In talking about last night's primary results,even The Politico agrees that the big winner was Governor Sarah Palin:
Some of Sarah Palin’s riskiest endorsements scored major victories Tuesday for the former Alaska governor, showing off her power in Republican primaries.
Palin had four primary endorsements in play – Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Terry Branstad and Cecile Bledsoe – and three won or moved on to a runoff.
Palin served different roles for each candidate – sometimes spotlighting conservatives not well known to the national scene while at others validating conservative credentials to an unsure grassroots and even stepping in to deflect nasty attacks.
Perhaps Palin’s most powerful demonstration came in South Carolina, where her endorsement propelled a major swing in the polls for Haley’s primary campaign for governor and sustained the state representative through accusations of two separate affairs.
"Her decision to get - and stay - involved in the race here in South Carolina was a huge boon to our campaign, because it caused a lot of South Carolinians to take a second look at a rising in the polls but once-little known state legislator who was fighting to give them back their government,” Haley spokesman Tim Pearson said of Palin.
Palin was quick to defend Haley from blogger Will Folks, who claimed to have had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley, writing on her Facebook page that Folks was trying to “make things up.”
Palin recorded a robocall for Haley in the closing days, urging South Carolinians to ignore the “made-up nonsense.”
Governor Palin's endorsees also scored in Iowa and California, where Terry Branstad won a surprise victory in the Iowa gubernatorial race over Bob Vander Plaats and Carly Fiorina beat out two other Republicans to get a crack at unseating Senator Babara Boxer in November.
Even the lone Palin endorsee who lost, congressional candidate Cecile Bledsoe in Arkansas did much better than expected, turning what looked liked a distant second place finish a month ago into a squeaker.
What Governor Palin is doing,of course, is building her very own political machine piece by piece, composed of people who are going to owe her significant favors in the future, should she decide on a 2012 race.
Tell me again how 'stupid' she is, hmmm?
"where Terry Branstad won a surprise victory in the Iowa gubernatorial race over Bob Vander Plaats"
ReplyDeleteWhat?!!! Terry Branstad's victory wasn't a surprise. Branstad was beating Bob Vander Plaats by 28% in the DM Register poll two days before the primary. Bob only lost by 9% when polls closed. The true conservative, Bob Vander Plaats, had the grassroots support behind him. Branstad was governor for 16 years in the 80s and early 90s. He had the establishment behind him and all the endorsements plus 2 millions dollars to spend. Bob defied expectations and closed within single digits. The Branstad victory wasn't a surprise. The surprise of the night was the Bob came from 28 points back and closed within 9 points. That is the surprise and conservatives in iowa are so upset with Palin. Her endorsement for the more conservative Bob Vander Plaats could have easily closed the gap. Caucus voters are more conservative than primaries and they will raise Hell in 2012 and for sure will not forgive Palin.
Your take on this differs from most other sources, but you're certainly entitled.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but I have a suspicion - call it intuition - that you weren't a Sarah Palin fan even before this happened anyway.