will attend a private event hosted by SMILE on Down Syndrome, a local group that provides resources and support for people with Down syndrome and their families. Details of that event were unavailable.
SCSoxFan has it exactly right. The folks throwing this dinner weren't mad about SarahPAC. If anything they were coming hat in hand to ask for a small loan of Sarah's star power. So I'm not buying the Steele conspiracy angle.
Also, I think we're splitting hairs if we say that the GOP dinner last week isn't a partisan activity, but accepting an invitation to a GOP dinner three months in the future is partisan.
Bottom line, this is an area where she MUST improve. It makes her look ungracious and unprofessional, which assuredly she is not.
ScSOXFAN,
I'm afraid I agree on all counts...with one exception. There are plenty of RNC snakes who would love to sabotage her.
I know the 'tough love' approach is not a prevailing sentiment here (at least not this early in the game) but Gov. Palin cannot win POTUS without the backing of a major party (in fact, she is going to need every ally she can get) and I believe she is starting to be damaged on that front. I pray I'm wrong and I probably am, but it does concern me.
Sorry I keep putting Steele's name in when I shouldn't...you all know what I mean.
Well like I said before it's their loss, not hers. She does the things others can only talk about, and it's never an easy decision, no matter how they try to
retroactively couch it. Newt has long ago 'jumped the shark' most recently with the AGW ad with Pelosi. It does gall me however, that her detractors don't have the courage to make their accusations
in person. I'm still nominally a Republican but you know how I feel
about the local party. Besides the CPAC speech must have convinced them not to go with Romney, I can't say I'm not upset because I'd
be lying, but I understand why it
had to be that way. The NRSC and the NRCC are 'dead to me' though.
I am very worried about this... acrtually I'm depressed.
This is enough to sink Palin. No kidding.
Palin must respond strongly or roll over and forget her aspirations, shes been tested, its a setup.
I'm sorry if any of you think that this will blow away etc, it won't.
This is the biggest hit she has taken since the clothes story. It will continue to do damage until she does what she did then, and that is addresses it - nobody else will.
If no one signed any acceptance, then she needs to state that the RNC jumped the gun, full stop, and demand an apology.
How dare they tear down this woman.
Come on Sarah, its showtime.
Techno, she could have very easily taken calls or answered e-mails AT HOME, away from the office.
I assume she made the decision that, come hell or high water, she was not going to make any decisions on outside political events that could be used against her before the end of the session. Her PAC made a mistake and she held to that decision. She has to live with the consequences (and there ARE going to be consequences, politically) and try to mitigate the damage.
She does need a national figure to advise her through this. If Jeri Thompson is still active with Team Sarah, she and her husband would be good for this. Jeri was a communications specialist with the RNC and Fred has lots of friends in the national party. Or Fred Malek. SOMEBODY.
Section 9:
What you want Sarah to do is to jeopardize her future by breaking the ethics code.
That's like saying that Tiger Woods should have come back at the Buiok Invitational to defend his title at the end of January rather when he was ready to return which was the end of Febraury.
Sarah is literally 'locked in a cage' until April 17th.
It is what it is!
I just got in at the end of the last thread, so I'll repeat my reasoning again.
It is now clear that Sarah is going to veto the stimulus funds in the coming days. When she does, she is going to take BIG HEAT from Reps. and Dems. in Alaska - and the Obama machine in the Lower 48 - that she is placing her Presidential ambitions ahead of Alaskans' best interests. If she announces she is going to the RNC event in June, she will play into her critics hands.
She probably didn't want to insult the RNC by turning them down, so she remained non committal hoping they would turn away and find another speaker.
Following her veto of the stimulus funds, she will go on a full court press PR campaign in Alaska for several weeks to justify her position. She will do NO NATIONAL TV interviews.
Then in early June she will announce her reelection bid for Governor. Apart from the few non partisan events she has already announced, she will not travel to the Lower 48 until at least the fall, until the heat over the veto subsides. She will also keep her head down to provide no opportunity for Carville and Obama to attack her.
The cancellation with the RNC will do some short term national damage to her. But the long term benefits she will derive from the veto will be much greater for her national aspirations. Its a good trade-off.
If she vetoed the stimulus funds and then started "politicing" in the Lower 48 she would do great damage to her reelection chances - and she would set herself up as a target for Carville and Obama.
I beleive she thinks she needs to win a second term as Governor to be a viable national candidate - and to win by a substantial margin on a campaign platform emphasising conservative principles. Once she gets that mandate, then she can consider 2012 or 2016 and start "politicing" in the Lower 48. But for the present the focus must be on getting reelected.
"ever confirmed her attendance or whether she pulled out of the event or was pushed."
1) The first theory gives nobody power because both sides have eggs on their faces. I say the damage from the first is minimal because that's just inside baseball.
2) The second theory gives Palin the power because it shows that she's the one in control. Some would say it's arrogant...you betcha, but hey, that's one of the reasons I like Palin, hahaha
3) The third theory gives the NRCC power....she's the one who wanted to come but they no longer wanted to have her representing the party.
I sure as hell hope it's not (3) but there's no evidence at this point that the third one is at play.
sarah palin rocks said:
Someone at HA posted that Sarah should leave the GOP and start a Bull Moose party in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. Now that would be cool!
Except that Teddy Roosevelt, a much-beloved almost 2-term President, lost running on a 3rd party ticket, as has everybody else that has tried it in the last century.
It's the GOP or bust for her, but I'm thrilled she ain't going to this shindig. They need her more than she needs them, at least at this stage.
The Dems are incredible. This is amatter between Sarah and the Republican party, why do they need to butt in?
This is exactly why I am sore with NRSC sources. Even if Sarah did fumble, they should have kept quiet or managed it diplomatically, not go on squealing to media like little girls. Now they are handing the Dems a gift. Thanks GOP.
BTW, if such a trivial thing can provoke so much hysteria( I am assuming Chris Matthews and Olbermann will be jumping on this anytime now), just imagine the hysteria in 2012 if she runs.
Techno:
I will gladly admit if I am wrong, but the rule can't be that broad. How is "partisan activity" defined under the statute? Is saying "I'm coming to dinner three months from now" partisan?
Or does partisan simply mean whatever Fagan, Halcro, Celtic Diva, and Andree McLeod want it to mean?
FOBG, great analysis. You are lifting our spirits up. She has a major battle with the stimulus funds coming up. That's more important to conservatives and the feckless GOP than feasting with the ultimates good old boys network.
SCFoxFan:
"She could have easily taken calls at home or answered e-mails at home, away from the office."
That's the point; she's not allowed to, period. She would be breaking the law if she did.
And if she did there's always Andree Macleod and other anklebiters who will insist that they be able to search Sarah's e-mails or to get a copy of her phone or cell logs to prove that she is a criminal.
FOBG:
Interesting theory, but I seriously dout Palin will veto the education money. But, I would be surprised if she did not veto at least some of the non-education spending accepted by the legislature.
To go back to the original topic, this incident is damaging, but not fatal. Gov. Palin needs to recognize that a mistake was made and that fences will have to be mended. She will have to come out this summer firing on all cylinders. She will ALSO have to reach out to the leadership of the GOP, both its political and organizational leadership, for advice and to show them that she takes this seriously and has the ability to run a national organization.
I doubt that anyone in the GOP doubts her political skills. They do, though, have serious doubts about her organizational skills. They just went through a campaign with a candidate who was organizationally-challenged and look where it got them. They will not make the same mistake again, no matter how much the base may love the candidate.
On the O'Reilly Factor this evening, Bill O'Reilly talked about the governor's legal defense fund. He said when the governor sets it up, he will publicize it and donate to it as well!
Nat Hound:
It is that broad.
Remember when you think Sarah Palin, think Tiger Woods.
Not only is Tiger the best golfer in the world, but he also knows the rules of golf better than any golfer and knows how to make the best use of them without breaking them.
Sarah is no different.
Who are on these "campaign committees".
Look guys, I'm sorry if getting hyped up, but EVERY story the last few months is trivial in comparison to this.
Can C4P and everybody else start concentrating on this.
the response by meg is entirely unsatisfactory. Forget the misunderstanding, wheres the proof from the RNC she confirmed? they started this.
ALSO, note how the politico story came out two days ago re palins gaffes in communication. Sources were cited (RNC no doubt), then the RNC turn around and do this.
IT IS A SETUP.
Let's be clear: it is amateur night at SarahPAC in D.C..
I think Sarah's staff in Alaska, paradoxically, is the one that is superb and on point. She's navigated Alaska politics with sharpness and alacrity. However, in D.C., SarahPAC has been able to do only one thing well: collect money.
