YAF's Coffin: NY Times wrong about Gov. Palin's Reagan Ranch visit

Perhaps Jeff Zeleny was just disappointed that he didn’t get his hug
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From Andrew Coffin, vice president of Young America’s Foundation and director of the Reagan Ranch, in an exclusive opinion piece for Andrew Breitbart's Big Journalism website, comments on Sarah Palin's Friday visit to the ranch and her keynote address that night:

The Governor gave a powerful speech at our banquet last night, before an enthusiastic overflow audience. She eloquently and gracefully paid tribute to one of the most significant speeches in American history, Ronald Reagan’s “Time for Choosing” address—while at the same time outlining a vision for America that builds upon President Reagan’s.

The speech was universally well received by our audience of all ages. But the New York Times chose to focus on some of the logistics of the event in their account...

[...]

The Times account is simply not accurate. Here’s the amazing thing about yesterday’s events: they were as much about Gov. Palin coming to Santa Barbara to soak up the spirit of Ronald Reagan as they were about her delivering a keynote address. And on top of that, she was incredibly gracious with her time.

[...]

Everything about the Ranch reflects the great American, and, particularly, western ideals that Ronald Reagan cherished: hard work, responsibility, stewardship of the land, freedom, and opportunity.

It was clear on Friday that Governor Palin is a leader cut from the same cloth—it is these great western ideals, and the way they could be seen at the Ranch in small but telling details, that she viscerally connected with. And I have to admit, it was fun to see up close how genuine that was connection was.

Governor Palin went out of the way in her speech to not lay claim to the mantle of Ronald Reagan. “Many people today are looking for the next Reagan. But he was one of a kind, and we won’t see his like again,” she said later in her speech, but it’s his principles and values to which we must lay claim.

Filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon, director of several films on Ronald Reagan, was present throughout the Governor’s trip. “Throughout the day,” Steve told me, “whether it was Ranch hands, students, staff, or donors, it was obvious to me that Governor Palin was there not for herself but to give of herself. She epitomized the values she mentioned in her speech—those of duty and service she equated to our grandparent’s generation.”

Fast-forward to later that evening, following a speech in which Governor Palin spoke convincingly of her appreciation for the experience she had at the Ranch. The New York Times got this part right—the Governor was immediately whisked out of our main ballroom to an upper floor when she finished her remarks. But she wasn’t on her way out. Instead, the Governor had agreed to individually meet and pose for a photo with each of our 325+ guests that evening. When she walked into our Reagan Ranch Center Exhibit Galleries, a group of college students flown in from around the country for this special weekend was already waiting for her. They broke out into spontaneous applause as she entered the room, the Governor rushing right in to begin shaking hands and learning names. One young man sheepishly asked if he could have a hug from the Governor—and, of course, she willingly obliged.

The Times reporter Jeff Zeleny could have asked about any of this, but chose not to. Or perhaps he was just disappointed that he didn’t get his hug.

[More]

- JP

York: Invoking Reagan, Palin says 'this is a time for choosing again'

Gov. Palin discussed themes from Reagan's life that have resonance today
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Chief Political Correspondent Byron York covered Sarah Palin's Reagan 100 Celebration keynote address for the Washington Examiner:

Sarah Palin came here to declare that President Ronald Reagan "was one of a kind, and you're not going to find his kind again." But in a carefully-crafted speech marking Reagan's 100th birthday, the former Alaska governor drew a series of parallels -- some explicit, some implied -- between Reagan and herself, and between Reagan's time and today.

Palin was invited to speak by the Young America's Foundation, which owns and maintains Reagan's old ranch in the mountains near Santa Barbara. (The foundation is separate, and more aligned with the conservative movement, than the Reagan Presidential Library, which is also holding commemorative events this weekend.)

[...]

"This is a time for choosing again," Palin said, "and the vision we outline here is just as stark as it was in 1964."

A Palin insider says the former governor watched "A Time for Choosing" several times and was struck by Reagan's stern tone, as well as the applicability of his themes to today's events. Then, as she was working on the speech, Palin watched President Obama's state of the union and become convinced that, rather than adopt a more centrist path, Obama planned to continue pushing big-government programs. Those two thoughts, the insider says, formed the core of Palin's speech.

[...]

Lee Edwards, a Reagan biographer and fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was in the audience and took note of the fact that Palin was speaking to a strongly conservative group at the Ranch Center. She likely wouldn't be invited to speak to a more general audience at the Reagan Library, Edwards said, "because she's not a member of the establishment, and they're not comfortable with her."

"The irony," Edwards continued, "is that neither was Reagan."

Palin ended her speech by noting that she is not calling for Republicans to unite behind any specific leader. "There isn't one replacement for Reagan, but there are millions who believe in the great ideas that he espoused," she said. But of course those millions pick a candidate to represent them. And in Santa Barbara Friday night, Palin did nothing to discourage those who believe she is laying the foundation for a future candidacy. It might not be in 2012 -- remember the years between "A Time for Choosing" and the Reagan White House -- but it could be on the way.

- JP

Video: Gov. Palin's Reagan 100 speech

"This is not the road to national greatness, it is the road to ruin"
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Video courtesy Palin TV

Partial Transcript:

Just last November the American people rose up and decisively rejected big government. We don't want it, we can't afford it, so we fired many that had forced it on us. We the people said "enough is enough." But just days ago in the State of the Union address, less than 9o days after that freedom message was sent at the ballot box -- and it was an historic election -- yet we were just told the era of big government is here to stay, and you're going to pay for it, whether you want to or not. But they can't sell it to us with the old sales pitch anymore. So this new version isn't just the tried and tired liberal nanny state of the Great Society.

