The Sarah Palin Blog

Florida - The Tea Party's Last Stand

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

A big Newt Gingrich rally in Florida was put together to debut the endorsement of Tea Party favorite Herman Cain.

Cain made his support of Gingrich official. Sarah Palin has not. But as a prolific contributor to Fox News, Palin has immensely more influence and is not afraid to use it for Newt.

The Newt surge is fading and the Tea Party is coming out in full force to try and help the man they see as their best hope of stopping Mitt Romney from getting the nomination. The Sarah Palin support has been fascinating. She has been and is much more effective than any other surrogate and she does so without "officially" endorsing the Gingrich campaign.

On the verge of voting in Florida Sarah Palin is urging voters to vote for Newt Gingrich on Tuesday.

"Vote for Newt," Palin told Jeanine Pirro, host of the Fox News weekend program "Justice with Jeanine."

Palin made a passionate plea for Republican voters to reject Mitt Romney in Florida to keep the primary process going forward.

The former Alaska governor made it crystal clear that she favors former House Speaker Gingrich, suggesting that the Republican establishment in New York and Washington is trying anoint former Massachusetts Gov. Romney the GOP nominee.

"And I say, you know, you’ve got to rage against the machine at this point in order to defend our republic and save what is good and secure and prosperous about our nation,” Palin said. “We need somebody who is engaged in sudden and relentless reform and is not afraid to shake up the establishment. So, if for no other reason, rage against the machine, vote for Newt, annoy a liberal, vote Newt, keep this vetting process going, keep the debate going.”

Here are key points Palin made on Fox:

"Ronald Reagan wasn't afraid to take on sitting members of his own party who were in office. He challenged a sitting Republican. He knew politics of personal destruction hurt the cause of conservatism. What we see today what happened there in Florida this past week — it's gone beyond the pale, gone beyond aggressive and fair campaigning against an opponent."
Rick Santorum pointed out that Romney “drew first blood, and at first, Newt Gingrich didn't respond — he wanted to take the high road . . . [Newt] announced his intention to take the high road, but when you're continually hit and bombarded with negative rewritten history about yourself and your record, you have to hit back. And that's what you saw Newt Gingrich engage in . . .”
“I've been the proponent of continuing this vetting process and aggressive debate. It should be fair though the healthy debate that our country the electorate will benefit from . . . We see these pundits and politicos and elites and the far away Washington, D.C., beltway telling the electorate that by Florida it's going to be all wrapped up and we'll have our nominee.”
“Well, look at the players in the establishment who are fighting so hard against [Newt]. They want to crucify him because he's tapped into that average everyday American tea party, grass-roots movement that has said enough is enough of the establishment that tries to run the show and tweak rules and laws and regulations for their own good and not for our nation's own good.”
“Both party machines and many in the media are trying to crucify Newt Gingrich for bucking the tide and bucking the establishment. That tells you something. I say you have got to rage against the machine at this point in order to defend our republic . . . Vote for Newt, annoy a liberal. Vote Newt. Keep this vetting process going.”
“Which candidate is most passionate about the sudden and relentless reform that's needed? Which candidate understands that government is not the answer? Not on a state level — same when it comes to mandating what level of healthcare you must purchase? . . . I've appreciated again Newt Gingrich. His style in debates, his thinking, his way of explaining what he stands for, so I think that in a debate Newt Gingrich would clobber Barack Obama. That's one step closer to the voters being able to have a tool to make up their minds whether it should be Obama or the GOP nominee.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Sarah Palin Urges Newt Vote in Florida, Says Gingrich Will 'Clobber' Obama

Newt And Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:43:00 +0000

Her husband, the former First Dude, has officially endorsed New Gingrich in the Republican race for President.

Sarah Palin is doing everything BUT making her endorsement official.

After deciding not to run, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsed Mitt Romney for president and has been a pit bull for the Mitt Romney campaign in his attacks on Gingrich. Sarah Palin, after deciding not to run, has played the same role for the Gingrich campaign, but without an official endorsement.

As the 2008 veep nominee sees it, Gingrich is getting a raw deal from the national media and conservative elite, the very same forces who conspired against her when she was on the national ticket.

In her latest appearance, Palin stated: “Look at Newt Gingrich, what’s going on with him via the establishment’s attacks,” she said, though the original question was about Ron Paul. “They’re trying to crucify this man and rewrite history and rewrite what it is that he has stood for all these years.”

Palin then called conservative writer Peggy Noonan “hypocritical” for recently calling Gingrich an “angry little attack muffin.”

“They maybe subscribe such characterization of Newt via words like that, but they don’t subscribe those to say Mitt Romney when he or his surrogates do the same thing,” she said. “That’s that typical hypocrisy stuff in the media that I’ve lived with over a couple of decades in the political arena. So I’m used to it.”

“But in order to help educate the rest of the American public, I’ll articulate that it is hypocritical of the media to subscribe to one candidate and not another, that kind of angry attack muffin verbiage to one and not the other.”

Despite her non-endorsement, her views on the race have become crystal clear as she has waged an insistent public campaign for Gingrich that can’t be mistaken for anything but support for the volatile speaker and his ideas. As has usually been the case with Palin, her exact motives remain a mystery. But it does seem like the two Republicans share a common bond in suspecting the media and Washington power brokers are biased against them.

