Lines of communication crossed over Palin keynote

March 17, 2009

Officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) bragged Monday they had secured Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as the keynote speaker for a major fundraiser in June, but someone in Palin’s office apparently didn’t get the message.

A spokesman in Palin’s office said the governor had not confirmed she will attend the event, slated to be the party’s biggest fundraiser of the year and set for June 8.

“I communicated with the governor directly and she did not know anything about it,” Bill McAllister, Palin’s spokesman, told the Anchorage Daily News.

McAllister’s comments came just hours after NRSC chief John Cornyn (Texas) and NRCC head Pete Sessions (Texas) put out a joint statement announcing Palin’s attendance at the lucrative soiree, which will be held at the Washington Convention Center.

Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the NRSC, said Palin’s political staff has confirmed the governor will show.

“The committees have confirmed this with the governor’s political staff at SarahPAC, not her official staff in Juneau, so it’s understandable why there may be a miscommunication here,” Walsh told The Hill on Tuesday morning.

Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, is based in Arlington, Va.

In the joint statement, Cornyn called Palin “one of the most popular and recognizable faces in the Republican Party.” Sessions said it was a “pleasure” to announce Palin’s speech, citing her as a “compelling visionary” for the GOP…

… Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) will be in Washington on March 24 for a major fundraiser benefiting the NRCC, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will headline an April 1 dinner for the NRSC.
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