Sarah Palin to GOP 'Beltway Boys' on 2010 Election: 'You Didn't Build That; the Tea Party Did'

Former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin closed out closed out CPAC on Saturday and blasted the Republican establishment for marginalizing conservatives and the Tea Party after the historic 2010 elections in which the Tea Party gave House Republicans back their majority. 

Palin, whose endorsement carries the most weight in GOP primaries, had a simple message for the “Beltway Boys”: “You didn’t build that. The Tea Party did.”

“Dance with the one that brought you,” Palin said. “And you want another sweep, then grab a broom and join us at the party.” 

Palin said the Tea Partiers are stronger, smarter, and hungrier and that is why conservatives must not retreat. 

Palin closed out CPAC as the conference’s featured speaker for the second time in the last three years. Last year, Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he would not be in the U.S. Senate were it not for Palin, closed out the conference. Palin, whose endorsement is the most influential in Republican primaries, said that if she does not run for president in 2016 Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are at the top of her list. And she had plenty of praise for Cruz on Saturday, thanking Texas for helping put Congress on “Cruz control.” 

She said reinforcements have to be sent to Washington to fight for American workers who “are caught between the crony capitalism that benefits the politically collected and the income redistribution that benefits the politically favored.”

Palin also spoke about how conservatives are now pushing back in winning in the culture wars, as was evidenced by A&E’s reinstatement of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, and took on the Democrats’ phony “war on women” rhetoric by saying Democrats think women are cheap, and that all they need are cheap lines about birth control to get their votes. Palin asking the women in the audience to not be cheap political accessories and said one will not hear Democrats scream, “I am women, hear me roar,” because while donkeys bray, “only Mama Grizzlies can say, ‘Hear Me Roar!'”

She called the GOP establishment a “different breed of cat” and said they should be confronted in 2014, 2016 and beyond when they tell conservatives to “lay low” when the country is being destroyed. 

She also gave a “hat tip,” like she did to the Internet while reading her Dr. Seuss riff, to the NRA when she said only a good guy with a nuke can stop a bad guy with a nuke.  

The crowd roared, “Run, Sarah, Run!” If Palin does not run, as Breitbart News has reported and documented, Palin’s endorsement may be the most influential, as was proven during the 2012 cycle – as candidates Palin praised before Iowa and South Carolina voted won:

She praised Rick Santorum in December in 2011 when Iowans seemed lukewarm about the field of Republican primary candidates. After Palin made her remarks on December 2 on Fox News’s Hannity, Santorum, who was at four percent in the polls in Iowa – barely above Jon Huntsman, who was not even competing in the state – started getting momentum and eventually won the caucus a month later. Though Santorum had gone “all-in” in Iowa and planted his campaign exclusively in the state, voters were persuaded to consider his candidacy more seriously after Palin spoke kindly of him.

Palin has influence in South Carolina as well, of course – her support of Nikki Haley in the 2010 primary ensured she won the Palmetto State’s gubernatorial election – and her positive comments about Newt Gingrich enabled him to win South Carolina’s presidential primary in 2012.

Palin, who was mocked in 2008 for predicting that Russia’s Vladimir Putin may invade Ukraine if Obama were elected, patted herself on the back a bit, and, in a devastating attack on President Barack Obama said she may be being too hard on the president because, “after all, who could have seen this coming?”

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A thunderous standing ovation at the conclusion of Palin’s speech unlike what was given to any other speaker. That’s why Palin is the main event. 

Palin said that the message of America does resonate and conservatives need to be the “band of brothers and sisters” again to “fundamentally restore the promise of America.” 

“It is because of you… that I have never been more optimistic about the future of our one nation, under God. So stand up and stiffen your spine. You gotta fight for it. The best is yet to come,” Palin said. 

Palin: We’re not hear to rebrand a party but to rebuild a country. We’re in the business of digging ourselves out of debt, restoring competitiveness, educating our children, and liberating our potential. 

Palin said, “we’re the party that protects even the littlest sisters in the womb.” 

Palin, after saying donkeys (Democrats) can only bray: “Only Mama Grizzlies Can Say, ‘Hear Me Roar!’ 

Palin on war on women: Liberals think the women in America are cheap dates. Throw in some lines about birth control and they will be yours. Imagine if they treated the men like that, Palin said. 

Palin then told the women in the crowd: “We know better than to fall for the victimization line… set them straight…. who’s really stereotyping you?” Palin said Democrats put them in the box and asked the women not to fall for it unless they want men to grow government to take care of them and want to be their political piece of accessory on their arm. 

