Palin outlines vision at Indianola rally

INDIANOLA - Sarah Palin sounded very much like a candidate Saturday as she railed against the Obama administration, big business and big finance in addition to outlining what she called “my plan” before a rain-soaked crowd at a Tea Party of America rally.

Still, by the end of her roughly 40-minute speech, the ex-Alaska governor remained a noncandidate.

“I was kind of disappointed (she didn't announce),” said Tony Nizzi, a member of the National Guard from Indianola who came to the Indianola Balloon Grounds to hear Palin speak. “Other than that, she said all the right things.”

Palin told the crowd the upcoming presidential race is not about

“red America or a blue America,” but rather a “red, white and blue America.”

It's a place where she sees herself and the 2,000 or so who came out to see her. They stand in contrast, she said, to the “professional political class” that practices “corporate crony capitalism” in Washington.

“Seven of the 10 wealthiest suburbs are suburbs of Washington, D.C.,” Palin said. “Polls there show that some people there say the economy has actually improved; there may not be a recession in Georgetown, but there is in the rest of America.”

The crowd cheered.

Palin played to the crowd for much of her speech, saying that Tea Party activists were part of “a historic” 2010 midterm election and, thus inspired, “will relentlessly rage until we do restore all that is free and good and right about America.”

She also delved into some policy points. Her energy policy is to get the United States off foreign oil by drilling for it in America. She also said that government needs to be smaller, and she championed states' rights.

In addition, Palin called for elimination of the federal corporate income tax as a means of spurring business growth. That point did not get the same kind of reaction as some of the others she raised, but she followed up by saying that in addition to the tax break, there also would have to be the elimination of “corporate welfare and bailouts.”

The crowd liked that one.

“I think she'll run. I have no doubt,” said Chris Tawney, a semiretired registered nurse from Manhattan, Kan., who made a 5 1/2-hour trip to see Palin. “She's a powerful speaker and she has a plan.”

Also in the crowd Saturday was Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Waterloo. Rogers already has endorsed former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania for the Republican presidential nomination, but said, he made a two-hour trip to watch Palin in action Saturday.

Asked whether he thinks she should get in the crowded GOP race, Rogers paused and then said, “I think the more people in can only be good for Republicans.”