Sunday, June 7, 2009

Palin Snubbed for Newt


Well, doesn't this just smack of Washington politics? Politico.com is reporting that Sarah Palin, who had twice been invited to speak at the GOP fundraising dinner Monday night, was told yesterday that she was no longer going to be a speaker. So much for what the base wants to hear.

The reason, according to Palin's aides, is that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions didn't want Sarah to upstage former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Gingrich is slated to be the keynote speaker tomorrow night.

The call to inform Sarah that she was not going to speak was fielded by Meg Stapleton, a Palin aide, Saturday night. Stapleton said she told the NRSC staffer: “Why, at a time when we’re trying to build the party, would you pull a move like that on somebody who earlier in the day just attracted 20,000 people?”

While Newt was instrumental in drafting the 1994 Contract with America, he seems to have moved somewhat more towards the center, a place where the base is not. And for Jeff Sessions to pull a move like this speaks volumes. It's who you know.

Should Palin be invited once again to speak after all this, my opinion is that she should turn it down outright. There are plenty of us base conservatives who would rather hear her speak than Newt.

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