Story updated at 11:00 a.m. EST to correct transcript of robocall
RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) – Sarah Palin isn’t staying out of the Virginia governor’s race after all.
Less than 48 hours before voters head to the polls to elect a new governor, several Virginians reported receiving robocalls on Sunday from the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, urging them to “vote your values” on Tuesday.
But the recording makes no mention of the Bob McDonnell, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who has been reluctant to embrace Palin during the governor’s race, out of fear that she might alienate some of the independent voters who have helped him climb to a healthy lead in the polls over Democrat Creigh Deeds.
“Virginia, hello, this is Sarah Palin calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote to share our principles,” the former Alaska governor says in the call, which was provided to CNN by one Democrat who recorded it. “The eyes of America will be on Virginia and make no mistake about it, every vote counts. So don’t take anything for granted, vote your values on Tuesday, and urge your friends and family to vote, too.”
Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for Palin, confirmed the authenticity of the calls.
According to the call, the phone blitz is being paid for by the Virginia Faith and Freedom Coalition, the state branch of a national conservative group founded by former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed.
McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the campaign had nothing to do with the phone blitz and was not aware of the robocalls until he was told about them by a reporter.
Last October, during her vice presidential bid, Palin told reporters that voters get “irritated” by the automated calls being used at the time by both presidential campaigns, calling the tactic part of the “old conventional ways of campaigning.”
CORRECTION: The Faith and Freedom Coalition passes on cleaner audio of the call, which makes clear that Palin tells listeners to "vote to share our principles," not vote "for Sarah's principles" as had been earlier reported.
From CNN Politics
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freedom and faith coalition supporting Sarah's values ?
What are these values !?
No government involvement in providing basic universal rights such as health care ? Well maybe the so called right to own a machine gun. How about no regulations on the markets ?
Big government allowed only for more military buildup and purchases?
Only one religion is right ? Demons in the White House ?
No these values are not for me, the US OR anyone valueing liberty, truth and peace
I wonder how much the Virginina Faith and Freedom Coalition had to pay her to record her message for those robo calls?
Wow......she just keeps getting more and more pathetic.
Sarah's values? An affair with her husband's business partner, seven years to graduate from college, parading her dysfuctional family on the national stage, teen pregnacy, pissing match with an 18 year-old, high-school dropout daughter, completley unaware of national and international affairs, quiting her elected duty, being a public bufoon. Improper use of elected office. What else did I miss? You go Sarah!!
everyone knows this race is a landslide going to mcdonnell. this is an obvious desperate attempt to be associated with success.
Palin had fifteen minutes of fame as the VP canddate but has no other qualifications to be supporiting anyone. She is no longer news. She is a failure who dropped the people of Alaska to try and make big money writing books and talking to who knows. She should go away. She has no principles.
"Vote for Values" – also known as "Please ignore the striking lack of intelligence and leadership the Republican party and the Conservative movement have shown in the last 9 years, ignore any common sense and self-interest you have, and vote for us, because, gosh darnit, we don't like Obama".
"sarah's principles" ? you must be joking...guess we're talking about what a fine job she did in alaska with both her govenorship + her healthy family values....please, please go away- only the idiots are listening...
Wait–didn't the Republican candidate write a thesis stating that women working outside the home caused the decline of American values-and wait-doesn't Sarah have four kids and, until she quit, didn't she work outside the home? So how does she represent his values??
Since this is Sarah Palin, I guess actually substantive questions do not matter.
Yes, let's all vote for "Sarah's values":
-hypocrisy (her daughter and abstinence)
-lies (the Bridge to Nowhere, among hundreds of others)
-theft (billing the state for her kids' travel and for her time at home)
-environmental profligacy (big oil profits)
What a good idea! Let's give Sarah what she wants!
Palin's principles? Does she mean ignorance? Does she mean denying global warming? Does she mean killing wolves and bears from planes rather than protecting them? Does she mean teaching abstinence when all research shows that is useless and does not help young people? Does she mean go to a witch doctor who purges evil spirits from you?
"Palin's principles:? Does that mean calling our President a terrorist and lying about health care reform to scare older Americans? Perhaps she should be a bit more specific...does she mean lining her own pockets rather than public service? I can't think of one Palin principle that I would want my children to know.
I'm a Virginian and I will definitely be voting MY VALUES on Tuesday. None of which include Sarah Palin or her values....someone please tell this lady to go sit down somewhere.
I don't know whats more idiotic, robocalls, or politicians in general.
Sarah values huh... Lies , greed & quitting, boy those are values we should all vote for. I wish this woman would just shut up and go away.
Sarah's values? Like quitting before the job is done? Or choosing to get a subsidiary income from eco-unfriendly companies? Or using hatred, vitriol, and distorting the truth in order to get elected under the monniker of county-first? Yeah, I don't subscribe to those values.
is quitting on a whole state of people because your job is too hard, a good value?
Well, it looks like this election is going to the Dems. Someone ought to pay this woman to shut up before she hands the remainder of the country to them.
I am so sorry Virginia. I moved from VA to Alaska 13 years ago and even though I left VA, I wouldn't wish Sarah Palin on anybody. She is nothing but a wind bag, right-wing quitter. Learn to screen your calls because she's out there! (In more ways than one.)
I don't think McDonnell needs any help. He's up by 10-15 points.
McDonnell's got the right idea. The economy is the most important issue. McDonnell is a fiscal conservative, not a social conservative.
Fix the economy by getting rid of tax and spend liberals and socialists (like Obama).
I think we all learned our lesson from this last election.
This is just the start of the nation going back to fiscally conservatives Republicans AND Democrats.
what values?
OK, she's too broke to take care of her lawyers about ethics violations, but she's making a bucket of money on her book, and she gets involved with a race in another state when she couldn't stick out her term as Governor in her own state? She didn't like robocalls a year ago, but is involved with them now? When are the Republicans going to realize that she ISN'T HELPING THEM?
It figures she'd do something to irritate the voters....She's a major irritation herself!!! She needs to disappear from the world stage now that she's making her millions and blaming everyone but herself for being the quitter that she is!!!!
This is interesting....the Republican candidate is expected to win the election....this should be a giveme without Sarah's input....
WHAT IF THE REPUBLICAN LOOSE...would that go towards Sarah's calculations better judgment....or would her attempt be blamed...
hmmmm.....
Isn't she one of the ones who refers to our President as "arrogant."
Demagoguery + anti-intellectualism + unapologetic disregard for facts = Sarah Palin and the modern GOP.
Wait for her to start crowing about her king-making abilities in NY-23.
God help us..............or more accurately, God help the moderates in the Republican Party.
She sank McCain's campaign, now McDonnell's, LOL!!!