She’s baaaaaaack!
Today Donald Trump received by far the most significant endorsement for his campaign for the presidency from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. In a well-scripted event in Ames, Iowa, televised live on all three major cable networks, the 2008 GOP nominee for vice-president delivered an enthusiastic seal of approval for the billionaire front-runner for the Republican party nomination.
Palin is by far the most famous and influential person to hitch her star to The Donald since he began his unlikely odyssey which he hopes will end with a seat in the Oval Office. Prior to gaining the support of the controversial Palin, the most well-known backers of the real estate mogul were Wayne Newton, Ted Nugent, Mike Tyson, Mike Ditka, Dennis Rodman, Hulk Hogan, Gary Busey, and Lou Ferrigno. You can’t make this stuff up. You can see all of the endorsements for each of the 2016 presidential candidates on Wikipedia.
New York Times
The question is whether, with just 13 days before the Iowa caucuses, the thumbs up from Palin will impact Trump’s now fierce battle with Texas Senator Ted Cruz. The answer is: “you betcha!” The defection of Palin to The Donald’s camp is a blow to Cruz. She was a staunch supporter of his Tea Party bid to join the Senate and, even today, Cruz had nothing but kind words for Palin, saying that he would not have been elected without her friendship and support. For me personally, an endorsement from Sarah Palin has about as much weight as an endorsement from an Alaskan moose but she remains popular with a segment of the Iowa Republican base that Cruz is trying to siphon away from Trump.
To my friends who support Cruz, pardon another snide comment: we can chalk up the existence of Cruz in this race as another consequence to the reckless decision of John McCain to put Palin on the ticket in 2008. Must be my New York values getting the best of me again!
In general, endorsements of presidential candidates don’t matter. Jeb Bush has been endorsed by five current U.S. Senators and 26 members of the House of Representatives (more than any other candidate) and what has that gotten him? Almost nothing. Why do I say almost? After dropping out of the race, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham championed Bush and, a few days later, voila, Bush rose to third place in a poll of voters in the Palmetto State.
So timing and newsworthiness does matter when it comes to endorsements. The timing of Palin’s backing of Trump is, to coin his phrase, huge. The recent line of attack from Cruz against The Donald is that he has “New York values,” calling into question whether he is a conservative. Cruz is reminding people that Trump used to support abortion, that he supported the bank bailouts of 2008 and a litany of other non-conservative positions. With Sarah Palin, Trump has the stamp of approval of one of the most popular conservative icons in the party. The abortion-hating, gun-toting Palin is a darling on the right and her backing may very well relieve any doubts that conservative voters have about the New York real estate mogul.
The GOP race in Iowa is close: Cruz has an excellent campaign operation in the Hawkeye State and has some key endorsements of his own. Conservative House Rep Steve King and the President of the Family Leader, Bob Vander Plaats, are both enthusiastic Cruz supporters in Iowa. If Palin’s endorsement of Trump moves the needle by 3-to-4 points into his direction, that could be the difference between victory and defeat.
Incidentally, Cruz got more bad news today in the endorsement game. Although he didn’t express a preference for any candidate, sitting Iowa Governor Terry Branstad explicitly called for the defeat of Cruz, calling the Texas Senator a “big oil” candidate.
Outside of Iowa and unlike Trump, Cruz does have a good deal of publicly declared support among the elected class: 16 current members of the House have backed his campaign. It should be noted, however, that not a single one of Cruz’ Senate colleagues are supporting his candidacy. It’s well known that Cruz is not particularly popular with his brethren in the Senate.
Phil Robertson
(courtesy AP)
It is not the ruling class (which Cruz calls the “Washington Cartel”) that is the foundation for his popularity: it is the enthusiastic marks he gets from the highly influential pooh-bahs on conservative talk radio like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck that is fueling his donations and poll numbers. There are many on the conservative right that have been pining for a “true conservative” to occupy the White House and Cruz fits the bill. Now, since it’s fun to point out, I’ll also note that Cruz also has some celebrity backers, most recently Phil Robertson. The Duck Dynasty star delivered a hysterical endorsement last week for Cruz. You’ve got to see this, click here!
Since you’re all curious now, here’s a rundown of some other key endorsements, both in and out of politics, for other key nominees for the Republican party nomination.
Ted Cruz: 16 current members of the House
Marco Rubio: current U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (CO), Jim Risch (ID), Steve Daines (MT), Jim Inhofe (OK), former Senator Phil Gramm (TX), 23 members of the House, Fox News’ Charles Krauthammer, Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman
Ben Carson: actors Kelsey Grammer & Mickey Rourke, NASCAR champ Richard Petty, musician Kid Rock.
Jeb Bush: Bob Dole, Dan Quayle, former Secretaries of Homeland Security Tom Ridge & Michael Chertoff, current U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (MS), Susan Collins (ME), Orrin Hatch (UT), Dean Heller (NV), Lindsey Graham (SC), 26 members of the House, singer Toby Keith, sportscaster Jim Nantz, movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer
Chris Christie: Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Maine Governor Paul LePage, 6 members of the House, former CEO of eBay and California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, the “New Hampshire Union Leader”
John Kasich: Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, former Senators Trent Lott (MS), John Sununu (NH) and Al D’Amato (NY), 5 members of the House, actor Tim Allen, basketball star Charles Barkley, three key New Hampshire newspapers
Rand Paul: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 10 members of the House
By the way, it shouldn’t be any surprise that, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has racked up virtually every key endorsement in government, including 12 Governors, 38 Senators and 148 members of the House. Bernie Sanders has the support of just two members of the House, no Governors and no Senators. And yet, he’s nudging closer and closer to the anointed front-runner in the polls. Sanders has pulled even in Iowa and, in a New Hampshire poll released today, the Vermont Senator is beating the former Secretary of State by a whopping 60%-to-33% margin.
So just like the Republican voters seem to be rejecting the status quo by supporting Trump and Cruz, the Democratic voters are delivering a significant message by increasingly supporting the self-avowed socialist Senator Sanders.
Thanks for reading.
Chris Bodig