The recent victory of Deb Fisher in the Nebraska Senate Republican primary race is being described as the result of the “golden touch” of Sarah Palin. Just this morning, “Mark” posted a comment on my article yesterday, suggesting that this was a
“Waste of a (sic) article…didn’t pan out so good now that she got the nomination.”
Perhaps my article wasn’t clear. Perhaps my reference to having tea with Joe Miller was not sufficiently clear.
Let me be clear. Winning the Republican PRIMARY in Nebraska, is not the same thing as winning the senate race in the general election in Nebraska. Ask Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Ask Sharon Angle and Harry Reid of Nevada. Ask Christine O’Donnell
and Chris Coons of Delaware. Each is a perfect example of an endorsement by Sarah Palin during the primary that helped her candidate win the Republican nomination in their state, only to later lose in the general election. The Murkowski election is a perfect example of the potential damage of a Palin endorsement during the primary season. Murkowski was the incumbent Republican Senator from Alaska. It was presumed she would get the Republican nomination in 2010, as she had been a fairly popular Republican Senator, in a fairly Republican state. Lisa Murkowski had to beat Palin’s candidate, Joe Miller, in an historical write-in victory that had not occurred in over 50 years. Because voter turn out in the primary races is typically very low, excitement generated by an endorsement from Sarah Palin during the primary may cause a disproportionate number of voters to turn out in a primary election that would not be reflected in the popularity of that candidate in the general election. If Sarah Palin endorses a candidate in the primary who is so radically conservative that Republican voters are scared away in the general election, Palin is necessarily helping the Independent or Democratic candidates, and hurting the more moderately conservative candidates. Chris Coons of Deleware and Harry Reid of Nevada probably have Palin to thank for their election in 2010.
In addition to the Senate primary in Nebraska, the Senate primary in Indiana was directly affected by Palin’s endorsement of Senator Lugar’s opponent. The Senate is currently comprised of 51 Democrats and 47 Republicans. Of course the Republicans would very much like to take control of the Senate. The Sarah Palin endorsement of Mourdock instead of Senator Lugar, voted one of the 10 best Senators by Time Magazine, has resulted in the defeat of Senator Lugar, in the primary. Imagine the shock of Republicans in Indiana when they woke up to learn that Senator Lugar had lost the primary in their state. They probably thought Senator Lugar, the longest serving Senator in Indiana’s history, and is the most senior Republican member of the Senate, would be a shoe-in for winning the primary. They probably assumed that no common sense conservative would oppose his nomination. Sarah Palin is a conservative, but there is substantial debate about whether she has any “common sense.”
The Sarah Palin endorsement of Deb Fisher before the Nebraska primary, instead of the Republican favorites Bruning or Stenburg, has resulted in victory of Deb Fisher . The critical consideration for conservatives is whether Mourdock, in Indiana, and Fisher in Nebraska, can win in the general election. If Sarah Palin were truly committed to promotion of conservative control of the Senate she would have endorsed the conservative candidates that were most likely to win in the general election. The elections of the Senators from Delaware, Nevada, Nebraska, and Indiana, would have been enough to change the majority of Senators in Congress, by 2012, from Democrats to Republicans. Thus while an endorsement by Palin may be the “touch” of gold in the primary race,that same endorsement appears to be the kiss of death in the general election, for the Republican party in each state, and for the national Republican Party’s control of the Senate. Perhaps it would be more cost effective for Democrats to simply pay Sarah Palin to endorse an unknown, and unpopular candidate in the primary, and simply save the cost of an expensive campaign in the general election.
19 comments
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May 16, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Xenon
Like many things, and endorsement from Palin looks good at first…but eventually…
May 16, 2012 at 2:26 pm
AFM
Oh I think true republicans can’t stand this grifter. For the democratics lets say thank you Sarah the Loser. Hopefully you helped us again.
May 16, 2012 at 3:29 pm
B. W.
Malia ~
I agree with your analysis about the difference between primaries vs. general elections, but am dismayed that Palin even had influence over the former. With luck, Fisher will lose the general election. Regrettably the rabid Fringe has been successful in several primaries, including state-level, which means that moderates have to get fired up enough to vote this fall. My fingers are crossed.
P.S. Could you set the “Notify me…” below to default to ‘off’? Having it on (i.e., checked) which a lot of us miss, generates further emails we didn’t expect.
May 16, 2012 at 4:47 pm
malialitman
Bw,
I’ll try to reset it, but if you keep getting notices, please let me know.
May 16, 2012 at 3:40 pm
MrsGunka
Gotta love those c4pers!! They are loyal. Dumb, but loyal!
