Alicia Lewis: Victim of the Sarah Palin Attack Machine Speaks Out

Last updated on February 3rd, 2013 at 03:17 am

Alicia Lewis, victim of the Sarah Palin Attack Machine Speaks Out: Inside a young student’s experience with a powerful political personality and leader of the Tea Party, who labels those who don’t agree with her as personal enemies and political operatives. When Alicia Lewis attempted to hold CSU fiscally accountable, she found herself on the wrong end of Palin’s attack machine.

Stanislaus Shredded Documents Photo: John Myers

An exclusive interview with Alicia Lewis, who found herself the unwitting victim of the Sarah Palin attack machine during the Palin Stanislaus speech shakedown. Sen. Leland Yee (D-SF) and others were wondering, among many other questions regarding the university’s transparency and financial dealings, why Palin’s speaking fees for her June 25 engagement were not being disclosed per the state’s public records law. In the course of following a lead about documents which were being disposed of suspiciously, Ms. Lewis stumbled into the middle of another Palin drama and found herself being labeled a “dumpster diver and “political operative” by Sarah Palin during Palin’s nationally streamed speech last weekend.

Sarah Jones: Give me a little background info — your major, where you grew up, etc. I believe your major is poly-sci, which is interesting. Has this experience impacted your ideas about politics or decision to go into that field?

Alicia Lewis: I just received my BA in Political Science and will be entering into the Masters of Public Administration this Fall. I grew up in both Stanislaus and Merced County. I have always been interested in politics and involved within my local community. However, this experience has shown me the large amount of time and energy necessary to fully participate in this field. Not to mention it has demonstrated the dark under belly of politics such as the hate mail and public scrutiny.

This entire experience while discouraging and frustrating at first has actually strengthened my commitment to enter into the political world. I have seen firsthand how the actions of a few college students can turn into an international talking point and that it is possible to get your message out.

Sarah Jones: How did you get involved in finding Palin’s contract?

Alicia Lewis: A little background explanation: After it was publicized that our school had invited Sarah Palin to speak at our 50th anniversary gala there was a California Public Records Request for any information regarding expenditures related to the event. Our school denied having any documents citing the schools Foundation was separate from the University itself and not subject to disclosure laws. Several emails surfaced demonstrating that the school was not being truthful.

Out of intuition/curiosity/boredom we opened the bins. One was filled with whole intact documents and a bag of shredded paperwork. We saw the headers were all from the University financial services and thought it was odd they were cleaning out offices on a closed campus day so we took the documents. Not knowing what we would end up finding. After looking through the stacks of paperwork we found pages 4-9 of what appeared to be the Palin contract. It was mixed with all University paperwork and in our opinion demonstrated that our school did violate the CA Public Records Request.

Palin Mocking Those Who Called Her on PalmGate at Stanislaus

Sarah Jones: Sarah Palin accused you of being a “political operative” during her Stanislaus speech. Can you talk about what your intentions were when you found the shredded contracts and what your reaction was when you heard Palin’s spin on your intentions? Palin seems to be saying that you could not have had a motive other than political differences. Do you agree with her characterization?

Alicia Lewis: At the time we found the documents our intention was to find out what the heck was going on a closed campus day. All we knew was that our campus administration has been under constant criticism for decisions and actions it has made in recent years plus we had a tip from an alarmed source making us even more concerned that something fishy was taking place. We did not know it would lead us in the direction of anything concerning Sarah Palin.

I disagree with her characterization about me entirely, she obviously did not look into or comprehend what was being said and should maybe try thinking before speaking.

Sarah Jones: I’ve read and talked with many people who have had similar encounters with Sarah Palin. She is often described as a “rabid” “vindictive” person. What did you know about Palin before this entire episode and how has your notion of her changed since you have had personal experience with her? How would you characterize her now? Would you vote for her now? How do you feel about the idea of her being President — how do you think she would handle that sort of power?

Alicia Lewis: Prior to this debacle I was fairly familiar with Sarah Palin (due to her VP run) and had read about the various accusations regarding misconduct and abuse of power while governor of Alaska. I had seen her interviews and heard her speeches so my view of her was already very low.

You asked if I would vote for her? Absolutely not.

The idea of her being President is terrifying. She is narrow minded and has emphasized the agenda that (she) wishes to push on the country as a whole. I think she would handle presidential power poorly because she has already shown a disdain for higher learning belittling the experts that tend to advise presidents. Whom would she be relying on for knowledge on specific issues? Todd?

Sarah Jones: Do you consider what Palin said about you irresponsible? Were there consequences for you, in terms of challenges or obstacles you had to overcome due to her decision to point fingers at you during a national speech?

Alicia Lewis: I consider most of what Palin says to be irresponsible. She has a strong influence over so many people that it’s scary knowing that she is going around labeling those who disagree with her as un-American or not part of “Real America”. Since this entire situation has taken place there has been the negative outpouring from her supporters it seemed to slow down until her speech which only reignited their desire to send hate filled messages to college students.

Sarah Jones: Talk a bit about how this experience has changed you. Are you more or less engaged in politics now? Do you see our political landscape differently than you did before?

Alicia Lewis: I am more engaged now with politics since this situation took place because it allowed me to meet some wonderful people in my community. I am more cynical now because I have seen how opportunistic people can be and that I need to be aware of what other people’s intentions are.

I was already skeptical about our political landscape but now I have seen how divided we have made ourselves and I believe very unnecessarily. When talking with people about the transparency issue I saw that with good conversation and explanation those from all over the political spectrum can agree on issues. We just have to get past the political mouthpieces that are going around the country spewing misinformation.

Sarah Jones: Have you spoken with Senator Yee about this situation? He was threatened by Palin fans after he attempted to get to the bottom of the transparency issue, is this something you are concerned about now?

Alicia Lewis: I have spoken with the Senator and he has shown such kindness regarding this whole situation. All of us are still on the same page regarding the senate bill (SB 330) that we want to see passed in California in order to prevent mishandling of funds in our CSU/UC system. I am always going to be slightly concerned that some crazed supporter of Palin will say or do something however, I can’t let that stop me from advocating for the school system which I am a part of.

Sarah Jones: Talk about what you most wish people knew about this situation — the thing you feel people most misunderstand who were not a part of it.

Alicia Lewis: I wish that people understood that this was never about Palin, that we as students have legitimate concerns about how our school system operates in California and are completely determined to make changes. We have had academic programs and budgets cut, our tuition increased, and faculty being laid off. Constantly being told that we all need to be fiscally responsible yet the college Foundations which are responsible for 1 billion dollars of donor money throughout the state are not given any oversight and have had scandals leak out of blatant financial waste and irresponsibility.

It would be naïve for me to argue that we can all get along and have consensus on our most divisive issues but it does not have to be as bad as we make it. If we stop with the tag lines and sound bites we might be able to have a legitimate conversation. Until then we will be stuck having people like Palin determining the opinion and political course our country takes.

Alicia Lewis with CSU Stanislaus' Suspiciously Shredded Documents

Sarah Jones

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.

Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.