The Fix: Gov. Palin explains why she won't attend CPAC

Not that she even needs CPAC anyway
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With speculation in the lamestram media alread rising to a fever pitch over Sarah Palin's decision not to attend C-SPAN, the governor emailed The Washington Post blog the Fix Thursday with an official explanation:

"February is our busiest winter month and with all the prior obligations and outside travel already scheduled for the month I had to forgo some of the opportunities in the Lower 48."

It was indeed a scheduling issue, not a personal one or any other reason, as CPAC's David Keene had said:

"We're disappointed that she couldn't make it year. It's due to a scheduling issue. We look forward to having her next year, and she expressed interest in wanting to be there this year."

Not that she even needs CPAC anyway, as even The Fix's Rachel Weiner has to admit:

"...unlike some other potential nominees, Palin doesn't need to raise her profile. She can draw press wherever she goes."

[...]

"Even in her absence, however, Palin will have a significant influence. She is, as we have written, the prime mover in the presidential race and until she makes clear whether or not she will run in 2012, she will be a presence at any gathering of would-be presidential aspirants -- whether she is actually in attendance or not."

Blogs 4 Palin blogger Jerry Wilson had already pointed this out in his post January 30 at Goldfish and Clowns:

"...it must stick firmly in the throat of Washington insiders and wannabes that Sarah Palin can bypass them without missing a beat. She can pick her spots, selecting such prizes as being the keynote speaker at a high profile sanctioned event marking Ronald Reagan’s one hundredth birthday. She speaks to more people in a second with one Facebook page than all the speakers at CPAC combined will reach in a year. Simply put, Palin doesn’t need CPAC. And she doesn’t seem all that inclined to make an appearance there because it’s been elevated to mandatory status by those seeking to enhance their own status."

- JP

Andy Barr: Why Sarah snubbed CPAC

"Special interests over core beliefs"
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Politico's Andy Barr opines :

A Palin source bashed CPAC and its leader David Keene in an interview last year with POLITICO announcing that the former governor wouldn’t be attending – even though CPAC had listed her as an invited guest for the second year in a row. The source called the annual gathering an example "special interests over core beliefs" and "pocketbook over policy."

"That's not what CPAC should be about and people are tiring," the source said. "Palin is taking a stance against this just as she did in Alaska."

The criticism of CPAC was fueled by a report that David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, had asked FedEx for between $2 million and $3 million to get the group's support in a bitter battle on Capitol Hill with rival UPS. This was not the first reported allegation of Keene selling his influence with the conservative base, and is a large part of the reason why the ACU and its annual conference have waned in influence over the years.

The previous year, Palin’s camp and CPAC feuded over them listing her as a speaker at the conference despite the fact that she had not confirmed.

Keene didn't help mend the rift between CPAC and the Palin camp two years ago when he told Newsmax that Palin was “whining” about how the media was viciously and constantly attacking her. Even though Gov. Palin's team was in negotiations with CPAC, Barr believes that her appearance at the conference "was never in the cards." The lamestream media always knows better than those who were actually involved in the process they speculate about.

- JP

Jay Tea: Sarah's Sense Of Smell (Updated)

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Here are a few excerpts from Jay Tea's Wizbang post on Sarah Palin's decision not to attend CPAC:

This is the one that's gotten so much attention for its open-door policy towards sponsors: they're allowing in the John Birch Society and GOProud (not "OutRight," which I said before and would be an awesome alternative name gay conservatives), which has quite a few people in a tizzy. And she's not carrying a grudge over last year's dustup, where she was announced as attending before she said no, saying she'd never confirmed it.

No, Palin has a simple explanation for skipping: she's displeased with the conduct of CPAC's leaders. More specifically, CPAC head David Keene's coupling an offer to support FedEx in a legislative battle with UPS with a request for a couple of million dollars in donations.

[...]

