When your two big Alabama Republican dinners in 2023 were highlighted by first Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and then former President Donald Trump, what do you do for an encore in 2024?
A colorful and outspoken Republican mouthpiece, Kellyanne Conway, will keynote the twice-annual dinner in Birmingham on Friday, February 9.
The Alabama Republican Party made this announcement Thursday:
The Alabama Republican Party is pleased to announce Kellyanne Conway will be the keynote speaker at our annual Winter Dinner on February 9, 2024. This dinner will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Birmingham Ballroom at the Birmingham Sheraton Hotel.
Kellyanne Conway is the first woman to have run a successful presidential campaign in U.S. history, having served as President Trump’s campaign manager in the 2016 election. Following the President’s inauguration, she was tapped to be one of his most senior advisors in the administration, holding that post from 2017 to 2020.
Prior to her time with the Trump campaign, Kellyanne was a leading Republican strategist and pollster, whose numerous clients included Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Congresswoman (now Senator) Marsha Blackburn.
She is one of the most recognized and respected conservative strategists in the country today.
Tickets for this event are available at http://www.algop.org. Additionally, there will be sponsorship opportunities that include an exclusive Roundtable session and a VIP Photo Line experience. We anticipate a full house and encourage anyone interested in reserving a sponsorship, table or individual ticket to act quickly.
Conway was a longtime pollster and strategist in Washington. She mainly flew below the radar screen until the 1990s when she, Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter, all young, female, attractive and articulate, became conservative talking heads labeled “pundettes” and “stylish stardom.”
In August 2016, in the final two and a half months of the Trump presidential campaign, Kellyanne was thrust front and center. All of a sudden, she was all over the radar screen.
Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was behind in the polls. There were internal problems in his campaign. His campaign manager, Paul Manafort, resigned. The mainstream media tried to make it look like chaos. It ended up being an opportunity for Kellyanne Conway. She was announced as Trump's new campaign manager, and he won. Kellyanne Conway was partially responsible for a come-from-behind victory for Trump and the Republicans.
Some amount of credit is due to Kellyanne Conway for there never being a President Hillary Clinton.
Kellyanne has an Alabama connection. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed her to head the White House task force fighting the opioid overdose epidemic.
Kellyanne brings that experience, plus a lifetime of polling and strategizing, to address Alabama Republican leaders as Trump is running to regain the White House.
While mainstream media have tried to paint Kellyanne as an airheaded blonde, she actually holds a Phi Beta Kappa key from Trinity Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.
She prefers to be called “Kellyanne” rather than “Conway.” That’s partly because she is informal and approachable. But it is also because of her ex-husband, George Conway. He is and has been a vocal anti-Trumpster. Talk about the odd couple. HE is Conway, SHE is Kellyanne.
They managed to keep the marriage together during Kellyanne’s service to the Trump campaign and in the White House as a senior advisor and frequent Trump spokesperson.
They were a Trump-era version of that couple, James Carville (abrasive Democrat) and Mary Matalin, (loyal Republican), during the Bush years.
George and Kellyanne had married in 2001 and divorced in March 2023.
Following her Trump years, she became a Fox News contributor and a guest host on "Hannity," "The Five," "Outnumbered," and the "Big Weekend Show."
Individual tickets to the dinner are $150 and available here.
The dinner and speech are at 7 p.m. on February 9 at the Birmingham Sheraton.
Kellyanne's appearance is less than a month before Alabama’s Republican primary on March 5. That date is also “Super Tuesday” with the largest number of states yet holding their presidential primaries.
“My broad mind and my slim waist have not changed places.” - Kellyanne Conway.
Jim Zeigler is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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