She had lunch in New Delhi on Saturday and dinner in Jerusalem on Monday. And on Wednesday, she was in Naples, bringing her conservative message to a gathering of about 1,000 at the Ritz-Carlton.
The one-time vice presidential candidate and self-described Mama Grizzly from Alaska talked about her visit last week to India and Israel, recounted how her daughter wound up on “Dancing With the Stars” last year and gushed over the fine residents of Naples.
But mostly, she hammered away at President Barack Obama, especially his administration's economic and foreign policies.
It sounded a whole lot like a campaign speech for the 2012 presidential race, which Palin said was not the case — at this point.
“Tonight,” she said before delivering her speech at the Naples Distinguished Speakers Series Town Hall event, “I will call it like I see it. I will be blunt and candid.”
She didn't disappoint.
“The occupants of the White House do not have the concerns of Israel in their best interest,” Palin said 48 hours after having dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister.
And then she got rolling around the globe ... Iran, Libya, Brazil, China.
Obama's recent trip to South America had her riled up over America's current energy policy.
“We have tens of billions of barrels of oil warehoused underground in Alaska,” Palin said. “But the president goes to Brazil. It's gone from ‘Drill, Baby, Drill' to ‘Drill, Brazil, Drill.’”
Regarding Iran, she said the White House had a chance to make an impact there earlier this year during a student uprising, but passed.
She said the United States’ policy on Libya is inconsistent, and that she's concerned that China is building a vast arsenal of sophisticated submarines and aircraft.
Palin said the right foreign policy ought to be, “If you're in it, win it. If there's doubt, get out.”
Palin said the nation's debt of more than a trillion dollars is the country's biggest threat.
“The president's budget was a political document,” she said.
About a Democratic political slogan “Winning The Future,” Palin energized the crowd.
“That is too easy ... the acronym WTF,” she said, and the audience loved it.
Her speech was full of Palin-isms. From the Democrats’ “jack wagon ideas” to “only dead fish go with the flow.”
The audience was made to order for Palin as Collier County is one of the most conservative areas in Florida.
Dick Jay, a retired football coach from Des Moines, Iowa, and an avid Republican, liked what he heard.
“I came to hear what she had to say,” the 30-year Naples resident said. But Jay said he isn't sure who might make the best Republican candidate in 2012.
Might Palin be one of the contenders?
“We're all pretty much saying the same thing right now,” Palin said. “I am thinking about it ... praying about it.”
She said her experience in the 2008 campaign was tough on her family, and any decision will come with them in mind.
“Family is paramount,” Palin said.
“One thing is for sure. I will stay engaged.”
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