Mr. President, Please Ask Palin for Help!!

More Reaction to Last Night's Elections - Update

Sandra Fish of Politics Daily weighs in:

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.

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.

Chris Matthews is worrying his pretty little head about the outcome of last night's elections.

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.

3-1 for Palin Tonight

Three out of four Palin-backed candidates won their elections tonight, two decidedly crushing their opponents.

Carly Fiorina won it going away 55% to Campbell's 22%. So there.

Nikki Haley crushed her opponents and came within a hair's width of avoiding a run-off. 1.1%. So close! Rumors are flying about whether or not Number 2 guy will drop out. I guess we'll see. Nikki got over twice what second place got, so she'll probably win if it does go to a run-off.

Terry Branstad won Iowa by 10 points. Enough of a distance that Palin doesn't get blamed by hard-core conservatives for "taking it away" from VDP, and close enough to know that she had some impact.

The only one who didn't quite make it was Cecile Bledsoe in the Arkansas run-off. She lost to Womack by about 3%. No real matter. Steve is a good guy too.

All in all, a good day.

Even Andy Barr was impressed. Palin's Backing Pays Off:
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Some of Sarah Palin’s riskiest endorsements scored major victories Tuesday for the former Alaska governor, showing off her power in Republican primaries.

Palin had four primary endorsements in play – Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Terry Branstad and Cecile Bledsoe – and three won or moved on to a runoff.

Palin served different roles for each candidate – sometimes spotlighting conservatives not well known to the national scene while at others validating conservative credentials to an unsure grassroots and even stepping in to deflect nasty attacks.

Perhaps Palin’s most powerful demonstration came in South Carolina, where her endorsement propelled a major swing in the polls for Haley’s primary campaign for governor and sustained the state representative through accusations of two separate affairs.

"Her decision to get - and stay - involved in the race here in South Carolina was a huge boon to our campaign, because it caused a lot of South Carolinians to take a second look at a rising in the polls but once-little known state legislator who was fighting to give them back their government,” Haley spokesman Tim Pearson said of Palin.

Palin was quick to defend Haley from blogger Will Folks, who claimed to have had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley, writing on her Facebook page that Folks was trying to “make things up.” Palin recorded a robocall for Haley in the closing days, urging South Carolinians to ignore the “made-up nonsense.”

For Fiorina, Palin bucked some of her own supporters in choosing the former Hewlett Packard chief executive over tea party favorite Chuck DeVore in the California Senate race.

After announcing her support for Fiorina, the former governor’s Facebook page was overrun by negative comments trashing Palin’s support of the more moderate candidate with strong establishment ties.

But Palin rebuffed her conservative critics by touting Fiorina’s pro-life credentials as well as her 100 percent NRA rating – thus helping build the conservative grassroots narrative the multimillionaire former businesswoman utilized to dispatch both DeVore and former Rep. Tom Campbell.

“Governor Palin’s endorsement was integral to the success of our campaign,” Fiorina spokeswoman Julie Soderlund told POLITICO. “She provides the ‘good housekeeping seal of approval’ for conservative, outsider candidates. After earning her endorsement we saw an immediate spike in support for Carly amongst conservatives, who represent the vast majority of Republican primary voters.”

Palin also surprised some conservatives with her endorsement of Terry Branstad in the Iowa gubernatorial race over Bob Vander Plaats, a top aide to Mike Huckabee’s 2008 operation in the state and a grassroots favorite.

As with Fiorina, Palin was able to successfully reassure many of her troubled fans that Branstad was indeed a strong conservative amidst protests on Facebook.

Palin frequently uses the Susan B. Anthony List as barometer of suitable conservative candidates, and, as with Fiorina, the group’s support of Bledsoe led Palin to the Arkansas House candidate.

Palin labeled Bledsoe one of the “mama grizzlies” the former governor contends are leading a new feminist movement, and the Arkansas state senator turned a distant second place showing a month ago into what looked like a narrow defeat at the hands of Rogers Mayor Steve Womack
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In other news, I found some more pictures. Click on 'em to, as Hillbuzz would say, "embiggen." Horsephotos.com:

Seriously?

