Posted on 06/11/2011 1:36:32 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
While I freely concede that both Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have a right to run for President, it is impossible to overlook the fact that their recent benefactress, Sarah Palin, is rolling out her own Presidential campaign at the same time. This would not generally be extraordinary. In politics, alliances are sometimes (although not regularly) forged and broken. However, in my forty years or so of close political observation, I cannot remember an analogous situation in which the beneficiaries of one politician turn on their benefactor (especially a benefactor as conspicuous as Palin) so shortly after having obtained and used the benefactor's endorsement and appearances to secure both campaign cash and votes. In fact, not since Judas hustled away to the Chief Priests from the Last Supper has there been such a propinquity between the favor and the betrayal. I predict that this disloyalty, spotlighted by the freshness of the favors spent upon these two by Palin, will sour the stomachs of GOP primary voters who tend to place more emphasis on character, which is to say: loyalty. Americans despise disloyalty. Disloyalty and its associated character flaws are a tragedy in a human being, but they are a catastrophe in a President. The association, in the American psyche, of disloyalty and the traitor, Benedict Arnold, bespeaks the level of national revulsion with this particularly poisonous character flaw.
Michele Bachmann, by all accounts, faced a tough reelection fight against State Senator Tarryl Clark, a more attractive and far better financed ($4 million war chest) candidate than she had faced in in 2008, when she narrowly beat lightly regarded and under-financed lobbyist Elwyn Tinkenberg by less than 3% of the vote. At Bachmann's request, Palin rode to her rescue early, appearing on her behalf at a packed rally of over 10,000 in Minneapolis on April 8, 2010, which was nationally televised on Sean Hannity's FOX program. Bachmann parlayed Palin's endorsement and high profile support into a fund raising bonanza of $13.4 million, which she used to swamp Clark. Indeed, the lopsided money advantage freed her to travel around the country campaigning for others and posing as the real TEA party heavyweight. Armed with this Palin-generated largesse, she easily beat Clark by 12%, the largest margin of victory in her career, including her two state Senate Races. Now she is using the balance of these "thirty pieces of silver" to pay odious characters like Ed Rollins to smear Sarah Palin as "not serious" and too lazy to "gain substance" in contrast to Bachmann, who "ha[s] worked hard" and been "a leader of the TEA party". Such treachery, which is both frank and fresh, makes me and every fair-minded person (whether pro- Palin or neutral) sick to our collective stomachs.
Rick Perry similarly faced a very competitive GOP primary against a sitting U.S. Senator, who is more liberal than he, and a solid conservative, Deb Medina, who was very popular with conservatives in Texas and nationally. In essence, he was squeezed from both directions, a challenge on the left and on the right. As she did with Bachmann, Palin went to Perry's aid early and often, endorsing him in the summer of 2009, ahead of the March 2010 primary. The first poll of Perry (by Rasmussen on September 16, 2009), which included both Hutchison and Medina, showed Hutchison pulling ahead of Perry 40-38, with Medina in single digits at 3%.
Perry crowed ad nauseam about Palin's endorsement in order to prevent Medina from gaining real traction and eclipsing him among conservatives. At the time of the endorsement, Perry had this to say about the value of Governor Palin's endorsement and their warm personal friendship:
'Facing a tough Republican primary fight next year in his bid for a third term, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is brandishing the heavy artillery: Sarah Palin's endorsement of his campaign."If there's a bigger endorsement in the Republican universe, I don't know who it is than Sarah," he declared in a telephone interview over the weekend. He described the Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee as a "close personal friend" who knows my heart."'
As Matt Lewis observed in the article, "Palin's nod is indeed an asset for Perry, helping him cement his appeal to social conservatives in the Lone Star State." While Perry never again fell behind, even Palin's endorsement could not totally blunt the momentum for Deb Medina, who continued to rise in the polls, reaching a high point of 24% on February 7, 2010, three weeks before the primary, and reducing Perry's showing to 39% (Hutchison had 28%). Enter Palin again. She appeared at a nationally televised rally in Houston that drew over 8000 people on Super Bowl Sunday, February 8, 2010. After the rally, Medina never again broke 20 in a poll.
With Palin's conspicuous and staunch support, Perry barely beat back the challengers in March 2 primary, winning 51% to 30% for Hutchison and 19% for Medina. Even with Palin's support, Medina nearly forced a runoff, so great was conservative revulsion with Perry in Texas. Had Palin backed Medina as strongly as she backed Perry, it is quite possible that Medina and Hutchison would have been in a run off, and Perry would have been odd man out. Had Palin done nothing for Perry, it is a foregone conclusion that he would have faced a tough runoff. In other words, Perry owes Palin his political hide.
