>> we were able to do all this without having Sarah Palin visit and help select our candidates <<
A very interesting observation, with an unmistakably negative overtone for Sarah’s political fortunes-to-be.
Now to be sure, when it comes to her most highly publicized endorsements, Sarah hit a home run with Nikki Haley in SC. But some of her high profile endorsements bombed out big time — as with Christine O. in DE, with Sharron A. in NV, with Tom T. in CO, and probably with Joe M. in AK.
So at least in some states, it seems that Sarah’s blessing was worth approximately the same as the endorsement of Virginia’s Congressman Periello (sp?)by the TØTUS, which is to say the effects at best were “dubious.”
Bottom Line:
I gotta wonder what this string of strike-outs portends for Sarah’s 2012 prospects. Maybe the impact will be neutral for her, maybe it will be bad. But in any case, it’s very hard to see how she’s been helped by the outcomes of these races.
I view Sarah Palin as a “rich-mans” Sharon Angle or Christine O’Donnell. i.e. a decent person with the the correct viewpoints. But also not someone of enough substance to convince that 15-20% of the electorate in the middle to vote for her.
You must have that 15-20% of the middle to win the Presidency or win a statewide race like a Senate seat.
Palin has a huge vocal group of supporters. Probably the largest single block within the conservative/republican party. But she also has a hard ceiling on her numbers. And that is why she won’t work as our 2012 candidate IMO.
Again, we ran really competent Tea Party candidates across the board here and Wisconsin. And they all won. The voters in the middle want some heft to your resume in the big races. Especially after being burned on Obama as they were two years ago.