I intentionally waited a while to post this to ensure that it wasn’t debunked within minutes of it going up. So I feel pretty safe now that Scott Conroy has it right:
RCP – After a dizzying day that saw members of her inner circle threaten to pull Sarah Palin’s participation in a rally Saturday in Indianola, Iowa, a source close to Palin confirmed to RCP that the former Alaska governor will in fact attend the Tea Party of America event, as scheduled.
“We had some long discussions with the organizers; we talked about our concerns and worked them out, and they stepped up their game today,” the Palin source said.
Two sources close to the former vice presidential candidate had told RCP earlier Wednesday that Palin’s involvement in the rally was “on hold,” due to concerns over how the hosts were handling what has been billed as a major event.
“The primary concern of the governor is the people that are coming to this event,” one source had said. “The planners are an issue that’s gotten in the way.”
The organizers caused a stir over the last couple of days when they first announced that former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell had accepted their invitation to speak at the event before Palin. They then disinvited O’Donnell before re-inviting her to do so.
After Palin’s associates made it known that Palin was reconsidering her participation, the organizers once again disinvited O’Donnell.
An O’Donnell aide told RCP that the former GOP candidate for senator in Delaware had texted Palin to ask about the rapidly developing situation but had not received a response.
While it is clear that O’Donnell’s proposed speaking slot was not acceptable to Palin’s camp, the Palin aide denied that anyone on the Palin team had explicitly demanded that O’Donnell be removed from the speaker’s list.
Palin’s concern arose, the aide said, when an O’Donnell aide suggested to event organizers that Palin wanted the Delawarean to share the stage with her.
“They haven’t spoken in over a year,” the aide said of the two women.