Palin to endorse Steele?
(AP Photo/John Raoux)
Is Sarah Palin the secret weapon in Republican National Chairman Michael Steele's re-election campaign?
Some members of the Republican National Committee think so. They expect her to bestow her backing on the former Maryland lieutenant governor's bid for a second term as party chair.
The duo appeared together on Steele's recent coast-to-coast "Fire Pelosi" bus tour. And Steele came to Palin's defense on national television this week, telling critics of the former Alaska governor to "shut up."
Palin's endorsement would be a valuable asset in the coming chairmanship fight and could help counter those who say Steele is the wrong person to head the party going into the 2012 presidential cycle.
Steele has not publicly announced his candidacy, but he's campaigning hard for another two-year term. According to RNC insiders, he's already lined up half the votes he needs.
If Mama Grizzly embraces Steele as her kind of outside-the-Beltway, anti-establishment Republican, the anti-Steele forces are likely to portray it as payback for generous financial help Palin got from the RNC earlier this year.
Some $250,000 from the party treasury was used to pay her legal bills dating from the 2008 campaign. The story got relatively little attention but a Palin endorsement in the chairman's race could give it wider currency.
RNC spokesman Doug Heye has been quoted as saying that Steele and Palin have a "great working relationship." If she runs for president, could it hurt to have the top guy at national party headquarters watching out for her interests?
Comments
If she runs for president, could it hurt to have the top guy at national party headquarters watching out for her interests?
This assumes that Steele will still be there a year or two from now.
Posted by: Dahlink | November 5, 2010 6:35 AM
Early in 2009 Palin appeared in Evansville with Steele. He introduced her. She said she supported him then. I haven't seen anything to indicate that that has changed, but we'll see.
Posted by: Uffda | November 5, 2010 7:55 AM
Dumb and dumber together at last!! If this loser runs for President in 2012, he'll be her running mate. This is the Peter Principle to the highest (or lowest) power.
What has this country come to?? Those who support these two ego maniacs better stop and think about this long and hard. The Republican Party has their work cut out for them. God help us.
Posted by: bellefontegirl47 | November 5, 2010 9:57 AM
Some $250,000 from the party treasury was used to pay her legal bills dating from the 2008 campaign. The story got relatively little attention but a Palin endorsement in the chairman's race could give it wider currency
Trying to create news aren't you> well reported. So anybody the RNC has given money to and they endorse Steele will you say the same thing. You guys are hillarious
Posted by: Lee | November 5, 2010 11:01 AM
Now that Palin has made millions from the sale of her books, will she pay back the $250K to the RNC? I doubt it.
Posted by: Lubecker | November 5, 2010 1:34 PM
This is just too good. Watching the Liberal & elite repubs heads exploding at the mention of Palin's name. Please Sarah, run, and do America a service by booting these fat ass elistists out of Washington!!
Posted by: Jack | November 7, 2010 8:38 PM
This is wonderful....
Hey Sarah!...your fifteen minutes are up.
and to put the final nail in your political coffin, You picked this guy!
Could this get any more ridiculous?
Posted by: Ray Barcia | November 8, 2010 5:32 PM
This phrase "her 15 minutes are up" is already getting redundant perhaps commented by the same persons working as operatives for Palin's opponents for the upcoming 2012 POTUS elections. I am not a big Palin fan but with results on the congressional seats, just read my lips...she will become the next POTUS. Sarah Palin and SHE WILL STAY in POLITICS FOR NEXT EIGHT YEARS!!! ;-P
Posted by: Raymond | November 9, 2010 1:00 AM
Raymond,
If Palin endorsed candidates fared any better than those she did not, you'd be on to something. Sharon Angle rode her Sarah Palin endorsement off into the Nevada desert. Joe Miller might have lost in her home state. It should say a lot that no one there believes in her word. For the most part, she put her name to candidates who were going to win anyway. Anywhere that she put her name to an underdog, her candidate had to ask her for pointers on how she delivered her 2008 concession speech.
Correlation is different than cause and effect. Keep in mind, she'd have to take a monster pay cut to be POTUS. So she may stay in politics, but only for the appearance fee and Fox News payday.
Posted by: James C | November 9, 2010 3:25 PM