The news that Sarah Palin won’t be attending CPAC next week doesn’t come as much surprise. For those keeping score, she’s now been invited three times — and said no thanks each time.
A Palin aide did not immediately return a request to explain why, but her reasoning is pretty evident.
The criticism of CPAC was fueled by a report that David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, had asked FedEx for between $2 million and $3 million to get the group's support in a bitter battle on Capitol Hill with rival UPS. This was not the first reported allegation of Keene selling his influence with the conservative base, and is a large part of the reason why the ACU and its annual conference have waned in influence over the years.
The previous year, Palin’s camp and CPAC feuded over them listing her as a speaker at the conference despite the fact that she had not confirmed.
And Keene fueled the squabble between the two camps two years ago, when he told Newsmax that Palin was “whining” about negative press coverage.
Add the personal drama to the fact that several other conservatives – including Jim DeMint and Marco Rubio – are skipping the conference this year, and it’s pretty clear that Palin showing up was never in the cards
A Palin aide did not immediately return a request to explain why, but her reasoning is pretty evident.
A Palin source bashed CPAC and its leader David Keene in an interview last year with POLITICO announcing that the former governor wouldn’t be attending – even though CPAC had listed her as an invited guest for the second year in a row. The source called the annual gathering an example "special interests over core beliefs" and "pocketbook over policy."
"That's not what CPAC should be about and people are tiring," the source said. "Palin is taking a stance against this just as she did in Alaska." The criticism of CPAC was fueled by a report that David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, had asked FedEx for between $2 million and $3 million to get the group's support in a bitter battle on Capitol Hill with rival UPS. This was not the first reported allegation of Keene selling his influence with the conservative base, and is a large part of the reason why the ACU and its annual conference have waned in influence over the years.
The previous year, Palin’s camp and CPAC feuded over them listing her as a speaker at the conference despite the fact that she had not confirmed.
And Keene fueled the squabble between the two camps two years ago, when he told Newsmax that Palin was “whining” about negative press coverage.
Add the personal drama to the fact that several other conservatives – including Jim DeMint and Marco Rubio – are skipping the conference this year, and it’s pretty clear that Palin showing up was never in the cards
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