About to join Jake Tapper on CNN's "The Lead" live from Las Vegas!
Great enthusiasts showed up for a lively "Politics on Tap" discussion last night in Vegas thanks to Jake Tapper - he always comes through with good, thoughtful questions!
Thank you, CNN Team & Double Barrel, for organizing a great event. And heartfelt thanks for supporters (and opponents!) taking time to be involved in it and graciously letting me meet many of you afterward to sign#SweetFreedom.
Tonight's GOP debate is extremely important and significant in America's steps forward to finally choose new leadership. 2016 can't come soon enough. I'm heading out now for Tapper's CNN show "The Lead" - 4pm EST - and then attending the "undercard" debate a few hours later. Please don't ignore the undercard. I respect EVERY candidate with the guts to jump in the lion's den, duking it out in the arena of ideas with honorable intentions to un-do what Obama's agenda has done to our exceptional nation: Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Lindsey Graham & George Pataki.
Todd, Willow, and I look forward to supporting the GOP lineup tonight and showing our respect by rooting on leaders smart enough to stand on America's most sturdy planks - all found in the GOP platform.
The nine-candidate main debate follows. It's going to be fantastic!
The nine-candidate main debate follows. It's going to be fantastic!
- Sarah Palin
Nick Allen is in Las Vegas for The Telegraph. He writes:
There was a blast from the past as Sarah Palin turned up ahead of the debate. Mrs Palin is a fan of Messrs Trump and Cruz and is refusing to choose between the two. She praised both men for "going rogue" as she did. Mrs Palin praised Cruz for being "so dog gone intelligent". She said Trump was "refreshing" and her daughter Willow was a big fan. She urged the Republican establishment not to alienate Trump and force him to run as an independent. As she told CNN:
Shame on the establishment of they essentially boot a top tier candidate out.
A well-known Republican and former candidate for vice president — Sarah Palin — was at the fifth GOP debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Palin was spotted in the audience of the earlier JV debate between Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, and George Pataki, and was photographed talking to Graham before the big event. While Palin hasn't publicly endorsed Graham, it looked like she was giving him a pre-debate pep talk. Coming from someone who has a fair share of debate experience, a Palin chat could actually be pretty helpful.
Palin tweeted that she was appearing on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper before the GOP debate, which put her at the Venetian casino where the event was unfolding. It would just be silly to be in the building and not watch the show, so Palin took advantage of her location.
The former Alaskan governor and John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election was probably happy not to be in front of the cameras, sitting in the audience stress free and watching other Republicans sweating on stage. Onlysomeone who's been in the same position can truly know how nerve-racking it is to participate in a nationally televised presidential (or vice presidential) debate.
