Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
From NBC's Mark Murray
Yesterday, we noted that the Iowa Family Policy Center has invited Sarah Palin to address the group on Nov. 21, which just happens to be the same day when Vice President Biden attends the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in the Hawkeye State.
Palin has yet to decide whether she'll attend the event in Iowa, but this story might complicate things a bit: Politico's Martin writes that the Iowa Family Policy Center is raising $100,000 to pay for Palin's speaking fee -- which has raised eyebrows from other Iowa groups.
"[R]epresentatives from other Iowa-based political advocacy groups said they would never consider shelling out money for what many politicians see as a privilege: the opportunity to speak to a room full of sure-fire caucus-goers who often serve as precinct captains and can be instrumental to a presidential candidate’s success. 'If somebody tells me they want me to pay an appearance fee, it tells me they’re not very serious about running for president,' said Ed Failor, Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief and an influential GOP insider."
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Matt Glick
Levi Johnston, the estranged father of Sarah Palin's grandson, told CBS in an interview that -- among other things -- Palin had joked about her son Trig, who has Down's Syndrome.
Palin has released this statement through her spokesperson Meg Stapleton, which appears to refer to Levi's agreement to pose for Playgirl magazine:
We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad. CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies - those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Sarah Palin is weighing in again from her perch as conservative sage, urging voters to support Chris Christie in New Jersey, Bob McDonnell in Virginia and... the Republican Governors Association.
"Like other independent Americans, I don’t always see eye-to-eye with Republican political committees, so when I tell you that the Republican Governors Association has my complete support and confidence in its campaign efforts back East, know that I really mean it," Palin wrote. "The RGA is helping lead the conservative comeback beginning this year, and its involvement in the East Coast races is significant. I hope you'll support these efforts, which are vital to the cause for America's freedom and prosperity."
By the way, the former Alaska governor apparently penned the 589-word Facebook "Note" from a freshmen girls basketball game.
Boring game? No. She was "struck by the sight of America's future right in front of me -- these tenacious young women full of energy and intensity. I want them to realize every opportunity this great, free nation can provide. ... The young student athletes I'm watching right now are counting on us to do the right thing -- to fight for what is right for America today and into their future. Electing candidates with common sense and respect for freedom is one way we can fight for what is right."
Still, it couldn't have been THAT great a game if she's writing this from there. Nonetheless, the RGA isn't complaining. Think there'll be a spike in contributions in their next FEC report, coinciding with Oct. 27th.
Contrary to the preferred route of some Republican strategists, it doesn’t look like former Vice President Dick Cheney is going to hit the “Jackson Hole/Palm Springs” golf circuit anytime soon. According to the Washington Post, Cheney’s daughter Mary “is leaving the political consulting firm Navigators Global to start her own consulting company, and multiple sources familiar with her plans say she will not be going it alone. ‘She told me she is going to be starting a firm with her dad and sister," said one friend of Mary's, with whom she has shared her plans.’”
In case you missed a story the New York Times reported yesterday afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama's roots can be traced back to a slave girl from South Carolina.
Tonight, President Obama will play a game of hoops with 11 lawmakers and 4 cabinet secretaries (none of them women, we might add).
SNL-alum Tin Fey says she may just have to dust off her Sarah Palin impersonation just in time for the release of the former governor's autobiography next month.
SARAH PALIN: On her Facebook page, Palin comes out for the troop increase in Afghanistan. Palin says in a posting on her Facebook page Tuesday that this is "not the time for cold feet, second thoughts, or indecision." Instead, the former Alaska governor writes it's time "to act as commander in chief and approve the troops so clearly needed in Afghanistan."
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
Ex-Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is holding her fire now for former running mate John McCain's advisors but there are hints that she'll have plenty to share in her forthcoming book, "Going Rogue." Palin's spokesman, Meg Stapleton, suggested there will be plenty of material to respond to former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt's comments today that a Palin presidential nomination in 2012 would be catastrophic.
Stapleton tells NBC, "The Governor will write about all of this in her book. There will be plenty of time to talk about it then."
