Sarah Palin takes rare detour to liberal town to speak at GOP fundraiser in Oregon
By Jeff Barnard, APFriday, April 23, 2010
Sarah Palin visits liberal Oregon stronghold
Sarah Palin could have hardly picked a more crunchy granola town to give a speech in than Eugene, Ore.
Despite its pioneer and logging heritage, the town where Nike running shoes were born is high on organic food, snobby about craft beers and tattoos, and dependably votes Democratic.
Yet the Lane County Republican party couldn’t be prouder of landing the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate as the headliner for its Lincoln Day dinner Friday night.
Lane County Republican chairman Bill Young says people are concerned that Eugene doesn’t fit the mold for Palin speaking engagements, but the point is to energize Republicans in a state and county dominated by the Democratic Party.