As I said at the outset of this article, both Perry and Bachmann are free to run for President or any other office for which they are constitutionally qualified. The First Amendment however also grants observers the right to express themselves on both the timing and the circumstances of their putative candidacies as well as their previous interaction with "close personal friends" who come to their aid. In assessing both Perry and Bachmann, conservative voters should ask themselves the following question: "In light of how these two have conducted themselves toward Sarah Palin in the last year or so, do you trust either of them---should they be elected--not to double cross you?"
I believe that question answers itself.
It will, in a couple of weeks or months.
BTTT
Okay, I deciphered most of your post the second time through.
You're saying that Perry is now the Republican establishment candidate and that the Democrat establishment fears Perry more than Palin.
Are you also saying that Palin will go third party?...because I don't think that she will.
LMAO...well you be sure and be around when the media starts sucking up to Sarah Palin. LOLOL.
And be sure to be here when Palin says she’s not running and endorses Rick Perry in the primaries.
No, Sarah will not go third party, she was coming of political age when she saw the Clintons ascend because of it.
All I’m saying is do not interpret any swings in MSM favor to her as sincere... they simply have not yet been given their marching orders as to how best tear Perry down.
But remember the 11th hour DUI they pulled on W.....
http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/
You have a nice night.
LMAO...well you be sure and be around when the media starts sucking up to Sarah Palin. LOLOL.
Ashton Kutcher Defends Sarah Palin Against MSM’s ‘Repulsive’ Email Crusade
So some Hollywood puke equals the media-at-large? GMAB. You have a nice night.
“Oh yeah, she quit.”
In the face of unrelenting frontal assault, Sarah choose to attack in another direction. The success of this change in direction is proven by the the hysteria her name causes in the liberal media, the beltway elites, and pseudo conservatives.
Courage???? You betcha! bushels and bushels of it.
Go infect another thread troll.
“FWIW, which isn’t much.”
lolololol Got that right Al!
DJ, I just finished reading this whole thread and suddenly it hit me like a bolt of lightning why I have the heebie jeebies about Rick Perry. He reminds me WAY too much of Tom Ridge. Not just the way he looks, but the conservative on the outside mush on the inside thing. His hair doesn’t blow when the wind does, (like romney’s,) but his positions do, (like romney’s.) He is too imbedded in good old boy pubby politics, (like ridge.) He was not elected governor to begin with. He inherited the office from GW.
Hey, that I can agree with.
Rollins should publicly apologize and then get sacked.
BTTT
Precisely!
They’re already organizing B4 his decision....LOL.
I’m so far arrears on this thread, I had to go back to try to play *ketchup*.
Try this. Last election, the gop-e handpicked mccain. He was dead in the water. The bush/clinton mafia controlled him from New Hampshire on. mccain won NH because clinton called in markers. He was never going to win that election. They thought Sarah Palin was the nail in the coffin for mccain and she turned out to be airholes in his coffin. The destroy Sarah at all costs started THEN.
The gop-e “anyone but Palin” cabal swarmed mitch daniels. Bah, humbug. (Rudy, another Bush insider will take out romney with ease.) The gop-e mafia “summoned” jon huntsman to daddy bush’s casa for vetting. He passed the bush/clinton pinky spit test, which means he is controllable, but he’s Mormon...maybe not everyone’s cup’o’tea, (no pun intended.)
Last time that happened, when EVERYONE thought it would be ridge’s “turn,” war hero and all that, he couldn’t get the traction with the base. NOBODY wanted Ridge then, like nobody wants romney now. So the gop-e went crawling to GWB, the son who never got out from under daddy’s influence, whose entire cabinet was stacked with daddy’s boys, with the SAME results. obama’s admin is stacked with clinton’s boys. The pattern is absolutely repeating itself here. GWB’s boys and the bigmoney Texans want perry. The NE establishment wants perry. Gingrich’s gang wants perry.
THAT means, I DON’T. Because the clinton/bush boys have killed us.
I need to get some sleep. I’ll remember to repy to you tomorrow. Good night, dearest you. Hugs and prayers.
Ha! I expect Rollins to offer up a couple of boxes of Bachmann's emails to the MSM any day now. :-)
Hi MM. That’s about the gist of it.
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