Would you rather listen to Palin or Gingrich make a speech?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sarah Palin didn't make a speech - but that didn't stop her from stealing the show at a big Republican fundraising dinner in Washington last night. The Alaska governor's appearance was a question mark up until the last minute... and followed weeks of an on-again, off-again saga.
Palin had originally been announced as the keynote speaker, but her office said she never confirmed the attendance. Later they wanted to know if she would speak at the dinner; party leaders said she could but then took back the invitation... worried that Palin would upstage Newt Gingrich, the new keynote speaker. Lots of drama.
But Palin, along with her husband Todd, got big cheers from the audience when they were introduced onstage last night; and their table was the only one in the ballroom with a crowd around it.
Several Republicans thanked Palin for showing up. Senator John McCain said it was great to see her, Senator Jon Cornyn praised Palin's leadership, and Gingrich said the U.S. "would be amazingly better off" had McCain and Palin been elected.
There's been speculation that both Gingrich and Palin might be interested in running for the White House in 2012. A recent poll among Republicans showed 21 percent backing Palin and 13 percent backing Gingrich.
Here’s my question to you: Would you rather listen to Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich make a speech?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Limbaugh: Palin most "prominent and articulate voice" for conservatism
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As the Republican Party continues to struggle, some of them are starting to sound silly. Rush Limbaugh is now suggesting that Sarah Palin is the most prominent and articulate voice for good old-fashioned American conservatism. Recalling the disastrous interviews Ms. Palin did with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News during the campaign, 'prominent' and 'articulate' are not the words that immediately pop into my mind.
But the leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, thinks differently...
Limbaugh also insists that some Republican leaders hate, despise and fear Sara Palin as well as find her embarrassing. The embarrassing part I definitely understand.
He's referring to that new group formed by old Republicans called the National Council for a New America. It's made up of folks like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal and John McCain who are working to re-brand the GOP.
Limbaugh says it's nothing more than an early campaign event being held by a bunch of Republicans who have what Limbaugh calls "presidential perspirations." While some members of this Council for a New America are calling for doing away with the Reagan era and finding a more forward looking message, Limbaugh says a lot of that talk is code meant as a knock on Sarah Palin who is conspicuously absent from the National Council for a New America.
Well don't you know, once again Limbaugh speaks and Republicans snap to attention and salute. No sooner had he said all this stuff than Congressman Eric Cantor announced that Palin had finally accepted an offer to join the National Council for a New America. Go figure.
Here’s my question to you: Rush Limbaugh says Sarah Palin is the most "prominent and articulate voice" for conservatism. Is he right?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would you donate to Gov. Palin's legal defense fund?
If you have a couple extra coins knocking around in your pocket, you could consider a donation to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's legal defense fund. The former Republican vice presidential candidate has about $500,000 in legal fees - partly due to investigations into efforts to fire an Alaska state trooper who's her former-brother-in-law.
Also, supporters say about a dozen new ethics complaints have been filed against Palin in the last four months. The 'Alaska Fund Trust' says on its website: "For Alaskans, the time has come to end the siege on our government by political tricksters. Enough is enough. With the help of reform-minded advocates from across our nation, we will stand up for what is right."
They add that the fund will "reduce the incentive for mischief by Palin's opponents" and turn back the tide of partisan and personal political attacks.
Donations will be limited to $150, and the fund won't accept money from corporations, lobbyists, foreigners or state contractors. Supporters say the names and contribution amounts of all donors will be made public.
They insist this is one of the "most restrictive and transparent legal funds in history," and compare it to other recent funds - like those for both Clintons and former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
Here’s my question to you: Would you be inclined to donate to Governor Sarah Palin's legal defense fund?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why does Palin make people reach for their wallets?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
She's been mostly out of the national spotlight since John McCain lost in November; but Sarah Palin was back in a big way last night. The Alaska Governor spoke to a sold out crowd of 3,000 at a Right to Life fundraising dinner in Indiana.
Organizers even set up a paid closed-circuit broadcast at an auditorium and officials had to close down streets nearby. People taking pictures and seeking autographs mobbed Palin.