Gingrich rarely employs the use of official surrogates, lacking the organization of Mitt Romney, who frequently dispatches supporters to make public appearances. A surrogate that is doing so voluntarily is a plus for a campaign that is struggling to fend off a barrage of attacks.

The first sign that Palin would ride to Gingrich’s rescue was a radio interview with Sean Hannity right before ABC aired its interview with his ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich, in which she claimed the former speaker wanted an open marriage.

“I call them dumbarses,” Sarah said of the media. “They, thinking that by trotting out this old Gingrich divorce interview that’s old news — and it does feature a disgruntled ex, claiming that it would destroy his campaign — all this does, Sean, is incentivize conservatives and independents who are so sick of the politics of personal destruction because it’s played so selectively by the media, that their target, in this case Newt, he’s now going to soar even more. Because we know the game now, and we just won’t put up with it.”

“Good call, media,” she quipped.

Palin again rose to Gingrich’s defense after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie criticized Gingrich on “Meet the Press” following Gingrich’s impressive South Carolina win.

After Christie dubbed Gingrich an “embarrassment” to the Republican Party, Palin warned Christie not to get his “panties in a wad.”

“You know, sometimes, if your candidate loses in just one step along this path, as was the case when Romney lost to Newt the other night — and, of course, Romney is Chris Christie’s guy — well, you kind of get your panties in a wad, and you may say things that you regret later. And I think that that’s what Chris Christie did.”

She took it a step farther, saying the New Jersey governor, who has made his name as an in-your-face politician that frequently says eyebrow-raising things, demonstrated a “lack of self-discipline.”

“Poor Chris. This was a rookie mistake. He played right into the media’s hands,” Palin said on Fox Business Network on Monday. “The host had asked Chris, ‘Does Newt embarrass the party?’ I think he asked him twice, and there, Chris played right into it.”

After Gingrich trounced Romney in South Carolina, Palin was there again to trumpet her candidate and call him the new “front-runner” in the presidential race. She praised Texas Gov. Rick Perry for dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind Gingrich.

“I think what Rick Perry having dropped out and that patriot having done well for the front-runner, whom I will call Newt Gingrich now, being the front-runner, having endorsed him, was a good smart move,” Palin said on Fox News after the results rolled in. “He kind of took one for the team there, the conservative team, when he dropped out.”

Palin quipped: “I don’t know, do political pundits back there in the Beltway feign surprise, or are you really surprised that Newt Gingrich did as well as he did?”

Vote For Newt ...in South Carolina

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:34:00 +0000

Sarah Palin is not ready to make an endorsement just yet even though her husband Todd has endorsed Newt Gingrich. However, she says she would vote for Newt Gingrich in this weekend's South Carolina primary....but it is not an endorsement.

Is Sarah Going To Jump Into Race?

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Sarah Palin told Fox Business Network’s “Follow the Money” that it was not too late for “folks” to jump into the race. Such “folks” remained unnamed. It was not clear whether Ms. Palin, the 2008 vice-presidential nominee and former governor of Alaska, was considering such a move.

“Who knows what will happen in the future?” she said.

She announced in October that she would not be a candidate herself. But she told Fox News on Sunday that she was not ready to endorse anyone. “You know, my endorsement is going to be with sincerity and enthusiasm,” she said, “and I’m just not there yet with the field as it stands.”

She said she was looking for a candidate “who understands the fiscal crisis” that America faces.

The comments come at a provocative moment, just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses begin the nomination process. No candidate has emerged as the clear front-runner, with recent polls suggesting that Newt Gingrich’s surge has ebbed and that Representative Ron Paul of Texas is on the rise. Polls also indicate that a large portion of the electorate remains undecided. The unsettled nature of the field prompted William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, to muse this week about the possibilities of a brokered convention.

It could be a good thing for the party, he wrote in the Dec. 26 issue, “because most sentient Republicans, and most conscientious conservatives, suspect we can do better than the current field.”

Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:14:00 +0000

Michelle Bachmann Feeling Same Sexism that Sarah did

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Sarah Rips White House Christmas Card

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:08:00 +0000

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attacked the White House holiday card in on Fox News Radio.

The card shows the Obamas' dog, Bo, sitting in a very Christmas-like setting, with a fireplace decorated with wreaths and red ribbons, and a table with a poinsettia plant and presents. "From our family to yours, may your holidays shine with the light of the season," reads the inside of the card, which is signed by the Obamas (including Bo).

Palin called the card as "odd":

"It's odd," she said, wondering why the president's Christmas card highlights his dog instead of traditions like 'family, faith and freedom.'"
"Even stranger than that was his first year in office when the Christmas ornaments included Chairman Mao," Palin said. "People had to ask that it be removed because it was offensive."

Palin was referring to when a right-wing blog posted a grainy photo, allegedly of an ornament on the White House Christmas tree in 2009 showing a reproduction of Andy Warhol's "Mao" portrait.

Sarah says a majority of Americans prefer "American foundational values illustrated and displayed on Christmas cards and on a Christmas tree." With regard to the card, she added, "It's just a different way of thinking coming out of the White House."

Sarah Supports Trump Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:22:00 +0000

Sarah Palin is urging Republican presidential candidates to take part in the Newsmax ION Television 2012 Presidential Debate moderated by Donald Trump.

