Palin's Speech to the Daytona Chamber of Commerce

The Orlando Sentinel reports on Palin's Chamber of Commerce speech here:
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Sarah Palin mixed auto-racing lingo with her main themes of energy, national security and Washington bashing during a Monday night speech to the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce that brought raucous applause from her loyal fans....

"There are potholes in the road," Palin said, reminding people of the hole that twice delayed the running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday. "But we patch them up and keep moving forward...."

Addressing the chamber, she praised the Florida weather and the signature racing event, telling people that a visit to Daytona Beach was on many a person's bucket list. Her speech, with a theme on how to keep Daytona on a road to prosperity, chided Washington spending. "I think some people in Washington are addicted to O-P-M — other people's money," she said, scoring one of many rounds of applause.

She also strongly backed oil drilling, including the effort to open up drilling closer to Florida's coast. "Someone said a tourist wouldn't like seeing an oil drill so close to the beach, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder," she said. "That drill produces for America. It produces jobs."

Outgoing chamber president Ted Doran, during an easy-chair Q&A session after her speech, tried to lure Palin into making a President's Day revelation about her her political plans, but Palin offered only that she wanted to return next year and bring her husband, Todd, and her children to the Daytona 500. She has recently said that she would leave open the possibility of seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

A sold-out crowd of 2,000 people attended Monday night's event at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, paying $150 for dinner and the speech or $50 just for the speech.