As the speakers for the Republican National Convention are being finalized, one question still remains: Should former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, be given a prime speaking slot?
On his Tuesday morning program, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough made the answer like a no-brainer given her success promoting Republican senatorial candidates and her highly praised 2008 convention speech, despite the skepticism from his “Morning Joe” panel.
“Hey guess what — if Sarah Palin goes up and speaks, guess who is going to get the loudest ovation of any speaker all week?” Scarborough said. “It will be Sarah Palin. She will burn the place down, in a positive way. Say what you want about Sarah Palin, criticize Sarah Palin all you want. Let me tell you something, man — and we were there — when she gave her speech in 2008, we sat there going, ‘Oh my God, she’s the natural.’”
“Why wouldn’t you have this women, who is by the way helping one candidate after another candidate after another candidate after another candidate win Senate races? Why wouldn’t you let her speak at the convention in prime time?”
With Rick Santorum, one of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s chief rivals in the race for the GOP nomination, confirmed to speak, Scarborough argued Palin should be as well.
“If you’re going to let Rick Santorum speak at the convention, why don’t you let Sarah Palin, who by the way again, in this environment — tested,” he said. “She’s got so much to prove to all of the critics that have been pounding her for years. I think it would be the moment a lot of people would be talking about. It would be extraordinary, I think.”
The former Florida Republican congressman added that even where she opened herself up to vulnerabilities over the last four years, she still remains an impact player.
“Again, it’s one thing for us to criticize like a Facebook comment that Sarah Palin made here, or something else there,” he said. “The bottom line is, Chuck [Todd], she wins — she helps launch Republican candidates. She has real impact.”