At the dinner, the Republican governor criticized President Obama's position on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Palin surprisingly told the crowd that when she learned she was a pregnant with a Down Syndrome baby, she "just for a fleeting moment" considered getting an abortion.
Politico reports that even though Palin hasn't been doing a lot of fundraising - that hasn't stopped many from using her name, her image. etc. to raise some big bucks, often without her approval.
Groups on both sides of the abortion issue, environmental groups and political committees from both parties have gotten in on the act.
Politico describes her as "an almost unparalleled fund raising force."
Meanwhile Palin's big appearance in Indiana came at the end of a rough week for the Governor back in Alaska. Her controversial nominee for state attorney general was rejected by the Republican-controlled legislature after damaging confirmation hearings. As it turns out - Wayne Ross had previously defended a KKK statute, characterized gays as "degenerates," and in 1991 reportedly said, "If a guy can't rape his wife, who's he gonna rape?" Ross denies he said it.
Nice pick, Governor.
The legislature also made clear it won't accept Palin's effort to turn down more than $400 million in federal stimulus money.
Here’s my question to you: What is it about Sarah Palin that makes people reach for their wallets?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Palin still relevant to national dialogue?
Here's a couple of quotes - see if you can guess who said them. In regards to last November's election, "And there was that media slant this go round. And unless things change, the GOP had really better can stand together, 'cause we got that on the battlefield also. I call it like I see it and like I lived it on the campaign trail. Not complaining, but dealing with reality."
Or how about: "Some in the media actually participated in not so much the 'who-what-where-when-why' objective reporting on candidates and positions, those five W's that I learned when I had a journalism degree so many years ago in college, when the world of journalism was quite different than it is today."
Give up? It's vintage Sarah Palin. In a speech to a GOP dinner last week, the Alaska Governor spoke about why the Republicans lost in November and seemed mostly to blame the press. At least I think that's what she said. The former Republican vice presidential nominee said she's not whining about it; but rather calling it like she sees it: "Sometimes it gets me in a lot of trouble when I speak candidly, and I speak from the heart and I do such a thing. But I am going to." Painful.
Palin mocked the Obama administration's elimination of the word "enemy combatant," while praising President Bush's efforts to fight the war on terror - even though "the political and media elite ridiculed and mocked him."
As for the future of her party - which she no doubt would like to shape - Palin rejected the idea that it become more moderate; instead saying Republicans need to communicate their ideas better. Now there's an idea.
Here’s my question to you: Is Sarah Palin still relevant to the national dialogue?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is Gov. Palin GOP's best fundraiser?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may step back into the national spotlight in June when she's been invited to headline a major Republican fund-raising dinner. The 2008 vice presidential nominee has kept a pretty low profile since John McCain lost the election last November.
Is Palin the best choice for GOP fundraiser?
She's made a handful of trips outside of Alaska, but has skipped big gatherings, like the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. But the upcoming spring gala is the main fund-raising event of the year for congressional Republicans, and the committee chairmen are confident Palin will bring the necessary star power to raise the big bucks.
They call her "one of the brightest rising stars" and "one of the most popular and recognizable faces" in the GOP. She's certainly recognizable, but for many of the wrong reasons. Of course it will probably be a challenge for anyone to raise money in this climate for the Republican Party, which is at all time low approval ratings.
So far, Governor Palin hasn't officially accepted the invitation. Polls suggest Palin remains a favorite of social conservatives; a February survey showed she is the candidate that Republicans said they will most likely support in 2012 - beating out both Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
However, Palin remains pretty controversial among the national electorate. A Newsweek poll taken early this month found she had a 44 percent favorable rating - and 42 percent unfavorable. And if she runs in 2012, count on the Democrats to make a whole series of commercials out of those disastrous interviews she did with Katie Couric.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to fundraising, is Gov. Sarah Palin the best the Republicans can do?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
GOP becoming a cartoon
The Republican Party is becoming a cartoon.
Where to start?
Cafferty: Republicans are missing a golden opportunity to redeem themselves.