The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate made her endorsement in an interview to air Wednesday night on the Fox Business Network. Palin’s endorsement is the latest high-profile conservative to support the debate set for Dec. 27.

"I think candidates should not be afraid in front of the nation no matter who the host of the debate is,” Palin said. “What is a bit appealing about this idea of Trump hosting a debate is, consider the diverse audience that perhaps he can attract. It's important that independents and those who are not obsessed with inside-baseball partisan politics, which is most of us, we'd like to hear more of the message of each one of these candidates and perhaps Donald Trump will be able to attract a diverse demographic that maybe has not been as interested in this horse race thus far.

"America needs to wake up to what is going on under Obama's socialist policies and how he will bankrupt the country. I'm looking at the debate as a positive thing because of that fact."

Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition is on board along with Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), and the American Conservative Union (ACU), chaired by Al Cardenas, which sponsors the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Both ATR and ACU are sponsors for the debate.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum have confirmed their participation.

Palin also said former governors Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were wrong to turn down the debate and urged them to change their minds and join the debate, Huffington Post reported.

Palin said she would not be endorsing any candidate "before Iowa," referring to the Iowa Caucuses on January 3. But the former governor, who waited until October to announce she would not be a candidate in the 2012 race, also told Fox Business Network that Gingrich has “been a bit more successful” than Mitt Romney in courting party activists.

“He has been engaged in that movement most recently in order for them to hear his solutions and there’s been some forgiveness then on the part of Tea Party Patriots for some of the things in Gingrich’s past,” she said, according to an advanced transcript of the interview provided by the network. “Romney and others need to reach out and convince Tea Party Patriots and constitutional conservatives that he truly believes in smaller, smarter government.”

Gingrich, she acknowledged, can’t sell himself as an outsider. But she said that during his time in Washington “some of the things he’s done have been good.”

“He helped balance the budget under Bill Clinton. That is what we need today,” she said.

Sarah Palin and Tim Tebow Attacked for being Christians

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:37:00 +0000

Kelly O'Connell wrote a wonderful article for the Canad Free Press. It takes a Canadian to see the religious bigotry behind the hatred of Tim Tebow and Sarah Palin. Tim Tebow, a devout Christian, is enjoying a break through season as quarterback of the Denver Broncos. And the media is being as tough on Tebow as they were on Sarah Palin.

O'Connell thinks she knows why:

Shall we unveil the 700-pound Tasmanian devil in the room? The chief reason the average crank hates Tim Tebow & Sarah Palin is because both are open and unapologetic Christians. Although typical anti-American bigots are loathe to admit this fact, it is transparently true. Further, it is the essential values and characteristics of authentic Christianity which most of these non-believers find highly objectionable. This same anti-religious bigotry now threatens to atomize America’s once nearly impregnable foundations.

Then O'Connell writes specifically about Palin and the pilloring she took at the hands of the national media.

Has any public figure ever been pilloried more savagely for less reason than Governor Sarah Palin? A person of both strong faith and winsome disposition, Palin attracted more savages responses than would a barbecue pit located at the entrance of Mecca. But why? Her ocean of critics will give a thousand “good reasons” why she is just one loathsome step removed from the anti-Christ. Yet, is it not inevitable her very public faith and possible proximity to the Oval Office—caused this remarkable tsunami of condemnation? Listen to actor Matt Damon’s 2008 description of Pailn.

“I think there’s a really good chance Sarah Palin could become president, and I think that’s a really scary thing… I think the pick was made for political purposes… Do the actuary tables and there’s a one out of three chance, if not more, that McCain doesn’t survive his first term and it’ll be President Palin… It’s like a really bad Disney movie. The hockey mom, you know, ‘oh, I’m just a hockey mom’... and she’s facing down President Putin… It’s totally absurd… it’s a really terrifying possibility… I need to know if she really thinks that dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. I want to know that, I really do. Because she’s gonna have the nuclear codes."

Clearly, Damon’s problem with Palin is her faith. And using this as a litmus, one must conclude that Damon and his many entertainment fellow-travelers believe that simply holding straightforward Christian beliefs invalidates a person from higher office in the US. But Damon is merely the mouthpiece of millions of “progressive” persons whose own convictions beggar belief, and yet are on a relentless crusade to drive the Christian faith out of the public arena.

Again, it is a wonderful article. Please do yourself a favor and read the whole article by clicking here.

Was Sarah Palin Right About Death Panels?

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Interesting article on the Philadelpha Magazine site about Sarah Palin's concern about Death Panels in Obamacare. Larry Mendte, the writer gives a personal story of a woman who was denied care under new Medicare rules. And although Mendte points out that the rules have been around before Obamacare, he describes a "new crackdown" to turn the elderly away.

Sarah Palin warned of government “death panels” on her Facebook page and was nationally ridiculed. Politifact.com awarded Palin with the “Lie of the Year” for that statement. President Obama called her out during a joint session of Congress saying the claim is “a lie, plain and simple.”

I thought of Sarah Palin when I heard the story of Helen Wagner. Helen is 91 years old and is the mother of my sister-in-law Peggy. Give Helen five minutes and she will list a dozen times she has held death at bay. But now she is up against a much greater force: Medicare.

You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Stalker Update

noreply@blogger.com (Larry) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:10:00 +0000

Sarah Palin believes her stalkers are still a threat to her well-being. She is asking an Alaska judge to extend the restraining orders against them for another 6 months.

