Sarah Palin had a Big Gulp in hand when she took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, sipping from 40 ounces of soda as she attacked Democrats and mocked New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his city’s ban on jumbo soda.
Palin was called on to rile up the crowd at the CPAC event, and the former Alaska governor didn’t fail to serve up some red meat to the crowd in her address on Saturday. Speaking on the final day of the conference, Palin’s speech was seen as one of the best in an event that also featured Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush along with rising GOP star Marco Rubio.
Palin and her Big Gulp took on many targets but saved most of her venom for President Obama.
“He is considered a good politician,” the former vice presidential nominee said about Obama, “which is like saying Bernie Madoff was a good salesmen. The difference being, the president is using our money.”
Her speech also hit on gun control, which has been getting a large push from Obama and Democrats since the December school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
“Background checks? Yeah, I guess to learn more about a person’s thinking and associations and intentions. More background checks?” she said. “Dandy idea, Mr. President — should have started with yours.”
Palin interjected humor and liveliness into her CPAC speech , peppering it with personal details.
“ You should have seen what Todd got me for Christmas,” Palin said. “Well, It wasn’t that exciting. It was a metal rack, case for hunting rifles to put on the back of a four-wheeler. Then though, I had to get something for him to put in the gun case, right. So, this go around, he’s got the rifle, I got the rack.”
Palin and her Big Gulp aren’t the only ones opposing Bloomberg’s soda ban for New York City. A state supreme court judge overruled the regulation last week, calling it “arbitrary and capricious.”