Sarah Palin will not give a pro-life speech tonight for the Alaska Family Council at Anchorage megachurch ChangePoint, as event organizers had previously advertised.
A spokeswoman for Palin said the former governor had never accepted the invitation in the first place, though Alaska Family Council organizers said they’ve been speaking with “Palin contacts” for weeks. This is the fourth time such an incident has happened: Palin scheduled to speak at an event, organizations advertising the event for weeks, and the speech being cancelled at the last minute due to apparent miscommunication.
Spokeswoman Meg Stapleton told the Anchorage Daily News that Palin was invited to a private fundraiser for the group, and that “she had hoped to be able to attend but cannot return (to Alaska) in time for that private fundraiser.” Stapleton also said “this is the first time we have ever heard of a speech” at the megachurch.
Alaska Family Council President Jim Minnery was surprised at the news, however, citing his organizers’ work with the Palin contacts. “All we can do is take people at their word that we’ve worked with in the past. We’ve been working for several weeks on the event, promoting it very heavily. It would be a grave disappointment if she doesn’t show up but the show will still go on,” he said.
Previous scheduling mishaps with Palin:
*February: Palin pulls out of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she was due to speak, because of the “duties of governing.”
*June: Palin attends a major GOP fundraiser in DC after weeks of hedging. She was originally invited to speak, but organizers gave her speaking role to Newt Gingrich after she wavered on the invitation, at which point Palin seemed to cancel her appearance at the dinner entirely, and didn’t give organizers a definite answer until the afternoon of the event.
*August: Palin does not speak at an event for a California Republican women’s group at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, despite it being advertised for weeks. Stapleton posted a statement saying Palin would not attend and had never been committed to the event on Palin’s Facebook site.
