On Labor Day, the traditional launch of the presidential primary season, Palin’s demur kept Republican primary calculations in flux. If Palin were to enter the race, some say, she would boost Mitt Romney since she would likely draw voters from more conservative candidates, such as Governor Rick Perry of Texas.
Romney, speaking at an event also in Manchester yesterday, said he would welcome Palin to the race. “There’s always room for Governor Palin,’’ he said.
Palin appeared at a noon rally sponsored by the Tea Party Express, which seeks to represent the Tea Party movement at the national level. The group is in the midst of a cross-country bus tour that will culminate in Tampa where the group is to cosponsor a GOP primary debate with CNN.
Notably, Romney appeared at another Tea Party Express rally in New Hampshire last night - his first address to a Tea Party audience - even as the group struggles to find common ground. Last week, FreedomWorks, a like-minded advocacy group, pulled its blogger off the Tea Party Express bus to protest the tour organizers’ decision to allow Romney to speak at the event.
Yesterday, Palin sought to quell the disunity, telling the crowd that they needed to grow the movement and not get bogged down in internal conflicts fanned by the media.
“The Tea Party movement is bigger than any one person. It’s bigger than any one candidate,’’ she said, though she stopped short of naming anyone.
Palin sought to shore up any battered egos and flagging momentum.
“You’ve already withstood the wrath and the disdain and the lies from the media and the prominent political class looking down on us, mocking us, making things up about us, telling us to go to hell. You’ve already withstood that. We’re still standing, right? You’re here today.’’
The scene at yesterday’s rally was gleeful boosterism as the former Alaska governor took to the stage. Many in the crowd shouted encouragement to Palin, and while there were more signs for Ron Paul than for Palin, it was Palin the crowd turned out to see.
