Las Vegas (CNN) – Though Sarah Palin has recently endorsed several political candidates, she has yet to give an official nod to Mitt Romney. And on Friday, as she rallied conservative bloggers toward “victory in 2012” –- Palin didn’t even mention Romney’s name.
The former Alaska governor gave the keynote speech on the opening night of the RightOnline conference in Las Vegas -– a gathering of conservative leaders and new media activists. About 1,000 people descended on the city to attend the group’s fifth annual event.
Much of Palin’s speech was aimed at encouraging the grassroots activists ahead of the November elections.
“Without you there probably wouldn’t be a tea party movement,” Palin said. “Thus no 2010 electoral victory, thus no hope for victory in 2012.”
She did not mention Romney as part of that potential victory.
Palin has praised Romney in the past. At one point during the Republican primary, she told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that Romney was “a great candidate.” Yet during that same interview, Palin took some swipes at the former Massachusetts governor.
"I trust that his idea of conservatism is evolving, and I base this on a pretty moderate past that he has had, even in some cases a liberal past,” Palin said. "I am not convinced [of Romney's conservatism] and I don’t think that the majority of GOP and independent voters are convinced.”
During the primaries, Palin spoke well of Newt Gingrich, admitting in March that she voted for the former House Speaker in Alaska’s caucuses. More recently, Palin’s political action committee, SarahPac, has listed her endorsements of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch in his re-election battle, and senate hopefuls Ted Cruz of Texas, Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Richard Mourdock of Indiana.
Palin could help Romney, indirectly, in other ways. One way: firing up the base and possibly independents with a steady diet of anti-President Obama red meat.
While accusing the mainstream media of not properly vetting the president, Palin said: “We would have known, had the media done its job, of his strange attraction to the most leftist -– radical of leftist ideas.” And seizing on a hot button issue, the former Alaska governor charged, “If [the news media] had done their job, perhaps we would not be shocked to know that our White House would politicize national security by leaking highly confidential information to prop up the polls.”
Last week, the president broadly dismissed such claims.
"The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive, it's wrong, and people, I think, need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me approach this office," Obama said.
Palin was also relentless in her attacks against the media. Large chunks of her speech were devoted to blasting reporters for, what she called “lies.”
“According to news reports over these years, shoot, by now - I guess I should’ve been divorced how many times?” Palin said. “And under FBI investigation. And living in Montana. Or the Hamptons. Lately it’s been the Hamptons. It is still a great mystery: who really is Trig Paxon Van Palin’s real mother?”
Meanwhile, some of Palin’s zings were directed at members of her own party.
As she hailed last year’s pro-Gov. Scott Walker rallies in Wisconsin, Palin said: “Remember, while we were in Wisconsin defending tough, needed fiscal reform, some back in the establishment in [Washington] D.C., they were already walking back their promises to cut $100 billion dollars from deficit.”
In the 2010 midterm elections, House Republicans promised to cut $100 billion in spending, something they did not achieve.
“The permanent political class broke promises that they never intended to keep,” she said.
And as she praised the work of the conservative bloggers and new media activists – calling them “an army of Davids against the Goliath of the old media that still wants to deceive” - Palin urged them to keep their grassroots street cred.
“Whatever the outcome is in November, please do not get co-opted by the permanent political class,” Palin said. “You need to stay outside of the machine…stay outside the political establishment in order to hold them accountable.”
Palin did attempt to lighten the mood during her speech. At one point, she used a play on words between polls - and poles.
Now here we are in Vegas, and you know – like in Vegas – and in Washington too, they talk a lot about polls. There are a lot of poles in Vegas,” Palin said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
“The White House likes to cite polls in their recent reports - especially because the figures involved in those polls are usually augmented, too.”
Also see:
Back in the spotlight, Cain invokes rabble-rousing routine
Romney bus tour's immigration detour
From CNN Politics
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Palin always amazing. She of the most deceitful and polarizing persons around. Her ego makes her belief she is relevant. And she blames everything on the media.
The lack of accountability, inflated self-worth and attacks-without-facts makes her the ideal GOP politician. It's wonder she isn't running for office (in whatever state she lives in now.)