They are going to get their candidate branded as a fool, though, if they're not careful. That's why it's incumbent on them to hire on someone like Fred to mind the store.
SarahPAC needs someone to run it who is both respected and feared in D.C. ! Right now, it's the political equivalent of a sewing circle that is bringing in boatloads of cash. However, they need to start having successes. That brings in more cash.
She needs an experienced campaign manager.
Time to man-up, Palin. You're better at this than the Empty Suit in the White House. Time to prove it.
Techno, AK ethics laws say she cannot use State resources or personnel for partisan political activities or personal gain. She has the same rights as everyone else to use her personal time and resources. Otherwise, she could not have even attended the Lincoln Day dinner.
This incident did not arise because of ethics laws, although they may have played a part in any communications errors. It arose because she appears to have made a conscious decision to avoid any actions that could cause her to be accused of national political ambitions during the AK legislative session. She then chose to stand with that decision and not make any allowances, no matter the circumstances. THAT, to me, is a sign of inexperience and the lack of good political advice. No crime, but she is NOT politically experienced outside of AK and this is DEFINITELY outside of AK.
militantfeather:
I agree completely. But remember after April 17th Sarah will set about getting her revenge by further enhancing the coffers of SarahPAC.
Just like Tiger Woods, Sarah will always get the last laugh.
If anybody thinks this will blow over ... mistake.
The worst damage that can be done to palin, and was in the past with the clothes, the backstabbing mcCain team, the RINO commentators, is from YOUR OWN TEAM.
Rememmber that .. this cannot be left to blow over. It never will be....she will always be proving she has support in the rep party.
Basically as far as I'm concerned, they just want her as a fundraiser. She should think ... how can I stick it to them in that way. They just want funds to keep them in office, they care nothing about 2012 etc. Thats many, not all in the Rep party.
section9, stop bashing SarahPAC. This is how the Mccain campaign became paranoid and started sabotaging Sarah. We don't need a repeat with SarahPAC. It's obvious that people from former Mccain campaign wanted jobs with the PAC and were politely turned off have mounted a stealth campaign. We don't need to give them more ammunition.
I'm also over at FR.
With 25% of the polls reporting:
Tedisco: 7665
Murphy: 5552
Militantfeather:
Let go of the RNC. This was not them. The dinner was for the House and Senate campaign committees. The head of the Senate committee is Sen. John Cornyn of TX and the House committee is led by Rep. Pete Sessions, also of TX. They have o reason to try to set Palin up. They REALLY wanted her. But, someone screwed up and she either kept them cooling their heels or embarassed them. Either way, you do NOT treat powerful Congressional members that way and expect them to bow and kiss your ring.
SCFoxFan:
The Lincoln dinner was considered a 'non-partisan' event because Sarah was speaking as the Governor of the State of Alaska and not a national Republican.
FOBG:
That's not going to fly. Whether she likes it or not, she's a national figure now, and she's going to be held to that standard by both friend and foe alike. Hiding out in Alaska to avoid taking heat from Carville and Begala is a non-starter. She can fight them directly, or she can fight a proxy war against Celtic Diva and McLeod and Kerttula. Either way, she's going to have to deal with it.
Does she realize she's never going to be "Sarah from Alaska" again? For the foreseeable future she's "Sarah Palin, GOP Superstar," and she has to step up her game to meet that responsibility. Forgive the double negative, but for the rest of her political career, she will always be a target.
Maybe that's a responsiblity she doesn't want, but she always says she looks for God's voice and open doors. Millions of Americans who disagree with this administration are thirsting for someone outside the media (Rush or Levin) to lead the way back. It's there if she wants it. But she needs to take that on and make it her own mission if that's what she wants.
militantfeather:
The difference is that those doing the backstabbing are NOT a part of Palin's team.
These are sworn enemies who have until April 17th to delegitimize SarahPAC. I don't think they will be successful.
Once the legislature adjourns Sarah will be free.
" techno said...
militantfeather:
I agree completely. But remember after April 17th Sarah will set about getting her revenge by further enhancing the coffers of SarahPAC.
Just like Tiger Woods, Sarah will always get the last laugh."
Yes I agree, but this is a gamechanger both now and after the 17th.
Right now, she needs to throw the onus on to the RNC. Who confirmed? How? And an apology or defence by Steele. Palin should be on the phone to the RNC players including Steele and the commission...and not her staff.
After the 17th she should go out and test the waters, thats the real problem being locked up in Alaska, your isolated. Then decide what to do re 2010 and 2012. my guess now is she can't have it all.
Tedisco: 10,480
Murphy: 7,856
36% of polls in
Techno:
I hate to disagre with you, but the Lincoln Day dinner is an event of the Alaska GOP and was hosted by the Fairbanks Republican Women organization. She could attend if she traveled using her own resources (or the GOP's) and had to be on her own time.
"Sen. John Cornyn of TX and the House committee is led by Rep. Pete Sessions, also of TX."
thanks for the names. How do we contact?
look, they set this up, lets be clear about that. They obviously pushed to get an affirmative response from palin, didn't for whatever reason, then tried to force it ...
Even if they did, they should have shut up, once this "misunderstood" stuff emerged. They are the ones that asked, remember.
Now they try to make her look bad.
Look, this is a setback for her and will feed the "incompetent" meme of her opponents in the GOP and of the media/DNC (same thing). But, it is not the end of the world IF she recognizes she made an unforced error and resolves to address it with those affected and takes steps to MAKE SURE IT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN. My concern, though, is Stapleton's statement, which seems to imply that no ne made any kind of an error. Dumb. She should have just avoided that and went with the rest of the statement. Then, she should PERSONALLY (on her own time) contact Cornyn and Sessions and try to make amends. Not grovel, just make amends.
On the one hand, it is a mess. On the other, better in 2009 than in 2012.
militantfeather:
I agree. What's with all the "she's a disaster" quotes? She's a big force in your party, folks, why can't you something diplomatic? Sheesh.
ScFoxFan:
You just said it: hosted by the Alaskan Republican women-thus it is strictly a state function and as the governor of the state she was asked to speak to Alaskan issues. The ethics code nowhere says she cannot apeak to state issues.
The Congressional dinner is a national, partisan dinner.
I think Sarah did not want to attend this fundraiser for a number of reasons. Why should she go all out to raise a ton of money for the GOP when they are still stabbing her in the back? She could have confirmed even in private. She attended fundraisers for Saxby Chambliss after the election and those were partisan.
I think she is being very cautious now and does not want to be tied to the DC Repubicans. A big part of her charm is being an "outsider" so she is walking a fine line.
It is true 3rd Party candidates have not been successful but that is because they can't fundraise, get media coverage, and large grasstroots support. Ross Perot was able to do those 3 things. Perot did manage to get close to 20% of the vote even though he was a goof and quit in the middle of his campaign. If he hadn't quit, who knows what might have happened.
Sarah is weighing her options. If any candidate has the potential for making a competitive 3rd party run, it would be Sarah.
Anything can happen these days in politics. Who would have predicted Obama with barely 2 years in the Senate would win the White House and change the US to become socialist?
"Let go of the RNC. This was not them. The dinner was for the House and Senate campaign committees. The head of the Senate committee is Sen. John Cornyn of TX and the House committee is led by Rep. Pete Sessions, also of TX."
no its the RNC.
As soon as this "misunderstanding" emerged a couple of weeks ago, the "leaders" in the RNC should have stepped in to calm the situation.
The politico article then comes out bashing palin, its not surprising ... they didn't see something like that. Aren't they meant to protect the potenetial leaders. The Dems do.
They didn't... thats why I say its a setup.
Tedisco: 18051
Murphy: 14178
60% in
Someone suggested writing the NRSC/NRCC and telling them we don't approve of their dissing Sarah.
Don't look now: Nicole Wallace on Hannity's Great American Panel ...
Techno, the AK ethics laws make no distinction between in-state and out-of-state political activities. Remember, Palin made her name by catching Randy Reudich performing in-state political activities on state time & using state resources.
Palin can do anything she wants, in-state or nationally, provided she avoids using any state resources or personnel. And, the 19th is no magic date for ethics laws. They apply 365 days of the year. The 19th is important POLITICALLY because it is the end of the session and its easier for her to make outside forays without being acused of forsaking AK.
Everyone needs to RELAX and remember Politics is a marathon. Stop living in the here and now and think BIG PICTURE. Have faith and trust in Sarah Palin's political instincts. They've never let her down even when she did lose elections.
This is that time when you have to have faith in Sarah Palin. She knows what she's doing.
As far as not going to a partisan Republican thing versus a Pro-Life thing it goes to show she's avoiding Republican party and partisan events. And I think it's a good move in the long run.
