And they aren't too keen that she's showing up!
"She wasn't invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release she was coming to Rolling Thunder," Ted Shpak, national legislative director of Rolling Thunder, told "Andrea Mitchell Reports." Shpak is one of three members of Rolling Thunder's current leadership who says he had no idea Palin was coming until it was posted on her website.
Even better, the actual speakers invited to the event were....
Organizers of Rolling Thunder say their guest speakers are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Palin campaign say they were invited, not by the current Rolling Thunder group but by a former member of their Board of Directors named Mike DePaulo. He organized it through a friend who worked with Palin in Alaska. He just didn't happen to tell the Rolling Thunder people about his "standing invite" for "the Palin campaign".
He acknowledges he didnt tell current leaders of the organization that she was coming, since they were already on the road.
But he did and now the organizers are scrambling to figure out how to make this work.
Shpak says Palin's attendance "is a big distraction" and that his "phone has been ringing off the hook" ever since she announced her intention to attend the event.
But people are seeing right through her. It doesn't seem she can win without losing.
"We're not political. This is not a political event ... Maybe she's coming because she knows we have a half a million people in town and thinking she can start her [campaign]?" stated Shpak.
"We're taking care of our issues and that's why we're here."
I know some people will dissagree that Rolling Thunder isn't a political group but they have made it very clear Palin wasn't part of their agenda.
NBC's on the Story
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/...
Politico has a bit more about the story claiming she was invited only by the Alaskan group. But again, the National Organization wasn't aware of it.
http://www.politico.com/...