With CPAC, she sees the situation very simply: Keene made an offer to support FedEx while simultaneously asking for their support. Perhaps in the eyes of the law he didn't quite solicit a bribe or propose a quid pro quo arrangement with the shipping titan (their money in exchange for CPAC's political clout), but the simple perception is that he did -- and that's exactly the kind of bullshit Palin fought -- and beat -- in Alaska.

[...]

So, instead of CPAC, Palin will be attending the first national convention of the Tea Party folks. A gathering of people who, quite frankly, have no use whatsoever for the national leadership of the GOP (or the Democrats, for that matter) and are looking for others who aren't so enamored of the Inner Circles that they have forgotten simple principles and common decency and common sense.

The full blog post is here.

Update: Doug Brady's commentary is here.

- JP

Who is this guy, and what has he done with Dan Riehl?

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We have appreciated Dan Riehl's reporting on Sarah Palin in times past. It has been fair, and for the most part, accurate. And so this blog and its companion website The Book of Sarah have been generous with our links to his blog. But Dan has taken a strange turn over Sarah Palin's decision not to attend CPAC.

We see several valid reasons for the former governor to pass on CPAC's invitation:

1. Keene took the first "C" out of CPAC: Keene endorsed Arlen Specter in 2003 and Mitt Romney in 2007. How "conservative" is that? Specter was a liberal Republican until he changed parties, and Romney is a statist whose health care program in Massachusetts is so close to the plan the Democrats are trying to enact nationally right now that it's creepy. Accepting the CPAC invitation would tarnish Sarah Palin's conservative credentials. Let's face it, CPAC isn't what it used to be. It's gotten watered down.

2. Keene publicly dissed Sarah Palin: He called her a whiner and said that she wasn't ready to run for president, all because she couldn't attend CPAC last year because her political enemies in Alaska would have nailed her to a cross over it. This didn't stop CPAC from using her name to promote their event without her confirmation to attend. Keene also criticized her for resigning as Alaska's governor, even though in doing so, she has brought her poll numbers up and increased her political power. After the way ACU's chairman has treated her, why should the governor lend her star power to Keene's event? Only a fool tries to scratch the ears of the dog that bit her, and Sarah Palin is no fool.  

3. The FedEx fiasco: We don't think this was a major factor in Governor Palin's decision making. The ACU didn't come out of it smelling like a rose, however, and it's just one more reason, at the least, to have nothing to do with them.

4. The John Birch Society's CPAC sponsorship: WaPo political blogger Chris Cillizza says that "according to those familiar with her thinking" the JBS association with CPAC 2010 is one of the reasons the governor decided not to attend. JBS may not be the same organization which earned itself such a bad name -- not to mention the scorn of conservatives such as William F. Buckley -- in years past, but the last thing Sarah Palin needs right now is to be tainted with the JBS reputation for extremism.

Any of these four factors is, by itself, reason enough for Gov. Palin to avoid CPAC like the plague, in our opinion. That's why Dan's post and some of the language he uses in it seems to us to be so out of character for him. Saying that Sarah Palin's decision "is doing considerable disservice to the Conservative (sic) movement" is just plain ridiculous. It is CPAC that is doing disservice to the conservative movement by not being conservative. She never asked Keene to "bow down and worship her," Dan, but she also didn't deserve Keene's unwarranted and, in light of subsequent events, wrong-headed attack on her, either.

Also, Dan, what does the fact that Sarah Palin is being paid for her Tea Party Convention speech have to do with CPAC? Nothing, that's what. It is the SRLC event in New Orleans which she chose over CPAC, and she is not being paid for her appearance in the Crescent City. You imply that she's a money-grubber because she is being paid for the Tea Party speech, yet CPAC sold a sponsorship to a group which casts a shadow over its entire conference, and you sailed right over that money trail. And really, Dan, calling the governor "the queen" doesn't help your case a bit. It does show you a little too eager to engage in name-calling, that last resort of someone desperately in need of a good argument. Finally, accusing her of "whining" only shows that you're copying Keene's language, yet you call John Ziegler the sycophant here? Doctor, heal thyself.