As for eveyrone getting depressed... Politics is a Marathon. You've got to buck it up if you have a horse in the race. You've got to stand strong and have faith in your Leader. You all need to stop over reading into these types of things.
In politics you have to believe your supported leader can do no wrong almost. If the objective is to further advance your candidate you must be in the positive about her/him. If you want to sell your candidate to a non-supporter you have to give them REASONS to support your candidate.
Giving reasons not to only encourages and emboldens your candidate's rivals and only further their attacks and paranoid theories of your candidates lack of leadership.
If you guys are for Sarah Palin you have to give reasons why Sarah Palin is the end all and be all and sell it in many ways other than the choir.
The objective is to convince non-supporters to support her and supporters to be inspired to continue to support her and convince others to support her.
NEVER LET SARAH PALIN'S RIVALS KNOW THAT THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL IN PLANTING SEEDS OF DOUBTS. You must stay on message and keep at it so that everyone knows what Sarah Palin is all about. Don't get distracted... SELL SARAH PALIN! That's my advice.
Techno, you're our own Michael Barone - can you work with the decision desk to project a winner?
Yeah we should definitely tell NRSC that irrespective of whose fault it was we don't like their people sniping at the Gov. anonymously.
Right, Great words.
I still see the NRSC/NRCC as cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Sure, I can see them wanting to get their invites out and planning the event--but it's set for June 8th. Unconfirmed word is that Palin was going to speak, and they could've had everything printed up and and ready to go on April 17th when she could've officially accepted. That's plenty of time. Whether they "fell out of love" with her or not, this is a major fundraiser, with the goal being to RAISE MONEY. No one in the Reublican party can raise money like the Governor---even her most ardent critics know this. To report that the "party is moving away from her" is not really relevant to this particular event. Whether they are or they aren't, she would've raised far, far more money that will Newt, and raising money is the point. BUT,remember this is a fundraiser for Senators/Congressmen. Maybe the Governor would prefer to raise money for Republican governors...or for Sarah PAC.
OK everyone.....now breathe. NO ONE follows this stuff (which really is inside baseball), except the very committed---those who love/back Palin, and those who want her to fail. The 98% of the country who will decide the next president isn't interested at all in this kind of stuff.
Militantfeathers:
The RNC has no power to "step in" and tell the NRCC or NRSC anything. They run their own shows, independent of the national party. This is NOT a set-up. Just a big mistake.
I think the majority of the party would love it if Sarah Palin can show that she is both a political star and can run a national campaign. They see the irst, but have serious doubts about the second. She needs to address this, quickly.
ScFoxFan:
That is not my understanding of the ethics laws.
For example many people have wondered why Sarah has not spoken about Jim Tedisco. i think the reason is obvious.
When you talk about in-state vs out-of state activities the difference is that as governor of Alaska Sarah can argue that she is appearing and speaking as the Governor which even the anklebiters have a hard time disproving but once she leaves the state it becomes easier for critics to label something as partisan or not; a pro-life dinner is not considered partisan. Appearing in NY State on Seward's birthday is not considered partisan but speaking at a Congressional dinner would be acceptable but she is not allowed to OK it until after April 17 or 19th. And that is where the problem lies.
100th comment for the 5th time! I've been waiting.
hrh, saw Wallace on Hannity. Why is he inviting her?!
What a tool! Sean will also invite Meghan and her daddy on again to ruin his ratings. Is Sean that desperate for ratings? Is he jealous of Beck's stardom?
This incident did not arise because of ethics laws, although they may have played a part in any communications errors. It arose because she appears to have made a conscious decision to avoid any actions that could cause her to be accused of national political ambitions during the AK legislative session. She then chose to stand with that decision and not make any allowances, no matter the circumstances. THAT, to me, is a sign of inexperience and the lack of good political advice. No crime, but she is NOT politically experienced outside of AK and this is DEFINITELY outside of AK.
No, sorry. It's not "inexperience and lack of good political advice," it's priciple. She was elected by the people of Alaska and she promised them that her full attention would be on the 90 day legislative session. We like Sarah Palin precisely because she keeps her promises and she doesn't behave like the jerks in DC.
If you want a candidate with the type of DC political "experience" you're talking about here, there's always Mitt Romney. I'm sure in 2012 the ordinary non-partisan swing voters of Cook County will suddenly find him appealing. They'll no doubt hate Palin for dissing the beloved GOP Congressional leadership.
Tedisco: 63197
Murphy: 62147
496/610 precincts reporting
howIroll @ March 31, 2009 9:48 PM
+20 Comment of the day.
I hope this is the case Right "As for eveyrone getting depressed... Politics is a Marathon."
But. This is the beginning. She will be dissed by consevatives writers and politicians now. This is the ok for that to happen.
Why? It will be obvious to everyone its a setup, and that no one has come to palin's help.
especially the RNc.
Do you seriously believe that a couple of committee chairmen are going to do something like this, without knowing they have some support somewhere. The support is not with the voters, its with the establishment.
Sure we can move on, pretend its a couple of republicans but nobody else will believe it, and neither will we over time.
I say its a good time for the RNC to show support for Palin. Or not.
But don't let them off the hook.
If they don't support palin, it may be alright, but lets forget the pretense that they support her. It will be a grassroots approach. its good for all of us, her supporters, to know taht, and the millions i think that continue to support her.
I like the idea of Jeri Thompson being Gov. Palin's communications director and Fred showing her the ropes. I also believe (on the conspiracy front) that Chris Cilliza was definitely in the know when he wrote that blog post. His last sentence was the tip-off.
"In short: Palin still has potential. But, she needs to quickly get her political team arranged and on the same page before any more damage is done."
remember what Rush Limbaugh said at CPAC: don't treat the voters like their stupid!
The GOP really believes it can marginalize Sarah with the base; it might have worked with Obama's voters, but GOP voters are a little too smart for that.
I'm on another site tonight with my data geeks but I'm calling the non-absentee race for Tedisco...
Now it's time for us to fight ACORN's attempts to find votes through the absentee process.
Techno:
Please believe me, I don't wish to be argumentative. But, I've linked to the relevant statute here
http://www.law.state.ak.us/pdf/ethics/Statutes-AlaskaExecutiveBranchEthicsAct_AS39.52_.pdf
Take a look starting at the middle of page 2 on to pag 3. This section covers partisan political activities. You won't see any differntials between in- or out-of-state activities, and no mention of the legislative session.
Thanks.
This is all good practice for 2012. Her handlers are getting personal experience of how brutal it can be up there. The result should not be to go paranoid like Mccain campaign and let the Gov. down but work doubly harder and smarter for the candidate.
ramrocks:
SCFoxFan has got me on the ropes. I have tried to give him/her every argument that I can think of. Can you help me out regarding the ethics code and how it hampers Sarah's ability to compete until the legislature is adjourned.
R.A., she could have made a phone call while she was cooking dinner or changing a diaper or getting a Big Gulp at 7-11. One phone call does not mean she's not paying attention to the legislative session. Are Alaskans so sensitive that they'd begrudge the governor a bloody phone call?
If the anklebiters are that deep in Sarah's head, that's not a good sign at all...
Hi, Ms. Mansour:
I don't fault the Governor for beng principled. But, you can make a slight allowance when the circumstances warrant it.
I still think her principal consideration was not to allow herself to be put into a position where she could be accused of putting her national ambitions ahead of AK. Nothing wrong with that. But, she could have made a single exception for this event, once the committee announced she had accepted. It would have cost her little and gained her much. That was a political decision and she made a wrong one.
SCSoxFan said...
Militantfeathers:
The RNC has no power to "step in" and tell the NRCC or NRSC anything. They run their own shows, independent of the national party. This is NOT a set-up. Just a big mistake.
=========
No its not a mistake. These people are not fools when it comes to political shenigans.
First they say palin accepted. never talked to her, right?
second when palin says she didn't, they say her PAC did. Seriously, do you believe they are so keen on the Gov on one hand, yet so quick to start a "misunderstanding".
Third, when this surfaced, I thought oh-no, but assumed that the RP would not make itself look like fools. Big mistake.
Fourth, the politico story. Certainly could have been predicted. It had RP sources too.
Last, they say thanks, but no thanks, and start saying she was "very difficult". Eh, sounds like a whack job, rogue to me. Where did we hear this before.
A mistake. NO.
if you are trying to mimimise the fallout from this, fine, but I'm saying this is a big problem. Her own party does not want her - wheres the defense. A couple of committeemen didn't do this without some support somewhere - its too bad for just a little misunderstanding.
Nat Hound:
You've got it!
Now why should Sarah run for re-election in 2010 under this poisonous environment?
