The Iowa Republican Party is heavily courting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to headline its top fundraising event, the Des Moines Register Reports.
The Register has not confirmed whether Palin has accepted the invitation. The Iowa GOP, though, has assigned Becky Beach, who has connection to the Bush family and presidential campaigns, to the task of courting Palin.
“Absolutely, I’m trying to get her here,” Beach told the Register. “It would be a huge event.”
The Ronald Reagan Dinner is considered something of a launching pad for Republicans with presidential aspirations. Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul – all presidential candidates last year – attended the 2007 dinner. Mitt Romney went to the event in 2004.
On Wednesday, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) raised the specter of Palin coming to Iowa for a fundraiser.
“And I would only ask her to come for a major fund-raiser, but I would presume that the party might be ahead of me on making that request,” Grassley said.