Especially not by Ted Cruz, who credits her endorsement with helping him beat Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the race for the Texas GOP Senate nomination.
While speaking with POLITICO’s Mike Allen this morning, the Texas Republican Senate nominee called Palin’s endorsement “game-changing.”
“If you look at the senate races across the country this cycle and last cycle, Governor Palin has had a game changing impact one after the other,” explained Cruz.
Palin endorsed Cruz, a Tea Party favorite who shares her philosophy of liberty and limited government, just days before a wide-open May 29 primary, helping to propel Cruz into a strong second place showing. The Cruz surge provided momentum for his runoff battle with Dewhurst.
“Fighters like Ted Cruz can lead the charge for us,” former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said in July when she came to Texas to campaign with Cruz, calling him a “a proven, common-sense constitutional conservative.”
The Tea Party favorite admitted that many have referred to his victory as “improbable.” He told Allen that the reason why Palin’s endorsement has had such an enormous impact is because voters consider her a true barometer of conservatism.
“In a Republican primary, everyone claims to be conservative and voters are pretty cynical. They are tired of these candidates that sounds great on the stump. They say they are going to cut spending, they get into the office and they become spineless jellyfish,” Cruz said. “I think conservatives trust Sarah Palin that if she says this guy is a conservative, that he is a real deal.”