I have faith in Gov. Palin to do what is best for her, her family, and Alaska. The lower 48 comes in a distant 4th right now, imo. I don't think she wanted to do that speech at NRSC (or whatever). If she wanted to do it, she would be doing it. She probably wants to stay away as far as possible from DC right now. It is so unbelievable to me that the smallest detail about Gov. Palin or her family is all over the news but the A. Biden thing is not. Bill O'Reilly did a piece on it but he blurbed out the details. I don't understand how this hurts her but I'm definitely not a partisan person. Someone asked if there was anyone else here who was an independent, I am one. I don't always vote, I vote when someone connects with me. Therefore, I am not going to share my voting record except to say it was Gov. Palin that got my vote this last go around (not McCain). I trust she will do what's best and if it doesn't turn out exactly right, hey, nobody's perfect. I don't want her to be actually, it's part of her charm. I never liked Pres. Obama, I thought he was dishonest and kind of slimy, actually, b/c he was almost "too" perfect. Nothing that has happened since the election has changed my mind about either one of them.
If a dustup like this between the Elite Republicans who hate Palin, yet be her to come and raise money for them is all it takes to shake the foundations of die hard palin supporters, I fear doom in 2012. Time to get tough, stay strong, and fight back.
Palin has a volcano erupting daily, infighting amoungst the republicans, democrats plotting everyday to get her,the DNC rallying to destroy her and I see people here on Conservatives4Palin sniveling about this?
Let's Roll People!! If Sarah can raise a family and keep these Wolves at the door at bay, the least we can do is help her fight back.
Blogs like HotAir, and others who trash Palin need us to not only monitor them, but make comments on their sites to set the record straight. Let's mobilize, and get this done.
That is all.
militantfeather:
I agree with you; this was planned and deliberate.
Now that begs the question-who and why?
Who: her GOP potential rivals or their surrogates
why:to stop her from running away with the nomination in 2012 by thwarting her fundraising ability
portlandon, my sentiments exactly. everyone here is doing the same thing you suggested. We're getting our talking points straight first and then going to fight with the enemy!
Techno:
I can't think of a reason. One term vs. two terms isn't going to make any difference, especially when she's going to have to opt so so early in the term. What does it get her other than the distinction of having won twice?
"Hi, Ms. Mansour:
I don't fault the Governor for beng principled. But, you can make a slight allowance when the circumstances warrant it.
I still think her principal consideration was not to allow herself to be put into a position where she could be accused of putting her national ambitions ahead of AK. Nothing wrong with that. But, she could have made a single exception for this event, once the committee announced she had accepted. It would have cost her little and gained her much. That was a political decision and she made a wrong one."
I don't agree at all.
Of course she was walking a fine line, between national and alsakan politics. But she obviously is both a national and alaskan political figure.
What is so hard about the RNC understanding that?
Bottom line is they allowed something to escalate to palin's detriment.
for the life of me, I can't understand why, unless they are trying to scuttle her national ambitions.
and the chronology, their immediate reponse on misunderstanding makes me believe it was a setup, or very quickly became one.
Oh, they'll continue to sabotage her. In this instance, I'm afraid it's Newt's guys. All I say is , f*k them. I am sure, no "loyalist" who has her interests at heart would go yapping to Politico and put her young PAC under tremendous pressure. I think Sarah should take it slowly, minions of GOP would likely get in the PAC and then sabotage her from within. She should only select candidates slowly and one by one.
Murphy's pulling ahead. Damn!
One more precint due...Jim's down 81 votes.
"That was a political decision and she made a wrong one."
SCFoxFan said: "And I think it was the right one."
So we'll agree to disagree then. You will not be able to convince me that she should be beholden to the DC Repubs if they're going to jerk her around like this.
This is the FIRST time in my life I have been politically involved (well, except for standing on a street corner for a few hours holding Perot signs in 1992).
I could not CARE LESS about the inside baseball stuff. I think it's ALL petty, immature, and often corrupt. The higher Palin can keep herself above it, the better.
Sorry about that misquoting up there. It should read like this:
SCFoxFan said: "That was a political decision and she made a wrong one."
And I think it was the right one.
The rest should make sense now ...
Are these the same GOP senators and reps who led us to record deficits and spending?
I think they are ...
techno said...
militantfeather:
I agree with you; this was planned and deliberate.
Now that begs the question-who and why?
Who: her GOP potential rivals or their surrogates
why:to stop her from running away with the nomination in 2012 by thwarting her fundraising ability
=================
Well conservatives always blame the MSM for selecting our RINO candidates. Its not that, most of the establishment are RINO. they do our selecting for us. Sure, personal political ambitions like newt may be involved, but thats okay, these are ambitious people. You expect that.
In terms of fundraising, no, I think they all want to harness her ability here, just not as the republican nominee.
of course I generalising, its not across the board.
Michael Steele is culpable for this fiasco. No two ways about it. Any astute politician would have got involved, and found out what was ahppening, sensing whetehr a blowup was going to occur. Especially after the politico article.
Could he stop it, even if he was doing his job, monitoring the situation (a couple of phone calls really).
Did he evn want to? he's been pushing the all inclusive stuff with abortion and Rush. so I suspect he's at the cntre.
However, the point is: DAMAGE CONTROL.
First palin needs to get active, asking for proof of "acceptance", and clarification of comments by unnamed sources etc.
Secondly, she needs to have people deny the rumours around, stand up and support her, even if not actively involved. If they don't, then they don't support her. we should be writing furiously for people to do this ... thats what i mean about taking action, concentrating on this.
really, all the rest doesn't matter, this does. If she is peceived as having lost the broader establishments support, she hcan then decide what to do and when, but if left, it will be a "head in the sand' mistake.
one benefit i see in this is that the establishment has always been lukewarm towards palin. So, nows her chance to force them to call it one way or another. If negative, at least all her millions of supporters will be able to see the posturing of those in the Rep hierarchy, and that would benefit her.
Nat, I don't get what your talking about with the phone call. She said that she would not make any decision on the issue until after the legislative session. End of story. McAllister said that they did not intend to call a special legislative session, but they still could in order to address the railbelt utilities or the bullet-line.
One minute she's got Alaskans like Fagan claiming that she doesn't pay enough attention to Alaska, and the next she's got GOP groupies whining because she doesn't want to raise money for the losers in DC.
Let me be blunt. The current GOP is exactly like the GOP of 1975. It's a stinking rotting dead party. And the GOP congressional leaders just spit in the face of the only member of the party with life signs.
I say, screw 'em! She can run against the entire GOP establishment. I hate the GOP, and so does the rest of the country (just look at the last two election cycles!). I'm a conservative. And this is still a center right country. Palin represents that.
Let's see how many people Newt packs in for them.
BTW, I'm donating money SarahPAC tonight, and I'm emailing the NRCC to tell them to shove it!!!!
Someone else said this is a marathon...which is correct. Let's wait and see whom those same Senators/Congressmen call to help them out campaigning/fundraising when they run for re-election. I think Sen. Chambliss can suggest someone....
The more out of the spotlight she is, the more in-demand she will be, IMO.
And when I donate to SarahPAC I intend to tell them that the NRCC sent me!
Tedisco finishes down 61 votes...the base didn't turn out or vote for Tedisco. He didn't do well enough in the "base."
Absentee is the only hope now.
Sarah should keep her eyes on what is important, and that is governing Alaska.
I know things like this piss off the party insiders and can be great fodder for bloggers(Allah etc). But you guys have to stop freakin overreacting.
My god the drama queens are queening out as usual.
The base didnt turn out for Jim? I wonder why. /sarc
Nope, the base didn't get him the margin he needed in the "base" districts. My analysis is that the base stayed home for this one.
The military absentee ballots can still get us through...Ted Stevens thought the same thing though, hahahah.
TommyReport:
Do you remember that Tedisco dished Rush Limbaugh in an interview by calling him 'irrelevant'? He later apologized but don't these Republicans ever learn?
R.A,
I must admit, it is one of the most confounding things I have ever seen. Here you have a 'freakishly' great GOP candidate in Sarah Palin. A woman (anomaly) with pitch-perfect political skills (anomaly) as well as successful governing experience (anomaly) and potential like no one this party has seen in a quarter century (super-anomaly) and they are determined to marginalize her and even destroy her. I think I'll go scream now. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Tommy, our theory is vindicated!
