Nashville (Tennessee, US), Feb.8 : During a question and answer session that followed her speech to participants at the National Tea Party convention, former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republic vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin appeared to be mocking President Barack Obama's use of a teleprompter by reading notes off her hand.

According to a Huffington Post report,Palin referred to President Obama as "a guy with a teleprompter," while depending on her own "palm pilot."

Palin's appearance at the Tea Party convention was closely watched as a potential signal of her political future and the extent to which the convention would embrace her.

Aligning herself firmly with the Tea Party, she urged the 1,100 people who had gathered in a hotel ballroom not to let the movement be defined by any one leader.

"This is about the people, and it's bigger than any one king or queen of a Tea Party, and it's a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter," she said.

That was just one of several digs at President Obama.

"How's that hopey-changey thing working out for you?" she asked at one point.

She criticized Obama for allowing deficits to rise, for "apologizing for America" in speeches in other countries, and for allowing a man with explosives to board a plane headed for the United States on Christmas Day, saying the president was weak in the fight against terrorism.

"To win that war, we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law," she said.

Palin gave little hint to her political plans when she said she would support those candidates who "understand free market principles" and "personal responsibility."

Without saying which candidates she would support, she said she would campaign for conservative challengers in some Republican primaries.