Three-hundred-year-old religious right gadfly Phyllis Schlafly
organized a “Life of the Party” party on Tuesday for pro-life delegates
and politicians. The event was rife with bitter disappointments for the
crowd, however. First delegates were met at the door by protesters from
Code Pink, who heckled pro-lifers for their support of the war. Then
they learned that the gala’s planned headliner, Gov. Sarah Palin, had
canceled the night before and was being replaced by right-wing talk
radio star Laura Ingraham. Schlafly was not amused.

“I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn’t understand where the votes are coming from,” Schlafly told ABC News. “They only told me this at 10 o’clock last night and it was a call from somebody down-the-line in the McCain campaign.”

Backed by a Dixieland quartet, Schlafly kicked off the party at 2 pm
and was greeted by two protesters who jumped on stage. Undeterred, she
carried on with a program that ended with testimonials on behalf of
Palin. from Rep. Michele Bachmann ("One thing we know is that with our
Founding Father, it has always been cool to be pro-life.”) and
religious right leader Gary Bauer, who offered what was perhaps the
most ringing Christian endorsement of any out-of-wedlock pregnancy
since that of Jesus’ mother: “In the last several days,” he intoned,
“Gov. Palin’s family have taught the American people more about what it
means to be a faith-based family that believes in the sanctity of life
than anything the politicians could do in Washington DC.”