So the GOP is upset that Sarah won't come to their party and they decide to go cry to the media, who cares? Even after this, people are still accusing her of not focusing on Alaska, they claim she's been campaigning since she stopped campaigning - face it, she can't win. There is absolutely nothing she can do to make all groups involved happy. And I happen to think she's making a wise decision to do right by the people who DON'T turn around and blab to politico about how she made them cry in their Cheerios. The kind of crap she gets from her supporters sometimes makes me just about as sick as does the crap she gets from her enemies. Just let her do her thing, and at the end of the day, or the year, or the legislative session, whatever - I honestly believe it'll be more than obvious that she's made wise decisions. She's usually good at that.
Americuda:
This was bound to happen. If you have any doubt now that Sarah Palin is a major player in national politics I hope those thoughts have been dashed forever.
I am more upset at the GOP establishment for not standing by their word.
As I am never totally disappointed by the performance of Tiger Woods, I have never been disappointed with Sarah. I trust Sarah will do the right things and will make the correct moves in the future.
Expect venom and vitriol levelled against Sarah to be even worse in the next 3 weeks while the legislature is still in session.
Her opponents from both sides as well as the anklebiters will demonstrate their form of the full press court against her. Short of murder they want to take her out sooner than later.
First the millions of Sarah's supporters must pray for her; and then secondly we must vow to never waver in our commitment to Sarah as long as she does not tell us that she is not running for POTUS in 2012.
Finally why do gamblers en masse head to Las Vegas-24/7 gambling and entertainment.
Think of Sarah as Las Vegas-being in the news 24/7, where the action is or revolves around.
The Republican establishment is as afraid of Sarah Palin as the Democrats are. This is getting proven over and over again. They want to take care of her before she becomes a force.
You know, I have been underwhelmed by the congressional GOP for quite a while. But, lately I've just been ticked off at them. There are some good ones, but for the most part I'm angry.
A couple of days ago Beck was going off about how he wanted a leader who spoke out against the GOP, someone who would be willing to leave the party. Now, I don't think Gov. Palin should leave. But, for crying out loud, Republicans should be acting like Republicans. The platform is solid, they need to stand firmly on it.
Gov. Palin has been resolute on the party platform but she has long been willing to stand up to her own party.
I'm just ranting, sorry. But, bottom line, I don't really care if the GOP congressional leaders are all bitter at Gov. Palin. She is standing for what is right about the party, the principles. That counts for a lot more in my book than appearing for a congressional fundraiser.
Just Sayin said...
Sarah should keep her eyes on what is important, and that is governing Alaska.
I know things like this piss off the party insiders and can be great fodder for bloggers(Allah etc). But you guys have to stop freakin overreacting.
My god the drama queens are queening out as usual.
=============
If you mean me, then the "... out as usual" remark is incorrect. I have visit this site daily or more for at least 3 or 4 months, but prior to this article I have posted once or twice.
If you don't think its a drama, fine. Given all the attacks on palin from everywhere some are shell shocked ... and this just another one, another battle.But the others haven't worried me at all ... not one since the McCain camp backstabbers. But yes, I'm certainly upset about this development, especially since its just so ... unnecessary/such a setup.
The reason this worries me is simple: we know what the obama forum people are like, we know the lib bloggers, we know the MSM, we know there are some conservative sites that either slant things against palin or ignore her, and we know that there are conservative writers that don't support her. We can't do that much about these things.
We have now found out that the republican hierarchy are happy to her throw under the bus .... and if they don't defend her thats exactly what they have done, through ineptness, planning or whatever. We can do something about this. We don't need to let our so called leaders just diss palin and accept this as the natural order of things.
And the lack of establishment support will be the main line of attack against palin by all the others for months if not longer unless its nipped in the bud, or at least strongly defended. It always was a sub-meme in many MSM pieces.
This is a real problem.
My questions are: will the republican party defend her? can we afford just to wait and find out?
Just think folks, if good old maverick had not lived up to his name the hockey mom would be virtually unknown; Obama would have won 40+ states and by double digits and claimed a landslide win and we would all be extremely depressed of how Obama was going to transform America into his personal fiefdom.
But folks, we do have a chance in 2010 and 2012 to take America back-her name is Sarah Palin. We have no other choice unless she tells us to abandon her.
Remember folks, control the things within your control; what you cannot control is whether Sarah runs in 2012 or not or what the GOP establishment or Obama or the MSM try to do to Sarah.
What you can control is your support for her on blogs, word of mouth that promotes Sarah, volunteering at or attending her rallies and above all contributing to SarahPAC. And you can also pray for her and her family.
The Republican is known for eating their own. I just hate it about them but that is the way it is.
We all think this is big. But, the way the media moves so fast...new story every 10 minutes. Three days from now it will be something else.
R.A., you suggested that Sarah didn't follow through with the folks running the dinner because she promised Alaskans that she would have her full attention on the legislative session. My point was that whether she accepted the invite or declined the invite, she could have done the necessary follow through without all this unecessary drama and still kept that promise.
Argh, it's so frustrating. We need a shot in the arm, and the one person who can give it is up there playing rinky-dink student council games with minor leaguers like Celtic Diva.
Sarah better get used to the idea that she's a titan. She can run over the anklebiters of the world or she can ignore them, but she can't let them dictate to her like this. This is a major victory for those guys.
Nat Hound:
This is only one battle among many. Sarah could not fight; she was defenseless. Her enemy knew this and exploited it. Expect more of the same in the next 3 weeks.
Once Sarah gets out of the gate I predict there will be no stopping her.
I think she's overwhelmed by the mess the volcano is doing, so she's doesn't want to focus on national politics for now.
That is why sites like C4P is so important. You have done a great job supporting Gov. Palin. This just makes me support Sarah even more.
Your average American does not know or care about this dinner.
I am an educated person, I have always voted and follow the news. I had never heard of this dinner before in my life. Goodness, I've got kids, no time for that!
Now that I am such a Palin supporter I am getting schooled by all the great news and comments on this C4P site.
My point is that Sarah can and will make butt loads of money. the RNC will kiss and make up with her. The voters will not know or care that she did not go to their party. Shoot, most people I know would not even want to think of their canidate going to one of these snooty dinners.
Sarah will make plenty of these type events, after she has kept her word to be focused during the session.
She was raised right, and will do what she says. I think if you asked Sarah if she knew doing that would cost her votes or even the White House she would say "so be it", she will not go back on her word, that is why I admire and lover her so much.
I also have some real questions as to whether she go back to status quo ante and be simply Sarah, the governor next door. Her life as she knew it ended on August 29.
Her own party is out for blood to get payback for the takedowns of the good old boys. The Dems are out for blood to get payback for the perceived disrespect to Obama during the campaign.
I have yet to see the article on this site identifying Sarah's friends in government, the people who she can trust as loyal soldiers to help pass her agenda up there. Does she have any?
How can she possibly be expected to govern in such an absolutely toxic atmosphere?
So, it's easy to say, go be a good governor, but very hard to do when no one is going to give you a fair shot to actually be a good governor...
I don't really see this as orchestrated or planned---someone at the NRSC/NRCC got their panties in a wad about her failure to fall on her knees with gratitude about being asked. They'll come begging the Governor when they need her help to get re-elected.
The Governor will see Michael Steele at the pro-life banquet this month; they're both set to speak. Steele was on SarahPalinRadio with LaDonna a month or so ago and said, "I looovvve Sarah Palin;" he had nothing but good and positive things to say about her and her superb political skills. This whole thing will soon pass. Does anyone really think there was a lot of repercussions about her failure to speak at CPAC? Imagine the flack she would've caught in AK if she'd had gone there to speak!
It's a long, long time until 2012. As time goes by, people get more anxious to see/hear from the Guv. She will continue to be in great demand. After the election, someone in the media dubbed her a "permanent celebrity."
A couple of things:
It was up to Mike Steele to step in and smooth things over at the Lincoln Day dinner. He didn't, and he should have. This should have been ironed out by now.
I do not bash SarahPAC per se, I just indicate that this is a DC outfit that is going to need a seasoned veteran running the show.
Lastly, to tell you what bad shape the NRCC is in tonight they weren't able to close the deal on NY-20, a race in which we had a registration lead of 70,000 votes. Yeesh, and these are the clowns who criticize Sarah.
Lipstick:
It's not so much that the voters care as that it reinforces, unnecessarily, the meme that Sarah is "not ready." It's a self-inflicted wound and she can't afford those. She has enough to deal with from the other guys taking shots at her.
I also disagree with one basic premise of this conversation. I think she needed this speech. St. Paul will be a faded memory by the summer, and the Lincoln Day speech, wonderful as it was, was shot on video by a dude with an iPhone.
She needed a strong showing in enemy territory to reintroduce herself to the insiders, if not to win them over, then simply to show that she isn't a one campaign wonder.
She had a golden opportunity, and she blew it.
She is better than that and she needs to be better than that.