Shawn and Craig Christy, a father and son duo from Pennsylvania, were locked up in Alaska back in August for allegedly threatening to kill Sarah, her family and her friends.

Sarah had obtained restraining orders against the men, but they were only temporary and will expire in November. Sarah has launched a preemptive strike by filing a formal request to extend the order into 2012.

The men are still waiting for their trial and will remain behind bars until a court date is scheduled. If Sarah's request is granted, the men will be barred from having any contact with the Palins in the event that they are released.

A judge is expected to rule on Sarah's request sometime within the next few weeks.

Sarah NOT Running

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:24:00 +0000

Sarah Palin will not run for president in 2012.

"After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president of the United States," said Palin in a statement on her decision." As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."

During a radio interview on the "Mark Levin Show" after the news broke, Palin was asked if she's considering running for president as an independent candidate. In response to the question she said, "I would assume that a third party would just guarantee Obama's reelection, and that's the last thing the Republican party can afford. So the consideration for a third party is not there, no."

News of Palin's decision comes after months of speculation swirling around Palin's political ambitions. The former governor made headlines by embarking on a bus tour of the eastern United States in May. More recently, she captured attention with an appearance in Iowa that coincided with the Ames Straw Poll -- a table-setter for next year's Iowa caucuses.

The announcement from Palin comes just one day after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signaled that he will not pursue the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Despite recent buzz on the possibility a contender could make a late entry into the race, the GOP primary field appears to be solidifying.

Perry released a statement on Palin's decision on Wednesday. He said, "Sarah Palin is a good friend, a great American and a true patriot. I respect her decision and know she will continue to be a strong voice for conservative values and needed change in Washington."

As for what's next for Palin, the former governor said on Wednesday, "In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the president, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House."

Here is the full Sarah Palin Statement -

October 5, 2011
Wasilla, Alaska

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the “fundamental transformation” of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!

God bless America.

– Sarah Palin

Doesn't Sound Like Sarah Is Running

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:57:00 +0000

In a fascinating interview with Greta Van Susteren, Sarah Palin ripped the current Republican field, she said Chris Christie probably isn't runnning and gave this answer about her decision to run -

"...through my process of decision-making with my family and with my close friends as to whether I should throw my name in the hat for the GOP nomination or not for 2012 -- is a title worth it? Does a title shackle a person? Are they -- someone like me, who's a maverick -- you know, I do go rogue and I call it like I see it, and I don't mind stirring it up in order to get people to think and debate aggressively, and to find solutions to or the problems that our country is facing.

Somebody like me -- is a title and is a campaign too shackling? Does that prohibit me from being out there, out of a box, not allowing handlers to shape me and to force my message to be what donors or what contributors or what political pundits want it to be? Does a title take away my freedom to call it like I see it and to affect positive change that we need in this country? That's the biggest contemplation piece in my process."

I took all of that to mean that she is not running. Sarah believes she can be a powerful force in politics without running for office. She can make more money and avoid much of the nastiness. I, for one, respect that decision of putting family first, especially if your name is Sarah Palin.

Here is the interview. Tell me what you think.

Desperate Attacks

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:54:00 +0000

Desperate.

That's what critics and detractors of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are getting, and she hasn't even announced she's running for president yet. Can you believe these people are playing, of all things, the Glen Rice card?

Here's how this bit of non-news got started. Author Joe McGinniss wrote a book entitled "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin." It's supposed to be an expose of the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate.

In the book, McGinniss claims that Palin had an affair with one of her husband's business partners. According to various news reports, both Palin and the business partner have denied that allegation.

McGinniss also claimed that in 1987, when Palin was Sarah Heath and a sports reporter for an Alaska television station, she had a one-night stand with Glen Rice, then a star player for the University of Michigan. (The Wolverines hoops squad was in Alaska for a basketball tourney called the Great Alaska Shootout at the time.)

So McGinniss had to go back 24 years, to a time when both Sarah Heath and Rice were consenting adults, to dig up what he considers "dirt" on the woman now known as Sarah Palin?

Liberals and lefties tend to ratchet up their standards when it comes to conservatives and Republicans. Rice is a black man, so the revelation that Palin had a one-night stand with him meant those on the left couldn't fall back on their old reliable standby: that everybody on the right is racist.

This outrageous hypocrisy and double standard has even been noted way up in Canada. CBC commentator Rex Murphy wrote a Sept. 17 piece for the National Post highlighting the difference in how most of the American media treated Barack Obama during his 2008 candidacy and Palin:

"Much of the Obama coverage was orchestrated sycophancy," Murphy wrote. "They glided past his pretensions. ... They ignored his arrogance. And they averted from his every gaffe -- such as the admission that he didn't speak 'Austrian.'

The media, Murphy continued, "turned Rottweiler" on Palin. They considered Obama "sacred, classy, intellectual and cosmopolitan," while they considered Palin "malevolent, trashy, dumb and pure backwoods-ignorant."

I'm betting Murphy never read that Facebook comment about Palin being "trash." And I'm also betting that he knows the American mind better than most of Palin's detractors do.

The above was edited down from a column in the Washingto Examiner written by columnist Gregory Kane. You can read the entire column by clicking here.

