Sarah Palin is back. And Mama Grizzly is roaring as loudly as ever.
The failed 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor is heading to Iowa next month to speak at the state’s annual Faith and Freedom Coalition.
Palin’s Nov. 9 appearance in the Hawkeye State, which holds critical first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, is likely to fuel speculation that Palin is gearing up for something bigger. And now it seems as if the Tea Partier’s strange appearance over the weekend at the World War II memorial in D.C. -- where she accused President Obama of using veterans as pawns -- was merely a dress rehearsal for Iowa.
"We are thrilled and honored that Gov. Palin has confirmed to address Iowa's top conservative activists, as we kick off the 2014 election cycle. Without a doubt, her appearance will motivate activists to be involved in grassroots politics here in Iowa that will help turn the tide here in Iowa, by electing more family-friendly public officials at all levels,” Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, said in a statement. Palin will join Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who is giving the keynote address.
Palin, Lee and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas all protested Sunday at the shuttered memorial, which has become a political lightning rod in the debate over the government shutdown and debt ceiling showdown.
“I’m here to hopefully help show the veterans that America’s heart for our veterans is immeasurable, and we think it’s atrocious that our military is being used a political pawn in a political game, and we’re gonna change that," Palin declared. She also knocked Obama, insisting he “could be here today, saying ‘yes we can tear down these barricades.’”
Sunday’s rally, called the Million Vets March, has been pilloried for its fringe-y rhetoric. Confederate flags were spotted, and Larry Klayman, a conservative activist for FreedomWatch, bizarrely claimed that Obama “bows down to Allah,” does not represent “we the people” and that he should “put the Quran down.”
Palin’s reemergence comes as Tea Partiers like herself and Cruz are becoming increasingly isolated from their fellow GOPers as they continue to push for defunding or delaying Obamacare -- which is most definitely not going to happen, even in the estimation of the mainstream GOP.
Indeed, Palin's arrival on the defund-Obamacare scene may be viewed as further evidence that the quixotic cause is doomed. After all, Palin's track record isn't exactly stellar lately. She's backed losing Senate candidates like Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle, failed presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, and has backed losing efforts like calling on Eric Holder to resign in 2011, the same year she urged the GOP on the debt ceiling in 2011 to not retreat but to "reload."
But hey, at least she has a friend in Cruz.
Last month Palin, who is notorious for flirting with running for office, wouldn't rule out a Senate run, saying Cruz needed backup.
“Ted Cruz and more of those good guys need some reinforcements in these midterm elections, to undo so much of what the Democrats are doing. I don’t’ know if it’ll be me.”