Take it from someone who WALKED the precincts for Deb....
One week before Sarah’s endorsement: Polite poker faces. There were lots of undecided and “soft” support for Bruning, Flynn and Stenberg.
One week after Sarah’s endorsement: Much more receptive! I got Facebooked, emailed and called by my Tea Party friends asking what they can do to help. Almost all stated that Palin’s endorsement “sealed the deal” for them. As though light switches got flipped, Palin’s endorsement felt like a massive “GO” command.
Yes, there where shifts in the polls for Deb, but Palin’s endorsement was like gas fumes hitting sparks. It opened up a lot of avenues and most likely kicked in Rickett’s money and Fortenberry’s endorsement.
Cain? His name didn’t enter the vocabulary with my contacts.
There were other factors involved, but Palin’s late nod was the nudge that started a snowball effect (IMO).
I saw it with my owns eyes folks.
Can’t wait until Palin and Todd start the bus!!!!
This was Palin’s endorsement record in 2010:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/palin_tracker/
33 out of 53 (62% success rate).