I thought readers of this blog would like to read the charming reply Edward Leigh received to his invitation to Sarah Palin to address the Cornerstone Group at one of our forthcoming dinners:
‘STATE OF ALASKA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
JUNEAU
Dear Mr Leigh,
Thank you for your very kind letter of November 27, 2008, inviting me to dinner at the House of Commons. While it is not possible at this time to take advantage of your kind invitation to dine with the Cornerstone Group of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons, I thank you for the invitation.
Please feel free to remain in contact with my office. I have asked our Office of International Trade to be available to answer any questions you may have about Alaska.
Again, thank you for your invitation. God bless.
Sincerely,
Sarah Palin
Governor’
As a British Conservative woman, I am at a complete loss to understand why you’d invite this woman in the first place?
I know Brits who have been to Alaska (and yes they are conservative’s) and they have been less than impressed with her. Now that may be because like me they are mostly female and can see through her winks, nods and gotchas….
There are plenty of other Republican women you could invite, who although not as “comely” to look at, would at least, bring some real gravitas.
I really think I’d like the woman, but not as a politician.
You must be a very jealous person to think she is comely. She is an example of what American’s need to start following so that we can get back to our traditional values. This county has gone to HE77 with so much liberalism and trash.
Was this invitation business or pleasure?
Shucks. I thought the internationally acclaimed Cornerstone Group, and Edward Leigh in particular, had real pulling power.
To a Conservative, it is obvious why the Conservative MPs in the House of Commons would want to invite Governor Palin.
She is a Conservative!!!!!
She is governing Alaska as a Conservative!!
That’s a shame. It would have been great to have Governor Palin here in England. Ah well, I’m sure she’s very busy in Alaska.
JmJ, I get the impression you’ve fallen for the media portrail of the woman.
Perhaps if you have another event after her legislative session concludes in April she would be able to attend the event. She’s only left Alaska once since the election and it was on a weekend so as to not miss a day of work.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Hmmm…looks like British women feel just as threatened by Sarah’s attractiveness as their American counterparts. As for these “Brits who have been to Alaska”, I would be interested in hearing, in depth, about the exact time and location of their interaction with the Governor of Alaska, who by the way, has an approval rating of 80% in her State. I don’t know about British tourists, but the Alaskans love her! Millions of us in the Lower Forty-Eight love her too. Please don’t believe anything you are hearing about Governor Palin from the left-wing, pseudo-intellectual Media. The Left-Wing, Socialist leaning, Obama lovin’ power brokers in this country are terrified of Governor Palin, because they know, deep down inside, that she has struck a powerful chord with the American people, and they will stop at nothing to undermine and marginalize her. Sarah is a strict Constitutionalist, and a pragmatic, gutsy, independent and energetic leader…we love her and are going to do everything we can to see her run, and win, in 2012!
I’m with you on this one. I’d love to see her as President. Just hope we aren’t stuck with OBAMA again.
Well,
Another poster who is totally ignorant of Governor Sarah Palin. The winks, nods, and gotchas are gravy honey. Do your homework and study the woman’s past record.
Big surprise.
Hey, I think I hear the muezzin calling you to prayer. Chop-Chop.
The British know a class act when they see one. I regret that Governor Palin cannot go, but of course, her first concern is the governing of Alaska and there is plenty of activity there with the stimulus bill, the pipeline negotiations, etc.
Governor Palin continues to have invitations nationally and internationally on a daily basis. It amuses me to hear people say she is doing projects for the publicity. Please!! She could be on TV for the next year and a half if she accepted one half of the offers she has received. Instead she continues to govern Alaska wisely and will be a force to contend with if she chooses to run
The British know a class act when they see one. I regret that Governor Palin cannot go, but of course, her first concern is the governing of Alaska and there is plenty of activity there with the stimulus bill, the pipeline negotiations, etc.
Governor Palin continues to have invitations nationally and internationally on a daily basis. It amuses me to hear people say she is doing projects for the publicity. Please!! She could be on TV for the next year and a half if she accepted one half of the offers she has received. Instead she continues to govern Alaska wisely and will be a force to contend with if she chooses to run in 2012.
Re JmJ’s comment: Observing the British Conservative Party from Dublin, the description ‘conservative’ hardly describes it anymore. I suspect that many so-called American conservatives like David Brooks, David Frum, Andrew Sullivan, Colin Powell and Cris Buckley would feel perfectly at home in David Cameron’s Tory party. As for visiting Brit conservative women and their views, is there some law that says that ‘comely’ women should not seek to rise to top positions? Is there some law which says that they must behave like men, and not, ike Governor Palin, take delight in their own femininity? Both Bill Clinton and George Bush were also given to ‘nods’ and ‘winks’ when dealing with audiences; does JmJ also object to these practices when they done by male politicians? As for ‘gotchas’ I think any objective observer would say that Governor Palin has been more on the receiving end than on the giving. Governor Palin should be evaluated on her actual record as Governor, not otherwise. Alaskans, who are in a position to know, give her very high marks (63% + according to Dailey KOS).
Whatever unnamed Brits who visited Alaska may think the locals gave her an 80% approval rating. Perhaps JMJ might care ti specify exactly why she dislikes her.
Personally I found her statement that if they won America would start building nuclear power stations in January to be more impressive than the winks I didn’t notice her giving me.
