She’s not coming, but would like to in the future. She’d also come for free. Bryan English at the Iowa Family Policy Center just sent the following press release:
10/30/09 Pleasant Hill, IA – Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION received word this morning that Governor Sarah Palin is unable to accept our speaking invitation due to her book tour contractual commitments, which cannot be changed.
We extended our invitation knowing she would be in the middle of her book tour and the chances of her being able to accept any invitations were extremely slim.
She has asked if she could speak at a future mutually agreeable date. She will not accept any fees for her appearance.
That seems to put the controversy created by Politico’s Jonathan Martin yesterday to bed. Speaking of the asinine article that Jonathan Martin wrote, Emily Geiger at The Iowa Republican notes some background on those who talked with Jonathan Martin:
And, Jonny had lots of completely impartial sources who were happy to comment and help him “cobble together” an eleven-hundred word story.
Oh, those sources… they were so shocked at this (unconfirmed) unprecedented occurrence. How dare political operatives get paid obscene amounts of money. And speaking of politicos getting paid obscene amounts of money, Jonny went to a very knowledgeable source on that particular issue, Ed Failor, Jr., of Iowans for Tax Relief fame.
Hey Ed, how much were you paid by the Pataki campaign only to end up submarining it when you had a change of heart and decided McCain was your man? Oh well, at least Ed refrained from calling Palin a jackbooted Nazi, so he did show some self-restraint.
Jonny also got some inside info from David Kochel, who was a top aide to former (and future) presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.
Hey Dave, didn’t I just read a story about how Mitt Romney tried to buy off the Iowa Christian Alliance? I heard you helped facilitate that little scheme. And somehow you are shocked at the thought of a well-known political figure (who very likely isn’t running for president) getting paid a speaker’s fee for (gasp) a public speaking appearance?
Another of Jonny’s sources was the Iowa Christian Alliance’s Steve Scheffler, who is totally impartial given that he runs a competing organization which is dealing with its own scandal.
And then we’ve got Tim Albrecht quoted. He was the Iowa spokesman for Romney’s 2008 caucus campaign.
Hmmm… Between Kochel and Albrecht, this sounds suspiciously like yet another case of former Romney staffers “going rogue” and badmouthing their meal ticket’s perceived competition.
I’m sure that it was completely coincidental. (Yes Josh, I am being sarcastic)
Update: Linked by Conservatives 4 Palin, welcome C4P readers!
2nd Update: Linked by Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO.
3rd Update: Linked by Dan Riehl.
Sphere: Related Content
No matter what they do, Romney pretty much has been cooking his own goose. He’s got Romneycare hanging around his neck, then his cowardly decision not to actually endorse Doug Hoffman. He did, however, show great leadership and courage 2 days ago by officially endorsing McDonnell of VA in front of a crowd of dozens. Yes, it took great courage to endorse someone with only a 12 point lead, and just a week before the election.
Shane Vander Hart Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
@greg, Very true, RomneyCare and the fact he can’t attract anybody to hear him speak will certainly do him in.
At least he’s got nice hair.
Romney who? Oh, the guy that lost to McCain! What a joke these guys are. The more people treat Palin like this, the more damage they do to their own ambitions.
Shane Vander Hart Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 1:12 am
@CDR M, You can tell much about a candidate by who follows and what they do.
Romney might make a fine VICE President. He could handle all the wonkish details, attend all the state funerals, and cut ribbons at bridge openings.
This, in turn, would free up President Sarah Palin to do the “Reagan thing”–set the agenda, lay out broad policy goals, make the tough decisions, and inspire Americans.
In short, do everything that the Obamster currently ISN’T doing.
Shane Vander Hart Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 1:12 am
@MarkJ, I’m afraid he’d use the VP role as a stepping stone to the Presidency.
The Friday, October 30, 2009 palingates dot blogspot dot com has an actual screen capture of The Team Sarah page asking for donations to bring Sarah Palin to Iowa. The palingates posting also adds “…what will happen with all the money that has already been collected for her speaking fee? $ 59,000 had been raised so far, as Bill Collier from Team Sarah had written to his members, when he asked them to donate a further $ 41,000. So how much did Team Sarah collect after the appeal of Bill Collier, and what will happen to that money now? In classic fashion, the Palin camp now denies that they were ever asking for money for the appearance in Iowa – despite the detailed information that Bill Collier had already given to the Team Sarah members.”
Shane Vander Hart Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 10:40 am
@fashionplate, And that is proof of what? I actually live here, and know several of the staff members of Iowa Family Policy Center… no speaking fee. It was never requested. She had not even directly been in touch with them except to say she couldn’t.
I don’t give a rip what “Palin Gates” has as it is a PDS website that distorts the truth. Money that was being collected was for the cost of the venue… it had to be moved to a 16,000 seat auditorium (Wells Fargo Arena).
But thanks for demonstrating you don’t know what the heck you are talking about.
What happens to the money is between Team Sarah and those who donated.
Just wanted to say thank you for this post – when I first saw the figure the POLITICO story quoted, I knew it had to be a smear: it was just too outlandish.
Glad to know there are people looking into these things, will do my part to spread the word.
ashok´s last blog ..Jefferson’s Epitaph, Education and the Enlightenment Republic
Shane Vander Hart Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 11:44 am
@ashok, You are welcome. I appreciate you spreading the word!
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