(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Alaska House, a Soho cultural center and gallery billed as the state’s embassy in New York, opens on September 15, and Governor Sarah Palin was supposed to be there. But now, maybe not. “We had a verbal agreement that she would attend, but now they said they’re meeting with McCain’s people and have to get back to us,” says executive director Tracey Foster. The center was founded by Alice Rogoff, the wife of Carlyle Group honcho David Rubenstein, and it’s supported by other wealthy lefties like Steve Rattner and Daisy Soros. The pro-conservation theme of the opening party will be “Life Without Ice.” “I don’t know how that’s going to get bridged when she’s speaking on behalf of the McCain campaign,” Rogoff says. But she’s still hoping Palin will show. “She told me she’s really fond of Mike Bloomberg,” Rogoff says. “He’s interested in seeing her, too. Apparently they share a mutual admiration.” Palin’s gubernatorial office says she’s neither accepted nor declined the invitation.

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Elizabeth Wolff
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