JANUARY 20, 2016
Christmas came 11 1/2 months early in Iowa on Tuesday.
Former reality-show star Sarah Palin endorsed her fellow former-reality show star Donald Trump at a campaign event in Ames, Iowa. Palin’s endorsement had been much-rumored about the past few days and capped off a particularly good day for Trump and a particularly disappointing day for his main rival Ted Cruz.
Trump began his day at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum, where the late actor’s daughter Aissa gave him an enthusiastic endorsement saying that Trump shares some of the same kind of courage that her father had, and if John Wayne were alive, he’d be endorsing Trump today. The event prompted an awkward photo op as an oversized figure of The Duke hovered over Trump throughout his remarks, as he nonetheless welcomed the endorsement.
Later in the day, other members of the Wayne family tried to walk Aissa’s remarks back, saying that no one can speak for John Wayne. Still, Trump got his photo op.
Then Hurricane Sarah arrived for the endorsement rally later that day. There were some of the usual Palin catch phrases as “you betcha” and “goin’ rogue,” plus some new ones, such as urging our troops to go “kick ISIS’ ass!” But Palin was either a bit rusty or wasn’t totally familiar with her speech, as she had to look down regularly at her notes. As lacking as the stagecraft sometimes was, the endorsement was the important matter and couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for time for Trump.
As Cruz recently appeared to take over the lead in Iowa polls, Trump began to go on the attack, a move that brought down the hammer over the past week from conservative radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, who began to question whether Trump was a real conservative. Cruz himself began to take up the chant, and media reports in GOP circles from the ground in Iowa suggested that the charge was beginning to stick against Trump.
So to have Sarah Palin swoop in and assure the good people of Iowa that Donald Trump is the true conservative in the GOP race is a lifeline for the billionaire, as she added, “Oh my goodness gracious, what the heck would the Establishment know about conservatism?”
Many political commentators interpreted “Establishment” as a reference to Ted Cruz, which must have pained the Texas Senator. In 2012, Cruz was running an outsider’s primary campaign for the U.S. Senate against the state’s Lieutenant Governor, and Palin backed Cruz, stumping for him vigorously in the state. Cruz went on to unexpectedly win the GOP primary and the November election, and many times in speeches, he credits Sarah Palin’s backing as to why he’s in the U.S. Senate today.
To make matters worse for Cruz, Iowa’s governor Terry Branstad, the longest-serving governor in the country and the most influential figure in Iowa GOP politics, stated that, while he was not endorsing a candidate, he specifically asked the state’s voters not to caucus for Cruz. It seems that Cruz opposes federal mandates for ethanol, the corn-based fuel that is a particularly important industry in Iowa. All politics is indeed local.
What’s in all this for Sarah Palin? Two words: television cameras. Have you seen Palin on TV at all the last year or so? I didn’t think so, but once you get the bug, you never lose it. If she endorsed, let’s say, John Kasich, would she get the live daily coverage she so loves? So Palin will be closely sticking to Trump’s side as she campaigns with him over the next few days. And I’ll bet you’ll see her all over TV.
This morning she was advertised as joining Trump at an Oklahoma rally, but she was a no-show. There was some media speculation that she may have flown back to Alaska to be by the side of her son Track, who was arrested on Monday in the Palin home for allegedly punching his girlfriend and threatening her with an AR-15 rifle while drunk. Surprise! She didn’t. No, she tweeted that she will be right back in front of the cameras in time for Trump’s second rally of the day for another round of “drill, baby, drill.”
There was actually one statement that Palin made yesterday with which I fully agree.
“This is gonna be so much fun!” she gushed.
Oh, Governor Palin. You have no idea.
