CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– POLITICS
June 9, 2009 – 12:03 a.m.
Gingrich Trumps Palin at GOP Gala
By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff
Sarah Palin could have stolen the show without uttering a word at Monday night’s $14.45 million Republican congressional dinner. But she didn’t.
It was the keynote speaker, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who ultimately dominated the end of a day on which the Alaska governor’s whereabouts — her attendance at or absence from the Washington Convention Center — had seemed to captivate the nation’s capital.
Gingrich held forth for nearly an hour, delivering a policy-heavy address that few Republicans, and surely fewer Democrats, think Palin could match.
Deemed both “too long” and “cogent and well thought-out,” by Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, Gingrich’s speech sounded a bit like the rough draft of a State of the Union address.
He articulated policy visions both broad and specific on such a wide array of topics that it was hard to keep count: taxes, education, energy, regulation, affirmative action and the role of religion in American life, to name a few.
It was a bad scene for Palin, according to GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak.
“She has to sit there and agree with him, knowing it’s a speech she cannot give, that she is not equipped to give,” Mackowiak said.
Mackowiak and Bennett both said the Alaska governor has important political skills — just not the same ones that Gingrich had on display for party stalwarts who contributed more than $14 million to help elect more Republicans to Congress.
Gingrich focused most sharply on President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus law (PL 111-5), which he said would sacrifice long-term growth for temporary government giveaways.
“Their plan has already failed,” Gingrich said, noting an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent that exceeds the administration’s budget projections.
On foreign policy, he attacked Obama for declaring himself a “citizen of the world.”
“We must strengthen our unique American civilization,” Gingrich said. “Let me be clear: I am not a citizen of the world.”
By the end, enthusiastic or exhausted, Republicans acknowledged it was Gingrich, not Palin, who was memorable.
Gala organizers had worried that Gingrich would be overshadowed if Palin, the party’s magnetic 2008 vice presidential nominee, was allowed to speak even briefly.
Indeed, she drew “aahs” and applause when Palin crossing the stage in a subtly shiny black suit, with Gingrich and their respective spouses trailing.
Initially invited to be the dinner’s keynote speaker, Palin balked in March when the GOP officials announced she would headlne the dinner. She had not agreed.
Gingrich was asked instead.
A Palin emissary, longtime GOP stalwart Fred Malek, contacted party leaders last week to see about a speaking role for Palin When they replied that they couldn’t risk stealing Gingrich’s spotlight by giving her a microphone — that she could attend but not speak — the spat was made public.
All day Monday, political observers wondered whether she would appear or not.
In the early afternoon, she sent a Twitter message out to the interested segment of the world making clear that she was in Washington. Shortly thereafter Republican sources confirmed she would attend.
The Dinner
Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, the master of ceremonies, was introduced to clips of his acting career — a montage that included bits of films such as the X-rated 1969 film Midnight Cowboy and 1972’s Deliverance, which also had a mature theme.
Voight opened the attack by portraying the president as a childlike naif who would endanger Israel and the United States. “We are becoming a weak nation,” said Voight.
Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader, pulled out his voting card and called it the most expensive credit card available with a Democratic majority. “We need to take this card away from them,” he told the gathering.
Gingrich’s speech lasted nearly an hour.
Having led a Republican minority into the majority in the 1994 elections, many Republicans still see Gingrich as an agent of reform.
“Yes we can balance the budget again if we have the majority and we are in charge,” he said, telling the gathering that Democrats are spending “so grotesquely” that “it would be easy” to slash domestic discretionary spending.
Palin was thanked twice — once by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas and once by Gingrich — and otherwise ignored.
The event drew in less money than in previous years, when President George W. Bush was the headliner.
But the array of lawmakers, aides, lobbyists, Republican givers and former public officials represented a broad cross-section of the GOP, from moderate Delaware Rep. Michael N. Castle to conservatives such as South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson .
Comments
I am just a citizen, but very much aware, that to refer to "President Obama's $787 billion stimulus law (PL 111-5)" as a stimulus law is incorrect. It is "P.L. 111-5, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" instead. No where is there a Stimulus Law P.L. 111-5 on the books. Recovery and Reinvestment is important. The distinction is important. Incorrect use is misleading- by some intentionally, others not. Thank you.
Jon Voight is a conservative??? Didn't know that. Too bad he has such a wacked-out daughter.
APMediaPro, On the topic of the stimulus or the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," we don't use the given title of the legislation because such titles are typically prejudicial in and of themselves. Nearly every bill has a "motherhood" title that makes it sound good. We generally use language that reflects the purpose of the legislation. Democrats and Republicans agreed that it was "stimulus" legislation for quite a long time. At some point, Democrats decided to start using other terms to describe it. But the basic idea was to invigorate -- or stimulate -- the economy.
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