Gov. Palin delights crowd of 5,000 in Waco

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From Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer Wendy Gragg:

Sarah Palin applauded Care Net on Tuesday night for its anti-abortion efforts in Waco, and the crowd of thousands at the Ferrell Center returned the favor.

The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, as the keynote speaker at Care Net’s annual fundraising banquet, spoke about politics, being anti-abortion and her own personal experience with pregnancy and having a special-needs child.

Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Texas helps women through crisis pregnancies.

Palin bonded with the crowd over talk of Baylor University basketball — she said she’s a fan — and Dr Pepper hour, and even the school’s bear mascots, Lady and Joy.

“Baylor — the bears. I’m all about mama grizzlies,” she said, though Baylor’s bears are North American black bears.

She elicited roars from the crowd with hunting stories and by drawing parallels between Alaska and the Lone Star State, with their “independent and pioneering spirit.”

Her speech was riddled with stabs at the “lamestream” media and instances in which she said they have gotten the story wrong. Then she moved into her personal story of having a baby with Down syndrome and her daughter Bristol’s teen pregnancy.

KWTX's Eli Ross reported:

"Sarah Palin knows how to work a room. There is no doubt about that."

"Palin delighted around 5,000 people Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center, during a fundraiser for Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Texas."

KYTX also covered the event:

Palin started with a very light tone, joking about the similarities and differences between Texas and Alaska.

She quickly turned, though, to her main reason for speaking.

[...]

Palin drew sharp comparisons between groups like Care Net, that she says empower women, and pro choice groups, that she says bring women down.

KCEN's package for the 10 PM newscast:


- JP

Gov. Palin is speaking in Central Texas tonight

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Sarah Palin is speaking at Care Net of Central Texas tonight. If she stays true to form, she'll mostly eschew talk of politics and speak on the pro-life movement at the banquet, as she has done at other pro-life events this week. Deborah McGregor is CareNert's CEo, and she said tonight's event is the culmination of years of work:

"We started working with Governor Palin's office two years ago when all of us saw her struggle with her own daughter's crisis pregnancy and then also learned she had had a child diagnosed with Down's Syndrome," McGregor says.

Palin will be speaking to about 3,000 people, including big supporter Carol Waddell. "She's a strong, conservative woman who really sticks to her principles and for her to come to Waco to an event like this is really exciting. I was really excited for Care Net to get her to come speak."

And McGregor is hoping Palin's speech will do more than just sound good, but will strengthen their pro-life movement. "Our hope is that she will, that this will be a catalyst for change for Waco, that the culture will change, that rather then being a town where we take life, that we're a town where we nurture life."

KCEN-TV's news department contacted the Planned Parenthood in Waco, but says the pro-abortion group had no comment on the fundraiser or Gov. Palin's visit.

- JP

Waco Trib: Care Net hopes coming Palin Central Texas visit will boost program

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As we reported back in April, Sarah Palin will return to Central Texas to keynote Care Net’s annual banquet on September 14. From The Waco Tribune's Sunday edition:

A Care Net official has said the Palin visit has been years in the making, with the group reaching out to her before her splash onto the 2008 presidential campaign scene and ensuing fame.

Care Net operates a crisis pregnancy center in Waco and seeks to provide women with alternatives to abortion. Palin chose to carry her youngest child, Trig, to term after he was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome, which is chronicled in Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue.”

Care Net CEO Deborah McGregor didn’t say how much money she thinks the banquet will raise, but predicted a boost for the organization’s programs.

“I expect that this year’s event will allow us to add 1,000 square feet of program service space to our existing location on Columbus” including six counseling rooms, a second waiting room and an additional ultrasound machine, McGregor said in an e-mail.

McGregor called the new machine “crucial,” citing a statistic that between eight and nine out of 10 women who get ultrasounds carry out their pregnancies.

Gov. Palin previously appeared in Central Texas at a Care Net fundraiser in Austin April 29 (see here and here).

Jim Hawkins, who along with wife Nell is also helping to fund the banquet, said he’s excited Palin’s coming into town. But the local couple had another reason to be excited, however.

“She was going to stay in a hotel and was lining up security, so we kindly offered our house and she’s going to stay there,” Hawkins said, adding that “the sheriff’s office was gracious enough to provide security.”

The Hawkins, he said, are scheduled to host a get-together as part of the Care Net banquet the day Palin arrives.

For now, though, Hawkins said he’s reading Going Rogue.

- JP

Sarah Palin to speak in Waco September 14

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According to a Waco Tribune Herald report, Care Net of Central Texas CEO Deborah McGregor told the paper Friday that it was Sarah Palin’s personal history with pregnancy, not her rock star status, that compelled the nonprofit group to book the former governor to speak at its September banquet:

“She’s a perfect candidate,” McGregor said, pointing to Palin’s decision to continue her pregnancy with her youngest child, Trig, after he was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome. Palin wrote about her decision to go ahead with the pregnancy in her memoir, “Going Rogue.”

“And she had a teen daughter (Bristol) who carried out a pregnancy,” McGregor said.

Palin’s story illustrates how for women facing pregnancies, “when you have support, it can have a positive outcome,” McGregor said. And “that’s what Care Net does — it offers support to women.”

The Tribune Herald reported Gov. Palin’s scheduled appearance in its Thursday edition. The banquet will be held September 14 at the Baylor Ferrell Center. We're waiting for ticket information to be announced. The CareNet website is here.

- JP