May 16, 2012 at 3:49 pm
jadez
what you are seeing in the republican party is a split.
the so called tea party which IS NOT a political party at all (the stupid media again fails to do their job by not making sure everyone realizes it) is the extreme far right of the political process.
they naturally ALL belong in the republican party.
they however at least vote in force and may represent the majority of republican voters in certain states and or districts.
but, once the primaries are over the less strident republicans fall in line and vote the party line regardless of the nominees extremism.
where they fail to win statewide is where their extreme views turn off the so called independents that vote according to who the hell knows why.
also the stupidity of the nominees often turn off the public too..re;Christine O’Donnell.
the influence of palin who often only supports the candidate leading in the polls is minimal.
again, i remind the fools like “mark” that if palin had the power he believes, she would be running herself or at the very least would not be the brunt of jokes and ridicule from the carl rove types.
lugars defeat was hardly in doubt according to the polls regardless of who endorsed him or not.
and it IS TRUE that many like rove BLAME palin and her silly endorsements for the republicans not taking control of the senate in their historic victory.
bottom line is a ham sandwich wins 45% of the vote for either party.
and while the likes of palin might remind everyone of the current extremism in the republican party she can not influence an election with her endorsement any more then rush or hannity or etc. etc. because they are only speaking to the choir who have no where else to go.
May 16, 2012 at 3:50 pm
jadez
ps..if my comments are to long let me know!..lol
May 16, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Lou
I would never vote for ANYONE who has a endorsement from palin (low caps) good bye to the Senate fisher!…You just lost it…by the way how bout you paying to lease/rent federal land for a mere $$ or two…private land rents for 25 times that…how do you do that…OH! through the fed Govt…another republican hypocrite..!
May 16, 2012 at 4:09 pm
avahome
I wonder why KKKarl has not taken Sarah off radar yet! Surely he has some grisley facts hidden in his basket of tricks. Come on Karl, do the dirty.
Say something that will enrage Sarah or Todd and soon.
May 16, 2012 at 4:10 pm
sunnyskiesinyuma
off topic, but wanted to get this out to your readers and urge them to sign the petition. Probably too late to cancel Bristol’s Non reality Show, but maybe it will lead to some truth in advertising.
The boycott is on.
http://www.change.org/petitions/boycott-bristol-palin-reality-show
May 16, 2012 at 4:18 pm
sunnyskiesinyuma
Off topic but please Malia consider posting this link to a petition protesting the airing of Bristol’s latest Unreality Show. It may not get the show cancelled but it might lead to some truth in advertising.
The boycott is on.
http://www.change.org/petitions/boycott-bristol-palin-reality-show
May 16, 2012 at 4:44 pm
malialitman
sunnyskiesinyuma,
Thanks for the link!
May 16, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Nyah
Malia, I am posting this here because I know Bristol & Crew read this blog like its made of tea leaves that predict even MORE unearned riches!
I posted this on Bristol’s blog yesterday. Considering they let through a comment where the poster (“Tex”) taunted a polite and well spoken person who bravely acknowledged she was in a same sex relationship with the words “your girlfriend is waiting with a strap on!”- yet my polite and well reasoned comment was not allowed.
Posted to Bristol’s “8%” post on 5-15-12 and REMOVED completely by Nancy (in response to a comment saying Trig rumors were silly because “the math doesn’t add up” with two babies born 8 months apart):
Whether or not you believe Sarah’s wild account of “big laughs, more contractions” and taking two lengthy flights while in labor and leaking amniotic fluid, nobody can really use the “first grade math” argument and expect it to have merit.
Sarah, in her own emails, said she was “desperate” to stop the rumors about Trig/Bristol and that she was “devastated” by them. These are not my opinions, these are facts from Palin’s own public collection of emails. Yet she chose not to show Trig’s birth certificate. Or even a photo of she and Trig, smiling and tired, in the hospital bed. Bristol has not shown these things either. And yes, with ALL the rumors circulating, that is strange.
When the McCain camp released the statement saying Bristol was pregnant, they flat out said they were “releasing this info to counteract the rumors that Gov Palin is not Trig’s birth mother”.
If you are not at ALL private; so outgoing you will put your family on a reality show and on dozens of campaign trail stages- wouldn’t it make MUCH MORE SENSE to release a birth certificate or even just have her doctor say “I delivered Trig Palin to Gov. Sarah Palin on April 18, 2008″? Than to out your daughter’s pregnancy in front of MILLIONS? Who would do such a cruel thing?
You can cry “PDS” or “crazy Trig Truthers” all you want- the FACT is that even after Palin released her doctor to discuss her medical history, Cathy Baldwin Johnson would only say “I am UNABLE TO CONFIRM THAT” when asked point blank by an alaskan reporter “can you simply confirm Sarah gave birth to Trig”?
