Sarah Palin wows CPAC crowd, stays coy on 2016
She came, she saw, and 鈥� as usual 鈥� Sarah Palin conquered her adoring audience of conservative voters and activists.
Saturday afternoon it was the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where Ms. Palin was the closing act in the three-day gathering that had just given Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky a solid win 鈥� for the second year in a row 鈥� in its presidential straw poll.
The Affordable Care Act, NSA spying, the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and a measure of disdain for establishment Republicans in Congress were just some of her topics.
鈥淣o, you can鈥檛 log onto the website,鈥� Palin said, referencing the disastrous rollout of Obamacare. 鈥淣o you can鈥檛 keep your health care. No, you can鈥檛 make a phone call without Michelle Obama knowing this is the third time this week you dialed Pizza Hut delivery.鈥�
On Ukraine, she echoed the National Rifle Association鈥檚 position on individual gun ownership: 鈥淭he only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke.鈥�
She praised tea party favorites in the US Senate 鈥� Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, who鈥檝e been burrs under the saddles of GOP leaders 鈥� saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 time we sent them reinforcements.鈥�
There鈥檚 no doubt that Palin has been a political phenomenon these past five years.
She came from political obscurity as governor of a state with a population smaller than Fresno County, Calif. Was picked by Sen. John McCain 鈥� in what seemed to be a Hail Mary pass (or act of desperation) 鈥� to be the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket. Quit her job as governor of Alaska to become a Fox News commentator and (briefly) the star of her own reality TV show.
Above all, she has been the main face and voice of the tea party insurgency, much in demand as a speaker whose aim is to rouse the movement 鈥� largely by hammering President Obama and the 鈥渓amestream鈥� media.
She has her own political action committee (鈥淪arahPac鈥�) raising money for conservative candidates, and supporters created a 鈥淪arah Palin for President 2016鈥� Facebook page. Chants of 鈥淩un, Sarah, Run!鈥� punctuated her CPAC speech. Her Twitter account has more than one million followers, and her Facebook page has more than four million 鈥渓ikes.鈥�
As usual, Palin is coy about her own plans. Asked by Fox News host Greta Van Susteren if it鈥檚 鈥渟till within a possibility鈥� that she might make a presidential run in 2016, Palin said:
鈥淚t depends on what it is that Americans really, really want in a candidate. If they want a fighter, if they want someone who can so respect our exceptionalism, everything that makes America great, the promise of America. And if we don't find that, then I would run.鈥�
AARP 鈥� one of Washington鈥檚 venerable lobbying groups 鈥� recently noted that Palin had turned 50, making her eligible for membership.
To note the occasion, AARP posted 鈥�10 Things You Didn鈥檛 Know About Sarah Palin.鈥� Here they are:
1. Though one of Alaska鈥檚 most famous residents, Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, on the same day in 1964 that the Beatles gave their first live U.S. concert in Washington, DC. She moved to Skagway, Alaska, with her parents when she was three months old.
2. According to Palin biographer聽Lorenzo Benet, her father, Charles R. 鈥淐huck鈥� Heath, played running back on his high school football team in Idaho, where future Green Bay Packers star聽Jerry Kramer blocked for him. Kramer was a big supporter of Palin during her vice presidential run.
3. When Palin was growing up in Alaska, her parents limited her TV watching by keeping the set in a room that was heated only by a wood stove, which she and her three siblings had to load to stay warm. As a result, 鈥渨e never watched much TV,鈥� she once told an interviewer.
4. Her first job as a teenager was at Ferina鈥檚 ice cream store in Wasilla. She also waited tables at a bar in the fishing village of Dillingham. As she told聽Esquire聽magazine in 2009: 鈥淪erving people, you learn patience. When someone鈥檚 mad at you 鈥檆ause you鈥檙e not serving them in the manner that they want to be served, you鈥檝e gotta be tempered and graceful.鈥�
5. She wore number 22 when she played point guard for the Wasilla Warriors, who won the Alaska state basketball championship in 1982.
6. At age 24, she eloped with her boyfriend, Todd Palin, and got married at the county courthouse in Palmer, according to a 2008聽Anchorage Daily News聽profile. By Palin鈥檚 account, the couple eloped because they didn鈥檛 want their parents to have to foot the bill for their wedding. For witnesses, they enlisted two residents of an assisted living facility across the street.
7. At age 20, she won the Wasilla beauty pageant and was named Miss Congeniality, according to a聽2008聽Time聽profile.
8. Palin told聽Esquire聽that she wanted to be an ESPN sportscaster 鈥渦ntil I learned that I鈥檇 have to move to Bristol, Conn. It was too far away.鈥� Instead, after graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Idaho in 1987, she worked as a sportscaster for two TV stations in Anchorage, and for a newspaper, the聽Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.
9. Palin told聽Esquire聽in 2009 that wearing fleece and drinking skinny white-chocolate mochas were her favorite ways to stay warm on cold days.
10. Today, February 11th, is Sarah Palin鈥檚聽50th Birthday 鈥� meaning she is now聽eligible for membership in聽AARP.
