Quote of the Day (September 2, 2010)

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David Kahane:

"You morons really don’t have a clue, do you? Even now, with victory in your grasp should you only choose to carpe the good ol’ diem, you’re floundering around, lurching like John Kerry from his medals to his magic hat. You go from cheering the fascist theocrat Beck at the Mall (while that woman I still hate, hate, hate beams on, a Mama Grizzly hunting for her next meal and looking at us like we’re 2012’s dinner) to wondering if the preternaturally tanned Ohioan, John Boehner, has the right stuff to be third in line to the throne of Emperor BHO II."

- JP

Gov. Palin's remarks at the Restoring Honor breakfast

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Sarah Palin spoke Saturday at the Restoring Honor breakfast, organized by Glenn Beck and

the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Here are her remarks, courtesy of Palin TV:

- JP

Welcome to Sarah's world, leftist women

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Curt at Flopping Aces weighs in on the left wing women who find Vanity Fair's smear job against Sarah Palin to be over the top:

I have to say, I’m a bit surprised that the liberal feminists who have taken every opportunity they could to attack Sarah Palin have now come out to defend her from the disgusting Vanity Fair article that was released yesterday...

[...]

How bad was this article? So bad that Shannyn Moore, a liberal Palin hater like no other, attacked the writer of the Vanity Fair hit piece:

I don’t give a rip what you said about me – though it was so completely wrong, and put me in such a completely inaccurate and unfavorable light people are mad on my behalf.

Fine thanks for Alaskan hospitality. I have extended the Alaska Spirit to dozens of journalists and visitors, and I will continue to do so. It’s on YOU, not me, as you are the only one who has broken agreements with sources you promised complete anonymity.

I’m sure you’re thrilled to be on TV now. Just know, like Sarah, Alaskans paid a price for it. Specifically, a 79-year old woman, with failing health, who spoke to you under anonymity who hopes her adult children will speak to her again.

Shame on you. You’re not a writer…you’re a climber.

With no respect,
Shannyn Moore

[...]

While I find it heartening that these liberals are backing Sarah regarding this article, I find it a bit hard to feel sorry for them being used the way they were. These same people were not so worried about the truth vs. fiction regarding Sarah way back when. Trig not the baby of Sarah…Sarah spending too much on clothes…Sarah baaaaad.

But now that they have been treated the same way, they are now upset.

I don’t think I have ever seen these “feminists” back Sarah against these unfair attacks before so color me skeptical that they have now seen the light.

We share Curt's skepticism. And what Moore is upset about is not VF author Gross' hatchet job on Gov. Palin. Moore slimes the governor and tells as many lies about her in one day as Gross did in one hatchet job. And Moore it does every day of the year, sometimes several times a day. No, what has Moore's knickers in a knot is that Gross outed Moore's friends, sources he had agreed to cover for, not his bearing of false witness against Sarah Palin. Make no mistake here -- Gross, Moore and most of the other leftist women who lost their mud over this article share a common goal, and that is to drive Sarah Palin's poll numbers down and ultimately destroy her politically. And if Sarah's husband, children, friends or supporters get wounded in the process, well they're simply casualties of war, from the leftist POV. These leftists still believe like Alinsky and Lenin that the ends justify the means. This is war, after all. C'est la guerre.

- JP

The DC: Palin hit piece an example of shoddy journalism

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At the Daily Caller, Rusty Weiss channels Captain Obvious and calls the Vanity Fair hatchet job on Sarah Palin "an example of shoddy journalism":

Michael Joseph Gross of Vanity Fair is the kind of journalist you’ve come to expect these days. He’s the kind of journalist that tabloid reporters look at with disdain. The kind of reporter producing work that even TMZ photogs would consider beneath them. He’s the kind of journalist you’d expect to find rooting through one’s garbage for some deep, dark secret to expose to the world.

His recent hit piece on Sarah Palin follows the same theme, entitled, “Sarah Palin the Sound and the Fury.” In this piece, Gross goes on a mind-numbingly long (10,000+ words) diatribe about Palin’s secretive, dark, backstage persona.

“Her on-the-record statements,” Gross says, “amount to a litany of untruths and half-truths.”

