If Sarah Palin understands anything, it’s the theatrics of a speech, and she can get a crowd riled up better than pretty much anyone in the GOP. That’s how it went this afternoon at CPAC, where she launched a fusillade of caustic zingers at President Obama, Washington, and the professional political consultant class. At no point, however, was the packed audience louder than when Palin stuck it to the man by whipping out a Big Gulp full of “pop” (soda) from behind the podium and posing for the cameras while taking a big, freedom-loving sip.
Outside the ballroom afterward, CPAC attendees raved about the stunt. “Hilarious.” “I thought that was awesome.” “I loved that.” One woman I spoke to said the moment “just really symbolized American freedom.” A man named Tomas told me that Palin holding up the Big Gulp “gave a new look to the Statue of Liberty.”
Whether or not anyone, including Palin, realized that Mayor Bloomberg’s soda restrictions wouldn’t even have affected Big Gulps is not clear.
