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Dinner Reservations

By Karen Tumulty | June 8, 2009 | +

It’s hard to see how the Republican Party is going to orchestrate a comeback if it’s having this much trouble organizing the seating chart for one dinner. Politico’s Jonathan Martin tells us:

Sarah Palin’s on-again, off-again appearance at Monday night’s gala GOP fundraising dinner is off — again.

After being invited — for a second time — to speak to the annual joint fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Palin was told abruptly Saturday night that she would not be allowed to address the thousands of Republicans there after all.

The Alaska governor may now skip the dinner altogether, and her allies are miffed at what they see as a slight from the congressional wing of the Republican Party.

The reason given for the snub, said a Palin aide, was that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions was concerned about not wanting to upstage former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the fundraising gala’s keynote speaker.

“A great deal of effort has been put into this fundraising event, and Speaker Gingrich has gone above and beyond the call of duty,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. “It is our hope that Gov. Palin will attend the dinner and be recognized, but we understand if her busy schedule doesn’t permit her to do so.”

UPDATE: From Greg Sargent: Breaking news! (Honestly, I just can’t keep up):

NRCC chief Pete Sessions is working behind the scenes to get Palin reinvited to the big GOP fundraiser tonight, GOP sources say.

It’s the story of the day that GOP leaders have been battling over who’s to blame for the fact that Palin was “snubbed” when she was mysteriously disinvited from the big fundraiser, which is for the two Congressional committees, the NRCC and the NRSC. Politico laid the blame on NRCC chief Sessions, claiming he didn’t want her to upstage keynote speaker Newt Gingrich, prompting a round of bitter finger-pointing.

But GOP sources say that Sessions right now is working the phones to try to get Palin to attend, after all. The Hill, in what seemed like an answer to the Politico piece, reported that the real culprit behind Palin’s disinvitation had originally been NRSC chief John Cornyn.

UPDATE2: Wait, wait, wait … Cillizza reports she’s going to make it after all. Unless she doesn’t.

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  • stuartzechman

    Oh look!
    .
    A new thread on a highly trafficked blog!
    .
    I can hardly believe it!

  • Karen Tumulty

    are you saying you missed me?

  • Matt

    Getting to think that folks in the GOP don;t care much for Palin’s antics. And that she doesn’t much care for the GOP leadership…

    http://www.political-buzz.com/

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    incomparable charisma and just-folks appeal
    .
    It never pays to alienate the all important ‘moron’ constituency.

  • queencersei

    They created the Palin monster, they can now live with it.

  • stuartzechman

    KT:
    .
    Yes!
    .
    I missed the hard-hitting, question-raising, thought-provoking, no-nonsense K Tumulty, political reporter extraordinaire of Things of Consequence.
    .
    Can the person who linked to a non-story about a non-conflict involving non-important, non-elected people (I refer to President Gingrich, of course) at Drudgico (that already made the rounds of daytime cable twice) let me know when she gets back?
    .
    Thanks!

  • Art Pepper

    not wanting to upstage disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
    .
    I haven’t taken the “Gingrich 2012″ rumors very seriously (what year are we in now? 2010 or something?) … but if he does run, would that not constitute definitive proof that the GOP has jumped the shark?

  • sqr1

    “I can see the gala from my hotel room!”

  • queencersei

    Being a disgraced former fill in the blank doesn’t mean much in the GOP. Is it to early for Larry Craig to make a come back?

  • Art Pepper

    But on a much less important issue (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7778310)
    .
    “Boumediene said it was in his interest to lie to the interrogators, who would reward the detainees if they admitted guilt.
    .
    Now that’s what I call keeping America safe! Heckuva job.

  • Cliff

    I was going to hand out some guff about a post on seating charts (because read Art Pepper’s link), but it is pretty entertaining to know that they dare not let the white trash ice queen upstage the fat adulterous man-baby.

  • redraven937

    “As Gingrich rears his head and comes into the air space of Republican party…”

  • Art Pepper

    Cliff: Actually I was just picking up from the end of the previous MS thread.
    .
    KT: Is this post payback for all the grief we’ve been giving you about single-payer? I promise never to bring it up again! Just make it stop!

  • sqr1

    Isn’t there some secessionist fundraiser she can attend instead? I’m sure she could raise millions in confederate dollars.

  • afguy

    But GOP sources say that Sessions right now is working the phones to try to get Palin to attend, after all.
    .
    Just a question . . .
    .
    Why would any “self-respecting” individual (yeah, I know) want to be jerked around like this? Can’t she see that she really doesn’t have much of a future with this bunch and, even then, only as a convenient fundraising tool?
    .
    Bonus question: why would she want to have one?

  • gysgt213

    KT-This is interesting. Since Palin has been pulling out of mulitiple GOP events claiming she is way too busy running her states’ government only to show up at other events that she apparently is not too busy to attend at the same time as the one she pulled out of. Now the GOP has to decide if they are going to back Newt or are Palin’s forces going to get their way then way over play their hand.

  • Cliff

    Art Pepper: It’s still a worthwhile link.
    .
    In all seriousness, can we get a post on some topic of consequence?

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    The Hill, in what seemed like an answer to the Politico piece, reported.
    .
    Does anyone remember when the news cycle was a full 24 hours with Saturdays off?

  • mccainfluffer

    I am routing for either Gingrich or Palin (or both) to take the leadership role of the GOP! Hilarity and insanity will surely ensue.

  • stuartzechman

    Hmm…”Sessions”…”Sessions”…
    .
    Isn’t he the guy who has something to do with confirming Supreme Court nominees?
    .
    Does he, like, vote on things, too? Does he have political opinions about stuff like stimulus spending, or health care reform, or torture, or energy policy, or manufacturing or trade policy?