Now it's much worse and it's couched in the language of national greatness which to the left is their version of American exceptionalism. It is exceptionally big government, where bureaucrats declare that we shall be great and innovative and competitive, but not by individual initiative anymore, but by government decree. It's the same old tax and spend policies, or rather now it's borrow and spend and then tax the job creators. But we'll no longer call it spending for a while. They called it stimulus, but that didn't work because clearly it didn’t stimulate anything - but a Tea Party. So now they'll call it investing. But you have to ask yourself, if government overspending is investing, then bankruptcy would be a sign of economic strength. And it just isn't so.

And they have all sorts of half-baked ideas on what to spend... er, invest our hard-earned money on for their idea of national greatness. These investments include everything from solar shingles to fast train tracks. But as we struggle to merely service our unsustainable debt, the only thing these investments will get us is a bullet train to bankruptcy.

Other memorable lines and phrases:

Crony Capitalism on Steroids... They’ll freeze spending at historically high levels.... We don't have the luxury of subsidizing failures.

This dangerous debt is breaking our economy. We need to cut spending and live within our means. And we desperately need jobs. We need a vibrant economy that makes and builds things.

Our grandparents put their faith in God, not government. They didn't retreat but tried again until they succeded.

Reagan said, "I am not a great man, I just believe in great ideas." People are looking for the next Ronald Reagan, but they're not going to find him. He was one of a kind. But there is an army of Davids. These Davids aren’t afraid to tell Goliath "Don’t tread on me!"

You can also watch the video of Gov. Palin's full speech at the C-SPAN website here. Devonia Smith has transcribed some more excerpts from Gov. Palin's speech here.

- JP

NY Times tries to set up Sarah Palin

Just like a bowling pin
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The left wing media never gives up. Their latest Wyle E. Coyote tactic in the Democrat/Media Complex war on Gov. Palin is transparent in a post by Michael D. Shear on the paper's The Caucus blog. Titled "Could Palin Use Speech to End Silence on Egypt?", the gist of the piece is that Mr. Shear wants the governor to address the situation in Egypt in her speech tonight at the Reagan 100 opening banquet:

It’s possible that Ms. Palin could use the opportunity to deliver a broadly conceived foreign policy speech that uses the turmoil in Egypt to advance an understanding of her national security beliefs that goes beyond her use of Twitter messages and Facebook posts.

[...]

How would she handle Egypt? Would she have sided more quickly with the protectors demanding freedom from oppression? Or would she, as some of her conservative rivals said they would have, been wary of an Islamist regime taking over in Egypt once its president, Hosni Mubarak, departs?

So far, Ms. Palin has been mum. She has not sent out a Twitter message about Egypt. She has not posted her thoughts on her Facebook page. There have been no slickly-produced videos distributed through the Internet on the subject.

[More]

Mr. Shear is literally trying to goad Gov. Palin into talking about Egypt tonight. The more about Egypt she might say, the more he and his state controlled media comrades would like it. Why? Because if things in Egypt go downhill -- that is, even more downhill than they already are -- after tonight, guess who they will blame? Imagine Gov. Palin devoting a considerable portion of her speech to Egypt tonight, and imagine that next week the violence escalates for any reason, culminating in several hundred deaths. They will blame her for it in a New York Times minute.

Sound far fetched? Think we're just paranoid? Consider this: All she did was mark some congressional districts on a map as part of a campaign promotion in which she was supporting the Republican challengers against Democrat incumbents. The left used it to blame her for the completely unrelated deaths and injuries to some people in Tuscon Arizona months later. The moonbat leftist blogs are still blaming her. Now do you doubt, even for a minute, that they would also blame her for, God forbid, any deaths that might occur in Egypt if she had said anything in public about the situation there beforehand? You betcha they would!

But the Mama Grizzly is smarter than the average bear, and she won't fall for it. Besides, she's speaking at an event to honor Ronald Reagan, and that will be the focus of the address she will deliver in just a few hours. Nice try, Mr. Shear Coyote.

- JP

C-SPAN will carry Gov. Palin's Reagan 100 Keynote Address

Just what we were hoping for...
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Via Twitter, C-SPAN has announced that it plans to cablecast both Sarah Palin's keynote address Friday and Dick Cheney's Saturday speech from YAF's Reagan 100 Celebration at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

- JP

Gov. Palin's Reagan 100 keynote address will be on Ustream

Friday, February 4, 10PM CST
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Audio of Sarah Palin's February 4th keynote address at the Reagan Ranch Center in California for the 100th anniversary celebration of President Reagan’s birthday will be lived streamed online by Ustream.com. Gov.Palin will reflect on President Reagan's, “A Time for Choosing,” a seminal address that dealt with challenges facing our nation when America was at a crossroads, not unlike today.

Vice President Dick Cheney, whose speech will also be live streamed, will deliver the keynote address Feb 5. at the closing of the Reagan 100 Dinner Banquet.

This weekend event seems like a natural for C-SPAN, but so far it hasn't been added to the public affairs channel's schedule. We will keep checking.

- JP