Obama Fan Now Loves Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:52:00 +0000

Back when President Obama got elected, Wyclef Jean promised to sit in the freezing cold January morning to watch him get sworn into office. "I'm like an Obama groupie from the very beginning," he told MTV, adding, "I know it's gonna be dirt cold. ... On camera, it's going to look like I have one coat on, but I'mma have 17 sweaters under that, 'cause there's nobody takin' my seat!"

But while he was clearly enthused about Obama's win, he was, apparently, just a little bit upset that losing VP candidate Sarah Palin wasn't also heading to Washington, DC. As he told audiences at Fashion Week on Wednesday, the former Fugees star is quite a fan of the former half-term governor of Alaska.

“I have to tell you this: I am a huge fan of Sarah Palin,” he told the audience (via WWD). “Cause she’s rad. She’s shrewd. She’s cool. Because at the end of the day, I’m for the people, because this is the United States of America... this is what America’s really about. Anyone should have the right to say, ‘Look I can do the job and this is what qualifies me to do the job.’…. Now my wife probably will debate and disagree with me.”

Read more on The Huffington Post.

Sarah's Facebook Post on Crony Capitalism

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:50:00 +0000

In my recent speech in Iowa, some eyebrows were raised when I took on our government’s enormous economic problems caused by crony capitalism. As if on cue, just days later President Obama selected someone who exemplifies a major crony capitalism problem to sit next to the First Lady when he delivered his “jobs plan” speech before Congress. He selected General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as his honored guest.

Having grown up with great respect for GE thanks to stories my grandfather shared with us about his days working for the company and even meeting GE spokesman-at-the-time Ronald Reagan during a company event, I am saddened at GE’s leadership evolution. This corporation is now the poster child of corporate welfare and crony capitalism.

This icon of American industry is a company full of good employees who make some good products (and is the parent company of a huge media outlet), but GE is also a large American corporation that pays virtually no corporate income taxes despite earning worldwide profits of $14.2 billion last year, $5.1 billion of it in the United States. In fact, they claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion, meaning they received more of our hard earned tax dollars than they contributed. How is that possible? It’s because not only do they shelter their money from taxes, but they also get many tax credits, loans, government grants, and other benefits from the federal government that our smaller businesses couldn’t even imagine being able to profit from.

Joining GE in the pantheon on crony capitalism is another Obama favorite that has been in the news of late: Solyndra. The President hailed this “green energy” company in a speech last May as “the true engine of economic growth.” When he announced the $535 million guarantee to Solyndra, Vice President Biden said that investments like this are “exactly what the Recovery Act is all about.” (Dear God…If the failed Solyndra venture has been what it’s “all about,” then that explains a lot.) As I pointed out in my speech at the Reagan Ranch Center last February: “History has proven again and again, when government picks the winners and losers, we’re stuck with the losers, and we the taxpayers subsidize failure!” And that’s what we’re seeing now, as the FBI raids the solar energy company’s headquarters to glean more information after the company was handed half a billion dollars in “green energy” Stimulus funds from the American taxpayer only to later declare bankruptcy. More than one thousand Solyndra workers lost their jobs. Now as the truth comes out, we discover that the White House was heavily involved in the Department of Energy’s rushed decision to give the Stimulus funds to Solyndra, and they tried to move the money through so quickly they seem to have ignored concerns that the company was not viable. Why would they do this? Perhaps it’s because a large investor in the company (about 35%) is Obama campaign bundler George Kaiser. And with the way the deal is structured, Kaiser will get his debts paid before we the taxpayers see any relief. That is sickening. And that’s how it works: workers lose their jobs, wealthy political cronies stand a good chance of getting their money back, and the U.S. taxpayer gets the shaft. Again.

President Obama has his sights set on raising $1 billion for his reelection campaign. Raising that money won’t be easy. But if you can hand out other people’s money to friends, it must get a whole lot easier. This crony capitalism and government waste is at the heart of our economic problems. It will destroy us if we don’t root it out. It’s not just a Democrat problem or a Republican problem. It’s a problem of our permanent political class. This won’t stop until “we the people” say enough is enough, and we retire the permanent political class that votes for this.

- Sarah Palin

A Message From Sarah Palin

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:20:00 +0000

Ten years ago today, ordinary Americans went to work or boarded a plane and found themselves fighting on the frontlines of a battle they did not choose. They acquitted themselves with grace and courage, just as the thousands of men and women who enlisted to fight in our armed forces - many on the anniversaries of this day — in order to exact justice for their fellow Americans. We will never forget those who died ten years ago today, we will never forget those who died in the war that started on that day, and we ask God to comfort and bless their families. From across this great nation, grateful Americans honor those who defend our homeland. God bless America.

- Sarah Palin

Sarah Leaves Them Guessing In New Hampshire Too

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:33:00 +0000

As chants of "Run, Sarah, run" billowed up from the crowd, Sarah Palin was drowned out by a devout Tea Party audience yesterday in Manchester who believe the former Alaska governor fits her own description of the next president.

"We need people with a proven record of reform and who are willing to take on the tough challenges, run into danger, if you will, not run away from it. We need a pro-growth agenda," Palin said at the Tea Party Express rally, pausing mid sentence as the chants built up.

"You, you," many said, pointing to the possible presidential candidate who has kept her supporters and much of America guessing at her intentions for months. She thanked them for their "encouragement" but gave no indication yesterday of whether she'll run, a decision she will have to make soon to have time for filing, fundraising and building a national campaign.

