Posted on 09/05/2011 11:29:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
INDIANOLA, Iowa – Three years after the day she was named the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president, Sarah Palin brought a flag-waving tea party crowd here to its feet with stinging criticism of President Barack Obama and an outline of her own vision for America.
“Candidate Obama, he pledged to fundamentally transform America and for all the failures and the broken promises, that’s the one thing he has delivered on,” Palin said. “We’ve transformed from a country of hope to one of anxiety.”
But Palin, who said she would announce by the end of this month whether she’ll seek the 2012 Republican nomination for president, continued to keep fans in the dark Saturday at a Tea Party of America rally, where people endured several hours of rain to see her.
“I think she should run for president because she’s common sense,” Joe Stanonik of Illinois said after hearing Palin speak. “She’s not beholden to anybody. (Rick) Perry and (Mitt) Romney, they’re career politicians. We need somebody who’s common sense and represents the people. She proved as governor that she goes against corporate America. I’m hoping she runs.”
More than 2,000 people braved torrential showers to attend Saturday’s Tea Party of America gathering on the field where the National Balloon Classic, an annual event featuring hot air balloons, is held each summer. Most huddled under umbrellas or ducked under the media tent as the rain poured down.
The crowd greeted Palin with repeated chants of, “Run, Sarah, Run!” before she gave a 40-minute speech on a stage similar to one used for a rock concert, in the middle of the grassy field.
Palin said one in five working-age men is out of work, one in seven Americans is on food stamps and the national debt is growing at $3 million a minute. She said the magnitude of these problems awakened a “sleepy America.”
“The tea party was born of this urgency,” she said. “It’s the same sense of urgency that propelled the sons of liberty during the Revolution. It’s the same sense of urgency that propelled the abolitionists before the Civil War, and the civil rights movement during the 20th century. The tea party movement is part of this noble American tradition.”
Palin urged people to vet a candidate’s record and ability to reform and fix problems. She accused Obama of “pay-to-play,” saying that donors to his campaign got nice returns on their investment with billions of dollars in federal stimulus money.
But Obama wasn’t her only target. She also took aim at other 2012 Republican candidates for president.
“Now to be fair, some GOP candidates also raise mammoth amounts of cash, and we need to ask them, too, what, if anything, do their donors expect in return for their investments?” she asked. “We need to know this because our country can’t afford more trillion-dollar thank-you notes to campaign backers.”
The former Alaska governor also outlined her own plan for America. She got a big cheer when she called for repealing “Obamacare” and enforcing states’ rights under the 10th Amendment. She called for more budget cuts, canceling unused federal stimulus funds, entitlement reform, reigning in burdensome regulations and more domestic energy production.
“We can and we will make America the most attractive country on earth to do business in,” she said. “Right now, we have the highest federal corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. … I propose to eliminate all federal corporate income tax.”
Palin’s speech wasn’t all serious. She weaved her own brand of anti-establishment humor in her speech. She brought the crowd to a roll when she questioned the credibility of political polls by saying, “poles, they’re for strippers and cross-country skiers.”
She also poked fun at politicians, calling their current plans for the economy a “phony green jobs, fairy-dust-sprinkled-with-wishes-and-glitter” plan. Tony Nizzi, 20, of Indianola, a member of the Army National Guard, sat on the wet, grassy field in the rain with no umbrella and no lawn chair.
“I just want to be part of something, and then hopefully it becomes something more,” Nizzi said. “I’m worried about our future, worried about the future of America, about our military, about our economy. I’m a student so I’ve been studying economics, business, and I’m just worried.”
He said tea party principles — tax reform, the Second Amendment right to bear arms, stronger defense, the progression of capitalism and freedom of the individual person — provide the best foundation for what he believes will improve America and improve his chances.
Nizzi said he hasn’t yet decided whom he will support for president in 2012, but said he likes Palin.
“She embodies the majority of the tea party foundation,” he said. “She’s one of the candidates that can beat (President Barack) Obama in 2012 and I think that’s very important.”
