Palin tells 'tea party': It's revolution time

All she offered was a smile when a moderator asking her questions used the phrase “President Palin.” That prompted most in the audience to stand up and chant “Run, Sarah, run!”

But, given the plethora of attacks that Palin leveled at Obama, she seemed like she was already running against him. And, perhaps, as an independent.

She talked little about the Republican Party, going so far as to suggest that she should apologize to the party for her inability to get her husband to register with the Republicans. She also encouraged “tea party”-aligned candidates to compete in Republican primaries, saying: “Contested primaries aren't civil war; they're democracy at work and that's beautiful.”

Palin criticized Obama for continuing to blame George W. Bush for the country's woes instead of blaming what she called the Democrat's own big-government, big-spending agenda that has made the country less secure. She called his policies out of date and said they were “running out of time,” suggesting big Republican wins in the fall mid-term elections.

She also ribbed him for Democratic losses in New Jersey and Virginia governor's races last fall and in a Massachusetts Senate race last month, saying: “When you're 0-3 you'd better stop lecturing and start listening.”

On foreign policy and national security, Palin said he had “misguided thinking” and a pre-Sept. 11, 2001 mindset, saying: “We need a commander in chief” not a professor of law.

“Foreign policy can't be managed through the politics of personality,” she said.

She assailed the US$787 billion stimulus plan -- “Did you feel very stimulated?” she asked -- and said the administration's deficit spending was “immoral” and “generational theft.”

Her fee was US$100,000 for the appearance at the for-profit event. But she said she would not keep the money, instead giving it back to “the cause.” She didn't elaborate.

Admission was US$549 for access to the entire three-day gathering or US$349 just to hear Palin's speech after a dinner of lobster and steak at the sprawling Gaylord Opryland resort. The cost led to criticism from even some activists that it runs counter to the coalition's image and could preclude people from attending.

It's just one of several “tea party” appearances Palin plans in the coming weeks. She will speak at a rally in Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, to kick off the Tea Party Express III tour. In April, she heads to Boston for “tea party” gathering there around the one-year anniversary of the coalition that began last spring.

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