More coverage of Austin's Evening With Sarah Palin

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James Armstrong, who blogs at The Austin Declaration was in the audience last night. Here are some excerpts from his post "An evening with Sarah Palin":

Her address began with a few brief remarks about Obamacare, complimenting Attorney General Greg Abbott for taking the health care mandate to court and calling on us to remember the pro-life Democrats who "caved at the last minute."

Concerning the pro-life movement itself, Palin found encouragement in the new Gallup poll results that for the first time showed pro-life respondents outnumbering pro-choice respondents. For years, she said, pro-lifers have been told to "Sit down and shut up," and that their cause was futile. Luckily, they decided to "Go rogue" and keep up the fight.

During the Q/A session, author Raymond Arroyo mentioned a recent New York Times article about the kind of rationing to be expected under the new health care law, the very thing that lead to Palin's "death panel" statement last year. Palin followed up on Arroyo's comments by saying she "feels vindicated" on the matter, and that rationing will [affect] those deemed "less productive."

Read James' complete post here.

Dave Montgomery, the Fort Worth Star Telegram's Austin Bureau Chief, covered the event for his paper. A few excerpts from his story:

About 1,500 people gathered at the Austin Convention Center to hear Palin, who is often touted as a potential presidential contender in 2012.

"I think she's a big crowd draw, a neat lady and a real asset for the Republican Party," state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said as he arrived for the event.

Today, Palin will be in Dallas as the headliner at a gala at the Fairmont Hotel to benefit the Uptown Women's Center, a health and wellness resource center serving professional and collegiate women in the North Texas community. The appearance is being coordinated by Dallas' Downtown Pregnancy Center, which served 787 women in 2009.

Palin's Texas appearances were expected to further energize anti-abortion groups who rallied behind Perry in his successful primary race against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, while also bolstering Palin's popularity as a champion of Tea Party activists and anti-abortion groups.

The governor described Palin as "a great patriot" who is working hard to "protect the unborn across the nation." Perry, who is seeking re-election to an unprecedented third four-year term, also sounded a strong anti-abortion theme and renewed his support for legislation that would require pregnant women to be presented ultrasound images of their unborn child before receiving an abortion.

Palin at times blasted Obama's healthcare policies and denounced the administration for not pursuing policies to help women find abortion alternatives. But her speech was largely devoid of trademark political attacks and she instead sought to boost Heroic Media and similar groups.

Reporting on the speech for the Dallas Morning News was Christy Hoppe. Excerpts from her report:

Sarah Palin slammed the federal health care bill in a speech Thursday night that was peppered with politics but largely devoted to her personal journey of finding the strength to become the mother of a special needs child and a pregnant unwed teen.

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She told the 1,500 people gathered that they should remember politicians who fight abortion and they should continue working to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions.

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Palin took a jab at President Barack Obama, saying there are some politicians who believe abortion is an intellectual debate over constitutional rights, "or those who say the argument is above their pay grade, but that's a cop-out."

In 2008, Obama was asked when a baby gets human rights and replied that there are theological and scientific answers, but "answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

Excerpts also from Peggy Fikac's article in the San Antonio Express-News:

Palin and Perry both took sharp aim at the Obama administration over abortion, with Palin calling him “the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House.”

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Perry blasted Obama's action last year to overturn the “Mexico City Policy,” which prevented U.S. funds from going to international family planning groups that do abortion referrals.

“America is in the business of exporting abortion. I'm not happy about that,” Perry said, adding that he was proud of Texas' efforts to protect unborn children.

“Too bad we can't protect them from the federal government,” he said.

Finally, a few excerpts from the story filed by Asher Price for the Austin American-Statesman:

She linked the new federal health care law with abortion, telling the crowd that "we will remember the names of those who caved" on stopping the bill.

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She told the crowd that Giddings, where she has been staying this week, has "become a home away from home."

She said she felt comfortable in Texas because she is "surrounded by patriotic Americans."

"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and to your religion," she said.

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Many of the attendees said they were pro-life and Palin supporters.

Eric Graham, 46, who lives by Lake Travis, brought along his 15-year-old daughter, Rebekah, who said Palin "is one of my role models because she stands up for what she believes in."

- JP