Jedediah Bila: Sarah Palin Makes a Splash on Long Island

"The audience got the joke. Many in the media didn’t..."
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Human Events columnist Jedediah Bila comments on Gov. Palin's appearance before the Long Island Association last week:

She was relaxed, but spunky. She was real. She was armed with stats. She was unapologetic about her convictions. She was tough on President Obama’s agenda. She was fed up with the status quo. She was “sick and tired of the games that are being played in Washington, D.C., because we’re talking about our money, we’re talking about our kids’ future, we’re talking about our republic and the solvency of our republic.” She was willing to laugh at herself. She was confident about her experience.

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And yes—she made a joke that included the mention of Michelle Obama. But contrary to what was put forth in many media reports, she wasn’t mocking the first lady. In the context of speaking about a rise in gasoline, crude oil, and commodity prices, Palin joked, “Ask any mom who’s out there buying cases of diapers, still—all these years later—cases of diapers and a can of formula, milk for the baby. It’s no wonder Michelle Obama is telling everybody you better breast-feed your babies, because I look at it and go, yeah, you better, 'cause the price of milk is so high right now. Regardless of the political, you know, do it for economic reasons.”

The audience got the joke. Many in the media didn’t. She added, “And may that not be the takeaway, please, of this thing.” (Needless to say, by the time I entered my rental car to head home, several online stories had already zeroed in like hawks on her comment and were engaged in distortions.)

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I found Palin’s commentary on 2012 particularly interesting. She asserted that those considering a run for the presidency “need to start making up their minds here pretty soon” and that “I think what people are desiring to see is again no more status quo, not necessarily just seeing more players that are in these spokes in the political machines, who are sort of preordained, and they get to be the ones to be nominated and go forth, but people are ready for our governmental establishment to kind of be shaken up and real people with practical solutions who have good experience because they have a track record.”

Palin’s trademark sense of humor was woven throughout her commentary, including when she said, “Last night, I’m in my hotel room, and I’ve got my entourage with me—that would be Bristol” and her sentiments on who she envisions at the top of the 2012 GOP ticket: “Nobody is more qualified really in multitasking and doing all the things that you need to do as President than a woman, than a mom. … Adding that all up, what I would look for was somebody who, okay, would start off as being you know, a woman, a mom, somebody who’s administered locally, state, interstate with energy issues, so maybe a mayor, a governor, an oil commissioner, maybe somebody who’s already run for something, vice pr— … I don’t know, I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Was she kidding? I guess we shall see.

Some things that were apparent to me about Sarah Palin this past Thursday: She’s charming because she’s quite comfortable with who she is. She can go head-to-head when it comes to facts and figures. She shines when teleprompters and scripts are nowhere in sight. She knows how to push all the nonsense aside and talk directly to the American people. She’s not afraid of tough questions. And there’s a forthrightness in her speech that is uninhibited and refreshing.

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- JP