Even in light of her new status as a Fox News TV commentator, governor-turned-author-turned-talking-head Sarah Palin and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America is an odd match. The trade group announced this week that Palin will be keynote speaker at its upcoming convention in Las Vegas. But what does the poster girl of tea party fundamentalist Christians have in common with the friendly folks who keep our stores and restaurants stocked with alcoholic beverages?

The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers, which will gather this April in Las Vegas, describes itself as 330 primarily family-owned companies representing 70% of alcoholic beverage sales in America. One company, however, dominates the industry: Southern Wine & Spirits, a privately held, Miami-based behemoth operating in 29 states with annual sales reportedly well in excess of $7 billion. And one issue dominates Southern's political agenda: survival.

The threat to Southern, and other wholesalers, is not the recession. While sales of expensive wines and luxury spirits may be down, liquor generally is "recession resistant," says Nancy White, director of public relations for the association.  "Sales have been trending up in our industry."

So what is it about Palin's mix of populist rhetoric, anti-regulation boilerplate and family values cheerleading that makes her a candidate to address the troops of liquor salesmen?

They need to co-opt her family values mantle to protect their business. But, funny enough, what worries these wholesalers is the loss of protective government regulations.

American wine and spirits commerce remains subject to Prohibition-era regulations, mostly on the state level. Those regulations literally created the wholesale liquor business and, without them, it would be far less lucrative. As antiquated as these rules may be, wholesalers have been able to preserve them -- as well as themselves -- by claiming the rules are a firewall in keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors, who otherwise would be able to order alcohol directly over the Internet. And, with that, the nation's family values would go right down the drain.

These mostly state regulations are collectively referred to as the "three-tier system." The original idea was to have alcoholic beverage producers sell to wholesalers who, in turn, would sell to retailers who sell to the public. The disconnected chain of control was intended to curb organized crime's hold on the booze trade. "We are dependent on the three-tier system," says White. "Our members exist because there is a three-tier system for alcohol distribution."

Wholesalers, however, are the middlemen that retailers and producers think they could do without. Circumventing the three-tier system is now a full-time effort by high-end vintners and big box stores eager to cut the cost of goods to consumers. While there has been an increase in direct to consumer sales through outlets such as Costco as well as over the Internet, it is a state-by-state fight to reverse generations of legislative history.

Palin is no policy wonk. And it is unlikely that she knows that the stranglehold Southern Wine & Spirits has on wine and liquor sales in Las Vegas would have made 1920s mobsters jealous. But she understands and supports "small, family-owned businesses," says White. "A lot of our members were supportive of her vice presidential bid."

Sure, but does she drink? Did she ever order wine for the Alaska governor's mansion directly from a winery?

White wasn't certain about Palin's personal drinking habits, and she declined to comment on speculation published at Politico.com that the former governor gets $100,000 per speech. "Love her or hate her, Palin is a high-profile personality," she says. "And, entertainment is an aspect to this, certainly."

It appears that the charismatic Palin is developing a bit of a road show. Before she hits the stage in Vegas, she has a star turn at a tea-bagger convention next month in Nashville, Tenn. So tea-bagger or wine-swiller, Palin seems to be the speaker-of-the-moment for a variety of conventions—and maybe the 2012 GOP convention?

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