I wish I felt Cameron had 1,000th as much competence, decisiveness & willingness to make tough decisions.
I will be interested to see what happens when she meets Thatcher.
When are you going to approvev my last post?
mmmmmmmmmm JmJ….gravitas….as a fellow Brit I agree that she is certainly an attractive lady and talks in a “folksy” manner with a distinctive accent. She is not, of course, Ivy League and has been treated with a certain degree of disdain by certain East Coast Republican pundits (David Brooks, David Frum etc) as “not one of us”….shades of Maggie? However, amonst the Republican grassroots she has remained immensely popular.
As for your friends who have visited Alaska were they aware that she fought against corruption in her own party, is still opposed by Democrats and the good ol’ boy Republican establishment yet still has approval ratings of 60+% despite the bruises of the Presidential campaign.
Right now, Sarah Palin is one of only a few Republicans who has shown leadership ability. She is a capable, and energetic leader in her state, she has cut her state budget, imposed a hiring freeze, was smart enough to forward fund education. She recently signed a $500 million deal to build a natural gas pipeline through Canada to the lower 48, and is moving forward on constructing an in-state pipeline as well. She has rejected 50 percent of the so-called stimulus money, accepting only that which will go for infrastructure projects, about half of which Alaska would have gotten anyway. Jindal has turned down only $98 million out of approximately $9 billion for his state, Sanford has turned down only unemployment benefits, but accepted the rest.
Camille Paglia, one of America’s leading feminist intellectuals and certainly no right winger has described Governor Palin as an immensely talented politician whose time has not yet come – I don’t think Camille is the sort of person to be seduced by a wink and a betcha.
The Governor has declined your invitation because she is concentrating on her job in Alaska. At this moment she is involved with legislators in the formulation of Alaska’s budget for the forthcoming financial year. Maybe in a few months time she would be able to come to London to meet with Cornerstone and I am sure she will make as big an impression on you as she did at the recent Alfalfa Dinner in Washington, DC and, personally, I would give my right arm to be present at your meeting.
As JmJ suggests you could invite another Republican woman – but if you did I can assure you that the Republican grassroots would wonder which planet you were on.
This is not a good time to be asking any state governor to participate in a foreign junket. Britain has no routine business with any state in the union, and state budgets are incredibly tight, with massive budget cuts in the process of being negotiated. A trip to the UK would be viewed as a sign that she is disconnected from the state’s business at a time of incredible economic difficulty. Given that Britain isn’t exactly Alaska’s neighbor and therefore emphatically not part of her portfolio, I think it was politically wise for her to decline the invitation.
Dealing with foreign dignitaries is, however, an integral part of Obama’s responsibilities. That he insulted Britain by ejecting the bust of Churchill and followed this up by deliberately* insulting Brown is a sign not of incompetence but of petulance in a man who puts his personal (and radical) views over the interests of the country he is sworn to represent. Maybe he thinks he was elected to rule rather than serve.
* The White House has a Protocol Office that doesn’t change from administration to administration. It’s a lie to say that he did not know Brown’s reception was an insult.
She really is easy on the eyes, though…
I think Gov. Palin would have been a great guest. Too bad she was unable to attend. Maybe she can in the future.
JmJ,
Your comment has a needlessly unpleasant tone throughout.
Simply because some British acquaintances of yours aren’t impressed with Governor Palin, is that supposed to logically imply that she has nothing of value to offer as a speaker?
Is there any public figure about which it cannot be said that some people will be unimpressed?
Governor Palin’s very polite letter stands in sharp contrast to your snide, snarky, pointlessly antagonistic comment.
I applaud Cornerstone’s good sense in inviting Governor Palin.
When I think of some of the Conservatives-in-name-only that can be found on either side of the pond, I am glad to see that Cornerstone respect and support truly Conservative leaders.
Sarah Palin governs an unimaginably vast, strategically vital State and she has done it as a social and fiscal Conservative with a consistently high 70 to 80% approval rating. She is a shoe-in for the Presidential race in 2012. Who else should Cornerstone invite but her?
It’s a real shame she can’t make it (I have to say though, her demurring reply charmed my socks off).
Perhaps Cornerstone should ‘up-the-ante’ somehow – invite her and her family over for a sort of State visit, complete with a press conference with the Alaskan flag alongside the Union Jack.
And give Governor Palin a statesmanlike gift – though be careful! Don’t be misled by the example set by Obama’s White House. A box-set of British DVDs – such as the complete series of “Poldark” – is not really good enough :0)
Perhaps you think it’s cute when dopey “hope/change” presidents are so inept all they have to offer your PM is a stack of DVDs. Does Mr. Brown have to send them back to Blockbuster HIMSELF?
Ololo! I like what is written here!!
Nice post.
For her brilliant send up of “community activists” at the Republic Convention, Gov. Palin deserves another shot at the White House. Only in towns as corrupt as Chicago or Wash. DC would being a PTA president, city councilwoman, mayor, governor, and VP candidate, NOT qualify her as a “coummnity activist,” much less a mere concerned citizen. By the way, the fact that there is Cornerstone Group in Parliament is heartening to this Americn descendant of the British Isles and recent Catholic convert. Thank you MP Leigh.
Graham Combs
Royal Oak, Michigan, USA