NRCC In Complete Turmoil As Their Big Annual Lobbyist Fundraiser Revs Up In DC

Of all the people to plagiarize, Newt Gingrich would be a mighty shallow choice. But if we've learned anything at all about Sarah Palin over the last year it's that she was a mighty shallow choice herself. Gingrich has been dancing barefoot on hot coals in a futile attempt to exculpate himself from having called Sonia Sotomayor a racist-- something his party's congressional leaders have recoiled from (better to leave that to Coulter, Beck, O'Reilly and the Pig Man)-- without letting down the radicalized and extremist GOP base (Idiot America).

So tonight the big NRCC fundraising dinner in DC, featuring hundreds of lobbyists eager to buy Republican hearts and minds, will feature... a mud-wrestling cage match, overseen by Pete Sessions, between Newt The Pagan Slayer Gingrich and Sarah The Simpleminded Palin. If only... Instead you have this sordid spectacle that Sessions is presiding over where Palin is being asked to stay away from the event-- or at least keep her mouth shut if she shows up-- so that Gingrich can get all the media coverage. (Good luck with that one, boys and girls.)

Gingrich will be singing and dancing for the lobbyists to raise money for hard-pressed congressional incumbents-- like Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Miami's notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers (R-FL), and Ken Calvert (R-CA)-- who are eager for the cash but cringing because of Gingrich's injection of racism into the Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Bono Mack's district is 40% Hispanic and one Diaz-Balart's district is 69.7% Hispanic and the other's is 62.4% Hispanic; Calvert, who squeaked by with a 51% win in November (having spent $1,150,432 against a little know Democrat, Bill Hedrick who only spent $191,461) has a district that is 35% Hispanic. Their constituents are proud that Obama named Sotomayor to the Supreme Court and they're proud of her All-American life story. Maybe some are wondering why Bono Mack, the Diaz-Balarts and Calvert are supping at Gingrich's table, taking his dough and not distancing themselves from his repulsive and shameful anti-Hispanic racism.

But the NRCC chair isn't addressing that either. Instead he's juggling the Palin-Gingrich nightmare that seems to be backfiring in his face with the GOP nutroots already fuming over Palin's treatment.

After being invited-- for a second time-- to speak to the annual joint fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Palin was told abruptly Saturday night that she would not be allowed to address the thousands of Republicans there after all.

The Alaska governor may now skip the dinner altogether, and her allies are miffed at what they see as a slight from the congressional wing of the Republican Party.

The reason given for the snub, said a Palin aide, was that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions was concerned about not wanting to upstage former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the fundraising gala’s keynote speaker.

“A great deal of effort has been put into this fundraising event, and Speaker Gingrich has gone above and beyond the call of duty,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. “It is our hope that Gov. Palin will attend the dinner and be recognized, but we understand if her busy schedule doesn’t permit her to do so.”

The disinvitation from speaking, said a campaign committee official, was done “out of respect” for Gingrich.

“You dance with the one who brung ya,” said the official, who stressed that event organizers were still happy to have Palin appear and be introduced.

Ironically, Palin was originally supposed to be the headliner for the dinner. NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas wanted the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee to speak. And officials with the two party committees thought earlier this spring that she had committed, even going so far as to issue a press release announcing her appearance.

But after public uncertainty as to whether she had actually accepted and would attend, the NRSC and NRCC decided to invite Gingrich instead.

Palin aides in Alaska say the governor never accepted that first invitation and attributed the mix-up to Washington-based advisers.

But then last week-- in part due to the urging of Republican überfundraiser and Palin friend [notorious anti-Semite, Nixon's Jew counter] Fred Malek-- the NRSC extended a new invitation for Palin to speak. The plan, Republican sources say, was to make her appearance something of a surprise for GOP donors in attendance.

Palin was in New York this weekend on a mix of state and personal business-- she celebrated the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood Saturday at a large celebration in Auburn, N.Y., the hometown of William Seward of “Seward’s Folly” fame-- and the idea was that she’d swing down to the capital on Monday for the dinner before flying on to Texas for energy-related events.

Palin’s staff had even been sent an agenda with the governor’s speaking slot included.

But then a finance official with the NRSC called Palin aide Meg Stapleton Saturday night to say that Sessions didn’t want Palin to speak.

Recounting the conversation Sunday, Stapleton said she told the NRSC staffer: “Why, at a time when we’re trying to build the party, would you pull a move like that on somebody who earlier in the day just attracted 20,000 people?”

...[M]any in the party establishment, mindful of her polarizing persona and the devastating caricatures that emerged last fall, would prefer she remain in Alaska and leave the party rebuilding to others who may appeal to the broad middle of the country.

Like Newt Gingrich?





UPDATE: Palin Went Over Like A Damp Mop With Crud On It

Palin was a bust (or worse) at the lobbyist dinner for the Republicans last night but she ruled in her visit to the Empire State, where two closet Republican state senators were so excited that they came out Could Newt Gingrich work that kind of magic? Could T-Paw?

Top Ten Highlights Of Sarah Palin's Trip To New York

10. Visited New York landmarks she normally only sees from Alaska
9. Laughed at all the crazy-looking foreigners entering the U.N.
8. Made moose jerky on Rachael Ray
7. Keyed Tina Fey's car
6. After a wink and a nod, ended up with a kilo of crack
5. Made coat out of New York City rat pelts
4. Sat in for Kelly Ripa. Regis couldn't tell the difference.
3. Finally met one of those Jewish people Mel Gibson's always talking about
2. Bought makeup from Bloomingdale's to update her "slutty flight attendant" look
1. Especially enjoyed not appearing on Letterman

Top Ten Extras

11. Claimed she could see Little Russia from Little Italy
12. Flew over Empire State Building hoping to shoot King Kong from a helicopter
13. Assuring donors her 2012 presidential run will be efficient, thoughtful and a total failure
14. Brushing up on judicial system by attending taping of "Judge Hatchett"