The Alaska GOP posted a video of Sarah Palin speaking at a GOP dinner recently. Palin, who is known for her witty, warm and pithy speech, said during the McCain-Palin campaign, she wanted no prayer with McCain staffers, or at least, no prayer with them minutes before her Vice-Presidential debate with Joe Biden. See photos and a video with Sarah speaking below.
Sarah Palin
Palin said she looked around the room for someone to pray with, saying “she just needed a little help…maybe a little extra,” and
the McCain campaign, love ‘em, you know, there are a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find that I wanted to hold hands with and pray.
Staffers are…maybe, justifiably offended.
There was a sweet side to her comments though, and Sarah calls it a “Piper story.” After surveying the room and finding no one to pray with, she went to her 7-year-old daughter, Piper - that cute little one who won many hearts as we watched the campaign go down in flames and said, “Piper,” come pray with me.” The Mom and daughter discussed what to pray for, and along with asking for wisdom, Palin told Piper to pray that God would speak through her [Palin.] Piper reportedly said “that’d be cheating!”
Some of her staffers, who were perhaps very loyal to her (although some were not), have hurt feelings.
One anonymous staffer expressed his outrage to CNN. “It’s about us people who were on the plane, who showed extreme loyalty to Palin, continually getting thrown under the bus or slapped in the face by her comments, whether she means it or not,” the staffer said, adding that this is the kind of thing that would “cause you to question not only your loyalty but her judgment as a leader.
We do not know whether the “anonymous” staffer quoted above was, and is, truly devoted to Sarah Palin. What we do know is what she said on the video released by the Alaska GOP.
Hot Air linked to the original CNN Political Ticker for this piece. Once there, the article is “not found,” but the video below verifies the comments. Sarah Palin’s prayer with her daughter is a sweet story, but publically saying there was no one around, in a room full of people, that she wanted to pray with, is better left unsaid. If I were a McCain campaign staffer - and one of those who supported her, I might be angry, and I think my feelings would be hurt too.
Sarah Palin (Photos)
Sarah Palin Prayer (Video)
April 4th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
No-one wanted to listen to me before when I said there was something wrong with McCain’s campign staff as the campaign tactics/anger issues were too extreme to garner him votes or a win. When mccain and obama walked by each other near the side of the stage at the debate mccain acted superficially friendly but was nervous as he had launched a dirty tricks campaign and obama treated him dismissively as having no class. Why? It might be that a lot of the bush jr. campaign executives were running that campaign, a classic karl rovian smear and fear campaign though they pulled their punches a bit they were under so much scrutiny. And yes they were. It just ruined mccain’s campaign. So Palin sensed there was something amiss with the moral character of these people and their claim to being really religious. Her natural reaction was not to trust them on matters of faith. There you have it.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:37 am
I have no doubt if I had been there she would have wanted to hold hands and pray with me. That’s because she would have known that I really admire her and would be loyal to her. Obviously she didn’t feel that from the staff. Why didn’t she feel it? I suppose the answer to that is that they weren’t loyal to her. If that is indeed the case, then I would have said the same thing. Sorry their feathers are ruffled, but the woman tells the truth. We should have more politicians who know how to do that!
April 5th, 2009 at 5:44 am
Praying together requires a level of communion that obviously she did not feel from McCain’s staff. (There are others that can pray with the very devil himself, without remorse and then go back to promote merrily the same sins as always, but that’s another story).
Whomever she prayed with, it worked because she did fairly well in the debate. I appreciate Palin’s efforts to bring Christian values back to the public arena.
April 5th, 2009 at 5:56 am
It depends if what you’re praying for is actually suppoorted by those you’re praying with.
I guess you couldnt pray for a Ferrari with a bunch of Amish folk holdin your hand, would seem a little clumsy
April 5th, 2009 at 6:16 am
One of the Wiseguys from the Mafia said that when he was a little kid he prayed for a bicycle but learned that that isn’t how prayer worked. So, he stole a bicycle and prayed for forgiveness.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:13 am
Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful comments. I agree that we do not just take-up hands with anyone near us when we want to pray.
I love that Sarah spoke of her need to pray in a public forum, and shared the “Piper” story. We need prayer to be a topic of discussion. We need prayer to be publically presented as a daily, guiding force in our lives.
I do think, however, it would have been better not to specifically point-out the people around her as not worthy of being a prayer-partner.