With so many words focusing on Palin’s life being a lie, one would imagine that the journalist had a host of witnesses, friends, or sources from which to pool information. And indeed, Gross has plenty. There’s just one problem. He can’t name any of them...

Read the full Rusty Weiss op-ed at The DC.

- JP

Sarah Palin on 'idiot reporters' and 'impotent, limp and gutless' yellow journalism

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On Sean Hannity's radio program this week, fearless Gov. Palin spoke out about, among other things, 'idiot reporters' and 'impotent, limp and gutless' yellow journalism:



h/t: Stacy McCain

- JP

NRO's The Corner: Another progressive denounces VF's hit piece on Palin

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Katrina Trinko at NRO's The Corner blog reports that yet another prominent progressive has denounced the Vanity Fair smear job:

What this piece has generated — well, besides incredulity that a magazine of Vanity Fair’s caliber would run a character assassination piece almost entirely based on anonymous sources — is a bipartisan backlash. Not against Palin, but against Vanity Fair.

[...]

And, via Ben Smith, former John Edwards aide and feminist/progressive blogger Melissa McEwan wrote:

Gross’ article, however, amounts to very little but “Sarah Palin is the worst because she’s in politics…and is A WOMAN.”

Sure, it’s covert sexism.

[...]

What makes this article the worst thing I’ve read all day is the fact that most of what’s in it is the sort of s*** that is considered (rightly or wrongly) the mundane business of doing politics, and yet is somehow OMG SHOCKING when done by Sarah Palin. …

I will continue to defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because I endorse her or her politics, but because that’s how feminism works.

But I’d prefer not to be obliged in the first place.

For those who weren’t satisfied by 10,000-plus word screed against Palin, VF also published an online-only bonus article going over (again!) how much the McCain campaign spent on clothes for the Palin family. But when you’ve got even Meghan McCain — who’s admitted to being “conflicted” over what she thinks about Palin — taking Palin’s side on the wardrobe malfunction, that says something about how way overblown the hysteria is. From Jay Newton-Small, blogging for Time about McCain’s new book:

But McCain also sympathizes with the wardrobe debacle. “That’s what it costs to outfit seven or eight people in designer clothes,” McCain wrote. “Other candidates had spent just as much, or more, but kept those kinds of expenses under wraps – sunk into promotion and advertising costs. What surprised me was that our campaign couldn’t do the same.”

The debate over Palin’s policies and role in the Republican party will no doubt continue. But when you’ve got liberal feminists defending her, it’s clear that the level of vitriol toward her is long past acceptable boundaries.

But some in the leftist lamestream media don't seem to have the intellectual honesty or journalistic integrity that McEwan has demonstrated. NewsBuster Kyle Drennen reports how the CBS Early Show is promoting Vanity Fair's lies, just as they have promoted the many lies of Levi Johnston.

- JP

Sissy Willis: The 'sad and moldering strangeness' that is Vanity Fair

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Sissy Willis at Liberty Pundits does more debunking work on Vanity Fair's latest pack of lies:

We'll "fisk" one sentence from Vanity Fair's "Sound and the Fury" article and then rest our case:

She’s glad to be here with the people of Independence, Missouri, “where so many of you proudly cling to your guns and your religion” — the first laughline in a 40-minute stump speech that alludes to many of the perceived insults she and her audience have suffered together, and that transforms their resentments into badges of honor … anywhere you peel back the skin of Sarah Palin’s life, a sad and moldering strangeness lies beneath.

Got that? Gleefully un-fact-checked 24/7 media smears are "perceived insults." Alleged "resentments"? Try this from the Leader of the Free World:

"And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," Obama said.

Whose life reveals a "sad and moldering strangeness" again?

Read Sissy's full post here.

Related: Jim Putnam has a good backgrounder on VF at The Coltons Point Times. And at The Cypress Times, Stacy Drake contrasts media treatment of Sarah Palin before she became the first woman to be the Republican party's vice presidential candidate (Vogue Magazine, February, 2008), and today in Vanity Fair's hatchet job.

- JP

Politico Again Slaps Bad Vanity Fair Palin Attack

-By Warner Todd Huston
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As we discussed here yesterday, Vanity Fair published a badly sourced attack piece on Governor Palin. But the piece is even worse than first thought.