Bobby Jindal: "I'm certainly not nearly as good of a speaker as Obama." Good OF a speaker? How about not as good at eighth-grade grammar either. It's embarrassing.
Sarah Palin? Billing the taxpayers for her kids to travel to official events the children weren't even invited to? She finally agreed to pay back the state for that money she took.
Her per diem charges to the state in the amount of $17,000 while she was living at home instead of in the governor's mansion? She has now agreed to pay the taxes owed on that money. Another tawdry grab at a few dollars that didn't belong to her.
Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, down on his knees apologizing to the helium-filled poster boy of the conservative right? Pathetic.
If the Republicans are ever to emerge from the long dark night they have created for themselves it will have to be without pandering to the right wing nuts that comprise Rush Limbaugh's radio audience. Didn't they learn anything in the last election?
Click here for the full CNN.com column.
What Would You Ask Palin?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sarah Palin is back again. Now she's taking shots at Tina Fey, Katie Couric, John McCain and the media.
The former Vice Presidential candidate gave an exclusive interview to conservative John Ziegler for a documentary on how Barack Obama got elected.
What would you ask the governor?
In it, she lashes out at Tina Fey and Katie Couric for exploiting her during her 12-week odyssey as John McCain's running mate. She said a Saturday Night Live skit crossed the line when Fey, who parodied Palin, said marriage is a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers. It was a reference to Palin's then-pregnant and unmarried daughter.
Palin blamed the McCain campaign for the often referenced interview with CBS news anchor Katie Couric in which Palin couldn't name the newspapers she reads. She says it's all McCain's fault for granting additional access after the first interview with Couric went poorly. Poorly is an understatement. Palin came off as functionally illiterate.
Today Palin's office released a statement accusing the media of taking her statements out of context to, "create adversarial situations." She also says the media would have gone easier on her and her family if she'd been on the Democratic ticket. It should be noted that the conservative Ziegler went pretty easy on Palin, refusing to ask any difficult questions including, for example, what newspaper do you read, Governor?
Here’s my question to you: Is there anything you'd like to ask Sarah Palin?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Sen. John McCain unwilling to support Sarah Palin?
Sen. John McCain refuses to say he would support his former running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, if she runs for president in 2012.
McCain was asked directly during an interview on ABC's "This Week" if Palin can count on McCain's support. He ducked. When pressed on the question he ducked again, saying, "My corpse is still warm."
Palin was McCain's running mate, and he won't say he'll support her? This is the person he picked to be the second in command, to lead the nation should something happen to him, had he been elected President. And now he not only pauses, but won't answer whether or not he'll support her?
This was McCain's first Sunday political TV interview since he lost the election. He insists Palin helped his campaign and continues to publicly state his appreciation to the entire Palin family.
Maybe McCain is finally coming to terms with the true impact she had on his campaign. Toward the end his name didn't even appear at some of her rallies.
Barack Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet and polls have shown Republicans want Palin in 2012.
Here’s my question to you: What’s with Sen. John McCain unwilling to say he’ll support his former running mate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Chambliss Win: What does it mean for Palin?
Chambliss (right) said that Palin had a huge impact on his win. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
So much for that filibuster-proof majority for the Democrats in the Senate. Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss won yesterday's run-off in Georgia. The best the Democrats can do now is 59 seats. The Minnesota race is still undecided. It was a much needed win for beleaguered Republicans coming off the beating they took on Election Day.
But perhaps the bigger story is Sarah Palin. The hockey mom-turned-Alaska governor-turned vice presidential candidate-turned national joke flew down to Georgia on Monday and campaigned for Chambliss to huge crowds at several events.
Chambliss said Palin had a huge impact on his win, "She came in on the last day, did a fly-around and, man, she was dynamite."
Palin's former runningmate John McCain also campaigned for Chambliss, as did former Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani.
But it was Palin who may have given Chambliss the push he needed to win.
Here’s my question to you: What does Saxby Chambliss’s win in Georgia mean for Sarah Palin who went there to campaign for him?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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