Washington, July 12 (ANI): Former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said GOP leader Mitt Romney should do more to energize conservatives before the November 2012 presidential elections.
"Romney, he has said before that he doesn't want to have to light his hair on fire. Well, there are a lot of his base supporters, independents who are saying, 'Well, light our hair on fire, then! Remind us how important it is that we get engaged in this presidential election because it is the election of our lifetime," The Politico quoted Palin, as saying.
She was referring to Romney's remarks in February that he's not interested in saying "outrageous" and "accusatory" statements just for the sake of shoring up support.
"You know I'm not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support," Romney had said.
But Palin insisted that an electrified base would be the key to Romney's victory.
"We saw in the 2010 electoral victory and we saw in the Wisconsin recall victory ... that the base, the independents, the tea party patriots, need to be energized and get out to vote," the former Alaska governor said.
"Otherwise, the right is not going to be able to get in there, into the White House and reverse the course that Barack Obama has put us on, towards bankruptcy and insolvency," she added.
Palin also weighed in on the GOP nominee's options for a running mate, referring to Senators Rob Portman and Marco Rubio and Republican Paul Ryan as "all good choices."
She suggested that Romney will want to play it safe by picking someone who is more of a "known commodity" than she was in 2008, "so that the media doesn't do what the media did to me - making things up and kind of thrashing somebody's reputation and record in order to distract from what the election really was supposed to be about." (ANI)