Posted on 07/21/2010 3:47:17 PM PDT by neverdem
Sarah Palin got some push-back Wednesday, but not from one of her liberal critics in the "mainstream" media. No, it was a conservative -- and influential -- New Hampshire newspaper that tartly dismissed the former Alaska governor's recent endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte.
In a front-page editorial, New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid wrote that Palin's endorsement should "neither surprise nor upset the other campaigns" since voters in the state are "rarely impressed by what outsiders have to say."
Better pay attention: in a state that traditionally hosts the first presidential primary -- and will again in 2012 -- the Manchester newspaper wields considerable clout, particularly among Republican voters.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, "isn't making these endorsements because, as she claims, she had spent time in New Hampshire and thus knows that the people here are a lot like Alaskans. She spent a few hours here one day during the 2008 presidential election. That's still more time than she spent getting to know Ayotte, but it takes quite a lot longer to know New Hampshire," McQuaid said in the editorial. The publisher called Ayotte a formidable, legitimate contender in a four-person race for the GOP Senate nomination. But he advised other candidates: "Don't fret over what a 'Mama Grizzly' from Alaska does. Right now, Granite Staters have more to worry about in keeping bears away from bird feeders."
In a Facebook posting, Palin praised Ayotte as a "Mama Grizzly" and said she was the "strongest common-sense conservative who can win in the fall."
Ayotte, the former New Hampshire attorney general, is well financed and the front-runner in polls heading into the Sept. 14 Republican Senate primary. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) is the likely Democratic nominee in a contest to succeed Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-N.H.), who chose not to seek a fourth term.
The New Yorkers are arrogant beyond belief...ruining NH, and ruining it fast.
People from Mass. who move up here are usually political refugees, not colonists, from what I’ve seen.
btrl
The situation in NH is, Ayotte is the anointed from above candidate. Most of us think Palin made a huge mistake.
Ayotte claims to be pro-life, but said she would have confirmed Sotomayor. That about did it for me.
Plus, as AG, she never prosecuted scads of evidence of voter fraud that was dropped into that office.
She seems wooden and controlled.
She’s a nice lady, but there are other more Constitutional types, like James Bender and Ovide LaMontagne that are probably preferable.
Of course a pretty face is hard to resist. :-)
I don’t mean legal process in particular. Obviously rule of law is essential to conservatism.
I’m talking about assigning only secondary importance to process in a general sense, as opposed to substance or content which is foremost.
Process is just the packaging. Common sense is what tells us it’s the contents of the package that really matter, ultimately.
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