We miss you already, Dan. Please get Riehl again. Once you get over yourself, please tell Quin Hillyer that he needs to do the same. It shouldn't be too hard to find him. He may be there in the dark with you inside David Keene's lock box. Shine a light... 

- JP

Sarah Palin says no to Keene's CPAC, yes to SRLC

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Politico's Andy Barr reports:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Pain is turning down an invitation to speak at one high-profile conservative gathering while accepting another.

Palin is declining an invitation to address the Conservative Political Action Conference next month because, a source said, she does not want to be affiliated with the longtime organizer of the traditional movement confab.

At issue is the role of David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union which organizes CPAC.

Keene has said some negative things about Gov. Palin, and CPAC has used her name to promote past conferences that the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate never agreed to attend. In addition, Keene has been criticized in conservative circles for his dealings with FedEx, and he endorsed liberal Arlen Specter when the Senator was still a Republican over conservative Pat Toomey in a GOP primary.

Gov. Palin will, however, speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans in April. On CNN's Political Ticker, Producer Pete Hamby referred to the SRLC as a "higher profile" event than CPAC that "could have implications for the 2012 presidential race":

Palin will speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, a major gathering of Republican officials, donors and activists from 14 southern states, organizers announced Thursday.

"I'm looking forward to addressing conservative activists from across the south at the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference," Palin said in a statement. "This is a great opportunity to listen and speak to those who are helping to set the direction of our party."

A Palin confidante said the governor is not being paid to speak at the event.

Political watchers will be paying close attention, and not just because several potential presidential candidates are expected to attend. The SRLC - "the most prominent Republican event outside of a Republican National Convention," the organization boasts - also conducts a presidential straw poll.

Politico's Ben Smith says the New Orleans event will be "the first real chance to gauge the interest in her candidacy among the core of Republican activists and operatives." The SRLC press release is here.

- JP

Ziegler overplays his hand

After reading John Ziegler's defense of his interview with ACU chairman David Keene and watching the videos, we are of the opinion that the documentary film maker, former talk show host and shameless self-promoter blew it.

Well before Keene got up and started to walk away, it became painfully obvious that Ziegler doesn't know to quit while he's ahead. As an interviewer, once you've asked the same question several times in a row and your subject hasn't answered it, you have made your point. To continue asking the question gives the appearance that you are badgering, and that's what happened when Keene walked into the hall. Ziegler should have wrapped up his interview well before that point, but instead he chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. By following Keene into the hallway and continuing to press him, Ziegler stomped all over his own effectiveness.

We believe that Keene is a fraud, but by running what should have been a five-minute interview into the nearly half-hour farce which resulted, Ziegler's fiasco had the effect of actually generating sympathy for Keene in some quarters, and it did Sarah Palin no favors. The Western CPAC dustup was a missed opportunity and a doggone shame.

Ziegler was extremely effective in making a point (several of them, in fact) with his excellent documentary "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted" which was a great help to Sarah Palin in making her case that the media had taken sides in the 2008 presidential campaign and was shamelessly smearing her family. Perhaps John should stick to making films and promoting them, two things which he's very good at. But he has a long way to go to master the art of the interview. Though by his words he insists he is trying to effect change in the corrupt "conservative" leadership, Ziegler has forgotten what is a cardinal rule whether one is practicing medicine or trying to change hearts and minds: First, do no harm.

Updates: Morrissey, Riehl and Freire all weight in, each with a unique perspective. Our question about Ziegler's pursuit of Keene is the same one we try to remember to ask ourselves before we post anything on this blog -- in the long run, does this help Sarah Palin or hurt her?

- JP

Ziegler confronts Keene over Palin remarks; told to leave Western CPAC

John Ziegler asked American Conservative Union chairman David Keene about his remarks dissing Sarah Palin and his support for liberal Arlen Specter over conservative Pat Toomey in 2004. For his trouble, Ziegler got kicked out of Western CPAC by an angry and foul-mouthed Keene:



h/t: Gateway Pundit 

Update: Ziegler elaborates on what happened between Keene and himself at WCPAC and provides additional video.

- JP