Shocking: Dave Weigel Doesn't Get Sarah Palin

-By Warner Todd Huston
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Like most leftists, former Washington Post blogger David Weigel just doesn't get Sarah Palin. Weigel took a look at the year-end contributions from the Political Action Committees (PACs) sponsored by Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin and what he saw there baffled him. While Weigel thought he understood the "strategy" of Romney's donations, he admitted that he just couldn't understand Palin's.

Weigel took a look at the Federal Elections Commission's emerging reporting records of the two GOP player's campaign donations. Weigel figured that Romney was doling out his campaign donations in key areas and to key candidates, all obviously meant to help his likely run for the GOP nomination for president in 2012. So Weigel thought Ronmey had a discernible "strategy" in his PAC donations.

"Romney's donations were alternately strategic, focused on Massachusetts and 2012 states, or big tent," Weigel wrote.

But, Weigel seemed unable to discern any such strategy in Palin's donation record.

Palin's donations don't look anything like this. In October, SarahPAC opened up for 18 House candidates. Twelve of them won. Two -- Arizona's Ruth McClung and Utah's Morgan Philpot -- almost scored upsets. One of them, Mississippi's Bill Marcy, was a black Republican in a hopeless race against Bennie Thompson in Mississippi's safest Democratic district.

It's actually tough to see a strategy in the Palin donations. They match up neatly with the lists of candidates Tea Partiers embraced at the end of the cycle. Maybe that was the strategy.

I have to disagree. It is perfectly easy to see Palin's "strategy." It was one of pushing the conservative, Tea Party agenda, not one of strategerizing to get herself elected president like Romney was doing. Clearly Palin put her money where her ideology was, not where her campaign needs were.

See, this is where so many people -- especially those on the left -- simply can't understand Palin. She's a movement type of gal, not a cold, strategizing, political hack.

Check out Weigel's post for the listing of who received whose money.

-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.

List of Q2 Candidate Contributions by SarahPAC

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Here's an unofficial list of candidates who received contributions from SarahPAC in the Second Quarter of 2010:

For Governor
IA (Jun 29) Gov Branstad $5,000

For US Senate

AK (May 02) Joe Miller $5,000
CA (Jun 09) Carly Fiorina $2,500
IA (Jun 24) Chas. Grassley $5,000
NV (Jun 24) Sharron Angle $2,500
WA (Jun 24) Clint Didier $5,000

For U.S. House
AR-02 (Jun 24) Tim Griffin $3,500
CA-37 (Jun 24) Star Parker $5,000
ID-01 (May 21) Vaughn Ward $4,000
IN-08 (Jun 24) Larry Bucshon $3,500
IN-09 (Jun 24) Todd Young $3,500
ND-00 (Jun 24) Richard Berg $3,500
OH-16 (Jun 24) James Renacci $3,500
PA-03 (Jun 24) Mike Kelly $3,500
PA-10 (Jun 24) Tom Marino $3,500
SC-01 (Jun 24) Tim Scott $5,000
SC-05 (Jun 24) Mick Mulvaney $3,500
VA-05 (Jun 24) Robert Hurt $3,500
WA-02 (Jun 24) John Koster $5,000
WA-05 (Jun 24) Cathy Rodgers $5,000
WV-01 (Jun 24) David McKinley $3,500
WV-03 (Jun 24) Spike Maynard $3,500

- JP

Post on Politics: Allen West collects $1.4M in Q2

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According to The Palm Beach Post, the Palin-endorsed campaign of Congressional candidate Allen West in FL-22 raised $1.4 million during the second quarter of 2010:

That tops the campaign’s previous best quarter, which was $838,000 during the first three months of the year.

The totals mean West has collected a total of $3.5 million for his campaign and has $2.2 million on hand.

A very interesting coincidence - Gov. Palin gave Col. West her endorsement on March 29. The second quarter of the calendar year began only three days later.

Just sayin'...

h/t: Jim Geraghty

- JP

What a difference a day makes

Sarah Palin's endorsement of Doug Hoffman has brought a flood of new money into a campaign which was already racking up some impressive donations -- $116,000 in one day, according to Ed Morrissey's source inside the campaign and confirmed by Stacy McCain, who is on the scene in New York. From Ed's post at Hot Air:

"If nothing else, this confirms the power that Palin has with the conservative base. She can raise money hand over fist, even with some considerable negatives with other constituencies. If Hoffman winds up winning this election, Palin will become a very popular woman in the 2010 campaign, especially in Blue Dog Democrat districts where conservatives have grown appalled by the direction of a Democratic Congress. Even if he doesn’t, this has been an impressive demonstration of influence and power."

Sarah Palin, by her words and deeds, continues to make fools and liars out of her harshest critics. 

- JP