Congressman Steve King, a Republican from western Iowa, spoke this morning to the Iowa Republicans who gathered for breakfast at the La Quinta in Bloomington, Minnesota. Most in the room have been delegates or alternate delegates at the RNC in St. Paul this week and everyone in the room saw Alaska Governor Sarah Palin speak last night.
You can listen to King’s comments here (there’s an audio link to his 24 minute speech at the bottom of the page). King compared Palin to a list of women. I hope I can remember them all.
1. "She drilled a 10. She’s our Shawn Johnson," King said, referencing 16-year-old gymnast Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines. Iowa’s governor called Johnson Iowa’s "golden girl" before she even got to China. Johnson, in case you missed it, led the crowd at Invesco Field in Denver in saying the Pledge to open the Thursday night of the Democratic National Convention.
2 and 3. King talked about 1984 Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, the gymnast, and perhaps 2008 Olympic gold medalist Jessica Mendoza, the best hitter on the USA Softball team, too. "I got asked all day yesterday, ‘What happens if Sarah Palin, what if she muffs it? What if she drops the ball? What if she boots it? What happens if she collapses out there on the stage? What are you Republicans going to do then?’" King told Iowa Republicans this morning. "I said, ‘I am not worried. I’m not worried because, you know, I saw Mary Lou Retton practice and when no one was around her when she did extra after the gold medal 10 across the pommel horse at the Olympics’….When you know there’s somebody who’s got it inside and they’ve demonstrated and performed every day of their life and they get to the point where the whole world is focused on her, like they were last night on Governor Sarah Palin, hocky mom extraordinairre. She took that pitch that came right down the middle of the plate. She cracked it right out of the ballpark."
4. While not using the name Anne Oakley, a sharpshooter star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, King became another in a long line of the men who’ve talked to Iowans this week about what a great shot Palin is when it comes to firing a gun. Former UN Ambassador John Bolton suggested Palin should have a shoot-off with Vladmir Putin. This morning, King suggested a shooting contest featuring Palin and McCain against Obama and Biden (although King did misspeak at one point and suggest Palin and McCain face off). "I propose this: Let’s put our ticket up against the other side…Put those two up there and give them a 30-06 and we’ll put John McCain, our top gun, up against crackshot Sarah Palin or those two together against Obama and Biden and we’ll settle this thing," King said. "Who’s the best shot?"
5. King closed with a reference to the Iron Lady, Britian’s prime minister from 1979-1990. "We’ve needed a strong, conservative leader," King said of Palin. "I’ve said for a long time I’d vote for Margaret Thatcher if she were American."
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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