Sarah Palin batted three for four (with an asterisk) in primary endorsements Tuesday, and though Cecile Bledsoe's loss in Arkansas' 3rd District dropped her 2010 record in congressional matchups to 5-4, she's perfect so far in gubernatorial races.Chris Matthews is worrying his pretty little head about the outcome of last night's elections.
If Nikki Haley (the asterisk) wins the June 22 runoff in South Carolina's GOP race for governor, that would further validate Palin's endorsement power. The former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate came out for Haley personally in mid-May at a campaign rally, instead of merely tweeting or writing a Facebook note, as she's done for other candidates.
And Newsweek's take on Palin's endorsements cracks me up. What, you mean, she might know what she's doing? Who'da thunk it?
UPDATE -
Two more good articles. The first in the National Review Online:
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Oh, those "mama grizzlies, they rise up." So says Sarah Palin, rightfully, and it bears repeating after two high-flying lady Republicans she championed swept to victory on Tuesday...Their wins are Palin's, too.
Haley and Fiorina are examples of what Palin last month called an "emerging, conservative, feminist identity" in the GOP. In other words, the rise of Palinistas: smart, pro-life conservative women who succeed with style — and a dash of controversy. The latter they address with a smile, and, Thatcher-like, with a quick quip or a swift kick.
Going rogue, of course, isn't easy. Since Palin endorsed Haley in May, the former state representative has experienced her share of misadventure. First, a pair of Republican operatives, without proof, claimed to have slept with the married mother of two. Then Haley, whose Sikh parents emigrated from India, had to sidestep a "raghead" slur made by a state senator. With its tabloid-like media coverage, the unwelcome controversy mirrored Palin's 2008 vice-presidential run, during which she was dogged by rumors and innuendo.
Haley, for her part, denied the allegations of adultery, though some feared the tawdry whispers would damage her fresh-faced reputation. They didn't. In fact, with a little help from Palin, who seems to relish lowering a Facebook boom on foes, Haley weathered them with ease. On the social-networking website, the former Alaska governor laid into Haley's haters and offered a glimpse into a Palinista's world. "I warned her and her family that she would be targeted," Palin wrote, that "she would be put through some hell. . . . As I said to Nikki this morning, 'Hang in there. I've been there.'" Haley did, and she has kept her comfortable, double-digit lead in the polls....
Palin's willingness to mix it up with tea partiers will only help her should she decide to run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. For Palin, policy ideas and values are important. So, smartly, is winning — especially when it comes to electing her hand-picked crop of Palinistas. "No matter your gender or politics, you have to hand it to her: Palin is fearless," says Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Pres. George W. Bush.
Despite the complications, that's good news for the GOP's electoral chances. "Sarah Palin — feminist first, tea partyer second," said one recent Christian Science Monitor headline. About that, we shouldn't be too sure. For Palin, it seems, it's about electing Republicans, just with a mama grizzly, please. From what we saw last night, her strategy is working.
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That article had its bits of snark and a section that I could heartily disagree with, but I'll leave it lie for now.
The second article is from Marjorie Dannenfelser:
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Primaries in 11 states are over. In recent weeks several articles have attacked particular voices and groups unabashedly supporting the “pro-life feminism” of candidates such as California GOP Senate primary winner Carly Fiorina.
Even Ms. magaazine's blog gets in on the action with an entry titled, “Sarah Palin is Not a Feminist.” The articles I've seen are packed with lots of ad feminum shots at Governor Palin and the organization I oversee as president, the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, and then there's some harrumphing over the perceived lack of gratitude shown to the feminist foremothers of the 1960s, and lists, lots of lists.
What's on these lists? Well, there are lists of the things you apparently have to do or say or believe in order to be an honest-to-goodness feminist....
But when they really get down to brass tacks, each of the articles insists upon one thing: feminism, whatever else it might include, must include a virtually unqualified support for abortion rights.
The success of pro-life women, like Fiorina, in last night’s primaries makes it clear that this is a risky gambit in the year 2010. Those who hazard it are speaking into an American culture in which the majority of the public, including the majority of women, now self-identify as “pro-life....”
Pro-life feminists like Carly Fiorina think that women don’t view the right to abort their child as the linchpin of their freedom or their happiness. Rather, they wish to bear the children they conceive, while maintaining the realistic possibility of getting an education and working to help support their families.
Tuesday’s wins in California and Nevada reveal that this message resonates with a majority of women....
The pro-life feminist looks out for the interests of other people affected by her decisions. She refuses to take terrible advantage of another vulnerable group - the unborn - in order to advance her own case. She makes the “both/and” argument: both the woman and the unborn child deserve respect...
"Feminism.” Claim the term or don't. But if you do, don't assume you've got proprietary rights to define its meaning. You will be hugely disappointed this November.
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