The political spotlight is bright in a couple of Iowa cities today. While President Obama is set to speak about the economy in the Quad Cities today, Sarah Palin will be in Pella to attend the world premiere of the movie “The Undefeated.” The documentary is about the former Alaska governor’s rise in politics.
Elaine Sagers is on the board of directors for the Pella Opera House, which was chosen as the site for the premiere just a few days ago. “The last couple of days, things have been very hectic because with any event of this magnitude, there are thousands of details to work through,” Sagers said.
The theater has 340 seats, two of which will be occupied by Palin and her husband. The other tickets were given away for free. “How fast can you blink? That would be how fast the tickets to the movie went,” Sagers said.
Many tickets were set aside for Marion County Republicans and Palin supporters in the area, but Sagers says those aren’t the only people in attendance. “I would say most of the attendees are just local community leaders…several of the folks who were invited are patrons of the Opera House,” Sagers said. “They really wanted this to be a community event, not a political event.”
Stephen Bannon is the writer and director of the documentary, which will be released nationally on July 15. It will be shown for the first time today in Pella at 5 p.m.
After the movie premiere, 1,000 people will attend a cookout with Palin – who still has not said if she plans to run for president. Palin does not plan to speak to the media today in Pella. The film premiere and cookout are closed to the media.