As Politico's Ben Smith discovered, the Vanity Fair piece contained yet another lie passed off as "journalism."

Smith highlighted the part of the VF piece that led the reader to think that the Palins used son Trig as a political prop at the rally held in Kansas City.

Smith excerpted this section of the VF piece:

Backstage in the arena, a little girl in Mary Janes pushes her brother in a baby carriage, stopping a few yards shy of a heavy, 100-foot-long black curtain. The curtain splits the arena in two, shielding the children from an audience of 4,000 people clapping their hands in time to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The music accompanies a video “Salute to Military Heroes” that plays above the stage where, in a few moments, the children’s mother will appear.

When the girl, Piper Palin, turns around, she sees her parents thronged by admirers, and the crowd rolling toward her and the baby, her brother Trig, born with Down syndrome in 2008. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, bend down and give a moment to the children; a woman, perhaps a nanny, whisks the boy away; and Todd hands Sarah her speech and walks her to the stage. He pokes the air with one finger. She mimes the gesture, whips around, strides on four-inch heels to stage center, and turns it on.

But he found out that the whole story was bunk.

The problem: Trig wasn't at the event, according to its organizer, Karladine Graves, a 61-year old Kansas City physician and who, in 2009, founded one of the wave of new local conservative groups, this one called Preserving American Liberty. The "woman, perhaps a nanny," was the boy's mother, St. Louis talk radio host Gina Loudon, according to the event's organizer, Graves.

Ah the lies of this VF piece continue to amaze, don't they?

-WTH

Warner Todd Huston is editor of Publius' Forum and a contributor to Texas for Sarah Palin as well as Big Government, Right Wing News, and a number of other websites.

Sarah Palin: Alaska Will Help Secure the Union; Joe Miller’s Moneybomb Needs Support

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Posted by Gov. Palin today on Facebook:

Alaska Will Help Secure the Union; Joe Miller’s Moneybomb Needs Support

Friends, please join me saluting a patriot from Alaska who shocked the nation by proving the naysayers wrong.

Joe Miller’s record, intentions, and political philosophy represent the necessary direction Alaska and the rest of America must take to ensure prosperity and security. This decorated combat vet and graduate of West Point, Yale, and the University of Alaska understands the Constitution and will work tirelessly to defend it. He will reflect Alaska’s independent conservative conscience, ignore the influence of special interests, and work to restore America’s standing as the greatest force for good in this world. I believe we should positively contribute more to our society than we take from it, as that simple formula has made our country what it is today. And Joe’s message reflects that.

With this momentous victory, Alaska began a new chapter in our state’s history. We chose to help lead America to a bright new day with The Last Frontier at last exporting its pioneering spirit! I’m proud to see this take root because, after 51 years of statehood, Alaska will soar, thrive, and lead as we transition to “producer” status. Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Seward, saw this day coming. He understood our land’s potential, so he purchased this rich land from Russia to utilize Alaska’s strategic location, resources, and pioneering spirit. These attributes will help secure the union. The recent political change we ushered in can help fulfill our statehood compact and make the federal government keep its end of the bargain it struck with us when we joined the union. With the feds holding title to most of our land up here, it’s time they allow Alaska to reach her potential and help secure America. Joe will fight for our opportunities.

Joe has won his primary, but he now needs our help to raise funds for the general election. Please join me in donating any amount you can spare to Joe’s moneybomb by clicking here. He can lead once he gets to D.C., but he needs our help to get there. Please give him a hand. Joe won’t let us down.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention, Part 109

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"Who's your mama (grizzy)?" Edition

Kenric Ward Sunshine State News:

"Sarah Palin's endorsement in the Florida attorney general's race might not have sealed the deal for Pam Bondi, but the Alaskan rogue's support certainly carried more weight than Newt Gingrich's... Mike Huckabee's endorsement didn't do much, if anything, for Bill McCollum... All three Republicans -- Palin, Gingrich and Huckabee -- are maneuvering for presidential bids in 2012. Based on the win-loss ratios of their endorsements here and elsewhere, Palin leads the field, by far."

Brian Murphy, Palin-endorsed candidate for governor in Maryland:

"She [Gov. Palin] can't win it for me, but she gives me the chance to be on the stage. The reality is we want to give her a win and I think we can."

