The Iowa Family Policy Center's release, via Tom Beaumont:
10/30/09 Pleasant Hill, IA – Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION received word this morning that Governor Sarah Palin is unable to accept our speaking invitation due to her book tour contractual commitments, which cannot be changed.
We extended our invitation knowing she would be in the middle of her book tour and the chances of her being able to accept any invitations were extremely slim.
She has asked if she could speak at a future mutually agreeable date. She will not accept any fees for her appearance.
(ea) As Beaumont notes, the idea that the chances were "extremely slim" wasn't exactly communicated via the group's chairman.
As I prophetically mentioned on Wednesday, this seemed to be an attempt to push Palin into an appearance she hadn't agreed to.
Future efforts from other groups could get really Machiavellian: Hype up a "Palin visit", get the media reporting on it, and hope you've got her backed into a corner so withdrawing would make her seem even more mercurial.
