[D]ES MOINES, Iowa — When Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump landed in Iowa on Saturday, his plane did a dramatic flyover, buzzing a Dubuque crowd while the theme from “Air Force One,” a 1997 drama starring Harrison Ford, played over loudspeakers.
NOT THE ONION: Trump’s plane does a dramatic fly by to the theme song of Air Force One. pic.twitter.com/XV0h63zRKh
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 30, 2016
The plane — a mammoth machine painted in red, white and blue and emblazoned with TRUMP on the side — has come to signify the billionaire’s penchant for theatrics, wealth and power. Inside the 757 are leather accessories and seat belts said to be plated in gold.
Given these images, it came as a surprise when I spotted Trump’s highest-profile surrogate, Sarah Palin, in Terminal A at the Minneapolis airport Sunday, waiting for Flight 3651 to Des Moines, a short flight on a very, very un-Trump-like plane.
There were no first class seats. Cramped, not much legroom. Only water was served, and the seat belts weren’t coated in gold — more likely germs. Two seats across, maybe 20 rows. Cattle, compared with riding in Trump style.
At first, I wasn’t sure it was her. Maybe, I thought, it’s Tina Fey. After all, she’s holding a brown leather bag with “SNL 40” etched on the side, a reference to the “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary show, which was broadcast last year.
Both Palin and Fey were on the show and share a lot of SNL history, so the bag was hardly conclusive.
But after a closer look — and watching the VIP treatment she received from an eager “Ready when you are” flight attendant — my thoughts were confirmed: Sarah Palin flies Delta.
The controversial former Alaska governor has been largely out of the spotlight since she ran as Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in 2008. She re-emerged last month when she endorsed Trump in a fiery — and often strange — speech in Ames, Iowa.
“He’s got the guts to wear the issues that need to be spoken about and debate on his sleeve, where the rest of some of these establishment candidates, they just wanted to duck and hide,” Palin said in her speech.
She sat halfway back on Flight 3651, the window seat. Her 21-year-old daughter, Willow, sat on the aisle. During the flight, Palin went over a printed-out speech, crossing out and adding with a bold red pen.
When we landed, I asked if we could talk. She wore head-to-toe black, and sunglasses in place of her iconic rimless glasses from 2008. Her lipstick was cotton candy pink.
She granted me two questions. I asked about Trump and Bernie Sanders, the two outsiders, just as she had been.
She said she was confident Trump would win Iowa, declaring in an almost Muhammad Ali-style prefight rhyme: “He’s tapping into the frustration that many Americans feel with the status quo, knowing it’s gotta go.”
She also praised Sanders, saying, “I appreciate his candidacy.”
Palin compared Sanders’ outsider status to hers in 2008.
Sanders is “a politician gutsy enough to go rogue — against their party power structure — because Bernie recognizes on his side of the aisle, it’s messed up too, just like on my side of the aisle,” she said.
“The establishment is messed up, so Bernie is trying to do something about it,” Palin continued. “I don’t want him to be our president, but I appreciate his candidacy.”
She smiled, turned and strode through the airport, her star status on display. People stopped her repeatedly, thanking her for her service. She took a few photos with babies. Then she was off, whisked away in a car, to go stump for Trump.
The next morning she did an interview on the “Today” show in Iowa, where again she praised the New York businessman. Yet, her praise for political bluntness could have been just as easily uttered by a Sanders surrogate.
“I think people are craving honesty and candidness, folks who are outside that permanent political class,” she said.
If Palin is right, then both Trump and Sanders could have a good night.
