Sarah Palin notes that critics also said Ronald Reagan couldn’t win in 1980. | AP Photo

 

JONATHAN MARTIN

10/8/10 6:18 PM EDT

Updated: 10/9/10 6:45 PM EDT

Speaking to a group of well-connected Republicans at a private dinner in Florida this week, Sarah Palin implicitly addressed questions about her own electability by noting that critics also said Ronald Reagan couldn’t win in 1980, three attendees told POLITICO.

Palin, at an event organized by the conservative magazine Newsmax, told the right-wing crowd that those who don’t have the same convictions will always say a true conservative can’t win.

Pointing out that the knock on Reagan was that he was also too far to the right, the former Alaska governor repeatedly invoked the 40th president and conservative icon, at one point citing the quotation he was most fond of: that America is a “shining city on a hill.”

“I think she sees herself as heir to Reagan,” said one attendee.

Her invoking of the Gipper at a closed-door gathering illustrates that Palin is, at the very least, thinking through how she’d make her case if she pursued the presidency. And combined with the recent revelation of an e-mail her husband, Todd, sent to Alaska Senate hopeful Joe Miller excoriating him for not saying Palin was qualified to be president, her private comments make clear that the 2008 vice-presidential candidate wants other Republicans to take her seriously as a White House prospect.

Trying to divine her intentions — does she just want to stay in the presidential mix to build her brand, or is she actually running? — is difficult. But the mere act of meeting with the sort of Republican donors, strategists and activists who fund and advise presidential campaigns is telling.

Palin did not talk directly about a White House bid at the event, held Wednesday at the famed Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.

Rather she used her remarks and a question-and-answer period with about 50 conservative insiders to discuss topics such as health care, the midterm elections and the state of the GOP.

Palin discussed the importance of keeping the tea party movement in the GOP but criticized establishment Republicans who she said weren’t listening to the party’s grass roots by supporting moderate candidates over conservatives. If the party recaptures Congress, she said, Republicans must govern differently than in the Bush years and show more fidelity to small-government principles on spending.

Each of the attendees who spoke with POLITICO said they were impressed by her performance, particularly when she took questions and spoke off the cuff.

“Palin was engaging, charming, and well-informed on the issues and the campaigns going on around the country,” said Ralph Reed, a longtime GOP strategist who is now running a social conservative group called the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “While circumspect about her future plans, she was clear she wants to see the party and the country go in a more conservative direction.”

Even though she didn’t openly discuss her intentions, the possibility of a Palin run was discussed by many in the room.

“I was surprised about how many people in room said ‘yes’ when I asked if they could see themselves supporting her,” said one attendee. “I was expecting to hear what you mostly hear — ‘I hope she doesn’t do it’ or, ‘She’s more effective doing what she’s doing.’”

The gathering, first reported by US News & World Report, was described as a “get-acquainted” session by an attendee and was held in conjunction with a video interview Palin did with Newsmax, set to air next week. The evening began with a reception and dinner and was followed by Palin speaking and taking questions.

Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, was the host of the event and invited such high-profile guests as Reed, Michael Reagan, Grover Norquist, Dick Morris, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and such donors as former GOPAC Chair Gay Gaines, businessman Lee Hanley and former Reagan Ambassador to Switzerland Faith Whittlesey.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43345.html#ixzz11uhoQk3O