Alaska News

Sarah Palin won't be speaking at Republican National Convention

Mitt Romney's campaign team has already made clear its views his vice presidential "game-changer" Paul Ryan as more qualified than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.

But with Palin's announcement Sunday that she won't be speaking at the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month, what does this mean for Romney's campaign? Palin was the star of the 2008 GOP convention as then-presidential candidate John McCain's surprise pick.

With recent polls showing Romney slipping behind President Obama, Romney's campaign is hoping Ryan will reinvigorate the Republican ticket, with conservative voters coming out to vote in November. But given Palin's dedicated support base in the tea party, some tea party conservatives wonder why Palin has been left out of the GOP's convention.

In Palin's statement that she will not be speaking at the event, she says:

…Everything I said at the 2008 convention about then-candidate Obama still stands today…This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I'm excited to hear them…I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in their efforts to replace President Obama at the ballot box, and I intend to focus on grassroots efforts to rally Independents and the GOP base to elect Senate and House members so a wise Congress is ready to work with our new President to get our country back on the right path. This is imperative…For the sake of America's solvency and sovereignty we must close this nonsensical book in November…

Some Palin supporters claim the snub will come at the cost of votes. On the pro-Palin website Conservatives4Palin, commenters have replied to the statement in droves.

One commenter puts it bluntly: "I won't be voting for Romney. End of story." Another implores: "Please reconsider."

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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