Sarah Palin is a 'soap opera' out to make money, says Ronald Reagan's son
The son of the former US president Ronald Reagan has branded Sarah Palin a 'soap opera' ahead of a speech she will give honouring his late father.
Ron Reagan said that he doesn't see anything in common between his dad and the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate.
Palin is scheduled to speak in Santa Barbara, California, on Friday at a tribute to Ronald Reagan. The event is one of the celebrations marking the 40th US president's 100th birthday on Feb. 6.
Not like dad: Former president Ronald Reagan's son, Ron, branded Sarah Palin a 'soap opera' ahead of her speech honouring his father's 100th birthday
But the stinging criticism from the son of one of the US's most memorable presidents will come as a devastating blow to Palin, the former Alaska governor, as she rallies support for a possible presidential candidacy bid in 2012.
'Sarah Palin is a soap opera, basically. She's doing mostly what she does to make money and keep her name in the news,' Reagan said.
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'She is not a serious candidate for president and never has been,' added Reagan, a political independent whose politics lean left.
But former Reagan speechwriter Kenneth Khachigian praised the choice of Palin to speak at the event which is sponsored by the conservative Young America's Foundation.
Republican: President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at the Guildhall, London, in 1988
Palin was a teenager when Reagan took office in 1981 and like many young people, Khachigan says, 'thier lives and philosophy and political fortunes were shaped by the Reagan era. She can reflect on that as well as anyone could.'
The foundation was founded in the 1960s to promote conservative ideas on college campuses, and it purchased Reagan's former ranch in 1998. The foundation is not connected with the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
Palin is expected to use the speech as a major platform to put herself in the running as the Republic presidential candidate for the 2012 elections.
According to polls, Mike Huckabee has a slight lead over Palin and the third main contender Newt Gingrich.
But the speech at the Reagan tribute is being billed as a potentially defining moment in Palin's career.
She may use the occasion to end her silence on the Egyptian protest and attempt to set out some of the ideas that may form her foreign policy if she runs for the presidential candidacy.
Palin's political committee did not immediately respond to the comments from Ron Reagan.
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