I can't believe this.

My answer?

Here, here, from the same day here, and finally, here. And for a little comic relief, here. Case closed.

As defendAmerica says, "She has 5 kids, one who is 2. No surgery necessary. 'Nough said."

C'mon, Lefties. This is just disgusting.

Your Morning Palin Paper

Some interesting articles to go along with your morning/afternoon/whenever coffee.

Opinion piece in the South Bend Tribune:
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There goes the neighborhood. We do not know if that was Sarah Palin's initial response to the news that a journalist writing a book about her had rented the house next to hers in Wasilla, Alaska. But who could blame her if it was?

As it is, the response Palin did share on Facebook seems tellingly uneven, as if Joe McGinniss' decision to move in next door had knocked her off her game. One moment, she's chirping with trademark insouciance about how she might bake him a blue-berry pie to welcome him to the neighborhood. The next, she is talking about raising the fence between her house and his.

In the same Facebook posting, Palin also suggested, with smarmy innuendo, that from his new home, the author could see into her daughter's bedroom. Palin did not explain why he would wish to do so.

McGinniss' move has stirred controversy beyond Wasilla. A posting on Slate.com strongly defended his "immersion" journalism. At the other end of the opinion spectrum, the author has received death threats from angry Palin fans. Among McGinniss' more hinged critics, the word "creepy" gets used a lot. Even in defending him, the piece on Slate.com likened him to a stalker.

For his part, McGinniss told NBC's "Today" show that "creepy is as creepy does" — whatever that means — and portrayed his decision to rent the house next door as coincidental. He needed to live in Wasilla for the summer while doing his research, it was a great house at a great price, and it just happened to be next door to the woman he is writing about.

If ever there is a Museum of Disingenuous Explanations, that one will deserve its own wing. And here, let us stipulate three things:

One, McGinniss is pulling an obvious stunt that ultimately benefits both parties: It helps him sell books; it helps her sell herself as a victim of the "lamestream" media.

Two, McGinniss is perfectly within his rights to rent this house — or any other he desires.

Three, Palin is, of her own doing, a public figure and as such, must accept intense, even intrusive, media scrutiny.

But even stipulating all that, it's hard to be sanguine about the uncomfortable nearness McGinniss has foisted upon his subject. Not that you can't understand why he'd want to write about her. Palin is, second only to the president himself, the most compelling figure in American politics — and the most polarizing. For some, she is the folksy, straight-talkin' avatar of conservative principles, while for others she is the leader of an intellectually incoherent movement that has no idea where it's going but seems in a hurry to get there.

Under neither interpretation, however, does she forfeit her humanity or her right to expect that she will be treated with basic human decency. And stalking another person — sorry, but when even your friends call you a stalker, you're a stalker — violates that expectation. This is not immersion or even intrusion. This is invasion.

Unfortunately, invasion has become the media's default means of covering the rich and famous. Ask Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise. They all enjoy the mixed blessing of being celebrities in an era where lines of propriety have been all but erased and too close is never close enough — an era where you are never out of camera range and folks seem to think themselves entitled to your deepest feelings, failings, secrets and fears, as if public people had no right to private lives.

Indeed, if I were Pitt, Bullock or Cruise, I'd make offers on the houses next to mine just in case McGinniss has given somebody ideas.

We have, many of us, chosen to forget this, but the mere fact of being well known does not make an individual abstract or theoretical, nor does it absolve us of the obligation to treat them as we'd wish to be treated. People have the right to live peaceably and privately within their own walls.

Even Sarah Palin.
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Ya know, I honestly think there should be laws against some of what the paparazzi does. I've heard stories of how people from TMZ have almost caused car accidents in their attempts to get stuff. I personally think it's disgusting that a celebrity can't go to a deli without having fifty pictures taken of them.

