Just because Sarah Palin (probably) isn't running for president doesn't mean she's going to let you ignore her. Tuesday night, Palin referenced one of her most famous lines from the 2008 campaign--that then-candidate Obama was "palling around with terrorists." Palin was offering a bit of punditry on the deal to raise the debt ceiling on Fox News when she noted that Vice President Joe Biden had agreed with disgruntled Democrats that Tea Partying Republicans "acted like terrorists" during the negotiations. Palin joked, "If we were real domestic terrorists, President Obama would be wanting to pal around with us, wouldn't he? He didn't have a problem palling around with Bill Ayers back in the day when he kicked off his political career." Palin may not have a presidential campaign, but she's still got her zings.
Video of the terrorist line:
During the debt limit controversy, Palin has slowly worked to reinsert herself into the national debate. In the same Fox appearance, she criticized 2012 GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney for his slow response on the issue, turning the classic Southern insult formula on him: "Bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney, but I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate... He did this"--finger pointed in the wind--"He waited until it was a done deal."
And on Monday, she declared victory on behalf of the Tea Party because they "stuck to their principles." Those freshman Republicans in Congress must feel some sense of relief with that comment, as last week, Palin warned them not to cave to the White House, because "everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries."
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Elspeth Reeve
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