Sarah Palin told Fox News that the grassroots movement would be wise to 'pick a party'. Palin to tea parties: 'Take over' GOP

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged the tea parties on Thursday to "take over" the Republican Party.

Palin told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the grass-roots movement would be wise to "pick a party" because she said "it is easier to reform one of the parties than it is to form a new machine and new process via a third party."


The former governor then declared "let's get in there and take over one of the parties!"

"Take over the Republican Party, tea partiers," she said. "Get them to see the light. They are seeing the light clearer and clearer every day. Get them to understand what built this country. Get back to the foundation of America."

Palin has recently maneuvered herself into the role of unofficial leader of the movement, speaking to the first National Tea Party Convention in Nashville last month and championing the tea parties in interviews.

Palin was paid $100,000 for her speech to the tea party convention. The former governor said the payment was donated back into the political movement, but she has yet to explain how or to whom the money was given.

Asked to define the tea party movement, Palin said "it's pretty simple. it's a smaller, smarter government, not growing government to control more of our lives and our businesses and make decisions for us."

"It really is not as complicated as some in Washington, D.C., want to make it out to be," she claimed.