Corrupt media spins Gov. Palin's endorsements (Updated)

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Not all of the biggest winners in this year's general election were candidates running for public office. Those running who had Gov. Palin's endorsement did very well indeed, but you would never know it if you get your news from the mainstream media. Not only did crack reporters not do their research, some of them appear to have the math skills of a two-year old.

NBC Montana came closer to getting it right than others, as it named our favorite Mama Bear as one of the five big winners in Tuesday's elections:

Not all of the candidates Sarah Palin threw her support behind won election, but enough were victorious to reflect well on the former vice presidential candidate.

Of the 54 candidates across congressional, gubernatorial and other state races Palin supported who faced primaries, 42 won. Combined with the candidates she backed who did not face primaries, that left 49 candidates for the 2010 midterms. Of those, 28 candidates won, 15 lost and six races were still undecided by early Wednesday morning.

More important than her won-loss record, the 2008 vice presidential candidate helped to "energize the Republican Party on its way to a historic wave of success," says the author.

Next up, Shushannah Walshe. While Walshe may be regarded by the media establishment as an authoritative figure, she doesn't do too well with numbers:

Palin will point to a positive win-loss record—98 of her 77 candidates triumphed, (6 races had yet to be called by Wednesday morning.) But many of the highest-profile races, where she had loudly interjected herself, her candidates—Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, and John Raese in West Virginia—lost.

98 of 77? Walshe gives the governor credit for having more candidates win than she actually endorsed, which is quite an accomplishment. But her piece focuses on those who lost, which is typical of The Daily Beast, which should change its name to The Daily Least.

Also, we have a story which falls into the Big Lie category by Aliyah Shahid, a staff writer for DNC stenographer rag NY Daily News:

"Overall, just 27, or 45% of the candidates Palin endorsed have won so far."

We're not sure what body cavity Shahid pulled those numbers from, because more than twice that number endorsed by Gov. Palin have actually won. The rest of this hit piece is just as disingenuous and snarky, proving once again that when the lamestream, drive-by media doesn't like the facts, it simply makes things up instead.

The truth is Palin-endorsed national candidates (there were 94 of them in the general election) have won 60 and lost 29, with 5 races undecided. Of the decided races, she has a winning percentage of 67.4% so far. That's over two-thirds of the candidates she has endorsed. Even were her endorsed candidates to lose the remaining nine undecided contests, she would still have a winning percentage of 63.8, or better than three out of five. Not bad at all, especially considering all of the underdogs and long shot candidates the governor endorsed in these races. Notice that no one in the media is talking about any other political figure's endorsements and how they fared in the midterms. That speaks volumes in itself.

Updates...

The Daily Bleat Beast has changed the Walshe piece to read "49 of her 77 candidates triumphed" without acknowledging the typo - but the numbers are still wrong. 60 of the 94 candidates Gov. Palin endorsed have won, with 8 races still to be called.

The Caucus blog at the NY Times also focused on the losers, rather than the larger number of winners, backed by Gov. Palin. But Michael Shear, who wrote the post, had to admit:

If former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska decides to run for president in 2012, she will now have plenty of help.

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Still, as potential 2012 presidential contenders begin lining up support and cashing in chits, Ms. Palin will have plenty of places to look for support. In addition to the Senate and governors’ races, there are dozens of lesser-known House candidates who had earned her blessing.

But, on the positive side, CBS News published a surprisingly fair, if not quite accurate, report:

Most of the candidates Sarah Palin endorsed chalked up victories Tuesday.

And that scorecard leaves pundits wondering whether she'll now train her sights directly on the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

As CBS News Correspondent Jeff Glor reports, .the former GOP vice presidential nominee backed 43 candidates for the House. Thirty of them won, with races involving nine others still undecided.

Her record in Senate races was closer: She endorsed 12 candidates. Seven won.

Though it's been 15 months since Palin stepped down as Alaska governor, she was very much in this election, stumping for candidates across the country, skewering President Obama at every turn.

"My observation of Sarah Palin," says CBS News political analyst Nicolle Wallace, "is that she is one of the shrewdest political figures in our country at this moment. She's also one of the most electric."

Actually, Gov. Palin endorsed 72 Congressional candidates, 42 of whom won, with 5 races still undecided.

Add Ed Carson at IBD's Capital Hill blog to the list of media types who who are factually-challenged:

"Meanwhile, Sarah Palin’s presidential ambitions took a hit. The defeats of Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Ken Buck and possibly Joe Miller — all races that were eminently winnable in a GOP year — show that activist zeal alone can’t push polarizing candidates to victory."

Just a couple of problems with that paragraph, Ed. First of all, Sarah Palin never endorsed Ken Buck. Secondly, a number of "polarizing" candidates Gov. Palin endorsed -- including, but certainly not limited to, Rand Paul, Michele Bachmann, Marco Rubio, Allen West, Nikki Haley and John Boozman -- cruised to victory last night.

*Also updated to account for latest results

- JP