I'll tell you why this is really a non-story in 3 days. Last Sunday when Mudflats' owner was outed..the libs on Huffington Post went crazy...CRAZY...to hear them tell it it would be headline news in the N.Y. Times and be the major subject on all stations, get the ACLU after the outer, call your Congressman, your Governor, we can't let this stand, worse thing to happen since the fall of Rome....Have any of you heard much more about it, if you even know what I am talking about? It is only because of your interest in Sarah that makes it Big..yes, the MSNBC will have it on 35 times tomorrow, but 3 days of now...not much.
Sarah is not in the least bit overwhelmed by anything.
The RNC, NRCC and NRSC are three separate entities and they do not always coordinate well. That is part of their nature. They all want to be in charge.
It is kind of like your mother, your mother-in-law and your grandmother all trying to cook the Thanksgiving meal in the same kitchen.
It appears that SarahPac may have screwed up. It is to be expected, they are new. It happens.
Yes, it is a reflection on Sarah Palin. They will get better and there is still plenty of time.
We need to be flexible enough for people to make mistakes.
As I have said before, Obama, Pelosi and Reid are doing plenty to help the RNC, NSCC, NRSC and SarahPac raise money right now. The liberal tag team is scaring people.
This Tedesco race is sure interesting. I cannot believe that he is even this close when just a few months ago, Gillibrand won overwhelmingly at 63%. Gillibrand was out stumping for the Democrat and this race may come down to less than 100 votes.
There has definitely been a shift, but not a complete shift. That takes time. It has only been two months. I still cannot believe that there has been a 20% to 25% shift in the polls in only 2 months.
Why do you think the Obama team is rushing their agenda?
Well, it is pretty safe bet that there will not be a whole lot of hopenchange left in the air by then.
All these anonymous people that have no guts gets on my nerves. These whiny RINOs expect Sarah to leave all behind to pick their sorry butts up.
Frankly, these congressional and senate republicans have been embarrassing. They can't stand up to the president nor to their own democrat counterparts. What a bunch of weak jerks.
Grow a set guys, then you might get Sarah to come. Watch them grovel to her side, when they need some of that PAC money or an appearance for their election.
Seriously, I never seen so many nancies in the republican party.
So what if they get Gingrich? He is not much to many conservatives especially his brushing off of Rush and that the "Reagan era is over."
The NRCC and NRSC wanted star power in Palin. That is why they are complaining. Gingrich is not the draw that Sarah is. Besides, only a handful of republicans deserves accolades. Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan among the 80+ republicans to vote for a 90% tax on AIG employees is so out of touch with conservatism. What a joke these repubicans are.
Nat Hound:
She could easily become the hockey mom again and quit politics for good and retire into the sunset with a half a million dollars in debt.
Many people comment on C4P that it is Sarah's decision to pursue the Presidency, implying that millions of her supporters have no say in the matter.
Let's be perfectly honest. If it were not for McCain giving Sarah the opportunity to showcase her talents all across the lower 48, Sarah would never have a chance to be POTUS.
However the genie is out of the bottle and never can be put back in, as once Tiger Woods parlayed his 2000 season into winning 3 majors and 9 times overall he could never go back either to being less than a superatar.
Both Tiger and Sarah have millions of fans, and I predict neither is ready to retire from the national spotlight any time soon.
I have never been a superstar but if I know anything about superstars when watching them perform, except for football, they rarely retire early except from injury; they know when they are in their prime-they know they have to take advantage of their youth coupled with experience.
Do you know what makes TW so dangerous? He is still only 33 and barely into his prime and look at what he has done already. That must be absolutely frightening to his competitors.
And likewise for SP; 48 is the perfect age run for POTUS. If there is just one thing I could communicate to millions of Sarah's supporters: when you think of Sarah Palin, think of Tiger Woods. With TW nothing is impossible and with SP nothing will be impossible.
I really, really hate poptech.
That's all.
:)
Maybe they should have had that meeting, between Palin and Steele like Sapwolf sketched out sometime back. It's a shame really, but sometimes they, the RNC, has to learn the hard way, what they squandered by not waiting. I think
the fact that the circumstances seem so dire, metaphorically like Helm's Deep or Thermopylae, make us overreact. It didn't feel that way in '93, but then the liberals had a smaller margin, we were actually able to vote down the stimulus then, it would have occurred to no one to nationalize
banks and auto companies. It's a marathon, and we have to pace ourselves, or we'll burn out.
My HO. A year from now (or 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, a week maybe?) no one's going to care that signals got crossed and someone else was asked to speak at this. I mean come on; a year ago would anyone have thought Obama would be president and we'd be in the midst of an economic meltdown? Palin doesn't need to do anything immediate and drastic to alter this. If she was running for election this November, yes, but she's not running for anything anytime soon. So, I say big whoop, just me.
BTW, I don't know if the Fairbanks Miner has mainly conservative readers, but judging by the comments session, the people there seem glad she's not going to this event. Palin sure appears to be putting them first, which is what she needs to be doing.
Techno:
I disagree with you on something Sarah isn't the 2000 TW yet.
She's the 1997 Tiger, or even the 94-96 US Amateur Champ Tiger.
To my mind, she's more potential than finished product. The potential is just so staggering, the ceiling so high that you think she's that much better than anyone else, when really there is much work to be done to recognize that true promise.
correction, comments "section"
Nat Hound:
Exactly: give Sarah another 3 years; even if she's only the 1999 Tiger who won 8 times I'll take that in a haeartbeat.
In 1997 did you really have any doubt after his 1997 Masters performance that Tiger was not destined for greatness?
Nat Hound, superstars do not regress- they only get better until their body or mind gives out.
And Tiger and Sarah are both a long way from that point.
I knew if I came here I would get the real story about Sarah. I hate that Allah at Hot Air has a post abbout this dripping with glee that Palin might have flubbed it. Thank you for giving us all the facts. Can someone explain why Palin can't accept invites right now?
CCRWM:
the rules of the game as dictated by the Alaskan ethics guidelines until the legislature adjourns on April 19th.
I am very proud of Sarah Palin tonight. She stated very clearly weeks ago that she did not plan to make to a decision about that invitation until after her legislative season was over. At some point, the Repub leadership attempted to force her to change her mind and commit. People...you know exactly what the backstabbers in the Party would have done if she'd "secretly agreed" to participate. Within hours, some anonymous source would have leaked it to the media that Sarah had "lied about waiting until April and had committed herself behind closed doors." Sarah Palin is smart enough to know that there is virtually no one in the DC leadership that she can trust. They will stop at nothing to make her look like someone who goes back "on her word." Sarah stood her ground and refused to surrender her judgement to a Party that appears, with every passing day, to be one without any honor or dignity. She knows damn well what their tactics are by now. The second they issue an "official statement" they call their media contacts and unload anonymous insults at her, gleefully awaiting the headlines. Honestly, do they really think that announcing to the world that they did not even extend the professional courtesy of alerting her of the change, makes them look good in the eyes of the American people? It makes them look petty and malicious. They have barely risen above the bizarre, "Sarah wearing nothing but a towel" smears that we were dumbfounded to hear hours after the election results.
The fact is, the Repub Party powerbrokers have never done anything to support or defend Sarah Palin. The millions of people who love her, do so because of her own passion and hardwork....and not because of any special favors or "connections" bestowed upon her by the gas bags in DC. Sarah Palin will not allow herself to be a mere puppet for the Party, she will not allow herself to be bullied..and that makes her a very dangerous woman. SaraPac donation here I come!
Nat Hound:
Since you guys are talking golf analogies and referring to Tiger, I can't resist but chime in. After he won the '97 Masters, yes there were people who wrote the guy off. I remember I was living in Dallas at the time, and some guys on The Ticket 1370 AM were discussing Tiger. It was 1998 or 99, he had not won another major, and was struggling a bit. These guys were saying he was a flash in the pan, the '97 Masters was a bit of a fluke, and he might win another major or two but nothing else. Little did they know, or anyone else, that he was enduring major swing changes with Butch Harmon and he had not perfected them. Of course, when things kicked in again, right around the '99 PGA, well we all know what happened.
So people are incredibly fickle and have short memories. We live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately country, which I'm sure applies to politics as well. You have to ignore the naysayers and plug ahead.
I know some of you are discouraged over this or depressed. But what matters is election night... not any other night or day for that matter. Politics is a Marathon. If you know how to peak on election night above your foes then you're good.
It's better to have all these happen now because now will be the past and old news by the time any election happens.
If you're going to get depressed over this then I won't even begin to imagine how many of you will get during an election when Sarah Palin is at the top of the ticket getting ALL THE HITS!
