Sarah Palin Wins over Republican Calgary

Palin delivered her standard folksy message including an entreaty for smaller government, lower taxes, private enterprise and “common sense”—which she doesn’t realize is not common.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Sarah Palin was in Calgary to give a speech on March 6, 2010. Calgary, as Republican as many red states, seems to attract the right wing speakers as places like Toronto do not.

I can’t remember all the names off hand, but over the last couple of decades the city has seen (although most Calgarians have not), George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Ollie North, Alexander Haig…even Bill Clinton has been here. Interestingly, both W. and Palin gave their first foreign speeches here after leaving office.

There were about 1,200 in the audience at up to $220 a pop and in the parking lot the Lexuses and BMWs far outnumbered the minivans and Dodge Dakotas. The cream of Republican Alberta was on hand: former Alberta premier Ralph Klein, federal Conservative MP Lee Richardson and federal cabinet minister Stockwell Day (I believe that humans and dinosaurs were on earth at the same time) and Danielle Smith, leader of Alberta's Wild Rose Alliance party, who wants to replace the reigning (40 years in 2011) Regressive Conservative Party.

(There’s an amusing aside, here. The motto on Alberta license plates is Wild Rose Country. A couple of years ago the government mulled over the idea of changing the motto, but apparently decided not to in order to save money. Since then the provincial government is under serious threat from farther to the right by the Wild Rose party.)

Palin delivered her standard folksy message including an entreaty for smaller government, lower taxes, private enterprise and “common sense”—which she doesn’t realize is not common.

She seemed to be well treated by the Canadian media. The Toronto Star headline was, “Sarah Palin warms to Calgary crowd”; Canoe.com said “Palin wins over Cowtown”; Canadian Press, “Calgary audience fans of former U.S. VP candidate Sarah Palin? You betcha!”—Although one poster at the Toronto Star did write: “They probably can see Russia from Alberta as well”. As an Albertan, I can testify that that is false. The Rocky Mountains are in the way.

She also made references to her Canadian past, saying both her great-grandfathers were from the prairies, one from Manitoba, the other from Saskatchewan. "That must be where my love of moose came from," she said.

Only one part of her speech fell flat, sort of. As Kevin Libin wrote in the right-wing National Post:

”At one point, in her speech, the featured speaker asked for a show of hands, and applause, for ‘those of you who have helped secure this continent and served your country so honorably in uniform’—as her son Track recently had, in Iraq. There appeared to be not a single hand raised. Here, Sarah Palin, darling of the anti-tax, small government Tea Partiers, heroine of the hockey moms appeared to be rather out of her own element as well.”

Palin remained coy about her plans for 2012 except to say that she is going to continue to press for a return to Reagan’s “common sense values” and support like-minded candidates.

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Rusty March 8, 2010 6:04 pm (Pacific time)

I thought for some of you the below rant by Sean Penn would generate some food for thought. Just imagine someone who holds just the opposite view of Penn regarding some issues and feels that those who attack Governor Palin should receive the same treatment as Mr. Penn opines for in the below remarks? Regarding Palin, she did leave her office on good terms, somewhat different than some governors, for example New York's Spitzer, and the calls for the current governor there to step down. I wonder if those who dislike Palin so much can point to any serious problems she had while in office? She left for good reasons and did so leaving the state as still very popular. Why attack her kids? That just doesn't make sense and shows the desperation some have for having positive discussions about the issues we all must address to reach some type of resolution, in spite of our differences. {Sean Penn Suggests Prison Time for Journalists Who Call Hugo Chavez a Dictator http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/03/08/sean-penn-suggests-prison-time-journalists-who-call-hugo-chavez-dictator ^ At the end of a discussion of Haiti on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, actor Sean Penn went on a rant in defense of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, suggesting prison time for American journalists: "every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should – truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."} Surfer dude advice.

Wayne March 8, 2010 4:05 pm (Pacific time)

Calgary is a joke of a city. Not a lot of people in Alberta, let alone Canada, give it much respect.

I don't know who you are or where you are (or are from), but as a second generation Calgarian, I have to agree with you. If you don't have money, it's not a joke, it's a tragedy."

Retired Journalist (a real one!) March 8, 2010 11:33 am (Pacific time)

Well Palin is never going to run for office again, but she will continue to drive the weak clutered radical minds out there absolutely nuts. So we have huge breaking stories with the democrats eating their own, and more vote frauds being exposed,(a truley democrat methodology). What you are seeing is a paradigm shift in both America and our little wannabe democracy next door, Canada. The liberal progressive is entering their final death throes. Get the popcorn out and watch these ignorant savage beasties consume each other. "Breaking....Van Hollen charges five with election fraud (ACORN!!)jsonline ^ | 3/8/10 | dan bice Five Wisconsin residents have been charged with criminal counts of voter fraud in the November 2008 general election, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today. Two of those charged, Maria Miles and Kevin Clancy, are workers for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the embattled community group. "The complaint alleges that Miles and Clancy submitted multiple voter registration applications for the same individuals, and also were part of a scheme in which they and other (special registration deputies) registered each other to vote multiple times in order to meet voter registration quotas imposed by ACORN," Van Hollen states in the release. Also charged were a couple accused of double voting - once absentee and once at the polls - and a felon who cast a ballot even though he was still on probation for a felony offense. The charges were brought as part of the Milwaukee Election Fraud Task Force.

A real retired journalist? Considering that you have trouble spelling, I wondered and checked your IP and see that you are posting under a number of different names. Your credibility is zero. And considering that you call Canada a "wannabe democracy" it only shows either your ignorance or your ideology. Compared to the dysfunctionality of your Senate and House, Canada is a democracy to die for.

Hank Ruark March 8, 2010 9:01 am (Pacific time)

Friend Vic: Palin's pretense at being a politician is perhaps the most potent part of ongoing perfect collapse for anti-progressive people capable of cogitation. If you need a donkey bloody- butchered in your kitchen, she may be a possible choice, with her record of quit-and-run in Alaska the most telling point.

Vic March 8, 2010 8:18 am (Pacific time)

Why even give this bimbo any press? Id be more interested in the history of thermometers. She is a glory-seeking egomaniac...let her wither on the vine.

Ya got that right, Vic, but if we didn't run it, we would be accused of censorship, which is already unjustly leveled against often enough.

Daniel March 8, 2010 8:03 am (Pacific time)

DJ as I stated before Calgary is Texas north .

Brian March 8, 2010 5:09 am (Pacific time)

True, Ms Palin made that secretive speech - the media was barred - in Hong Kong. I think the misconception arises from the organizers, who clearly and repeatedly billed the Calgary event as her first outside the United States after resigning as governor. Odd that she never corrected this.

I don't think it's odd. The public interest is not on her agenda.

Truth March 7, 2010 9:26 pm (Pacific time)

First: This is Ms Palin's second speech outside the US. The first one was Hong Kong back in September 09. Second: Tina Fey said you can see Russia from my house and NOT MS Palin.Ms. Palin said you can see Russia from some Island in Alaska.

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Sarah Palin Wins over Republican Calgary

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