Isn't she getting tired of her own whining. What a loser.
Serving red meat... Hmmm... She'd make a cute waitress in a bumpkin diner, slinging hash and red meat... But as a VP candidate, that was a giggle...
yogi-
"Stupidity knows no boundaries"
Well said!!
Obama was not vetted enough or properly? I'm sorry, coming from someone who had to write notes on their hand...this is just a joke.
Still spewing hate every chance she gets. She is the most evil person in the U.S. and for some reason, has extreme hatred for our President of the United States. It is fine if she disagrees with his policies, but to personally say the hateful things about him is absolutely sinful. Why does the media even give her any attention – She can't say one positive thing about these people who give her attention and keep her in the spotlight. She needs to be ignored.
Didn't she, when she had the chance to lead her state, um, quit, because it was going to be "difficult"?
I saw where Sean Hannity had Bristol Palin on to get her insights into our political system. Why not have Tweety Bird and Forest Gump weigh in also?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. More steroidal paranoia from the Grand Conspiracy Bumper Sticker Brigade using the loathsome media to fearmonger the masses with propoganda.
It's been a while since we had a Palin bashing session.
why is anybody giving this fool any attention?
Why is this even being published? I was really enjoying NOT seeing anything about her on the news lately.
To Palin conservatism means: cut a tree, kill a bear, drill an oil well, pimp the State of Alaska.
How small town. Pales in comparison to the phony story lines your media makes up about the scary black man in the whitehouse. The illigitimate Muslim president whose not a citizen of this country, you know, the Marxist who hates America, etc...
The more she speaks the better Obama looks. The more Romney speaks the better Obama looks.
Palin is a pathetic poster child for what the conservative movement in this country has morphed into – a grotesque collection of Future-Shocked citizens who can't understand where the "White Only" signs went and who resent having to compete for jobs with persons who don't look, think, or act as they do, and opportunistic politicians ever ready to inflame their hatreds with "red meat" rhetoric. Palin is a hate monger, pure and simple. Hers is the latest incarnation of the strategy popularized by Ronald Reagan who encouraged Americans to hate and distrust their own government. Palin, like all the others of her ilk, is not constrained by truth or reasonableness. And, like all those others, her goal is not improvement of life in this country for all citizens, it is increasing her political power and fattening her personal coffers.
You have to admit she has all of the political experience you need to make people listen to your valuable opinion – quitting and losing.
More pearls of wisdom from the woman who single-handedly sunk the Republican Party in the 2008 and forever branded it's vetting process as incompetent.
No mention of Romney a surprize? Huh? Just when did Sarah Palin talk about anyone except herself? Give her enough money and she will be pose for playboy.
We love you, Sarah !! Keep telling it like it is.
So she's talking again. How come there's no censure of the Michigan legislature for its recent attack on women? Where's the outrage on the attack on women?
nods nowadays are a dime a dozen, now who is Palin and what does she bring to the table
Words of wisdom coming from someone who could not tell you what papers she reads? Come on, I cannot believe that there are some Americans who are still dumb enough to listen to the neo-nazi diatribe this woman spews. Ever notice that she can only criticize, she NEVER offers any suggestions nor ideas? This woman accuses the POTUS of socialism, yet she has no idea what the term REALLY means. She blast reporters when they question the validity of the birth of Trig, her son, yet inflames the birther issue using these same reporters when it comes to Obama (though the birth certificate for Obama has been show on national TV). Where's Trig's? Thank God she never got into the White House, She blames the economy on Obama, yet just released polls show 68% of America blames George Bush for this mess. Actually, someone should investigate her "fund raising tour of America" this past year as Sarah and the clan lived off the donations of the brain dead and in-bred.
Get out and vote America and get the Neo-Nazi party of NO the boot out and put people in who care and will work for the people, not the ideology of the Tea partiers and Grover Norquist.
Palin the gift that keeps on giving. She is the democrats secret weapon, worked in 2008.
Mormonism goes against more parts of the Bible than gay marriage or abortion. If she endorses the cultist Romney, it shows just what a hypocrite she is and just how important her Christian religion really is to her.