Politics is a Marathon... you've got to pace yourself so you peak on election day. If there is one thing we can learn from Barack Obama is that he and his campaign and HIS SUPPORTERS understood this and took the hits and they peaked at the right time.
What I'm asking you all is to not get paranoid and depressed. I know you guys are expressing yourselves. But what you're also doing is letting Sarah Palin's foes know what works to get her supporters depressed and demoralized. And since they know they will continue to do so the very thing that makes you depressed and demoralized.
One thing you can learn from Obama Supporters during the election is that his supporters were ALWAYS ON THE OFFENSIVE! When Hillary's attacks came they hit back harder. When McCain's attacks came they hit back harder. When Sarah Palin came they hit back harder.
Obama and Romney will be our foe in 2012 if Palin chooses to run. Don't let him know what works to demoralize Sarah Palin's supporters. What you must do is continue your campaign that if there is a smear be it from the left or right against Sarah Palin you will donate to SarahPAC.
If you continue this donate to SarahPAC campaign then it will make them think again. I will do my part. I will start DONATIONS FOR PALIN which will be found at http://donationsforpalin.blogspot.com
I think we supporters must push this to the point where everyone will know that if they smear her we will fund her.
Do not let Sarah Palin's foes know anything other than if you smear her we will fund her!
I'm coming back late, and I apologize. But, I've got one last thing to say.
About this time last year, many conservatives, including (and especially) me, got excited about a candidate who seemed to be the essence of what we wanted. Someone, like Sarah Palin, who could clearly and concisely lay out the conservative message in a way that ordinary Americans could understand. We thought he would sweep to the nomination and, for a while, it looked like he would. That candidate was Fred Thompson.
Sen. Thompson failed. There was more than one reason, but the principal reason was that he could not put a credible campaign together and lost credibility and the respect of the institutional GOP and, through it, of the rank and file.
I stayed with Sen. Thompson to the end, through the primary here in SC. His supporters voiced the exact same sentiments taht you are voicing here. He doesn't need the partt bigwigs, the voters love him. Trust him, he knows what he's doing. Well, he didn't, and didn't figure it out until it was too late to change the outcome. I fear the same may happen to Gov. Palin, if she does not get her act together. I know her Alaska staff cannot, by law, engage in any political activity. I know that she only has four staff in SarahPAC. I know that a firewall has to be maintained between AK and DC. But, in reality, POLITICAL reality (the only one that matters here) that doesn't matter. She is losing credibility with those in the GOP who can make or break her. They are starting to see her as another Thompson -- a candidate far more appealing in theory than in practice.
Like it or not, Sarah Palin has a credibility problem within the GOP, never mind with the Democratic media party. Fair or not, she has a narrow window to show what she is made of. If she fails in this, her path may become so steep that even a God given talent like hers may not be enough to overcome it.
I will stay with her until the end, unless she demonstrates that she does not have the organizational skill to match her political talent. I would only ask her to speak to Jeri & Fred Thompson, and ask them what happened, and what they would have done differently. Before it's too late.
SarahPalinRocks
What you stated at 8:30pm
I'm irritated with the GOP and I'm registered as a Repub! They are still a damaged brand at this point. As her new AG stated she was smart enough not to hitch her wagon to a mule. This current crop of elefunts are acting more like asses.
Additionally, this is all so early. We haven't crossed the 100 day mark in the current presidency. Think anyone will remember if she gives a speech in front of some deeply unpopular people?
No, she's right to finish her business up in Alaska and then take a much deserved break while fitting in some events that even Stalin can't be against. Hello? What kind of jerk would speak out against her attending a down syndrome event?
We have no idea where this country is going to be in the next 3 yrs. I'm still with you, Guv!
Please do not compare Fred Thompson to Palin
I like the guy a lot but he was a terrible campaigner ... it didn't even look like he wanted to be there half of the time and his debate performances were terrible
you know who has a credibility problem? The GOP itself
These clowns could not even seal the deal in a district with a huge GOP advantage
These are the people who led us to record deficits and spending
they are the ones with the problem
not Palin
Her state GOP party ran against her in 2006 ... she won there
If I want the beltway candidate I will go with Romney AKA HW Bush
I think I will stick with Reagan AKA Sarah Palin
I have an alternate theory. It's just a theory but here it goes: Maybe Sarah is intentionally driving these dust-ups with the GOP establishment because she wants to run as an anti-establishment candidate. She is perfectly consolidating her pro-life constituency without losing her political pragmatic credentials and that's a high-wire balancing act. That shows she knows the stuff she's doing. In all the invitations she has got, she's ditched the get-nice-with-us invitations from the establishment, first at congressional retreat and now with NRSC. She's open to hobnobbing with insiders and bigwigs(alfalfa dinner) and willing to make sure her pro-life base stands with her(Indiana).
She's probably going to do to national GOP establishment what she did to Alaska GOP-- run against them. She's on record on saying she's wondering about how to do a grassroots campaign. Maybe this is the way.
Alright folks, I have devised this theory because I prefer my leader to be wicked smart like a certain Machiavelli than to be good and dumb. It's just a theory, so what do you say?
wisetrog:
I agree with your theory, but once Sarah secures the nomination she'll have to make nice with the establishement to get them on board for the general campaign, but with tens of millions in the bank and the clout of being a winner I don't see that being difficult and with a good team around her that will make her just so much better.
I wouldn't go as far as to put her on the same level as Machiavelli, but I do believe that she is politically astute and understands fundamentally what she needs to do become the POTUS.
It would fit well with everything we've learned about her, from Kaylene Johnson, from Bill Dyer, and Rebecca's biographical sketch. Everything about her, indicates she doesn't do the safe thing, from
the city council to the VP campaign. It's an extraordinary tight high wire act, to accomplish.
Is this really the full quote from the Fox source instead of just a cropped quote? I cannot find a link...
“She was a disaster,” one Republican source told FOX News. “We had confirmation. Now we have Newt. Like he will bring in the money. Sarah was our one shot at a sold out event. At this rate, we are going to have to pay people to show up and fill seats.”…
Here's the Red State view:
http://www.redstate.com/neokong/2009/03/31/who-the-hell-is-running-this-partyrepublicans-disinvite-palin-to-major-fundraiser/
techno, thanks. Machiavelli was a great political genius. He wasn't evil as generally portrayed.
Sarah has good principles and good philosophy. If she wants to tweak some big guns(who richly deserve it), if she wants to play them, that's ok with me. Most politicians play the people who elect them and make nice with the bigwigs. Sarah is opposite. I like that.
Governor Palin is keeping her word.
She stated very clearly weeks ago that she did not plan to make to a decision about that invitation until after her legislative season was over.
Republican leadership attempted to force her to change her mind and commit.
But Governor Palin is keeping her word!!
I can only admire the Governor for that.
SCSoxfan:
I really don't think the analogy to Fred's problems is on point. It was election season and everyone was waiting for Fred to get in the game. He waited so long that by the time he got in, people had moved on. Plus, to some, he gave less than ethusiastic debate performances.
So, the circumstances here are much different. This isn't campaign season, yet so many are acting like it is. So I say relax.
Besides, if/when Palin gets in another debate, I imagine she will perform admirably and be as charasmatic as usual.
"The head of the Senate committee is Sen. John Cornyn of TX and the House committee is led by Rep. Pete Sessions, also of TX. "
From Wikpedia:
"Cornyn has been described by Jim Jubak of MSN Money as one of "Big Oil's ten favorite members of Congress," as he has received more money from the oil and gas industry than all but six other members of Congress"
No friend of palin - the oil companies hate her.
"The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch).... Sessions was one of the 20. The organization said "His ethics issues stem from his ties to Jack Abramoff and his links to defense contracting company."
I wonder if either of these two is linked to Kay Hutchison?
"R. Allen Stanford masterminded an $8 billion fraud, he has contributed money to the biggest names in Washington, including senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison and congressmen Pete Sessions."
I'm not saying that Sarah = Fred. But, Tompson's problems began with a perception that he couldn't put together a decent organization, and that began feeding on itself. Had that initial problem not been there, his path to the nomination would have been much easier. But, it crippled him out of the gate and helped give point to his other problems as a candidate, some of which could have been alleviated with a better organization.
I truly WANT Sarah Palin to succeed. I know the next election season doesn;t begin for another 2 1/2 years or so, but, really, we are in perpetual campaign mode now, especially with Obama. And, let's face it -- Sen. Thompson's big bugaboo, besides organization, was "no fire in the belly." Sarah's is "not ready." An inability to field a competent staff organization feeds that and makes the rest of the attack that much more plausible.
