Palin has billed her “One Nation” trip — on a bus festooned with images such as the Liberty Bell and the Constitution — as nothing more than a family vacation complete with kids, grandparents and many hours on Interstate 95.
But there has been nothing typical about this vacation, which has attracted endless national attention and ignited widespread speculation about whether the popular conservative is testing the waters for a presidential campaign. The trip is being paid for by the former vice presidential nominee’s political action committee, SarahPAC.
The bus tour has also required some planning and preparation by the historic sites that received her. Left as much in the dark about her itinerary as were the public and the media, officials with the National Park Service began preparing for a possible Palin visit when they began reading news reports about her planned bus tour.
“The side of her bus says ‘One Nation,’ and the ‘A’ in nation is the Liberty Bell, so that was a clue that we might be involved,” said David Barna, chief spokesman for the National Park Service. “We understood that she’s a private citizen and not a candidate for public office, but certainly she brings a crowd, and we didn’t know if she was going to put up a podium and do an event. And we couldn’t figure out how to get a hold of her.”
In the end, one of Barna’s colleagues called a reporter in search of a contact for Palin, to inquire as to where she might go and whether she planned to speak or required a permit. Palin’s folks explained that it was strictly a family tour and provided a list of possible stops, but some of them were not confirmed until just an hour or two before the bus rolled in.
For example, Palin aide Jason Recher showed up at Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and promptly told spokeswoman Jane Cowley: “Well, you’ll be surprised to know that she’s going to be here in an hour and a half or two hours.” Cowley had already been warned by colleagues in Washington that such a call might come. She said Recher walked through the park with her to identify the sites she should see and the route that would give her the most privacy.
Although they haven’t asked for it, Palin and her family have received VIP treatment just about everywhere they’ve gone: a private guided tour of Mount Vernon, early admission into the National Archives, and private tours at all the federally managed National Park Service properties they’ve visited but one: the Statue of Liberty. They bypassed long lines and avoided crowded exhibit rooms.
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