At least that’s what US News is reporting:
After several false starts, when it was unclear to the organizers whether or not she would attend or agree to speak, Palin decided to show up at the dinner but wasn’t assigned to the head table and wasn’t given an opportunity to address the group. She was seated in the first row, however, and drew a big crowd of well-wishers even though, privately, there was a debate about who had snubbed whom in arranging her appearance.
She kind of did the same thing to us in Phoenix, which they mention here:
Prominent GOP strategists don’t understand why Palin has avoided appearances at events that could bolster her standing among conservatives who will be instrumental in the 2012 GOP presidential primaries, such as gatherings of the National Rifle Association and state parties in California and Texas. “She’s getting a reputation for being on-again, off-again,” says one conservative activist. “People aren’t even sure how to get in touch with her and whether their messages are getting through.”
Maybe she’s just not all that interested in national office. I can’t say I blame her after the way she was treated.
I have been puzzled by Palin’s decisions on what to attend or not. I know that every political visit she makes has been an attacked as an ethics violation. She had 500K in legal bills. Maybe she is getting cold feet. However if you actually look at what she does decide to attend it is not GOP politics. She attends pro-life events, autism, Alaska and children birth defects issues. So she has more passion for those issues than being honored at the NRA. She is pro gun so she doesn’t need to push that. Her bonifides are a given. A good part of what she does is promotion of Alaska’s issues. She is really good at that. If she adopted the national conservatives as a promoter she would do that well also. She is probably the biggest fundraiser for the GOP.
She is feeling her way against the Obama headwind. She is still a governor and Alaska is first. She took the VP nomination and got slandered and smeared. Letterman latest gross jokes are the newest case of vitriolic hate.
So her staff is cautious on her scheduling and she seems to be spookish about the Washington press. She needs practice on the Washington press. I really think she needs to be tutored by Cheney who is very good and they have similar conservative outlooks. Cheney is fearless and it helps plus he is substantive which she needs to learn to do. She is a great at rally and stump speeches but needs to learn to so more philosophical type of address. I do not know if she has articulated her philosophy to herself so how can she do to others.
I think she is ambitious but has been burned. The GOP establishment has not been her friend, plus supposedly conservative writers that scorned her like Noonan and Frum.
She better decide soon if she wants to take Obama seat or work with him. That was McCain’s problem he was too willing to work with liberals and we got burned.
Or maybe she doesn’t want to get too tight with the mainstream Republicans if a viable third party emerges.
I really think that’s the only way small government advocates will regain their voice in politics.
The reason small government advocates don’t have a voice is because small government advocates aren’t terribly involved in the political process. That’s not to say there aren’t libertarians in DC. There are. Gail Norton was one, for instance. But there’s not a real political movement behind them.
The reason, I think, is that small government types don’t have much time or patience for political activism. If you look at some of the DC think tanks that are more libertarian leaning, not too many of them are what I would classify as activist organizations.
Kathleen Parker had an article in the WaPo today about Palin organizational snafus.
Half the GOP so called leaders hate her because they are afraid of her. She steals their thunder.
I like the idea of her talking to Dick Cheney, he ain’t afraid of anyone and it might do her lots of good.
She has a future, but the real GOP has to fight back against the MSM to defend her, and also kick the bitter old man Letterman in the nurtz.