Not everyone at the rally, though, wants to see that happen.

Many raised doubts about whether Palin can win the White House, calling her "unelectable" and saying her message of shrinking government is similar to other candidates and brings nothing fresh to the debate.

"I think she's in a better position speaking for the Tea Party versus being a candidate and running," said Greg Rickerhauser of Chester. "I can change my mind, though, if she does run, depending on what she says. But at this point in time, I think I'd rather her just be a speaker for the Tea Party."

Rickerhauser did say Palin's message of cutting federal spending and returning power to the American people resonated with him, but he and others worried a Palin candidacy would simply steal votes away from a candidate with a better chance of beating President Obama.

"I think she has a real important part to play in uniting Americans, uniting the Tea Party," said Andy Bridge of Amherst. "And I'm just not sure running is the way to go."

But others in the crowd, standing amid signs that read "Team Palin" and "Real Men Love Sarah," thought otherwise.

"She hasn't changed from when she first came on the scene until now," said Linda Gouldrup, who drove from Easton, Mass., for the event. "I've seen other candidates get really fancied up and coiffed. She's the same person she always was. I associate with a lot of her values."

Gouldrup said Palin's down-to-earth approach combined with a history of rooting out corruption while governor of Alaska would make her a formidable force if she chose to run.

Much of Palin's address yesterday struck at the need to expand the Tea Party movement, which she said has been mischaracterized by the national news media and has fallen victim to "media-incited internal squabbles."

"We simply don't have time to be bogged down in internal conflicts and friendly-fire conflicts," she said. "The time to secure our future and preserve the blessings of liberty and restore our economy, it's now.

"The Tea Party movement is bigger than any one person and it's not about any one candidate."

She said more candidates are seeing the strengths of the Tea Party and, without naming names, welcomed their participation.

"I say right on, better late than never, for some of these candidates, especially," Palin said.

"You're converting them over. And you know why, because you have truth and you have logic on your side."

The speech had tones of a presidential stump speech, but Palin gave less specifics yesterday than she did at a Sunday Tea Party Express rally in Iowa, where she laid out a plan that included reducing regulations in the private sector, cutting spending, increasing energy production to spur economic growth and doing away with all federal corporate income taxes.

The Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 03:40:00 +0000

An Answer To Dick Cheney

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:52:00 +0000

Great article by Craig Medred in the Alaska Dispatch about Dick Cheney's confusion as to why Sarah Palin stepped down as Governor of Alaska.

So Dick Cheney, the vice-president long hounded by the lamestream media, can't get his hands around why Sarah Palin quite as governor of the state of Alaska?

"I've never gotten around the question of her having left the governorship of Alaska in mid-term," he said. "I've never heard that adequately explained. ... I'd like to know more about that.''

Say what? Cheney ought to know better than anyone why Palin quit. She was subject to being hounded by not only the lamestream Alaska media, but the lamestream Alaska electorate. She made all of this crystal clear when she quit.

"...You don't hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?'' the Republican-turned tax-happy, liberal Democrat said there on the beach at Lake Lucille the day she resigned to begin the transformation from classic Alaska Socialist to the queen of America's Common Sense Conservatives. "Some say things changed for me on Aug. 29 last year -- the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate -- I say others changed. Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt.''

Well, actually, they didn't descend. Palin's big problem was with homegrown dissidents. And they didn't descend, either. They sort of crawled out from underground. But she is right they were digging for dirt. Alaskans like to dig. It's the old gold-mining heritage.

"The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice,'' Palin said. "Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations - such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters' questions."

She could stay in the governor's mansion and continue to suffer through the abuse, as Cheney did. Or she could quit office and go Mama Grizzly, lashing out whenever and wherever and at whomever it felt best. Think about it. The governor of Alaska would have been forced to factually defend an accusation the president of the country was planning to create "death panels.'' A Mama Grizzly could make such a statement and hide behind the defense that there was a nugget of truth there somewhere in that accusation.

She's just a grizzly, you know. She's just protecting her cubs.

Grizzlies lash out like this. Yes, the statement is at best a giant load of hyperbole, but she's a Mama Grizzly.

Obviously, Cheney is too far removed from his Wyoming roots. After all that time in Washington, D.C., he's forgotten how grizzlies behave.

They don't spend a lot of time thinking, Dick; they react. They're not intellectual creatures; they're emotional ones. And if they're not happy -- and everyone agrees Gov. Palin was not happy back in Juneau -- then look out!

That's why she quit.

To read the unedited article click here.

Iowa First, Then New Hampshire

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:48:00 +0000

We now know that Sarah Palin is leaving her highly anticipated Labor Day Weekend speech in Iowa to head to New Hampshire, but we still don't know if she is running for President.

Sarah speaks in Iowa on Saturday. Iowa, of course, being the site of the first big political contest of the 2012 Presidential election. And now she scheduled to speak at an afternoon Tea Party rally on Monday at Veterans Square Park in Manchester. The New Hampshire primary is the second contest in the race for the Presidency.

So is Sarah Palin running or just toying with the media? She has yet to rule out joining the Republican presidential race and she is not expected to announce her intentions during her weekend visits to the early voting states.

