CPAC 2013: Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter Deliver Wildly Entertaining Speeches

Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter helped close out this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Unlike the typical conservative speaker, Palin and Coulter rely on passion, humor, and style to evoke a response from the audience.

There aren't too many things that will get a group of conservatives to display anything resembling emotion. Guns, Obamacare, or anything Obama-related are about the only things that will get them to get out of their seats and show some raw passion. That is why speakers like Palin and Coulter are two of the most highly paid and sought after public speakers on the conservative circuit. Palin and Coulter know how to turn a phrase, tell a joke, and incite passion in a crowd. In an otherwise uneventful, typical snooze fest of a conference, Palin and Coulter brought the house down with two of the most entertaining speeches of the conference.

Palin proved why she is the number one draw on the conservative circuit. She may not be a great debater or elected official and it is hard to believe she would ever risk her reputation by running for office. She is nonetheless a crowd-pleaser and favorite. Palin’s speech was filled with the typical mixture of Obama slings and arrows common in all speeches given by conservatives, but she seems to be particularly good at delivering the goods when it comes to anti-Obama spiel. Palin’s barnstormer of a speech proves why she remains relevant in the conservative circuit. She is a firebrand with the ability to attract crowds and elicit passion. And she doesn't have to offer a solution for any of today’s issues, she simply relies on raw emotion.

It is amazing that she is not a Democrat since she has mastered the style of the most successful speakers on the left. Palin slayed the audience and brought them to their feet with a speech peppered with timely quips and jokes. To the gun control lobby, Palin sent this message, "More background checks? Dandy idea Mr. President. Should've started with yours," and to the millennials she shared this advice, "You've got to be thinking Sam Adams, not drinking Sam Adams."

For liberals like me that are still gloating over Obama’s 2012 victory, Palin said, "Yeah. Came in second. Out of two." She saved the best zingers for Obama, she said "Mr. President, we admit it. You won. Accept it. Now step away from the teleprompter and do your job."

Finally in a moment of theatrical brilliance, she paused and reached under the podium and pulled out a big gulp and obvious dig at the nanny state epitomized by New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to ban large sugary drinks. Palin said, "Relax it’s just pop." It was political theater and that is what Palin does — give a good show to a paying, adoring crowd.

Coulter, on the other hand, seems to have taken a page from her friend on the left, Bill Maher, and delivered a scathing satirical speech. She opened with "due to the turmoil in North Korea, our regular scheduled to be North Korean Ambassador Dennis Rodman will not be here, so I’m filling in."

Taking aim at the sequester, Coulter quipped, "Even CPAC had to cut back on speakers this year by about 300 pounds." A Coulter speech is nothing without a little off color humor and she did not disappoint. Taking aim at what she considers the mythical war on women, Coulter said, "If we agreed to wage a war on women, I wasn't at that meeting. Because if I was I would have told Republicans you are too late, the Democrats already won that war. The keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention was forcible rapist Bill Clinton. The convention also featured a loving tribute to Teddy Kennedy who I believe has the only confirmed kill in the war on women."

Coulter had lots to say about Obama. One of the best lines was when she said, "Obama claims to want to keep taxes low for the middle class, and for the 400 people still left in the middle class they could not be happier." And that wasn't all, she continued the verbal onslaught with "Obama is drawing up a plan to allow our spy agencies to scour the personal finances of Americans But most Americans don’t care. After four years of Obama they don’t have any personal finances to scour. Most of them told Obama, 'Hey let me know if you find anything.'"

Palin and Coulter brought the entertainment factor to a drab convention and that is why they get paid the big bucks.