Governor Palin 4 President: Apr 17, 2010

(Photos & Video) 16,000 To See Woman Who Is The Face Of Tea Party In Louisville

Saturday, April 17, 2010 4 Responses

Stephanie Collins Of WHAS 11 KY: The woman who has become the face of the tea party movement was in Louisville

(WHAS11) The woman who has become the face of the tea party movement was in Louisville Friday night.

Republican Sarah Palin had just wrapped up a speech at freedom hall, where WHAS11’s Stephanie Collins discovered that no cameras or reporters were allowed inside.

She does have more on the size of the crowd and their reaction to Palin in this video.

Peter Smith of Courier-Journal: Sarah Palin speaks to crowd of 16,000 at Freedom Hall

Sarah Palin told a Freedom Hall crowd of about 16,000 Friday night that she was there to inspire women in their faith, not to talk politics.

But... Palin — now a best-selling author and headline speaker at tea-party tax protests — did plenty of both in the course of her nearly hour-long talk at an evangelical Christian women’s conference.

“This nation needs you,” Palen told the women. “Know the facts. Stand for what’s right. Don’t be discouraged by the mocking of those who want to claim we just cling to our religion. I’m the first to admit — yeah, I do cling to my faith. That’s all I’ve got.”

Palin mixed stories of personal struggles, calls for women to be good mothers and good citizens and criticism of Barack Obama — without ever mentioning him by name. She asked for the women — who greeted her with an enthusiastic standing ovation — to provide a “prayer shield” to strengthen her against what she said was “deception” in the media.

She denounced this week’s Wisconsin federal court ruling that government observance of a National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional — which the crowd joined in booing. She asserted that America needs to get back to its Christian roots and rejected any notion that “God should be separated from the state.”

“Hearing any leader declare that America isn’t a Christian nation and poking at allies like Israel in the eye — it is mind-boggling to see some of our nation’s actions recently, but politics truly is a topic for another day,” Palin said.

The event became sold out quickly after Gov. Palin was announced as a speaker. According to Waldrep, the event drew under 5,000 last year without Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker.