Sarah Palin Speaks at ICSC, Fails Epically

As colleges around the United States hold their commencement ceremonies, there is always a lot of talk about keynote speakers. For example, Michigan had Barack Obama, NYU chose Alec Baldwin, and Tulane welcomed Anderson Cooper. A great many high profile people are in high demand from universities across the country. So when the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) were searching for a keynote speaker for their Global Retail Real Estate Convention (REcon) pickings may have been slim. Whoever was going to be this year’s speaker had some big shoes to fill as previous speakers have included Former President Bill Clinton, and 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Who could ICSC get to follow these two high-powered speakers? None other than Sarah Palin.

Politics aside, whether you love her or hate her, most people would probably say that this was a poor choice for a speaker for a commercial real estate convention. She doesn’t even compare to the previous speakers. Let’s start with credentials. Bill Clinton was President of the United States for two terms, and Lance Armstrong won a 2200 mile bike race 7 times. Clinton had a 66% approval rating when he left office. Lance beat cancer. The last “real” job Sarah Palin had was Governor of Alaska and she was only Governor for 3 years! Clinton was Governor of Arkansas for 12 before he was President for 8.

So right off the bat, I’m wary about this speech.  Had she really nailed it, I would’ve had the courage to eat my words and applaud her. But of course, that won’t be necessary. Palin gave her typical, teaparty, conservative, stump speech. My favorite line, “Shopping centers are everywhere. Conveniently located too.” Really? Wow, I didn’t know that. Anything else about commercial real estate, or retail shopping centers, was equally superficial, and completely obvious. She spent the rest of her time criticizing the current administration about their bailouts. She even claimed the Obama was addicted to opium! He may be addicted to nicotine, but I highly doubt he’s a frequent flyer at the opium dens. Yes, I know she was just pronouncing the acronym OPM (other people’s money) as “opium,” but does she know the difference? Or here’s a better question, did she even realize where she was?

To me, barely mentioning real estate at ICSC REcon is about as bad as Obama walking into the stadium in Ann Arbor (University of Michigan), and addressing the crowd wearing an Ohio State tie. I understand that she has a clear message that she wants to get across, but at least (AT LEAST) tailor it to the crowd a little bit. I’m sure Bill Clinton could at least say something relevant to the economy, and is savvy enough to know who his audience is. Lance Armstrong’s story is so intriguing that he could probably get away without mentioning anything real estate related, leave the crowd in tears, and absolutely no one would care that he had nothing really relevant to the topic of the convention (Note: in his actual speech he did talk about real estate). Sarah Palin’s story is not that intriguing. The only adversity she ever faced (besides finding a college where she could finally get a degree) was how far she had to go for health care as a child. It’s funny that she now rails against the very same Canadian health care that her family utilized when she was young.

I guess I can’t decide who is the bigger failure in this situation. Is it Sarah Palin, herself, or ICSC for choosing her to speak? I think the only solution is to toss my hat into the ring for keynote speakers for ICSC 2011. I may not be as politically experienced as Bill Clinton, and I probably wouldn’t be able to beat Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France even if I were riding a motorcycle, but at the very least I could have talked about HR 4213, and the potential problem it poses for the commercial real estate sector. The bill is going to subject carried interest to the normal income tax rate (it is currently subjected to the 15% capital gains rate). In the top tax bracket, carried interest could be taxed at 39.6%. Not only would this potentially price smaller owners out of the market, but typically when a tax is levied on a corporation or business, the burden usually falls on consumers. Sarah Palin could have said her entire speech with a few sentences paraphrasing what I just said, and been a hit. She would’ve gained supporters and more importantly donors. But instead, she looked like a fool, pandering on about how big government is bad. I have two things to say to ICSC: what was your ROI on this speech? And finally, you can contact me by email when you start brainstorming for keynote speakers next year (I tell great jokes).