We know that some really ridiculous and serious things happened to her, courtesy of the Staffers. I’d like to hear her name names and tell those stories. That way we put a face on their actions. She needs to nail the ones who betrayed her and laud the ones that did not - since this relationship is going to have a long shelf life.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Hondo: love that story.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:39 am
As a client first and a staff member later at a treatment facility we used to have prayer every morning.
We had about 50 clients and 15 staff members who were all of every denomination and belief you could think of. The prayers were more of an oral meditation on a particular subject for that day with a discussion on that subject to follow and not just a moment of silence with hands folded or a few lines out loud and break to go back to whatever we were doing as if nothing happened. Buddist, Christians of all types along with a majority who had no faith in anything at all, we managed to realize that we all wanted the same things. The prayers brought us to get to know each other and made a situation that could of been very turbulent very liveable for 50 addicts and alkys all under one roof.
Most after a few months came to believeing in God as their higher power because well… God made a lot more sense than some the higher powers others were coming up with.
The prayers/meditations also helped bring about the spiritual awareness, awakenings and connections that we all needed so badly.
I can understand Palin feeling the way she did about what amounts to nothing more than a bunch of punk b*tchs.
My approach would of been to pray with them anyway and slip a prayer in for them while I was at it, making sure they knew it was them I was praying for.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:49 am
You can’t pray a lie. Considering the kind of campaign McCain and Palin were party to, mebbe this is the reason.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Thank goodness God answered the right prayers this time!
April 5th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Arch, if think theres any campaign that doesnt lie all I can say is that I’ll pray for your sanity.
Its to the extent in which they lie and the intent behind it that matters.
I have no doubts along with plenty of evidence that Obama lied with intent to decieve instead of simply being guilty of passing along inaccurate info.
Hes basically said he would do one thing and turned around ad did the other. Then again, looking back at his Christian mentors I can see why whern the whole intent is to have “G-d damn America”
April 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Another storm in a tea cup.
Any Christian could find themselves in a room of associates, none off which you feel the impulse to pray with. Any staff memeber who takes offence with this innocent remark iether has a rejection problem or is on the attack - or both.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Your piece on this truly saddens me. Please read mine and consider amending it.
Sarah Palin’s Message
http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2009/04/sarah-palins-message.html
April 6th, 2009 at 2:17 am
The GOP continue to be her biggest foes.
It´s going to take more then prayer, Palin doesnt have a chance in hell of securing a presidential nomination. That is the fact.
April 7th, 2009 at 5:42 am
DEO
Sorry but statements like yours just drive me nuts. How is something percieved to happen or not happen in the future fact ?
The odds may be stacked against her for any number of reasons but when you’ve already made up your mind no matter what the future holds you’re only making a statement to your own bigotry.
Palins appeal to the country could change for any numbers of reasons that increase her chances but people like you will never acknowledge that change no matter what.
If this country can elect Obama then I see no reason why someone like Palin whos actually holding a much stronger resume` couldnt land a pretty juicy position our countries leadership.
April 7th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Who the heck cares about who prays with whom? This is the irreligious government as defined by our Constitution, is it not?
Prayer is a private matter, and the fact that Palin needs to begin up stuff like this in a speech shows what a populist hack she is.
Golly, gosh, gee-whiz, what a stupid folksy dunce.
April 7th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Typo alert: “being up stuff like this” should obviously read “bring up stuff like this”.
Yeah, I’m an idiot.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Dont be so hard on yourself, were all idiots to a certain degree but when we all have to actually spell our words on paper it makes us all automatically have to be english majors.
I mean if this were an oral conversation no one would be stopping us midway in a coversation saying “you spelled “definitely” wrong bro ! Know what I mean ?
Anyway, I’m one of thse conservatives who has a strong belief in God but doesnt buy into the bible in its exact context and I absolutely despise organized religion.
My biggest turn off growing up was seeing how hundreds of people all sitting in the pews gobble up a serman based on a doctrine that they all pretend to abide by and then watch the hypocrites all stand out on the patio after the serman and smoke cigarettes, drink coffee and talk sh*t behind other peoples backs about someones divorce, loose daughter, provocative wife etc…
Sorry if I offended anyone who goes to church regularly but its just not my cup of tea when I can speak to the god I want to anytime anywhere and show my gratitude in many other ways than dropping a buck in a plate and singing out of key
April 7th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Good call Micky.