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http://www.teapartyexpress.org/
VOTE TEA PARTY
Posted on 09/14/2010 11:45:38 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The former governor racked up some big wins for her endorsees—from a long-shot Tea Partier to a former Real World castmate. The outlook for these winners’ general election chances, however, is decidedly mixed.
Sarah Palin had another successful primary night on Tuesday with conservative activist Christine O’Donnell’s stunning victory in Delaware. The surprise win, much like Palin endorsee Joe Miller’s big victory over incumbent Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s Senate GOP primary last month, has political observers reeling. With 53 percent of the vote, O’Donnell beat Mike Castle, a popular 20-year veteran of the small state’s only House seat and a two-term governor.
After initially meeting with O’Donnell at the Restoring Honor rally with Glenn Beck on Aug. 28, Palin endorsed her last week. In backing the insurgent candidate, the former governor joined the Tea Party Express, which, as in Alaska, had been raising money and canvassing for O’Donnell for weeks. Palin also recorded a last-minute robo-call expressing her support for her newest “Mama Grizzly,” her nickname for the female candidates she backed.
Until Palin’s endorsement, O’Donnell was thought not to stand a chance against Castle, but a poll released Sunday by Public Policy Polling sounded the warning alarm when it had O’Donnell up three points.
In front of screaming supporters, O’Donnell thanked Palin in her speech Tuesday night.
“Thank you, Gov. Palin, for your endorsement. Because she got behind us war-weary folks, and gave us a boost of encouragement when we needed it,” O’Donnell said. “And she was a vote against the politics of personal destruction.”
O’Donnell might have been Palin’s biggest win, but it wasn’t her only one: former FBI agent and combat veteran Michael Grimm sailed to victory in the NY-13 GOP primary for the House seat representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. In Wisconsin, Sean Duffy, former district attorney and star of MTV’s The Real World, beat his challenger in his primary in that state’s 7th Congressional District. And in the NY-2 House race, businessman John Gomez was uncontested and did not face a GOP primary.
There was at least one loss for Palin: In Maryland, Brian Murphy lost his primary against former Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. in an interesting race that pitted Palin against the man who made her famous, John McCain. McCain backed Ehrlich, who will face off against Gov. Martin O’Malley in November. In New Hampshire, Palin’s “Mama Grizzly” former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte was neck and neck with conservative activist Ovide Lamontagne. Early Wednesday morning Ayotte led by several hundred votes, but it was too close to call. This was a situation very different from her other endorsees: Palin backed the candidate seen as less conservative, while Lamontagne was the Tea Party favorite. Palin also recorded a last minute robo-call for Ayotte.
The primary night victories aside, the important question looking toward November is, of course, can these candidates win the general election? With Palin’s biggest win, O’Donnell, the answer seems to be a resounding no. She is widely seen as too conservative for the state’s moderate electorate, and even Karl Rove acknowledged she can’t beat the Democrat, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. Before O’Donnell’s upset, the GOP was counting on Delaware as reliable win and a chance to capture the Senate majority.
Palin’s other endorsees have mixed chances: Duffy looks strong ahead of Democratic State Senator Julie Lassa, but he has already been targeted by ads put up by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee before Labor Day. Grimm will be in a tough but competitive race against incumbent Rep. Michael McMahon, and he’s hoping Palin will even come out to Staten Island to campaign for him. Gomez is going up against Democratic Rep. Steve Israel, who is considered safe.
Palin was silent on Facebook and Twitter throughout primary night, but she sent a late-night tweet congratulating the winners: “Competitive primaries=great 4 voters! Strong msgs sent&recvd tonite;congrats 2 the victors; Now, Commonsense Constitutionalists,let's unite”
******
Shushannah Walshe covers politics for The Daily Beast. She is the co-author of Sarah From Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar. She was a reporter and producer at the Fox News Channel from August 2001 until the end of the 2008 presidential campaign.
When will Castle endorse Coons?
The author is a Fox News alumni.
Seems like a lot of 'popular' veteran politicians are losing elections these days
Kelly Ayotte is winning it by over 900 votes with 83% of the precincts reporting.
Go Sarah...it’s your birthday...go Sarah!
The article isn’t too bad in the sense that it’s reasonably factual, and not too biased.
But the author is a second class ditz. I can hardly bother reading anything she writes.
She’s no Hemingway, if that’s what you mean.
That explains the it. Fair article. I noticed that right away.
Yeah. She's resonably fair about Palin compared to most liberals, so I read some of her articles, but her style is so bland and boring, with hardly any attempt in providing some insight or thoughtful analysis.
Maybe give her some time, but she seems like she's just fresh out of journalism school without any natural gift for writing.
For those trying to calculate the odds that Palin just got lucky with a few of her choices winning, this is key. She's not picking people with a 50-50 chance who get lucky. She's picking real conservatives who lack name recognition, and she is turning around the races with her picks. Palin is currently the single most important Republican in the United States, far more influential than the chair of the NRSC (Cornyn, for those who didn't know and probably no longer care after his out of touch response to the Palin/O'Donnell win).
BTTT
on Fox and Friends Gretchen Carlson is saying that going against O’Donnell and Palin is “suicide for the party”.
She’s gonna be on Fox and Friends 830 am according to Doocy.
Christine on Fox and Friends this am 830 est.
The idiots at Republican headquarters better wake up. She is already controlling the conversation and will soon be controlling the agenda.
The Republican Party is going the way of the Whigs.
Palin is doing two things:
1. Changing the lay of the land in the Party itself.
2. Laying the groundwork for a Presidential run.
She has to do the one to lead to the other. She has to build up a stable of allies committed to her to get to number “2”. Reagan had more time. He started, actually, in the Fifties and worked throughout the Goldwater era, tilling the fields as Governor of California.
Palin doesn’t have that kind of time because the Bushie Establishment knows what she’s doing and is trying to choke her off. They hated Reagan and they don’t want another one to come along.
So Palin has to do in two years what Reagan did in twenty.
Tough order, but Palin is up to it.
Best,
Chris
I wonder if the founders of facebook knew they were going to be the reason the country turns back to conservatism if they would have still invented the application?
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