Sarah Palin: Super Tuesday’s Biggest Winner

by Clio

Sarah Palin was not a candidate for office on Super Tuesday, but that’s hard to ascertain from hundreds of news reports and blogs published today.

I thought I’d begin this piece with a cerebral and sophisticated title: “Chicks Rule!” and, indeed, the ladies made the biggest headlines during last night’s Super Tuesday primary results. However, the biggest story of the Super Tuesday mid-term primaries appears to be Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska.

"Palin is a queen or kingmaker within the Republican Party," said former Republican New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato.

After perusing dozens of articles, a theme began to emerge – the Palin effect (not to be confused with Palin Derangement Syndrome): almost all made note of Palin’s picks and the significance of her endorsements in paragraph one or within the first few paragraphs of the story.


Few major news outlets failed to mention Governor Palin’s efforts in Tuesday night’s primaries (three out of four of her candidates won) although several attempted to downplay her role or deflected attention from her successes by focusing on Palin supporters who were unhappy with her picks, dredging up the failed McCain/Palin ticket or her endorsement of New York Senate Independent, Doug Hoffman.

Hoffman entered the race as a dark horse, but soon led the Republican candidate, DeDe Scozzafava in the polls. Scozzafava withdrew from the race and threw her support behind challenger, Democrat Bill Owens. Hoffman lost by a few points; however, one might conclude that Hoffman could have won if Scozzafava had given her support to him instead of the opposition candidate.

Palin’s Facebook fans, according to NYMag.com, are “full of dismay, disenchantment, and even some disgust…” (link below).

This afternoon, I visited Sarah Palin’s Facebook page. After sifting through several pages of enthusiastic messages, I found a few mildly unhappy comments. Granted, some of her Facebook fans didn’t care for all of the candidates she chose to endorse. This may come as a shock to some liberals, but the Palin devout (the Palinistas or Palinbots, as some detractors like to call the former governor’s followers), are not brainless lemmings. Some may not agree with her choices in this primary, but that doesn’t diminish their approval of Governor Palin.

Below are a few excerpts from today’s primary coverage (for the full article, click on the link):

Fox News:

Sarah Palin's still got it.
After a few strikeouts during the campaign season, the former Alaska governor saw three of the four candidates she endorsed sail to victory ….

WashingtonPost.com:

Can Sarah Palin claim credit for last night?
It's irresistible for many in the press to look for Sarah Palin angles on election night…

AsssociatedContent.com:

Whitman, Fiorina, Haley, Angle , Lincoln Score Wins
Primary night was ladies' night on June 8, with the victories of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California, Nikki Haley in South Carolina, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and the unexpected win of Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas.

But the biggest winner may be someone who was not even on the ballot: Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska, potential Presidential candidate, and political queen-maker…

Newsmax.com:

Gillespie: Palin Factor Was Crucial to GOP Victories

CSMonitor.com:

…The “outsider” role in this year’s primaries has been played up big by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, whose famous stump line is now “mama grizzlies, they rise up.” Her endorsement of four female Republican candidates may have helped three of them win or proceed to a runoff. And by her association with the “tea party” movement, she has helped prevent that conservative group from being stamped as antiwoman…

CBSNews.com:

…By my count, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has endorsed 14 Republicans in 2010. Last night, Palin's candidates went two-for-three. California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and Iowa gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad won the GOP primaries, while one of her "mama grizzlies" -- Cecile Bledsoe -- went down to defeat in a congressional primary in Arkansas. (South Carolina GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Nikki Haley was forced to a runoff)…

Politico.com:

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…

Negative reviews of Palin are de rigueur in the predominantly liberal mainstream media (or “lamestream media – a term used by Governor Palin and other conservatives). NYMag.com focuses on Palin’s disgruntled devotees; Huffington Post offers a compendium of anti-Palin blogs and features on the primaries and her (supposedly altered) mammaries. The Bold Pursuit suggests HuffPo report on the incompetency of the boobs running the White House rather than unsupported rumors intended to detract from a clearly powerful, influential woman.


NYMag.com:

It's usually difficult to find a more Palin-friendly place than the comment threads for Sarah Palin's own Facebook notes (standard message: "Go get 'em Sarah!"), but today, Palin's Facebook page is full of dismay, disenchantment, and even some disgust. It's all because Palin endorsed former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly "Demon Sheep" Fiorina over the more conservative Chuck DeVore in California's Republican Senate primary…

The real story is that three out of four candidates endorsed by Governor Palin won their primaries: Carly Fiorina: California, US Senate, Nikki Haley: South Carolina, Governor, and former Governor Terry Branstad: Iowa, Governor. The only candidate Palin endorsed in Tuesday's primaries who lost was Arkansas House candidate Cecile Bledsoe.

Sarah Palin's choices for governor and the U.S. Senate are, for the most part, conservatives selected by SarahPAC for having the best chance to prevail in the primaries and general elections. Occasionally, as in the case of Carly Fiorina, that means bypassing the more conservative choice.

Why would Sarah Palin choose a moderate over a more conservative candidate? She’s looking to the future, for the party and, perhaps, herself.

The Electoral College Map indicates that California will have 55 delegates – always pivotal state and especially so in the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections. If Fiorina and Meg Whitman both win in November, there is a strong possibility that California may provide the crucial electoral and popular votes that conservative candidates need to win. Granted, that’s premature speculation at this point, however, one can see the strategic need for conservative wins in 2010 and 2012.

Of course, we do not know if Governor Palin’s popularity will continue to grow or maintain. Will she win back the support of her ‘dismayed, disenchanted, and disgusted’ fans? The Bold Pursuit asserts that her core base is strong and the demand for her endorsements and speaking engagements will continue. There are reports in the media that other candidates are seeking her seal of approval; many of her Facebook fans are begging her to consider their city/state/national candidates.

Will Governor Palin continue to wield her scepter as queen/kingmaker or seek her own throne in 2012? Readers, what do you think?

Photo Credit:  
May 22, 2010 - Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America



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