A Palin staffer confirmed Thursday that Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 presidential contender, planned to travel to Haiti with the Rev. Franklin Graham as part of the outreach of his Samaritan's Purse relief organization.
A spokeswoman for the group confirmed Palin planned to visit relief sites this weekend.
A cholera outbreak has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti, a country that is still recovering from a devastating earthquake earlier this year and is in the midst of a disputed presidential election.
Gunfire and barricades were reported Thursday in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and the U.S. State Department reissued a travel warning to the country and recommended against nonessential travel.
Graham said he appreciates Palin's willingness to visit Haiti during such troubled times.
"I believe Gov. Palin will be a great encouragement to the people of Haiti and to the organizations, both government and private, working so hard to provide desperately needed relief," he said in a statement.(Read more at Washington Post)
POLITICO:
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is heading to Haiti this weekend with evangelist Franklin Graham, a Palin source confirmed to POLITICO.
Palin and Graham will visit a cholera clinic in addition to other stops, as was first reported by CNN.
The Haiti visit was the second foreign trip to surface Thursday. Palin is also planning possible visits next year to Israel and Britain.
The Haiti trip could serve two distinct political purposes for Palin.
First, it provides an opportunity to expand her image and policy portfolio beyond her limited image as a darling of the tea party movement.
Second, she'll be able to better establish her claim to evangelical voters if she chooses to seek the Republican presidential nomination. Evangelicals overwhelmingly supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, one of Palin's potential 2012 rivals, in the early 2008 GOP primaries and caucuses. (Continues here)
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