Mitt Romney was previously scheduled to deliver a speech at the Tea Party rally on Labor Day. But he decided to adjust his schedule to join Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and other candidates at a forum in South Carolina on Monday sponsored by Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina. Sarah Palin was also invited to the forum, but likes her own stage.

Mrs. Palin has said that she will make her intentions known by the end of September. Her associates believe that she is considering three options: pledging her support for the presidential bid of Mr. Perry, declaring her own candidacy or holding off on making a decision about which candidate to support.

Political analysts have made much out of the fact that Sarah Palin has not put together and organization, she has not raised money for a run and she still works at Fox News (News Gingrich and Rick Santorum left Fox when they were going to run). But Sarah Palin is a different kind of politician and her loyal following allows her to make her own rules. She will be able to raise money and an organization quickly. As for Fox, she can take a leave of abseence anytime.

The next month is going to be fascinating in Sarah Palin world, where traditional political rules do noty apply.

The Reasons For Sarah Palin To Run

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:52:00 +0000

The Des Moines Register listed 8 Reasons why Sarah Palin Should Run for the Republican Nomination for President. Of course, they also listed 8 reasons that she shouldn't run, but we will let you go to the site and read them for yourself.

8 REASONS PALIN SHOULD RUN

1. BELIEF IN HERSELF: “She believes that she could win,” said Republican Greg Hudson, 29, of West Des Moines, who writes the blog 1007 East Grand. “She believes that the country will be a wreck in 15 months, and that she can turn it around.”

Hudson thinks that in Iowa, Palin would eclipse declared candidates Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas, and join Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney and Texas’ Rick Perry near the top.

(Palin ranked third after Perry and Romney in an Aug. 17-21 Gallup poll of national Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.)

2. LIKES THE LIMELIGHT: “She loves to compete, and this is the ultimate competition,” said Doug Gross, an Iowa GOP politics insider.

Palin has a knack for campaigning and generates electricity in Iowa, judging from recent non-campaign stops in Pella and at the Iowa State Fair, said Dave Funk, 53, who was Iowa co-chairman of Sportsmen for McCain-Palin in 2008 but is remaining neutral this election cycle.

3. STEALTH HELP: The work that a grass-roots group called Organize4Palin is doing on an unofficial, volunteer capacity in Iowa and other states rivals what some campaigns have done with paid staff, said Shane Vander Hart, 39, of Pleasant Hill, who writes the blog Caffeinated Thoughts.

4. FIRING UP THE BASE: Palin would motivate the Iowa GOP base and excite those uninspired by the current field, Hudson said. “She would bring a populist flair to the 2012 primary, which has seemingly been lacking from the field, despite Republican ire with President Obama,” he said.

5. TEA PARTY POWER: If there will be a time the tea party movement picks the nominee, this could be the year. And plenty of Iowans are eager to see Palin run, said tea party supporter Brett Rogers, 46, who lives in West Des Moines.

Palin would have a certain amount of credibility with tea party advocates nationwide, said Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. But he also said, “I don’t think you’d see a wave of enthusiasm for her any more than you’ve seen for any other candidate.”

The movement, despite its youth, is showing maturity in its measured analysis of all the candidates — and no single candidate has run away with support yet, said Meckler, of Grass Valley, Calif.

“People would want to see what (Palin) would do and say as a candidate,” he said. “She’s a media figure right now, and that’s a different role from being a candidate.”

6. MONEY MAGNET: Unlike some candidates, Palin is running on free media right now without a money-eating campaign infrastructure. SarahPAC has reported impressive totals ($1.67 million this year, the Open Secrets website shows) without putting much effort into it, Vander Hart said.

If she runs, Palin can easily harvest small online donations, but she won’t be able to finance a campaign with $25 and $50 Internet donations. Gross doesn’t think that will be a problem: “Some very large national givers who otherwise would not give will find ways to get her what she needs.”

7. ALREADY VETTED: “She has effectively weathered the media onslaught,” Rogers said.

Fresh controversy from her past could always emerge, but with everything written about her during the 2008 campaign and since, any new revelations likely “wouldn’t be the kind of surprise that becomes a game changer in terms of knocking a candidate out of a race,” said Republican Timothy Hagle, 55, a University of Iowa political science professor.

8. WINNING MESSAGE: Funk said: “She could win the nomination based on message quality alone.”

Palin has stayed true to bedrock conservatism, even in situations that made other Republicans flee, said Organize4Palin’s Peter Singleton, 57, a California lawyer who has been living on and off in Iowa hotels and homes since November.

For example, Palin flew to Arizona last year to stand beside Gov. Jan Brewer and the new immigration law even as the law was called extreme, Singleton said.

As Alaska governor, Singleton said, Palin accomplished ethics reform, addressed the corrupt dealings between oil companies and the Legislature that led to an inequitable oil tax structure for Alaskans, and advanced construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope — all campaign pledges.

Texan Michelle McCormick, co-coordinator for Organize4Palin, said she trusts Palin to buck crony capitalism, while Perry “has a history of making deals with big pharmaceuticals and big oil and gas companies.”

To read full article click here.

Sarah's Political Clock is Ticking

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:39:00 +0000

POLITICO has a great story today on Sarah Palin's political clock.

Even for Sarah Palin, there are deadlines.