Moe Lane ar RedState.com:

"I make no estimates or predictions about 2012, but it’s fairly clear that in 2010 Palin is going to be active in House general elections, and to the benefit of the Republican party. No, seriously. To be blunt about it: there are a lot of Democratic and progressive activists out there who seem convinced that their own psycho-sexual fetish about THAT WOMAN is shared by the general population… in much the same way that they assumed that every voter who didn’t like George W Bush actually hated the man, in the Nineteen Eighty-Four Two-Minute Hate sense. Which is… no, they didn’t, and don’t. That’s because most people aren’t crazy."

John Phillips via Twitter:

"[Tuesday's] election means @SarahPalinUSA is the 2012 GOP front runner"

MysteryJ at :

"Just a week ago... liberal bloggers and talking head types were discussing and relishing the impending embarrassment that Sarah Palin was going to experience at the hands of Alaskan voters... Palin had endorsed and recorded robo-calls for Tea Party favorite Bill Miller against sitting Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller was not given a chance and liberals were salivating to make [hay] out of Palin's demise as a political king maker. It wasn't to be... Palin can rightfully tout her influence on that election."

John Hawkins at Townhall.com:

"Myths About Conservatives... 'Conservatives believe women should be poor, quiet, barefoot, and in the kitchen': This is an especially weird claim in light of Sarah Palin's meteoric rise and the incredible popularity of fiery conservative women like Michele Bachmann, Michele Malkin, and Ann Coulter."

Hillbuzz:

"Governor Palin’s ninja throwing stars have taken down, hopefully for good, the dynastic, establishment... Romney Republican Murkowski Family. Great Merciful Zeus. This means, next year, a whole host of wonderful Palin Republicans, Momma and Poppa Grizzlies, will be taking office…because of the support and backing of Governor Palin... there is no way under the sun that Mittens could have pulled off something like THIS, taking down the Murkowski Dynasty... Get on her bad side at your own peril."

Rob Harrison at The Spyglass:

"What Gov. Palin needed to do and set out to do, she's doing, and she's doing it with style."

Mr. Grey Ghost at Politik Ditto:

"The MSM would love it if Sarah Palin just went away from good. They keep telling us about what a danger she is to democracy, healthcare, women, blacks, babies, unicorn's, you name it. They mock and attempt to discredit her at every turn just because her politics disagrees with theirs. Yet, she's still here, making a difference, swaying the American public, proving [the progressives] all wrong and not only can they not stop her, they can't even contain her. Expect them to step up the hate."

Be John Galt:

"The left still hates Sarah Palin and believes she’s the wicked witch of the north, but now... liberal women are lamenting the left doesn’t don’t have a Sarah Palin of its own"

Robin of Berkeley at American Thinker:

"Liberalism throws away good money on bad people. By aiding and abetting the enemy, our culture emboldens the darkness. But liberalism goes one step deeper. Through indoctrination in political correctness, millions of people don't even recognize evil when it is staring them in the face. The masses are so confused that they see good people (Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann) as bad and bad people as good. Consequently, radical Islam is viewed as a religion of peace. Liberals plaster 'Coexist' bumper stickers on their bumpers and welcome 'victory mosques' like New York's Cordoba House. Liberals enable evil, perhaps becoming engulfed by it themselves."

Dan Tuohy at Granite Slate:

"The Tea Party claims victory in Alaska, as Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski concedes in the U.S. Senate race. Sarah Palin takes a step toward King Maker."

Donald R. McClarey at The American Catholic:

"Most politicians could be stamped out with a cookie cutter for all the originality and style they possess. Sarah Palin is most certainly not in that mold. Her impact on American politics is only beginning. She is not a conventional politician and people who judge her by that yardstick completely fail to understand her. She is the leader of a powerful movement of conservative women that has the potential to reshape politics in this country for a very long time."

Mark Hemingway at the Washington Examiner:

"Palin’s quote about thugs clearly differentiates between rank-and-file union members and union leaders. Perhaps the reason why Trumka is so offended is that he’s exactly the kind of thuggish union leader Sarah Palin was talking about."

Jeffrey Lord at The American Spectator:

" From the Edmund Burkes, John Lockes, Adam Smiths and Abraham Lincolns to a Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and on and on right down to, as was said in the famous Longfellow poem of Paul Revere's ride, 'every Middlesex village and farm' -- the conservative revolution flowers."