You also might want to ask Sarah why she flat out lied on the bob & mark show- in speaking about the Trig rumors, she said in her typical high pitched uh-um I’m totally fibbing dialect- “they’ve asked us to release Trig’s birth certificate and, you know, we’ve done that…”
A complete FABRICATION on Palin’s part. And yet another email made public had ANOTHER request for Trig’s birth certificate to be provided for health insurance coverage. Almost two MONTHS after birth they still had not provided it to the state despite being asked more than once and specifically told their child would not be covered if they failed to provide it. So they paid put of pocket for this alleged birth, the jaundice treatment, the heart surgery, the tens of thousands of dollars in therapy Trig needs- rather than provide a birth certificate to their OWN state benefits office.
No matter WHAT one thinks of Palin’s politics, there is simply NO REASON AT ALL one could use to justify this behavior. Humiliating your daughter on national stage, perpetuating rumors you claim are “devastating” to you, paying out a fortune when the medical care would be FREE if they’d just provide the birth certificate…
Can any of you TRULY, seriously say these are the actions of someone with nothing to hide? I think not. And if you argue otherwise, you’re in deep, deep denial.
And I have never ONCE seen any actual “liberal” say Trig “shouldn’t have been born” as Bristol and her mother so love to claim. As far as I can see, we are the ONLY ones advocating for him to have a good life and not be used as a political prop. It wasn’t a “liberal” who woke him up at midnight and took him outside in the freezing cold with no shoes or coat or even PANTS. It wasn’t a “liberal” who claimed to endanger his life by getting on two airplanes despite knowing he was premature, had Down syndrome, and had cardiac issues. It wasn’t a “liberal” who held him up like Simba in front of thousands, during a communicable disease pandemic- just so she could be darling of the right to life crowd. It certainly wasn’t a liberal who told the world Trig was profoundly deaf and needed hearing aids- and then had him photographed over 200 times without said hearing aids and over 190 times without the glasses he can’t see without.
A “LIBERAL” would have never treated Trig so callously.
May 16, 2012 at 6:01 pm
jcinco
Wow, Nyah, that was great…everyone needs to see this.
May 16, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Nyah
Thanks, J5. Nice to know someone appreciates when my anger and frustration at these grifting whacknutz boileth over.
May 16, 2012 at 5:13 pm
lilly lily
There is a lovely comment at Jezebel, in their latest “Please stop contributing to Bristol Palins persecution complex.”.. by lolcat.
Boy does he give it to Bristol.
http://jezebel.com/5910595/please-stop-contributing-to-bristol-palins-persecution-complex
May 16, 2012 at 5:57 pm
surfpnsbch
Fisher just might pull this off. But I don’t think it has much to do with Paylin’s endorsement. Nebraska is a very conservative state and has become even more so recently. Fisher is a rancher (millionaire) from Valentine, NE. Look it up, it’s waayyy out west and north and has a sparse population. She leases federal land at a price way below the going rate. If that gets good coverage, it might hurt her. Eastern NE, where the population is much more dense,is not particularly favorable to western NE practices.
The incumbent, Ben Nelson has retired and will not run again. The democratic nominee will be Bob Kerry who was once the Governor and then Senator of NE. He also ran for President a while back. But, he has been gone for about a decade. He moved to NYC to be pres or chancellor of The New College in NYC.
Now he is coming back to run for the Senate again. This does not go over really well in NE And he was a Navy Seal in Vietnam who got into some hot water over an incident similar to Me Lai.
I know someone who has been in government and politics in NE for years and he says as much as the dems would like to have Kerry as Senator, the feelings are that he may have been gone too long from the state. They would like to have him but have no illusions about it being a shoo in even against an unknown candidate from the western part of the state. However that will be better for the dems than having to run against seasoned GOP pros.
From talking to people in NE recently, they have no love for Paylin. Her endorsement doesn’t mean much but Fisher might still win just because she is a repub.
May 16, 2012 at 8:07 pm
lazrgrl
If Palin really wanted to support R candidates she’d part with some of her private family vacation fund… I mean PAC money.
May 17, 2012 at 1:51 pm
lilly lily
I wonder when Bristol will start endorsing candidates since she is her mothers mouthpiece on her new blog. BRANCY RAH speaks.
At least people have caught on to Bristols game of victimhood. Newest Huffington post is by someone who is trashing Bristols blog. And the comments about bullying mean girls who cry victimhood are interesting.
At long last the public vis Bristol is catching on to Sarah’s victimhood stance after she stirs up as much trouble and controversy.
So the Palin curse extends to Bristol and her punditry. Since when is a ninny daughter of a ninny mother a pundit? One hopes she gets enough in the way of slams to her tender sensabilities to eliminate the stupid blog.
Pretty much stirred up the hornets nest and getting ridiculed.
I think it is a big fail. Loads of bad press and publicity if it was meant to stir up interest in her boring life reality show.