“Honey, that’s not liberation. That’s subjugation,” Palin said. 

Palin said that when Phil Robertson was talking about faith with a reporter from GQ (first mistake), quoted the Bible, and got colorful, the television station got rid of him. Palin said that people pushed back all over America and pushed back–and it wasn’t just “wingers and clingers”–and realized that “his fight was our fight” and “we pushed back and we won.”

Palin blasted the perpetual “panties-in-a-wad people” and their media minions. She said the perpetually “wadded up people” get to work to “shut up anyone who doesn’t toe their line.” 

“Buck up or stay in the truck,” Palin said, that’s how we grew up. 

Palin to GOP Beltway Boys on 2010 election: “You Didn’t Build That. The Tea Party did.”

Palin said the planet is not listening to “Dr. Obama” and though he promised the waters would rise the only thing rising is the Russian empire. Palin then asked, “who could have seen this coming?” in a reference to her prediction that Putin may invade Ukraine if Obama were elected President. 

Palin said Obama doesn’t understand that the only way to stop a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke. 

Palin mocks John Kerry’s long face and mocks Obama for threatening Putin with flexibility and a phone and a pen. 

Palin is greeted with chants of “run, Sarah, run.” She says she should because she didn’t this morning and did some Yoga instead. 

Palin said that the GOP establishment advises Republicans to lay low but conservatives should interrupt when America is being damaged. 

Palin asked Americans to send reinforcements to Washington to help constitutional conservatives stand up for American workers who are caught between the crony capitalism that benefits the politically collected and the income redistribution that benefits the politically favored. 

Palin blasted the establishment for criticizing Cruz, and then, in Palinesque fashion, held up a copy of Green Eggs and Ham (Cruz read from the book to his daughters during his standing filibuster) and started: “I do not like his Uncle Sam, I do not like his healthcare scam…” I do not like reporters’ smug replies when I complain about their lies…”

I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his healthcare scam.  

I do not like these dirty crooks or how they lie and cook the books.

I do not like when Congress steals. I do not like their crony deals.

I do not like this spying, man. I do not like, ‘oh yes we can.’

I do not like this spending spree. We’re smart, we know there’s nothing free.

I do not like reporters’ smug replies when I complain about their lies.

I do not like this kind of hope and we wont take it… nope, nope, nope.

Palin thanked Texas because liberty needs Congress on “Cruz control.”

Palin said that Americans are realizing what conservative icons from Reagan to Friedman to Thatcher understood, that there is no free lunch. 

She said that “Yes, we can,” has become, “No, you can’t” and blasted Obamacare’s failed website and the NSA’s spying programs. 

Palin said that the future of conservatism always starts at CPAC. She said it’s like, “y’all went rogue.”

Palin: “If you love your freedom, thank a vet.” 

She said she met 

Palin was introduced by the NRA’s Chris Cox, who said if he asked 100 people in the audience why they love Sarah Palin he would get 100 different answers to a rousing ovation at the mention of Palin’s name. Cox said Palin stands firmly for conservative principles, and that is why conservative love her so much.

As usual, the room is packed to hear Palin speak.

While the 2012 GOP presidential primary had a clear establishment frontrunner in Mitt Romney and a bevy of weaker candidates who battled to be the anti-Romney, the 2016 primary has strong candidates across the board without a clear frontrunner. If they all run, potential candidates like Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum would each have a significant group of supporters that may get them around 8-15% of the vote.

That may make Palin, if she chooses not to run, the 2016 kingmaker.

When people think about 2013’s CPAC, they think of Sarah Palin and her Big Gulp, which she held up in what became known as Palin’s “Liberty Pose,” as she railed against the nanny-state politics of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, who keynoted CPAC last year, introduced Palin. Cruz said that he would not be in the Senate were it not for Palin. 

During her first appearance at CPAC, Palin, just like she did when she interjected “crony capitalism” and the “permanent political class” into the political bloodstream with a landmark speech in Indianola, Iowa in 2011, railed against the “Boomtown” interests on both sides of the aisle. The speech made conservatives feel that she would be the better candidate on the national stage and even mainstream media reporters had to conceded that no other Republican can speak to the hearts of conservatives like Palin can. She also stayed after the speech as she was swarmed by enthusiastic conservatives and took time to recognize and show her appreciation to everyone that approached her. The last minutes of the C-SPAN video show how powerfully Palin resonates with the grassroots.