- JP

Bill Wavering: The Indefatigable Sarah Palin

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At Intellectual Conservative, Bill Wavering makes the observation that tor someone judged by her detractors as not ready for prime time just two short years ago, Sarah Palin has proved that she possesses a profusion of political perspicuity:

Labor Day marks the unofficial beginning of the 2010 general campaign season. While there has been much already published by political pundits regarding the drubbing that liberal Democrats are expected to absorb in November; we should note that one of the most remarkable stories of this recently completed primary season was the endorsement track record of one Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska.

[...]

These successful endorsements are important for three reasons:

* Political endorsements are like a gambler's marker. They may be called in at any time. These successful endorsements will translate into either monetary support, personal support, or both should Sarah Palin ever decide to seek political office once again.

* They have served, and will continue to serve to keep her in the political limelight as the 2010 campaign season continues to ramp up; maintaining her visibility all the way up to the unofficial kickoff of the 2012 presidential campaign season next February.

* They prove that her political instincts are much more highly developed that any liberal political pundit has been willing to give her credit for up until now.

The author defines Gov. Palin's endorsements using different criteria than we do here at TX4P. He counts as "endorsed" any candidate to whom SarahPAC, the governor's political action committee, contributed funds. While it can be argued that PAC donations are, in a way, implicit endorsements of a candidate, we only count those endorsements explicitly made by Sarah Palin.

The reason is that some PAC contributions are made simply to return the favor of a donation made to that PAC. We seriously doubt, for example, that Sarah Palin would strongly endorse Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Yet her PAC gave Graham some money early on to return the favor of a contribution by Sen. Graham as "seed money" to SarahPAC when it was first organized. Another example is the SarahPAC contribution to Sen. Lisa Murkowski. This donation was made mostly to quell rumors being widely circulated at the time that Gov. Palin would run for the U.S. Senate against Murkowski. It was done as a favor to the Senator and to keep the peace in the Alaska GOP. But when Murkowski publicly and rather mean-spiritedly criticized the governor for resigning her office, all bets were off, and Sarah Palin challenged the Senator by proxy, endorsing Joe Miller and convincing Tea Party Express to commit over a half million dollars to Miller's campaign. We witnessed the results of this week ion the stunning upset of Murkowski in the GOP primary.

Although we don't agree with Wavering's way of defining and counting endorsements, we can't aargue with his conclusion. Her track record of successful candidate endorsements has earned Sarah Palin an impressive accumulation political clout, enough so to make her a force to be reckoned with in 2012 should she toss that green newsboy cap into the ring for the race for president.

- JP

Emily Greenwood: Sarah Palin, the Tactician

*
Newly minted Alaskan and contributor to the American Thinker blog Emily Greenwood posts that she observed the GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate play out from a vantage point in the Murkowski stronghold of southeast Alaska. At first, Greenwood could not understand why Sarah Palin would endorse such a long shot as Joe Miller:

I was even more amazed when the Tea Party Express group earlier this summer announced its support for Miller, one of only two candidates in the nation it was actively supporting.(The other is Sharron Angle. The group is now also helping Christine O'Donnell.) Why spend scarce resources targeting Murkowski, a solid middle-of-the-road Republican, a safe bet to defeat her Democrat opponent, in a primary, instead of spending the funds on the many critical races that are already past the primary stage?

Further, Sarah Palin has made appearances at Tea Party Express events. Surely Tea Party Express intervened in Alaska only after seeking Palin's blessing and advice -- or perhaps she came to them.

This morning, Palin's political judgment is vindicated once again. This operation was a daring raid behind enemy lines. It inspirits the troops, stuns the enemy, and completely changes the battlefield, a much better use of resources than throwing them into the trench warfare of the California races. And, after taking it on the chin for supporting McCain in his primary, Palin has shown the world her true conservative colors once again.

This matters, Greenwood observes, if Gov. Palin is positioning herself for a run for the White House. The governor's decisions to back Joe Miller and persuade Tea Party Express to donate $600,000 to his campaign has convinced Greenwood that Sarah Palin's intention is be a presidential candidate in the 2012 election.