Yolanda Lorente, a fashion designer from Chicago who said she’s a native of Poland, was among the out-of-staters at the event. She drove five hours to Indianola and came dressed in a red, white and blue to her first tea party function.
“I believe that this country is a little bit on the wrong path, and I became a supporter of the tea party,” she said. “Not taking any sides, just save this country, save the American dream.”
Lorente said she came from Poland with $5 and has become a successful fashion designer selling to the best stores in America. But now, she said her business is crumbling. In the past few years, she’s had to scale back the number of employees in her company from 65 to 37, and is now down to 12. She said she fears America moving towards socialism.
“Everything is government, government, that’s what was in Poland. And we have no control. The same thing is happening here, little by little,” she said. “We have to do something about it to save small business.”
Lorente said no particular presidential candidate stands out to her yet. She said she supports tea party members and will ultimately support the best candidate, but hasn’t yet figured out who that is.
“It’s too early,” she said.
Charlie Gruschow of West Des Moines, a co-founder of the Tea Party of America who calls himself “Tea Party Charlie,” said a key focus of the movement is to restore the country to the way it was envisioned by the U.S. Constitution. He criticized people who call members of the tea party “terrorists” and said the tea party is growing in numbers.
“We have enemies out there. The liberal left, the mainstream media,” Gruschow said. “We can just brace for it in the next year before the election.”
I wish Sarah Palin would come to Texas. Then maybe it would rain here.
68 posted on Monday, September 05, 2011 10:18:22 PM by editor-surveyor (Sarah Palin - 2012 !)
I'm still kicking myself that I didn't make it go right to get to one of her book signings in North Texas. Oh well, maybe I'll get to shake her hand at one of her Texas campaign events.
Yeah, we could use some of that rain too.
One of the opening speakers was Dr. Sam Clovis. He was a fighter pilot in the AF. He and I served and worked in AF Project Checkmate together. Here’s his opening paragraph from his blog about the event.
“I took part in a Tea Party of America rally this past weekend and had a wonderful time, even though Char and I got soaked to the bone in the driving rain. The event came off without a hitch up to and including the arrival of the star of the event, Governor Sarah Palin. She gave a 40 minute speech that pretty much outlined her agenda for a campaign—if she ever declares her intention to do so. If she does, she is going to give all the boys (and the other girl) a run for their money. It’s not that she is sharper, more articulate, more intelligent or more forceful than all the others. She is none of those things. What she is is genuine, real, at one with the people and at peace with herself. She has taken all the bad press and turned it all in her favor. She is almost mockingly dismissive of the press so they will have a hard time getting under her skin. No, not going to happen.”
He has a newsletter too which Freepers might enjoy. Here’s the link to his blog.
http://www.impactwithclovis.com/
If Sarah announces, the money bomb will generate $20 million in the first week and the msm will not know how to handle this outpouring of voter passion.
What?? Has he read her facebook notes? There are enough grammatical errors to prove they are not being written by ghostly speech writers, and enough cohesive sense to prove that Sarah is no dummy.
It’s not that she is sharper, more articulate, more intelligent or more forceful than all the others. She is none of those things. What she is is genuine, real, at one with the people and at peace with herself.
Methinks you got it!! She is rivetingly real, genuine to the core and gracious to boot. I was blown away in Iowa watching her connect with the folks (45 minutes)being real, patient, and having fun. She has the message but can she connect with the folks I hope she gives it a go.
Just to make sure I just sent him the link to her most recent facebook notes about a half hour ago. He is a big fan of her as you’ll see by his blog.
There is so much evidence to show Romney is nothing but a two faced BS artist that I don’t know how his handlers can spin it
And Perry is saying all the right words during the primary campaign but who knows what he will say during the main campaign if he wins the primary
He is a career politician
Agreed!! The way I look at it Obama is unelectable now. So the GOP is picking the President this cycle. I want Sarah to run because she is that conservative voice. She will fire up both bases though and maybe make it closer than it should be. However, anger does not usually win over truth and reason. Tis important that Sarah runs and it would be such good fun.
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