Shocker of shockers, Bill Maher and Van Jones are on Palin's side too:

Where was all of this "Parent's Party" thing during the 2008 election?

Anyway....

Here's an interesting take on Palin's Branstad endorsement:
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Sarah Palin Iowa 2012? Palin Endorses Terry Branstad – Sarah Palin endorsed moderate Terry Branstad yesterday in the race to be Iowa’s governor. Palin had previously been known to only endorse candidates that shared her values, and also candidates that she thought were on the rise and could help her in the upcoming presidential election. While she has not yet announced that she is running, she has made it very apparent through her actions.

Some have speculated that if she would like to win the election in 2012, she would need Iowa to do so. By supporting the candidate that is most likely going to win in the state, she is setting herself up for the victory there. She will be able to say that she supported him all along, and will be able to win the favor of the citizens within the state through her endorsement of the most popular politician in Iowa.

It is surprising that Palin would choose to side with someone that does not share her political views. Both Palin and Branstad have very different ideas on public programs, immigration, the tea party protests and how the country should be handling their economic problems.

With many considering Iowa to be the key to the upcoming presidential election, Palin is making strides toward setting herself up for her run. Through her constant presence giving speeches, through her very public endorsements, Palin is building her self a solid foundation of favors for the upcoming presidential election.
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Well, at least Terry read her book...

And finally, a rehash of yesterday's fun at the Belmont Stakes:
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You weren't going to get Sarah Palin to talk politics on Belmont Stakes Day. The former Republican vice presidential candidate was at Belmont Park to watch First Dude, a horse which was named after her husband Todd, run in the Belmont Stakes.

When it was suggested she come to New York to try and solve the New York Racing Association's monetary woes, she giggled.

"We're not talking politics today, no way," Palin said, standing in the paddock with her husband and John Hendrickson, the husband of Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney. "This is too much fun."

First Dude was the nickname Palin had for her husband when she was governor in Alaska. They have no connection with the owners of the horse.

But the Palins were going to bet on First Dude. How much they would not say. Sarah Palin said a big bet for them is not a lot of money.

"It will be a win bet because, for us, it's all or nothing," she said. "We're very excited for the race because we love the horse's name and we think he has a good chance to win."

Palin was dressed in capri pants, a white T-shirt, a black designer baseball cap and flip-flops, the same clothes she had on when she boarded the plane in Texas earlier in the day.

Seems the limo driver picked the Palins up at JFK And then got lost going to their hotel in Garden City. No time to change so it was off to the track.

"Typical Alaskans," she said with a laugh. "We were a couple hours late but everyone has been so hospitable and accepting of the garb."

Palin said she wasn't sure if she would come see the ponies run at Saratoga this summer. Hendrickson quickly interjected she was invited.

"Well, we'll see," she said...

It's too bad Palin didn't hedge her bets with a wager across the board; First Dude ran third after setting the pace along the rail all the way until the final sixteenth of a mile. Trainer Dale Romans said he thinks the colt, who finished second in the May 15 Preakness, is still improving.

"We had a perfect trip and everything went like we planned, we just couldn't hold it together right at the end," Romans said. "He put in a great effort. He wants to run all day. He's still learning, he's still getting it together. ... I think we have a lot of fun races in front of us."

First Dude will fly back to Romans' base at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Monday.
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A little more info:
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Palin was the guest of Marylou Whitney and her husband John Hendrickson, who used to be in politics in Alaska, where Palin used to be governor...

Palin would not say she is a big fan of the horse game . Back home she was more into all terrain vehicles for sport.

“Our love of the motorhead sports can translate over to the horse racing world just fine,” she said.
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Some interesting info on the Palin's hosts here, here, and here. Apparently they were both aides to Wally Hickel.

And the Cuda's reaction to the race results?

Sweet run by Drosselmeyer today at Belmont. The colt is a gorgeous, steady athlete. But doggone, First Dude didn't win. Bush's fault.

Dang Bush!


The First Dude: