Lancaster Online: Sarah Palin's speech was a hit in Hershey
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged conservatives to continue fighting for a "culture of life, a pro-family agenda that will strengthen our country" and a drastically limited government in Washington.
She called the growing national debt a burden on families and "the greatest national security threat we face."
"We need to demand that Washington start putting our kids first and stop racking up the debt and mortgaging our futures," Palin told a sold-out crowd of some 1,100 people Friday night at Pennsylvania Family Institute's annual fundraiser at the Hershey Lodge.
Sarah Palin speaks at Hershey Lodge
"This debt is immoral because we're stealing opportunities. It's so unfair what we're going to hand to our children and our grandchildren," Palin said. "To me, it's generational theft."
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and potential 2012 presidential candidate, spoke on the eve of her scheduled appearance at today's Restoring Honor rally, being held by radio and TV talk-show host Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial.
That event is expected to draw 300,000 people.
"The country that governs the least governs best," Palin said.
In a 42-minute speech that ranged from folksy to wonky — she described camping in the Alaska wilderness and gaining 10 pounds this summer by eating Hershey chocolate — Palin said she felt at home in Pennsylvania, a state she and running mate John McCain lost in 2008.
"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and religions and your Constitution," Palin said, referring derisively to Barack Obama's controversial remarks about conservative voters here on the campaign trail two years ago.
Palin also took several shots at reporters and bloggers who have written about her family's travails in recent months.
"We are a big, loving family. We certainly aren't perfect. We're not the Waltons," Palin said. "We may be as big as the Waltons, but we're not the Waltons."
The Pennsylvania Family Institute, led by Elizabethtown resident Michael Geer, describes itself as a nonpartisan research and education organization that analyzes public policies and cultural trends for their impact on families.
The banquet and a VIP reception with Palin were closed to the media.
Reporters were permitted to cover only Palin's speech.
She did not make herself available to reporters before or after the event, though she did respond to a few questions that had been submitted beforehand dealing with who her role models were and how attendees could pray for her.
Palin was personable and made jokes during her speech but became serious when describing her discovery, when she was 12 weeks pregnant, that her son, Trig, would be born with Down syndrome.
"All through that pregnancy I was wondering, 'How in the world am I going to handle this?' " she said.
"The minute Trig was born, it was such evidence of God answering prayers. … Trig truly is the greatest blessing that ever happened to us. He puts things into perspective."
Palin went on to describe how she managed to keep the pregnancy a secret from the public for seven months at a time when she was the new governor of Alaska.
She said that because the winters are so cold there, she was able to conceal her pregnancy by piling on heavy coats and scarves — drawing laughter from the audience.
Palin also encouraged attendees to fight for a more public role for religion.
"Faith must be welcomed in the public square and be given room to flourish," she said. "Only then can we become the society that we aspire to and that we are destined to be."
The Family Institute has declined to say whether Palin was paid a speaker's fee for the event, but she has collected as much as $75,000 from similar events, including one at California State University earlier this summer.
tmurse@lnpnews.com
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