The former Alaska governor seems to believe that most of the rules of politics don’t apply to her — that with her media appeal and her grass-roots following, she could waltz into the presidential campaign at the 11th hour and make a go of it.

But if she does want to run for president, she’ll have to get on the ballot. Palin has gestured vaguely at various self-imposed deadlines — the latest being late September — but there are some drop-dead dates that she cannot escape, starting with Oct. 31.

That’s the day presidential candidates’ names have to be submitted for inclusion on the primary ballot in Florida. By the next day, candidates have to file for the South Carolina primary ballot — along with a $25,000 fee. And the deadlines for other states come fast and furious after that. It’s $1,000 by Nov. 18 in New Hampshire. On Dec. 5, thousands of signed petitions are due in Illinois.

“It isn’t inconceivable that somebody could get into the race as late as the first or second week in October and manage to get it all done,” provided they knew what they were doing, said Matt Seyfang, a Democratic lawyer who’s handled ballot-access and delegate issues for five presidential campaigns, including Bill Clinton’s 1992 effort — which didn’t get started until October 1991. But any later than that, he said, would probably be impossible.

Palin could run a non-traditional presidential campaign in all kinds of ways, eschewing the traditional structures of staff and organization in favor of her brash, seat-of-her-pants style. But she would still have to meet a complex web of state-by-state ballot access requirements to get into all the different primaries.

“Regardless of how you want to run your campaign, if you have not complied with state ballot requirements, you can’t be on the ballot, and if you’re not on the ballot, you can’t get delegates allocated to you,” said Jason Torchinsky, an election lawyer who advised the campaigns of George W. Bush in 2004 and Rudy Giuliani in 2008, and is currently working with Rep. Thad McCotter.

Even as she’s danced around the question of her presidential ambitions, Palin has acknowledged the looming reality.

“Getting closer to making a decision, of course, for legal reasons, for practical reasons,” she told Fox News’s Sean Hannity earlier this month. “But I still haven’t made up my mind yet, Sean.”

She has shot down speculation that she’s decided not to run — pointedly showing up in campaign-significant places such as the Iowa State Fair on the eve of the Ames Straw Poll. But she’s also denied reports that a campaign is in the offing and an announcement imminent: “Any professional pundit claiming to have ‘inside information’ regarding Gov. Palin’s personal decision is not only wrong, but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public,” her PAC posted on its website this week after a fresh spate of she’s-in rumors.

To the reporters who swarmed her at the fair in Iowa, she cited an “August/September time frame” — but also said she doubted she’d make up her mind by Sept. 3, when she’s scheduled to headline a tea party rally outside Des Moines. Asked whether that meant a decision by late September, she agreed.

Experts on the nuts and bolts of primary campaigns told POLITICO that would be cutting it close, but it would still be possible — just barely — to get up and running on that schedule.

Though the campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry is making gains in the polls in just its second week of operation, it is scrambling to catch up with its longer-running rivals on matters of ballot access.

To read the entire article click here

Palin Rove Round Three

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:34:00 +0000

Sarah Palin too sensitive? Puh-Leazzz!!!! This woman has been through a gauntlet of smears, lies, accusations and negative press unparalleled in modern political history. Lesser politcians would have packed it in by now. But one of the gifts Sarah Palin has is an inate ability to take a political punch and hit back harder.

So Karl Rove's recent statement is borderline ridiculous. " would just recommend that she get a slightly thicker skin, because if she’s got this thin a skin now ... how is she going to react if she does get into the campaign and gets the scrutiny that every presidential candidate gets?” said Mr. Rove.

Why is Karl Rove so interested in fellow Fox News contributor Sarah Palin? Could it be that he too wants some of the Palin-effect attention?

Last weekend, the aforementioned Rove said he believed the ex-governor of Alaska would announce a presidential bid around Labor Day. Ms. Palin's schedule – unveiling a film about herself in Iowa, visiting the Iowa State Fair, addressing a big Sept. 3 Tea Party Iowa rally – was that of a candidate, not a celebrity, said the former Bush political adviser.

I guess in Karl Rove's world it is best to take a slam like that and move on. But that is not Sarah Palin. She fired back in a message posted on her PAC website, denying that she plans to reveal her plans over Labor Day weekend.

“Any professional pundit claiming to have ‘inside information’ regarding Governor Palin’s personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American people,” said the message.

Rove and Palin have a history, and now they appear locked in a genuine feud. Rove in the past has said that Palin’s appearance on reality shows is a sign she lacks gravitas. Palin has said that Rove is the symbol of the GOP old guard against which she is going rogue.

It seems old Karl is either fronting for Rick Perry or is just trying to get himself some attention. Either way, it is Rove who is out of line for starting this fight. Don't expect Sarah Palin to just sit back and take it.

The Iowa Campaign Ad

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Sarah Palin released slickly produced video that sure looks like a campaign ad. It shows higlights of her impromptu visit to the Iowa State Fair last week. The new spot, titled "Iowa Passion" is produced by SarahPac, Sarah's political action committee.

The release comes as Palin plans to give a speech to a tea party group in Iowa on Labor Day weekend, an address that possibly could provide some hint about her plans. She has said repeatedly that she expects to decide in September whether to mount a campaign for the GOP nomination.

The video ends with a roaring grizzly and a promise from Palin that she will return to Iowa on Sept. 3. That's the day she is scheduled to speak in Waukee, Iowa.