Vanderburgh County Right to Life: Palin Could Be Doing Other Things, But She Chose To Do This

The ADN reports:

Thursday's event doesn't carry quite the same weight for potential presidential candidates as, say, eating midway food at the Iowa State Fair or a sit-down with the Union Leader newspaper editorial board in Manchester, N.H. But the Vanderburgh County Right to Life Banquet is a big one -- with sold-out attendance of 2,180 and an additional 600 or 700 people in an overflow room at a civic center in Evansville, Ind.

"For her to go to a place like Indiana speaks volumes about who she is and where her heart is," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, who heads up the Susan B. Anthony List, which is supportive of female political candidates who oppose abortion. The organization also is affiliated with Team Sarah, a Facebook-like social networking Web site of about 70,000 Palin supporters nationwide.

"I think it's a good choice for her because it's a reflection of who she is: sort of out of the Beltway," Dannenfelser said. "She's just being who she is. And being who she is annoys Washington -- dramatically."

[...]

The Alaska governor will make a few remarks at the banquet, a fundraiser for the Vanderburgh County Right to Life Committee. She'll share the stage with the keynote speaker, Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. She'll also attend an event for an organization that supports families with children born with Down syndrome, such as her own infant son, Trig.

[...]

Even her visit to Indiana has a low-key feel. Local political leaders in Indiana offered to help Palin organize a fundraiser for SarahPAC, the political action committee she formed to help pay for out-of-Alaska travel not covered by the state of Alaska. Palin turned the offer down, said Nicholas Hermann, chairman of the Vanderburgh County Republican Party. That wasn't lost on Hermann -- or the banquet's organizers.

"I think the world of her, not only because of what she can offer our country and the pro-life cause, but what it says about how she wants to come here and be with people who believe in life," said Mary Ellen Van Dyke, executive director of Vanderburgh County Right to Life. "She walks the walk and talks the talks. She could, obviously, be doing other things, and she chose to do this."

UPDATE by RAM: I would just like to highlight that section in the article about how Gov. Palin turned down an offer by the local Republican Party chair to hold a fundraiser for SarahPAC. I think she did that because she sees this trip as a charity engagement for others and not a fundraiser for herself.

This paragraph also stood out for me:

Palin has deliberately kept a low national profile during the legislative session, said Meg Stapleton, an Alaska-based spokeswoman for SarahPAC.

SarahPAC hasn't been actively raising money, except for a single e-mail solicitation, said Pam Pryor, who helps run the committee from the East Coast, and the governor has turned down most invitations that have come her way, Stapleton said.

But Palin felt personally drawn to the Indiana event.

"Indiana was a generous invitation," Stapleton said. "Two things with which she identifies are special needs children and the right to life, and they had invited her a while ago. She kept it in the back of her mind and as time went by, she actually told me, 'I really want to go, I'm just going to spend less than a day in Indiana.'"