Story highlights The influential tea party star trekked to the South with Trump to serve up a Palin-esque platter of red meat to a midday political rally

While Palin didn't directly target Ted Cruz, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee is helping bolster Trump's conservative credentials

Tulsa, Oklahoma (CNN) Sarah Palin is firing up the troops for Donald Trump.

The influential tea party star trekked to the South with Trump -- less than 24 hours after she endorsed the GOP front-runner in Iowa -- to serve up a Palin-esque platter of red meat to a midday political rally here, one of the states voting March 1 in the crucial SEC portion of the Republican primary.

She lamented President Barack Obama's "pussy-footin' around," slammed establishment Republicans' "complicity" in the country's condition and talked up Trump's appeal to the "average Joe, six-pack American."

And as the Oklahoma crowd hollered and cheered and, when prompted, erupted into a sea of boos, Palin shed light on the role she'll play in Trump's presidential campaign -- which is careening toward a head-on collision with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's own campaign.

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