O4P NY: We're Aligned with Gov. Palin's Mission

Immediately following former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's announcement that she will not seek the 2012 GOP nomination, I temporarily suspended Organize4Palin's New York state operations. The simple reason for this is that O4P in its current form was oriented toward supporting a Palin presidential candidacy following conventional primary and caucus rules. A time-out is required to align the organization with Gov. Palin's strategies that support her mission moving forward.

Gov. Palin's Vision and Mission

We know that Gov. Palin's vision is Sudden and Relentless Reform. We know that her mission is to root out crony capitalism and corporate welfare; enforce the Constitution - specifically the Second and Tenth Amendments; make the United States energy independent with an "all-of-the-above" approach; revive, renew, restore Reagan Conservatism and American Exceptionalism; restore our economy following a five-point plan; and set forth a five-point military policy moving forward.

Strategies

Anyone who has at least some basic knowledge of Gov. Palin's career over these past 20 years knows that her vision and mission has been fundamentally the same throughout. Perhaps the size, scale, and scope of what her mission focused on at key milestones of her career differed, but her overall vision and mission have been consistent.

Since July 2009, Gov. Palin has been an author, Fox News contributor, public speaker, documentary producer and was the subject of a movie. We could broadly classify these disciplines as "Constitutional Conservative Advocacy," and she has been doing it as a private citizen now for over two years running. Seeking the 2012 GOP nomination is one strategy that Gov. Palin could have used - and could still use - in service of her mission. She has decided not to use this strategy - at this time - language that comes straight out of her speech in Lynchburg, VA.

Aligning Her Mission...

In the days that followed, I polled the volunteers and Regional Coordinators who comprise O4P NY. My questions were directed at determining their understanding of Gov. Palin's mission, the current strategy she has chosen to support it and their position on drafting and write-in campaigns.

I made it clear that O4P is not legally setup as a draft committee, thus any drafting or write-in under the O4P name will violate FEC regulations. O4P members who wish to draft may do so as private citizens, but the O4P name absolutely cannot be used in connection with drafting. Randy Highsmith, FL State Coordinator once led the 2012 Draft Sarah Committee which was registered with the FEC as a draft committee. Because the 2012 Draft went defunct many months ago, there is no FEC-registered draft committee pertinent to Gov. Palin currently in existence.

Also, O4P cannot endorse any candidate Gov. Palin has not herself endorsed for the simple reason that the word “Palin” is in our name. Any endorsement or support of a candidate must be in connection with something Gov. Palin has sanctioned, approved, or authorized by putting her name on it.

I have made the decision that O4P New York will focus on Gov. Palin, her vision, mission, and her endorsements – that is operate exclusively under the O4P brand. This is based at least in part on the 64% of responses to my volunteer polling indicating alignment with Gov. Palin’s mission – seeking the GOP nomination or not. O4P NY must always be aligned with Gov. Palin’s mission and her strategies or it will be working at crossed purposes with her.

Sometimes, Slow and Steady Wins the Race

While our game is not off, many aspects of it are on a time out. The reasons for this are:

1. O4P cannot turn on a dime and significant changes in footing - reversion to the 2010 model of down-ticket endorsements as one possible example - would take time to implement. It’s just the nature of the beast when working with organizations.
2. O4P NY must always remain aligned with Gov. Palin's mission and O4P National's mission.
3. The language of Sarah’s announcement – not seeking the 2012 GOP nomination, her last three speeches, and the Sarah’s Earthquake movement present us with a unique situation and a whole host of things Gov. Palin could do or circumstances that could transpire in relation to her. Making radical changes based on impetuousness is not wise.

Yes, we must not retreat. Yes, we must reload. But, we don't just go off half-cocked. We do long-range recon before going into our next battle. Do the Heaths and Palins not "glass the field" on their moose and caribou hunts?

I think waiting, and observing is the most rational approach as opposed to making radical changes right now. This is a situation where slow and steady wins the race. Putting it another way, now is the time to sling the rifle and pick up the binoculars.