- JP

Day By Day (September 2, 2010)

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Good Morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day.



Support Pro-Palin Day By Day

- JP

Quote of the Day (September 1, 2010)

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Brian Faughnan at The Daily Caller:

"And what of the most famous insurgent of all — Sarah Palin? All Palin is doing is shrewdly helping to frame the debate in a way that shows the weakness of liberal policies. From 'death panels' to 'drill, baby, drill,' Palin has found clear lines of attack against the Obama agenda. And in her spare time, she is boosting a number of rising conservative stars: Nikki Haley, Vicky Hartzler, Renee Elmers, Pam Bondi, Allen West, Sharron Angle, and numerous others. Of course, many of these candidates are women — a demographic the GOP has been desperate to reach out to for decades."

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention, Part 108

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Special "Miracle on Ice V" Edition.

Adrienne Ross at Motivation Truth:

"Joe Miller Defeats Lisa Murkowski; Governor Palin Gets Her Miracle on Ice"

Shira Toeplitz at Politico:

"Miller, who had the backing of former Gov. Sarah Palin, defeated Murkowski in what will likely be remembered as one of the biggest upsets in Alaska's political history and one of the most stunning defeats of the entire cycle."

ZIP at Weasel Zippers:

"The Palin Derangement Syndrome crowd about to go into full-fledged meltdown mode…"

John Ruberry at Marathon Pundit:

"They're not laughing at the Tea Party movement any more... Miller's win is a triumph not just for the Tea Party movement and the Tea Party Express, which targeted Murkowski for defeat, but also for Sarah Palin, one of the few prominent Republicans to back Miller."

Melissa Clouthier at Liberty Pundits:

"Anyone doubting Sarah Palin’s scope of influence should reconsider his position."

John McCormack at the Weekly Standard blog:

"Of course, it takes more than superior credentials to defeat a well-funded incumbent senator. The strong backing of Sarah Palin was certainly crucial for Miller. Palin had knocked Frank Murkowski out of the gubernatorial primary in 2006 and sought to do the same to his daughter this year in the Senate primary."

Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit:

"Another RINO bites the dust…"

Michael Memoli at the Chicago Tribune:

"Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded the state's Republican primary to her 'tea party'-backed rival Tuesday night, an outcome that illustrated voters' anger with the Washington establishment and the power of former Gov. Sarah Palin in her home state... Miller, a Fairbanks attorney and decorated Gulf War veteran making his first try for statewide office, had trailed Murkowski in fundraising and in opinion polls throughout the campaign. But he had Palin, who bucked state party leaders to endorse him; and the Tea Party Express, the political action committee that spent $600,000 on ads assailing Murkowski as insufficiently conservative and promoting Palin's endorsement."

Erick Erickson via Twitter:

"Sarah Palin has now pretty much single handedly taken out the entirely of the old guard Alaska GOP. That's impressive."

Ken Rudin at NPR:

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again - In a year of real surprises, this may top them all... Miller is a politically unknown Gulf War veteran who won the endorsement from former Gov. Sarah Palin. That was followed with the decision by the Tea Party Express to give money to Miller, who had been widely outspent by Murkowski."

Amy Walter at The Note:

"Huge Victory for Tea Party as Sen. Murkowski Concedes... Miller got significant financial support from the Tea Party Express and had the backing of Alaska ex-Gov. Sarah Palin (R)"

Stacy McCain at The American Spectator:

"Many have credited Sarah Palin's early endorsement with boosting Miller in their home state, and certainly she helped call national attention to the anti-establishment candidate. The leaders of the Tea Party Express say that it was Palin who prompted them to take a second look at Miller, for whom they spent $500,000 for campaign ads in the closing weeks of the primary."

FoxNews.com:

"Miller, who had the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is now the immediate front-runner in the heavily Republican state."

Dan Joling of the Associated Press:

"Joe Miller, backed by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express, became the latest newcomer to the national political stage to take down an incumbent in 2010 amid deep dissatisfaction with the Washington establishment... The stunning result was a huge validation of the political power of Palin as the former Alaska governor has been playing kingmaker in midterm elections ahead of a potential 2012 White House run. "

Rebecca Mansour of SarahPAC, via The Daily Beast:

"Todd Palin and Gov. Palin believed in Joe from the beginning when everybody else thought he was an impossible long shot."

