At 11:05 p.m. last night, the Iowa Family Policy Center’s Bryan English emailed a news release, revealing the IFPC’s “ACTION” arm is trying to land former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a speaker for an event in four weeks. (You can read the news release below.) For those of you who don’t have your calendar/daily diary handy, November 21, 2009 — the date on which the IFPC ACTION folks would like to have Palin speak — is the same night that Vice President Joe Biden will be in Des Moines to speak at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.
It means Palin would be sharing the spotlight with Biden that night, as most stories would be written about what each had to say about the other — or that they failed to acknowledge in their speeches that the other “personage” was in the same area code. It means reporters would compare the crowd for Palin and the crowd for Biden: Which one was bigger? Which one was more enthusiastic? Which one exhibited/highlighted greater schisms in their respective party? It means the “roll-out” of a new Democratic contestant for a possible race against Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley would be overshadowed.
But this preemptive news release also means the folks at IFPC ACTION are having as difficult a time in landing a Palin appearance as the folks at the Republican Party of Iowa did. The RPI’s annual fall fundraiser is scheduled for November 7, 2009, and the “keynoter” for that event is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. I’m sure “T-Paw” is well aware that the RPI’s first choice was Palin, but she would not commit.
Palin, as you may know, will be selling a book in November and it’s anybody’s guess how a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 21, would fit into the game-plan for selling that book. Mikc Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is selling a new book, too, in November. He plans to visit three Iowa bookstores on November 8, 2009.
On Saturday night in November of 2003, former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton — New York’s junior senator at the time — came to Des Moines, Iowa, to serve as emcee for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2003 Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner which featured all the Democratic presidential candidates in that cycle. The next day, which was Sunday, Clinton did an afternoon book-signing event at a West Des Moines bookstore. People stood in line for hours to get her autograph.
So, perhaps the Palin folks are considering a Saturday night speech in Des Moines, followed by a Sunday after-church booksigning at a bookstore in the Des Moines metro. They’d have to decide which church Palin would attend that morning. Would the event be open to cameras? Would Palin speak to the congregation? Would she sell and sign books at the church, too?
So many questions, unanswered today. Read the IFPC ACTION news release below.
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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