At the Atlantic's "First Draft of History" event at the Newseum today, Schmidt said, "I think she has talents," adding, "My honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party and in fact were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic result."
Schmidt, who during the campaign was in favor of adding Palin to the McCain ticket, conceded that Palin has a great deal of support among the base of the party, referring to advance sales of her memoir, but added that, "she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base into the middle of the electorate where elections are decided."
“Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin used her first trip to Asia to attack the Federal Reserve for creating asset bubbles and encouraging excessive risk-taking that hurt working-class Americans,” Bloomberg News says. “In a wide-ranging, 80-minute speech to fund managers in Hong Kong today, Palin spoke about issues ranging from Alaskan fishing to energy independence to U.S.-Sino ties. She repeated calls for 'market-oriented' health-care reform and said governments shouldn’t regulate executive compensation.”
More: "The Fed and the government sent a message to companies that 'the bigger that you are, the more problems that you get yourself into, the more likely the government is to bail you out,' Palin said in the closed door speech, according to a tape of the event given to Bloomberg News. 'Of course the little guys are left out then. We’re left holding the bag, all the moms and pops all over America.'"
Palin also criticized Obama's decision to impose duties on Chinese tires, but had some harsh words for China: “We simply cannot turn a blind eye to China’s policies and actions that could undermine international peace and security. China has some 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer believes that it poses a military threat to Beijing,” she said. “Those same Chinese forces made our friends in Japan and Australia kinda nervous. China provides support for some of the most questionable regimes from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe.” Palin said her comments did not show any hostility towards China. “We simply want them to rise responsibly,” she said.
Politico's Smith says former McCain campaign foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann advised Palin on her speech and was with her in Hong Kong.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Several prominent Republicans penned a letter to President Obama, praising him on Afghanistan and asking for more troops.
Signatories include Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, John Podhoretz, Amb. Ryan Crocker, Paul Bremer, Bill Kristol, Randy Scheunemann, Jennifer Rubin, Dan Senor, et al.
It's certainly a case of strange bedfellows. Liberals are moving increasingly against the war in Afghanistan, and American public opinion has indicated a frustration and impatience with the eight-year-old war. This letter is further evidence, as we've written in First Read, that on the war in Afghanistan, this Democratic president is in the odd position of REPUBLICANS being his base of support.
Here's the full letter:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was invited to testify before the New York state Senate Aging Committee by its Chairman, Rev. Ruben Diaz. Instead of testifying, Palin has submitted written testimony, and publicizes it via her latest Facebook "Note."
In it, she defends her contention that there are, in fact, "death panels" in health-care legislation being considered in Congress -- despite independent fact-checkers repeatedly debunking the notion.
"A great deal of attention was given to my use of the phrase 'death panel' in discussing such rationing," Palin writes. "Despite repeated attempts by many in the media to dismiss this phrase as a 'myth', its accuracy has been vindicated."
She also claims that "Advance Care Planning Consultation" will have a "coercive effect" on seniors.
"These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient's health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is 'to reduce the growth in health care spending,'" Palin writes.
Therefore, she concludes: "Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care?"
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandson, dishes out on the Palins in the latest issue of Vanity Fair.
On the kind of parents Sarah and Todd were:
The Palin house was much different from what many people expect of a normal family, even before she was nominated for vice president. There wasn’t much parenting in that house. Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves: cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school. Most of the time Bristol would help her youngest sister with her homework, and I’d barbecue chicken or steak on the grill.
On alleging that Palin wanted to adopt Bristol's baby:
Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.
On Palin after the campaign:
Sarah was sad for a while. She walked around the house pouting. I had assumed she was going to go back to her job as governor, but a week or two after she got back she started talking about how nice it would be to quit and write a book or do a show and make “triple the money.” It was, to her, “not as hard.” She would blatantly say, “I want to just take this money and quit being governor.” She started to say it frequently, but she didn’t know how to do it. When she came home from work, it seemed like she was more and more stressed out.