- JP

Human Events: Sarah Palin, Political Power Player

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In a Human Events op-ed, Adam Tragone states that "there is no one who is better than Sarah Palin in getting the 'hockey moms' and 'hockey dads' riled up":

So, one might ask themselves: with so much riding on November, does the girl from Wasilla hold the keys to Congress?

Let’s start with Joe Miller.

[...]

Without question, with Palin’s ability to appear mainstream and project an image of being an ordinary American, the race brought out many voters who were just sick and tired of “inside the Beltway” politics that Murkowski simply could not shake.

And then there was Nikki Haley.

[...]

Palin’s influence was all over this race, too. Palin went to South Carolina in May to share the stage and endorse Haley and appear in a TV ad. Shortly after the endorsement, the polls exploded in Haley’s favor, catapulting her to 30% of the vote while the other three held in the teens. Quite a dramatic change since she was running fourth in the same poll in March. Palin Power?

[...]

Out of all the Republican political players, Palin has to be the queen of the ball right now. Endorsements from Mike Huckabees, Mitt Romneys, and Newt Gingrichs of the world just don’t garner the same media buzz or scrutiny the way Palin’s endorsements do.

There are still many currently held Democratic seats in Congress up for grabs in November. If Palin, the Political Power Player, gets involved in those races, it could get ugly real quick for the Pelosi & Reid gang.

Read this HE opinion piece in its entirety here.

- JP

9/11 in Anchorage: Glenn Beck and... Sarah Palin?

*
Glenn Beck is playing coy about his "vacation" in Alaska, but Anchorage outlets have tickets on sale for a Sept. 11 Beck event at the Dena'ina Center. On his radio show, Beck said :

"I'm going to give a speech up there, and Sarah's going to give a speech too."

h/t: TheRightScoop

- JP

Vanity Fair Lays A Salmonella Egg

*
It's difficult to take Vanity Fair seriously. After all, it's one of only two major lamestream media outlets -- the other being CBS’s "The Early Show" -- which continues to take the discredited Levi Johnston seriously. Consider that even liberal Politico and gutter leftist site Jezebel have expressed their reservations about VF's latest hit piece on Sarah Palin.

When you have Jezebel characterizing your personal attack on Gov. Palin as "a hatchet job" and Michael Gross' reporting as "obsessive" and "breathless," you're not even preaching to the choir anymore. Jezebel recognizes the potential of the hit piece to backfire:

We're all for shoe-leather reporting, but at this point, this seems like a rather barren field to tread. A strong denunciation came early from Clara Jeffrey and Monika Bauerlein, co-editors ofMother Jones, on Twitter:

Meanwhile, Ben Smith at Politico says a former McCain campaign aide contacted him as soon as the VF hatchet job appeared to admit that a tale he only half-seriously originated was "embellished almost beyond recognition" by VF in its bumbling attempt to make a "monster" out of Gov. Palin:

This anecdote first popped up in London's Sunday Times, a regular landing point for political anecdotes that the less credulous American press won't print without checking. From that story:

Inside John McCain’s campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. “It would be fantastic,” said a McCain insider. “You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week.”

The fantastic quote -- and perhaps the clue that this one hadn't quite risen to the levels of the principals -- is the guarantee that Levi would show: "“It’s a shotgun wedding. She kills things,” the source joked.

Indeed, the former McCain aide (my source and the Times') recalls gleefully that while he kicked it around a bit with other aides -- as the "end all be all stunt for a campaign of stunts" -- the idea was never brought to Palin, much less seriously considered.

But when it comes to lame Wyle-E-Coyote-style attempts to smear Sarah Palin, Vanity Fair lets the truth be damned. With this hatchet job, the troubled magazine has laid another egg. This time it has produced one infected with salmonella, that bacteria which causes an affliction even worse than Palin Derangement Syndrome. Know it by its symptoms: high temperature, nausea, abdominal cramping, and bloody diarrhea with mucous.

When even some of the left's most prominent usual suspects don't buy into a vicious media attack born of sick hatred and begin to call out the lies for what they are, it must be a sign that these Alinsky tactics have lost their effectiveness. Sorry, Vanity Fair, but rabid coyotes don't make good hunting dogs. They have a tendency to turn around and bite the hunter.

