Sarah Palin’s Saturday visit to Clarkston focused some welcome attention on the area, said residents in attendance.
‘We get ignored for all the southern states,? said Judy Tully of Clarkston, who said she found Palin’s speech at the Defending the American Dream Summit in Mt. Zion Church to be inspirational. ‘No one ever comes this far north, so that was great.?
Carl Knaus of Clarkston, a local Tea Party activist, said Palin was right on with her speech, but ‘lacks the ability to shorten little phrases like Regan did or Obama does.?
‘I don’t think she’ll be running (in 2012). I think she’ll be on tour like she does now. She’s very good, and everybody loves her,? Knaus said. ‘I think she was wonderful, but is she electable against the big guns that have the communication skills? No.?
Independence Township resident Bruce Quigley agreed.
‘She is good at what she’s doing now, organizing and stuff,? Quigley said. ‘I think people sell her short. Really, they do their snippets on the bad and don’t really focus on the good parts. Even the people that dislike her, I think if they actually listened to her with an open mind I think they would get something out of it.?
‘She is the one who brings the enthusiasm and the vision to the conference,? Tully said. ‘I like her a lot.?
She said she also enjoyed the other speakers at the conference, and she was glad to have an event in the Clarkston area.
In her keynote speech at the beginning of the conference, Palin said Michigan always has a special place in her heart.
‘It’s so good to be in Michigan where the folks love the good hunting, the fishing, and the good hockey,? Palin said to more than 1,000 people at the summit, hosted by Americans for Prosperity. ‘Like so many Alaskans, you proudly ‘cling to your guns and your religion.’?
Palin said she was shocked during the 2008 presidential campaign trail when she found out they were pulling out of Michigan.
‘Our bus, everybody on it, we took it pretty hard, because again we knew how much Michigan meant to the rest of the U.S. and we knew how important it was to garner the support of the votes in Michigan,? She said. ‘All of us wanted to come back to the Great Lakes State.?
Since the campaign, Palin said she has traveled the country and talked with ‘good honest, patriotic hardworking Americans who make this country the greatest country on earth.? From those conversations she’s found people who are ready to fight for a change in direction.
‘They recognize the road we are on right now this promise, this warning we had heard about this fundamental transformation of America is not what we bargained for,? she said. ‘I like to ask people who voted for Obama. How is that hopey, changey stuff working out for you now? Are you pocketing some of that stimulus money? Are you better off now then you were how many trillions of dollars ago??
Palin said Michigan is a great example of such people stepping forward and fighting across America and noted that Michigan may have it even tougher than most due to the economic climate we are in.
‘The rest of U.S. will not abandon Michigan. You deserve much better then the kind of leadership that you’re getting from Washington D.C. and we’re determined to see you get it,? she said. ‘If we’re going to get American back onto the right track we got to get back to some time tested truth, things history has shown us work.?
An example being the patriotic Americans who are ‘rising up? all over the nation
‘Some of us are Republicans. Some are what we used to perhaps call ‘Regan Democrat.? Some like a whole lot of my friends and family, even my own husband just independents, not registered in any party, just independent liberty loving Americans who are so concerned about the path we’re now on,? Palin said. ‘Some of us are proud enough and bold enough to put up with what the ‘lamestream? media says about us, the lies they tell and we’re proud to call ourselves ‘Tea Party Americans.??
It is the ‘tea party movement,? Palin said, that has ‘both political machines rethinking the way they do business.?
‘I thank God for conservative grassroots efforts like this one Americans for Prosperity,? she said. ‘I thank God for all of you because you’re not going to just sit there and let this transformation occur in this country.?
Palin also hit on economic challenges such as ‘Obamacare,? national energy tax, and the need for ‘unbiased scientific data that doesn’t push a political agenda,? as well the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana.
She said this is not a time for discouragement of what’s happening but a time to make a change at the ballot box in 2010 and ‘elect leaders who reflect our values, our priorities.?
‘Now, more than ever we got to be united under God, under one constitution, as one America to take this back,? Palin said.