Doug Patton: Sarah Palin is building a stack of political markers with endorsements

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Doug Patton observes that Sarah Palin is building a stack of political blue chips that will become golden IOUs in 2012 should she opt to run for president:

Despite yammering liberal pundits cackling about Sarah Palin’s alleged lack of intelligence and qualifications, she may yet have the last laugh. She has written a best-selling book, commands six figure speaking fees, and is building up a lot of good will within the party.

But there is another reason Sarah Palin may yet emerge as the most likely candidate to win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. The disastrous manner in which Obama and company are handling the Gulf oil spill, combined with the extremely unpopular environmental regulations they are trying to implement as a result, could very well open the door for a rival who knows a thing or two about energy policy.

The fact is that Barack Obama has never run so much as a cash register at a convenience store, and he has surrounded himself with similarly ignorant eggheads, thus making him extremely vulnerable to a challenge from someone who has, in fact, not only run a large state but also has had vast experience negotiating tough deals with oil company executives. That someone is Sarah Palin. As one of the most knowledgeable public figures in the country on the issue of energy policy, Palin can take the conservative message right into the center of the storm.

Patton makes some good points in his op-ed, but nothing that other pundits haven't pointed out before. And in the process, he got a couple of his facts wrong:

"Palin’s endorsement of Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate in Florida helped drive fickle Charlie Crist out of the GOP primary race... But probably her most dramatic political choices this year have been Sharron Angle to face Harry Reid in Nevada and for Nikki Haley to be the next governor of South Carolina."

Actually, Gov. Palin has not formally endorsed either Marco Rubio or Sharron Angle.

At the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, a blogger with a video camera asked the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate whether she would endorse Rubio. "I love Marco!" she answered. "Marco, Call me. Can I help you?" While she let her preference in the Florida Senate race be known, Gov. Palin's remarks were not an official endorsement or even close to one. The governor also gave a shout out to Sharron Angle on Twitter, but it was not a formal endorsement either, and it came after Angle had won the GOP primary for Senate in Nevada.

This may seem like nitpicking, but we should try to keep the record straight. Sarah Palin's political enemies are spreading more than enough lies around about her. Her supporters should not add any more false narratives.

- JP