Updates: A growing number of voices on the left are speaking out against the VF smear job...

Notorious Palin critic David Weigel:

"Point is, this anecdote is bunk, and it makes me wonder about the rest of the story."

John Dickerson, Slate's chief political correspondent:

"Given the velocity of embellishment about Palin we should have a story about her bending metal with her eyes by winter"

Liberal pundit Kirsten Powers, in a series of tweets:

VF: Why do we only hear abt women "throwing things" but not the men, who anyone who has worked in politics knows happens all the time?

VF "article"criticizes Palin for flying 1st class & demanding nice hotels? DOUBLE STANDARD anyone? Guess little lady doesn't know her place.

VF: Palin is allegedly vengeful toward people who badmouth her, has temper and is controlling. In other words: a male politician.

Yeah at least one. RT @daveweigel: Via @benpolitico, at least one anecdote in the big VF Palin story is false. http://bit.ly/cGfLF3

Vanity Fair: Palin's a bad tipper & has bad temper. Just like HRC. What a coincidence. http://bit.ly/97TvsC

Leftist Newsweek:

"It is hard to know whether what Gross reports is true—many of his assertions are based on opinions, and anonymous ones at that."

CNN producer Peter Hamby:

"@benpolitico is right re: VF article. I was w/ Palin for entire VP bid. never got a hint that she 'lashed out at the slightest provocation'"

Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger at the Washington Post:

"The article by Michael Joseph Gross contains few verifiable revelations..."

Tennessee Guerilla Women:

"I stopped at the part describing Sarah Palin as an irrational shrew who throws things and screams at people.... I've read it before. Many times. The last time I read it, the hysterical [woman] who was screaming at people and throwing things was Hillary Rodham Clinton."

It's awful sad when you can't even get the left to go along with your made-up hatchet job on the most dangerous potential threat to your Obamessiah's second term.

VANITY FAIL.

PS: Be sure to read "Top Ten Crazy Things in the Vanity Fair Hit Piece" at Palin Promotions.

- JP

The Cap Times: You can bet that Palin is coming to Wisconsin

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John Nichols, associate editor of The Capital Times, which bills itself as "Your Progressive Voice," predicts in the Madison-based web newspaper that Gov. Palin will campaign in Wisconsin this fall:

Bet on a late September or October stop in Wausau or Rhinelander or Ashland for 7th Congressional District candidate Sean Duffy, the former TV reality show star who caught her fancy early in the 2010 campaign season.

And she may make more stops in the state.

That’s something that Republicans and Democrats should figure into their campaign calculus because, like it or not, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president is making herself a definitional player — perhaps the definitional player — in the current campaign.

[...]

She provided the publicity, fundraising oomph and political push for newcomer Joe Miller’s audacious challenge to incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

[...]

The former GOP vice presidential candidate’s star, which was already showing, is going to shine a good deal more brightly. And her favored candidates, not just in Alaska but around the country, are going to be more determined than ever to get her campaigning on their behalf.

This is something Wisconsin Democrats, if they are smart, need to consider with regard to the 7th District race, where she has already engaged, and potentially with regard to other contests where she might engage. (If gun-toting, Bible-quoting Rebecca Kleefisch, the closest contender Wisconsin has to a Palin, is nominated for lieutenant governor, bet on a heightened level of involvement by the Alaskan, who promises to back “mama grizzlies” wherever she finds them.)

[...]

She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this fall, bringing political star power not just to the usual Republican suspects but to a lot of candidates who, like Alaska’s Joe Miller, had been counted out by political insiders. Democrats ought not fool themselves about the Palin factor. Indeed, if they underestimate this emerging reality, they will do so at their political peril.

Nichols' last sentence is an echo of remarks we've seen from other liberals who recognize the potency of Palin Power. But though a few on the left will heed the warnings, most will continue to mock her, attack her personally, and dismiss both her style and her substance. The left just can't help themselves because for most libs, arrogance is a fatal character trait. And so they will unwittingly help Sarah Palin work her political magic.

h/t: roy y

- JP

Day By Day (September 1, 2010)

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Good Morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day.



Support Pro-Palin Day By Day

- JP