Sarah Palin’s political strength fails another test in Kansas primary

[Capitalocracy]

Examiner.com

2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s political clout has failed another test in the Kansas Republican primary for Sam Brownback’s U.S. Senate seat. Attempting to wear two hats as the flag-bearer for both the Republican Party and the Tea Party, Sarah Palin’s endorsement may be more of a burden than a medal of honor.

Representative Todd Tiahrt lost the Republican candidacy for the U.S. Senate to Representative Jerry Moran on August 4, on the heels of media scrutiny of Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Sharron Angle, currently a leader in the conservative chicken race and believed by many to be headed for a brick wall, and an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which makes it look like a Sarah Palin endorsement is toxic among the general electorate.

This poll famously cited 25% of respondents saying they would be more enthusiastic about a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin, where 52% said they would be less enthusiastic about a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin. Comparatively, Barack Obama’s endorsement was viewed favorably by 36% and unfavorably by 43%. This indicates how polarizing Sarah Palin is, more so even than the President of the United States who is being universally denounced on the other side of the aisle as an undercover Communist here to destroy the American Dream. And this poll put the former conventional wisdom, that Sarah Palin was a conservative powerhouse riding a wave of voter anger towards the incumbent establishment, into question.

This may not be exclusively negative for Sarah Palin and the Republican Party. There can be power in polarization. It energizes the base and makes sure they’ll show up at the polls. Sarah Palin may still be the conservative golden girl the Republicans want on their side, and Todd Tiahrt may have lost on his own. It was a close, hard-fought race between two neary identical candidates, and Moran had a clear advantage in funding.

But Sarah Palin and the Tea Party could fizzle in the end. After all, the Democrats have delivered so much Republican policy that they can hardly be called extremists, and fear of extreme right-wing figures like Palin could cure Democratic voters of their lack of enthusiasm after two years of disappointing legislation.

In New Hampshire, an endorsement for Republican Senate primary candidate Kelly Ayotte was immediately followed by a jump in support from 8 points ahead to 21 points ahead for Democratic candidate Paul Hodes among independent voters, but he’s still trailing among the general electorate with plenty of undecided voters. And if it comes down to the undecided voters, it appears that an endorsement from Sarah Palin isn’t likely to change their minds. It didn’t work in Kansas.

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This is my first post for examiner.com as their Topeka Political Buzz reporter. What do you guys think?

[Itchinjim]

1. KNR

Congrats on your new gig!

[Capitalocracy]

2. Hey, thanks!

Unlikely to pay out much, but maybe it's a start. :fistbump:

[aquart]

3. Tee hee.

Analysis seems solid to me.

[Capitalocracy]

11. Thanks nt

:hi:

[bluestateguy]

4. Another failed Palin primary

I'm telling you, there are a good 15-20% of Republicans whose votes would be in play in a general election if she got the nomination in 2012. She is not universally beloved in that party.

[Capitalocracy]

12. I hope you're right

party loyalty will cure a lot of them of their fear of Palin, I think, but there may well be defection in the face of sheer stupidity, incompetence, and insanity.

[Bitwit1234]

5. Well we got it folks...let her endorse all the republicans running

in November and see them all fall down. But I bet they run from her in November and don't want her near them. All except crazy eyes Bachmann she thinks she is invincible. If she didn't have that gerrymandered district 6 in Minnesota she would never have ever won any election. But I have said before this is the last one IF she wins it. Because they are redrawing her district. Minnesota is losing one district and they have picked to combine part of her district with a Democratic one. The guy running in that district is a very strong contender. He has 24 years under his belt.

[Capitalocracy]

14. What I'm afraid of...

the Democrats will probably lose some seats, maybe quite a few, maybe not very many at all, but seats will change hands on both sides and Dems are not unlikely to lose one or two or three. And when that happens, guess what they'll do? Sweeping, crushing Republican victory in Congress! Is the tide turning in 2012?! Incumbents look out! blah blah blah...

Because the narrative is independent of reality.

[livetohike]

6. Congratulations and good job on the article

:thumbsup: It will be fun watching the over exposed Sarah Palin out there desperately making endorsements of candidates who are doomed.

[Capitalocracy]

19. Thanks, yeah it will be interesting

to see what happens.:popcorn:

[d_r]

7. well done!

Wish you could have sneaked in a "get a brain, moran" joke.

[Capitalocracy]

20. haha yeah... trying to keep it civil on that one

but "sarah palin is fucking crazy" I think is implied. I'm particularly proud of the "conservative chicken race" part.

[bherrera]

8. Very good reporting

Very professional. I find many US publications to lack hard facts. your article on the other hand is full of the right amount of data.

[KharmaTrain]

9. The 2012 GOOP Primary Will Be Entertaining...

Mooselini gets a lot of PR and generates as well and this distorts her true standing within her corrupt party. I have rarely seen a poll where she draws more than 20% in a popularity contest with other '12 aspirants. She's truly the squeeky wheel that gets the grease, but she also alienates as well.

While she's out playing "Mama Grizley" Mittens is working the inside game, Hucklenutz is solidifying his base and there are several others (including her buddy Newt) who are moving ahead with 2012 while it appears Bible Spice has done very little party building. She's more of a freak show that "political force"...and the polls overwhelmingly show her negatives grow the more the light is shone on her.

Seems the corporate media hasn't gotten the message yet...she's a major reason McCain lost in '08 and is a joke to a vast majority of the electorate.

[Arkana]

16. I would argue that in a campaign the massive amount of media attention she gets

would be a GOOD thing in some ways.

Joe Biden, during election '08, was doing local events that got covered on network news so millions more people saw them while Fox, CNN, and MSNBC were wanking themselves unconscious over Palin's "STAR POWER".

[Canuckistanian]

10. Good writing, good analysis

Good job :thumbsup:

K&R

[mikeytherat]

13. Wow. And here I thought 'ol G.W. Bush had a lock on the title of "Antimatter Midas."

Where everything he touches turns to sh*t. But now it appears Caribou Barbie is gunning for the title.

Ready. Aim at feet. Fire!

mikey_the_rat

[Capitalocracy]

18. I guess it's a symptom of an ideology based on BS

If you go to far, it becomes too obvious that you're a wackjob. If you try to appeal to reason, your argument falls apart under the most basic logic.

[Arkana]

15. Seems to me that the Palin brand is as toxic as ever.

Sarah has no chance in 2012--especially now that Bristol and Levi are splitsville once again.

[MajorChode]

17. It's just another example that Palin is more of a book seller than a politician

If Palin actually had any political sense, she would have aligned herself with the mainstream of the Republican party. Instead she picked the fringes. The fringes are great if you want to sell books because fringe nuts love to buy books which support their warped views. However, as far as political futures go, there simply is none. You might get elected as a US Representative. If you pick the right state, you may even make it as a Senator, but you can forget about any presidential aspirations.

By either stupidity or by design, Palin aligned herself with the fringes which makes her politically irrelevant.