Michelle Easton today spoke with LaDonna Hale Curzon, Executive Producer, and Host of Sarah Palin Radio about the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute's conferral of its 2012 Woman of the Year Award upon Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for putting her family first and not running for President in the 2012 election cycle. Gov. Palin is to receive the award on February 11, at noon during the CPAC Saturday session at an award ceremony that is closed to the media. The event is only open to women who are undergraduate students and is accepting participants only on a waiting list. Film director, Stephen K. Bannon interviewed Easton about the award on his February 5 Victory Sessions broadcast.

Curzon also is a co-host on US Tea Party Radio, and is a contributor to Big Hollywood, Big Government, and PJTV.

The Clare Booth Luce Institute is conferring its Woman of the Year Award upon former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin because she chose to put her family ahead of running for the Presidency, Michelle Easton, President of the Institute said during an interview with Stephen K. Bannon on his February 5, Victory Sessions Show.

Easton said,

The Clare Booth Luce Institute exists to prepare and promote women conservative leaders, and each year, we honor one extraordinary woman who like our organization's namesake Clare Booth Luce shows leadership, and grace, and dedication to advancing conservative principles. And this year, we are giving our Woman of the Year Award to Governor Sarah Palin. And it's not just because of what she's done and she's done a tremendous amount - an inspiration to so many. It's also because of what she didn't do. Now doesn't that sound odd, an award for what she didn't do. Now, let me explain: she wanted to run very badly against President Obama's failed leadership - it was so apparent. She really wanted to, but in the end she didn't. She didn't, because she put her special little baby, her children, and her husband first in her life. And this is such a rare, kind of a very visible example of somebody putting their family first in their lives and courageously speaking out about it. And that's why she's the Woman of the Year. Because, she didn't run this year and she wanted to put her little baby, her children and the First Dude first in her life for this time period.

...

Hundreds of young female undergraduate students will be present for the award ceremony. Many of these women got involved in the ... debates when she was nominated for Vice President. They were so inspired by her. And the truth is that in most of the universities in popular culture and on the left, conservative women are marginalized and sometimes savaged.

About Gov. Palin's essay on special needs children which ran in the Daily Beast, Easton said, "It's a beautiful essay about how every parent, moms and dad struggle with commitments about our children, families and work and how sometimes when making decisions about our careers, you have to put the family first. And she's said she's never regretted it."

Easton described the life of Clare Booth Luce and how she became the Institute's namesake, saying,

Well, she was quite a remarkable woman, very much ahead of her time. She died in 1987. She had a brilliant professional career. She had a very strong family life, good marriage, and she had very deep faith, so when I formed this institute 19 years ago, well 'who to name it after?' You know after close study, there was absolutely no contest. There was nobody who done all that she had done. In fact, one of the pictures is my favorite one. It's the 1944 Republican National Convention. 1944. Clare Booth Luce is giving the keynote speech and it was at a time when - let's face it when the women were not at the podium - and she laid into Roosevelt - he lied us into war....but she was conservative. She was anti-Communist, she was free-market-oriented, she was traditional values, she was very religious. She has never taught in women's studies or in women's history.

Easton also detailed Clare Booth Luce's connection to President Reagan.

President Reagan was a strong admirer of Luce. He had given her the highest civilian honor, and he had her as part of his administration in an advisory capacity. "She is someone who young women can look to for inspiration," Easton said noting that the institute works primarily with young women in college. "She did an awful lot and as Gov. Palin says, 'you can do it all, you just can't do it all at once.' "

"Clare Booth Luce's life is an example of somebody who did so many different things at different times in her life, but she was a conservative, a traditionalist, somebody of great faith."

Complete Audio Transcript: Stephen K. Bannon Interviews Michelle Easton about Palin Award

H/T John_Frank, Conservatives4Palin commenter for story lead.

The GOP candidates must focus on defeating Obama, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin tonight said during a TV interview with Greta Van Susteren from her home in Wasilla, Alaska in response to a question on why Obama is rising in the polls. Van Susteren had questioned Gov. Palin about flat and declining voter turnouts thus far in the primaries. Gov. Palin said voter enthusiasm is not there yet partly because some believe "it is a foregone conclusion that Romney will be the nominee," and partly because of "collateral damage from the nominating process as the candidates beat each other up."

Gov. Palin said that Obama would love to debate Romney and fears Gingrich, because "he is the toughest debater." She said Gingrich "offers solutions, ideas," and has a past record of successes. She said Romney's air of inevitability arises from the $40 million he has spent thus far on attack ads. By contrast, Santorum has raised only $2.8 million. But, "Santorum is rising in the polls and is next to face attacks," she said.

Van Susteren asked Gov. Palin who she thought was the truest conservative of the four candidates. She praised Ron Paul for his fiscal austerity measures; Gingrich for balancing budgets, cutting taxes and shrinking the federal government; Santorum for his consistency in views and his social conservatism rooted in a return to Judeo-Christian values. About Romney, Gov. Palin said, he has raised taxes and flip-flopped on several social conservative issues, though he is now expressing the conservative view on them.

Gov. Palin warned that the attacks on Santorum would come within days and they will be centered around his backing of earmarks. She warned that Santorum will be portrayed as a big spending liberal.

Gov. Palin said all the candidates are far more attuned to the Constitution and the values America holds dear than Obama is.

When Van Susteren asked Gov. Palin what was holding Ron Paul back in the polls, she said his foreign policy positions were the culprit, emphasizing that "we must stand by our ally, Israel" and "Israel is surrounded by enemies."

Gov. Palin said we cannot afford another four years of Obama and he has only increased debts and deficits contravening his own campaign promises.

Governor Palin today posted on Facebook:

America remembers our beloved 40th president today! In honor of President Reagan’s 101st birthday, American’s For Prosperity put together this great video reminding us of the time-tested truths Reagan stood for.

at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, CA

Last year at this time, I had the honor of speaking at the Young America’s Foundation’s Reagan Centennial dinner at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara. You can watch or read the speech here; it was an homage to Reagan’s famous “Time for Choosing” and a discussion of the state of our nation today.

During the Illinois leg of the One Nation Tour, we got to visit Reagan’s hometown of Dixon, as well as his alma mater, Eureka College.  It was a very moving experience, which I wrote about here, here and here.

As I wrote in an op-ed last year on Reagan’s centennial:

I had the privilege of coming of age during the era of Ronald Reagan. I like to think of him as America's lifeguard. As a teenager, Ronald Reagan saved 77 lives as a lifeguard on the Rock River, which ran through his hometown of Dixon, Ill. The day he was inaugurated in 1981, a local radio announcer famously declared, "The Rock River flows for you tonight, Mr. President." 

The image of the lifeguard seems to represent what Reagan was to America and to the freedom-loving people of the world. He lifted our country up at a time when we were in the depths of economic, cultural and spiritual malaise. We were told that we must accept that the era of American greatness was over; but with his optimism and common sense, President Reagan held up a mirror to the American soul to remind us of our exceptionalism.

at the Rock River in Dixon, IL

We are all so grateful for his courage and leadership; and like President Reagan, we believe that our best days are yet to come because “there will always be a bright dawn ahead” for America.

- Sarah Palin

 

Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150540360408435.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will receive the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute 2012 Woman of the Year Award at a luncheon being held during CPAC where she is to deliver the closing keynote address mere hours later. The luncheon is only open to female undergraduate students and registrations are only be accepted for a waiting list. The Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute is dedicated to "preparing and promoting conservative women leaders."

To register for the waiting list, visit the event site.

To register for the waiting list, visit the event site.

H/T Ian Lazaran, Conservatives4Palin for story lead.