Just a word of warning from someone who has been on this ride before.
were the hell is sarah!?!! WHY IS SHE NOT DOING INTERVIEWS WITH THE LOCAL MEDIA.
WAKE UP SARAH IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE YOU NEED TO GET ON THE AIR WAVES NOW!!!!!!!!! I think i might exploed im so pissed right now.
UGH o.O
Wise Trog: Here are a couple of questions that I believe deflate your theory of mavericky genius on Palin's part:
1. "She is perfectly consolidating her pro-life constituency without losing her political pragmatic credentials and that's a high-wire balancing act."
Not true. Her closest advisor now is one of the very top people in a "religion" that requires forced abortions for certain women in its staff. These forced abortions are encoded in their by-laws, they are on record as occuring over and over again. I would like to remind you that John Coale employes David Miscavage's mother as an accountant and has for years. Miscavage is the person who has required these forced abortions.
I say, very poor choice of advisor on Palin's part. If you tell me her right to life fans "don't care" then they'll have to stand accused of the most flagrant hypocrisy, which wouldn't surprise me anyway.
2. "In all the invitations she has got, she's ditched the get-nice-with-us invitations from the establishment"
Wrong again. Palin attended with great flourish the Alfalfa Dinner as Fred Malek's guest (Fred Malek famous for being dep. director of Nixon's CREEP and getting away with it) the only reason she ditched one of those events you mention was specifically to be at Malek's side at the biggest Washington inside gathering there is. This is as establishment at you get in DC.
3. Bless her soul, Palin ain't no Machiavelli, which is supposed to be her strength, right?
SCSoxfan:
I don't know about you but I'll go insane being in perpetual campaign mode, particularly considering the campaign we just went through. Frankly, I don't think it's healthy, for her or her supporters.
SCSoxFan: Like it or not, Sarah Palin has a credibility problem within the GOP, never mind with the Democratic media party.
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Good post. I agree. There are some issues we probably all agree on. Its obvious, and the Politico article should be one lib article palin should read. Think Ziegler, Turkey Shoot etc ... it won't do.
But fundamentally, this was a setup - why did they raise a "misunderstanding" so quickly, in a public statement, and now descend into badmouthing her. Could be related i guess, but the damage should be fixed quickly.
Thats different to the issue you have raised. Both are important I agree, but the second is more urgent.
I sense major backlash heading towards the DC GOP. Most of the online comments from conservatives support Sarah in this and are plenty mad at the GOP for the way they treated Sarah over this. Check out Fox News/Fox Nation, FreeRepublic, HotAir, etc.
I see people vowing to not donate to the GOP or to give only to SarahPac. Many people mentioned that the GOP should not be bashing Sarah. I bet the NRCC/NRSC/RNC will hear plenty from the base over the next few days. I want to know who called her a "disaster."
O.K. its late going to go to bed after reading throught all of this. I want to ask you to consider this. Do you want the anti-palin blogs to take the doubts and charges of lack of credibility, "not ready" to their blogs and use your words against Governor Palin. By some of the tone and tenor, sometimes it was hard to tell who the supports were and who the trolls (metaphorically) were. Simply, I have never been elected to anything, she has. So as far as political decisions go, I will defer to her and respect that decision. Also pray the good Lord to guide and protect her. If she calls for my action, I am ready.
I contribute monthly to the Pac. I put no pressure on her to run or not to run. I trust the future for her is in the Lord's hands. So, until she tells me what she is going to do, I will seek to defend her from the lies and hate on the enemy sites.
Everyone needs to take a chill pill. I can't believe the NCRR was so shortsighted as to not wait a few weeks for an answer. Now they're stuck with Newt. Great move, GOP. You're living up to your reputation.
Raising money for the losers in DC is not Sarah Palin's responsibility. She's the governor of Alaska. She's doesn't owe these clowns anything. And I'm really tired of this crap about how "bad" this looks? You know what really looks bad? A GOP White House and Congress that ran up massive deficits, blundered their way through a war, and suffered huge electoral defeats.
Stop crying like a bunch of sissies. If you want to do that, go to Hot Air and share resumes with Poptech.
I don't know how many times Sarah Palin has to say that she's not running a national campaign before you people realize that she's not running a campaign. She's just being a governor. SarahPAC is nothing more or less than a fundraising office. It's not a presidential exploratory committee.
Here's a question to everybody who wants to throw her under the bus, did you listen to her Lincoln Day speech? I did. I thought she was wonderful. I realized all over again why I know this woman has the ability to rebuild the Republican party if and when she chooses to do so. It's not up to us to decide when she chooses to run. She decides. And when she decides, she'll win.
Oh Helen, cut the crap about Scientology and John Coale. He is not her "closest" advisor just a sympathetic person who advised her to set up a PAC, something she'd have done by herself.
If you read my post before writing your drivel, I said she was willing to hobnob with powerful insiders like Fred Malek at Alfalfa. What she's ditching is GOP establishment. But maybe that distinction is too subtle for you.
Next time, read a post thoroughly before trying to counter it.
R.A.
Agreed, you may have said it better than I did. This trying to live vicariously thru Governor Palin is not healthy.
Wisetrog,
There's some merit to your theory about Palin really trying to burnish her anti-establishment credentials.....you and I often think alike, hahahaha.
I'll leave it at that but let's put it this way. She confirmed the right-to-life event. While she could plausibly contend that it's not partisan becuase you don't have to be a republican to be pro-life, I don't think many will understand the distinction.
With that said, let's go CHRIS DODD!! hahaha
John Coale has no official connection to Sarah Palin or SarahPAC. This Scientology crap is getting old. I know more about that freak alien cult than you could ever hope to know, Helen. Don't preach to me about it. If Sarah Palin refused to be interviewed by Greta Van Susteren because Van Susteren is a Scientologist, you and your fruitloop friends would be screaming that she's a "Christionist theocrat." Now she's evil for not judging someone on their religion. And for the record, I also know for a fact (I live in LA, we know this sh!t) that the celebrity Scientologists know next to nothing about the evil stuff that happens among the blue shirt minions. Van Susteren and her husband would probably be honestly confounded if you told them half of the stuff that goes in Scientology.
BTW, I find it amazing that liberal trolls are now suddenly concerned about pro-life matters.
I love the fact that she's damned for attending a nonpartisan DC event (at a time when she was in DC to meet with her Congressional delegation), but she's condemned for not attending a partisan DC event.
Wisetrog,
You and I need a new theory started up soon, hhaaha.
The pro-life event and the event with the Down Syndrome group were more important in my opinion. These are the two demo groups that she will lift her to victory if she does indeed to choose to run. Not a bunch of K-Street lobbyists at some fancy dinner in DC before a bunch of politicians.
According to fox news:
""She was a disaster," one Republican source told FOX News. "We had confirmation.""
Call them out on that Sarah. Its very obvious that you personally did not "confirm".
They were trying to railroad you, just like so many before.
But call them out, just like Beth.
Tommy, our previous theory about North East has been at least partially vindicated, heh. Tedisco almost lost so that should help our gal.
RA Mansour:
Agree 1000%. People here need to chill the F out or they'll wind up in staitjackets. You can't live vicariously through a politician and hope to maintain your sanity, particularly one who hasn't pledged to run for anything else. It's enough getting by day by day without going nuts b/c someone we like may have had a breakdown in communication and will miss a speech. I think we have much bigger fish to fry at the moment.
From our contributor Dave C:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/31/gop-committees-dump-palin-as-keynote-speaker-for-big-fundraiser/comment-page-4/#comment-2047833
Here's the full quote:
“She was a disaster,” one Republican source told FOX News. “We had confirmation. Now we have Newt. Like he will bring in the money. Sarah was our one shot at a sold out event. At this rate, we are going to have to pay people to show up and fill seats.”
197 do we have 200. I am happy to see a calming down.
Well some posters seem to be saying that we should not air our concerns, it'll get back to our enemies.
Hogwash. The MSM, lib blogs, conservative RINO writers will take this and do far far worse then we can do. Perhaps some of you don't read MSM articles much - its been a theme for some time, and now with evidence.
All these posters are hoping it is just another day in a politician's life, the sands of time thingy.
No, this is serious. If there is no response from any/several GOP figure on this, its even more serious.
Ask yourself, if there is no defence: why?
Better still, why wait, insist on our party coming in to defuse the situation, showing support. That is the best outcome, not sticking our heads in the sand.
Palin cannot run on her own, she's just about carrying the world on her shoulder anyhow. National politics is different to Alaskan politics.
R.A.
There's no confirmation for that quote...I'm not sure if Dave C. was just trying to be snarkish in reply to AP's snark.
I haven't found a link anywhere but someone from Redstate linked to Dave's comment but there's no link.
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