    Sessions was ranked by National Journal as the fifth-most conservative United States Senator in their March, 2007 conservative/liberal rankings.[5]

    That guy?

    On September 25, 2005, he spoke at a rally attended by 400 people in Washington, D.C. in favor of the war in Iraq. It was held in opposition to an anti-war protest held the day before that was attended by 100,000 people. Sessions spoke of the anti-war protesters, saying “The group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don’t know what they represent, other than to blame America first.”[7]

    That guy?

    On October 5, 2005, he was one of nine Senators that voted against a Senate amendment to a House bill that prohibited cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government.[8]

    That guy?

    Sessions was one of 37 Senators to vote against funding for embryonic stem cell research.[9]

    That guy?

    Sessions had unsuccessfully prosecuted three civil rights workers (including Albert Turner, a former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr), on a case of election fraud for the 1984 election. Sessions spent hours interrogating black voters in predominantly black counties, finding 14 allegedly tampered ballots out of approximately 1.7 million ballots cast. The three civil rights workers were acquitted after four hours of jury deliberation.[4]

    That guy?

    Sessions supports former Vice President Dick Cheney’s proposal to exempt the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from any ban on the use of torture.[14]

    That guy?

    Sessions has advocated the extension of FISA legislation to legalize the Bush Administration’s wiretapping techniques. He compared worries about government overreach to “two dramatic errors some years ago in a situation just like this, on emotion driven by our civil libertarian friends,” specifically the lack of sharing of information between the FBI and the CIA as well as prohibitions on obtaining intelligence from “dangerous” sources.

    That guy?

    Sessions has been one of the most vocal critics of the reauthorization of PEPFAR in 2008. On July 14, when the bill went to debate, Sessions prepared an amendment that would allow the so-called “Helms Amendment” banning HIV-positive patients from entering the United States to be maintained, a ban that the bill would repeal.

    That f*cking guy?
    .
    Hmm…
    .
    Oh wait! You were talking about Pete Sessions?
    .
    Sorry, never mind…go right back to the crucial subject at hand.
    .
    Somebody got invited and then dis-invited and then maybe re-invited to speak at a dinner somewhere?
    .
    Fascinating.
    .
    Go on, then…

  • shepherdwong

    Gosh, if only they could get their political act together they could “orchestrate a comeback” and implement all of their nifty policy solutions. I just can’t decide whether Newt Gingrich or Sarah Palin should lead us.

  • sacredh

    Todd might be the only person who cares whether Sarah comes or not. I’m really, really sorry, but that’s the first thing that popped into my head.

  • http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/ joyomama

    Thank you, sacred, for that image. Now I need to purge my brain.

  • shepherdwong

    “Now I need to purge my brain.”
    .
    Funny, that’s what my wife calls them. (Sorry, sacredh started it).

  • sacredh

    joyomama: Somebody has to stay home and watch the kids. Oh my goodness! Don’t tell me you were thinking…that you even considered…that you thought…..thud.

  • rose83

    I just saw the latest Gallup poll on gays openly serving in the military. 58% of conservatives don’t have a problem with it.
    .
    It’s time to sign the executive order.

  • sacredh

    rose83: Are 58% of conservatives gay? That’s the only way the poll really makes any sense.

  • spob

    I just saw the latest Gallup poll on gays openly serving in the military. 58% of conservatives don’t have a problem with it.
    .
    It’s time to sign the executive order.
    .
    DADT is in a statute too.

  • bitterpill8

    SZ: a tad confused. Sessions the senator is not Chairman of the NRCC; I think it’s Pete…

  • jcapan

    “Gosh, if only they could get their political act together they could ‘orchestrate a comeback’ and implement all of their nifty policy solutions”
    ~
    Come now, Good Shepherd, irony here is simply not helpful at all! We can’t expect KT or her ilk to hold these people accountable for the nation being poised on a towering cliff called epic-fail. It’s far sexier to tell us who’s hot and who’s not. That the above post reads like an entry in the society pgs. is irrelevant–KT has a repsons. to her readers. I know I know, it’s just a blog post–surely not indicative of a larger pattern in the media.

  • jcapan

    And, Rose, only 58%!? I think it has to go to 75% before Obama decides to “go out on a limb” and do the right thing. “Change we can believe in”

  • FlownOver

    More and more the Republicans appear to be adjusting their sights and refining their tactics, in hopes of winning the Warren G. Harding Middle School Student Council election.

  • kathy

    This would be a lot more fun if I didn’t remember how the Democrats were fighting just a year ago. They’ve got time, unfortunately, to get their act together.

  • maryyooch

    Newt probably told them that if Palin gets to speak, he’s outa there.
    Could you imagine having to sit next to her and listen to her words vomit right out of her mouth? They would need an awful lot of duct tape (or ear plugs) to have to spend an evening with her.
    Check out the post on Mudflats.com about her introduction (speech) of Michael Reagan! The poor blogger did us all a favor trying to sit through and listen, never mind transcribe the nonsense that spews out.
    I never thought I’d say this, and probably never will again, but I feel sorry for the poor republican who is stuck with her.
    For me, she’s amusement. For the GOP, she’s a total disaster.

  • sacredh

    Sarah came last night much to the delight of her fellow republicans. Jon Voight emceed the event and labeled Obama a “false prophet” and claimed Obama ran as a moderate but has been “wildly radical”. Voight further stated that people had been “duped” into voting for him. The republicans are always railing against Hollywood actors except when they enlist them to run them for President, the senate, the house and governorships or to raise money of course.

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