More

Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors

Why Isn't Sarah Palin Endorsing Alaska Gov. Parnell?

What's Your Reaction:

Wasilla political queen-maker Sarah Palin endorsed a candidate for governor last week, but it wasn't her old sidekick Sean Parnell, Alaska's governor.

Palin, who quit as Alaska's governor halfway through her first term to become a national political pundit and celebrity, reached south to bless Wyoming state auditor Rita Meyer's Republican primary bid for the governor's office in the Cowboy State. Palin called Meyer a "unique blend of steel magnolia and mama grizzly.''

The latter characterization might not have been exactly well-timed.

Two days earlier, a real "mama grizzly'' tore through a Montana campground only a few miles north of the Montana/Wyoming border and did what mama grizzlies do. It killed one person and injured two. The bear itself was later trapped and executed by authorities.

Palin, however, has been on a "mama grizzly" kick since unveiling a SarahPac video in late June urging "common-sense conservative women to rise up in a "mom awakening'' to declare "we have had enough already.''

She has since crisscrossed the country trying to form a coalition of mama and papa grizzlies. At last count she had declared more than a dozen Republicans members of the grizzly collective. Of her endorsements to date, most have been rock-solid conservatives, but a few not.

Some national observers have theorized Palin, the unsuccessful candidate for vice-president on the Republican ticket in 2008, is trying to build a national base of supporters who've won office with her help.

She appears to have been succeeding. So far, among her more than 30 endorsements, 10 won, five lost, and the rest are in elections yet to be resolved.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Friday he expects Palin to run for president in 2012. If she does, it won't hurt to have a bunch of allies who think their success is wholly or partially due to her charms.

Noticeably absent from Palin's endorsements, however, is Parnell, who took over in Alaska when Palin fled before a tidal wave of ethics complaints almost a year ago. Palin said the ethics complaints were all made up, and that she was leaving to avoid the fuss and cost of dealing with them. Most of the complaints have indeed been found baseless, but the state remains sharply divided in opinion on the ex-governor.

Read the rest of this story at AlaskaDispatch.com.

 

Follow AlaskaDispatch.com on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alaskadispatch

Wasilla political queen-maker Sarah Palin endorsed a candidate for governor last week, but it wasn't her old sidekick Sean Parnell, Alaska's governor. Palin, who quit as Alaska's governor halfway thr...
Wasilla political queen-maker Sarah Palin endorsed a candidate for governor last week, but it wasn't her old sidekick Sean Parnell, Alaska's governor. Palin, who quit as Alaska's governor halfway thr...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 38
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2  Next ›  Last »  (2 total)
10:34 PM on 08/02/2010
sarah palin who?
06:41 PM on 08/02/2010
Mama Grizzlies do not wear bumpits!
10:36 PM on 08/02/2010
Bumpit.com barbie ...

ha ha ha ha... I thought it was just Elvia, queen of the darkness, who wore bumpits and hair extensions ha ha hahh ah hhhaaaaa
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gayandmarried
08:20 AM on 08/02/2010
she didnt endorse parnell, because she doesnt know how to spell that for her now famous palm notes
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
Good Googli Moogli
I Pledge Allegiance to the Doobie-puff puff pass
08:18 AM on 08/02/2010
her not endorsing him is one of the best things that could happen to him
justobserve
Not left nor right or center. Just a free thinker!
07:58 AM on 08/02/2010
Palin can't bluff Alaskans, they know her best! No one there wants her endorsement.
SouthernYankeeBelle
Dream Big,Work Hard & don't let anyone tell you no
09:20 AM on 08/02/2010
She has a habit of endorsing people who seem to be out front already before she puts her foot in the race. Sometimes it helps and other time you see what happens. Not everyone is charmed by quitter grrrrizzzly momma.
07:38 AM on 08/02/2010
Is the content of this worth reporting? Worth a Palin headline again? Who is Sarah Palin, a faux celebrity among a small, but vocal group of people. What are her creds? She served half term of governor and managed to leave Parnell with the worst GDP of any of the 50 states. She's not a leader, she's a celebrity and a poor one at that. Anybody really care who Paris Hilton endorses?

Her unvetted pick as VP should have been recanted within the first week she was selected. She is not qualified to hold office, her mental health and grasp of issues is more than apparent. She lacks integrity, grit and lies about herself and her record daily. If I were Parnell, I'd be breathing a sigh of relief, but you never know when Ms Death Panel is going to strike again.
SouthernYankeeBelle
Dream Big,Work Hard & don't let anyone tell you no
09:21 AM on 08/02/2010
Oh Suz1941 you did it now. You called her a a a a "celebrity". The teapublicans are going to go nuts.
10:19 AM on 08/02/2010
"Faux and poor one at that" are the operative words. The Paris Hilton and/or Kate Gosselin of politics.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
kareemachan
watashi ha tororu ga oroka da to omoi masu。
07:35 AM on 08/02/2010
I remember Parnell when $arah gave her "non-go-with-the-flow" speech. He looked like a deer caught in your headlights - but then, $arah's "speeches" have that effect on many people..... ;-)
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
06:26 AM on 08/02/2010
Have any candidates she has endorsed actually won an election or did they mean primary?
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ashley Anderson Isadore
They can't be this stupid....
12:42 PM on 08/02/2010
Zero, Nada, Zilch... I think that most people know that if Sarah endorses you, then you get to watch your poll number go south...
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
iMissMollyIvins
Middle-aged, Middle class, Midwestern Populist
02:35 AM on 08/02/2010
Apparently Gov. Parnell can't afford The Queen of the Iquitarod Parade's endorsement fee.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
12:09 AM on 08/02/2010
the huffpost needs her...without sarah palin what would they talk about ?

Obama needs her too, if he runs against a serious candidate he will lose...
photo
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
brt929
01:41 AM on 08/02/2010
Right. Does the GOP have a "serious" candidate? Who? Mitt "Tax Evader" Romney? Or maybe the hypocritical Newt? Pawlenty is the best chance Rethugs have, but my money is still on Obama.
HSC55
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave
08:11 AM on 08/02/2010
Pawlenty! We Minnesotans are glad to be gettting rid of him. And by the way, McCain took a look at him and chose Palin instead. What does that tell you?
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
kareemachan
watashi ha tororu ga oroka da to omoi masu。
07:38 AM on 08/02/2010
Gee, considering that HP has 25 different sections with, I don't know, at least 20 different articles per section, your comment is not only wrong but sounds pretty assinine, chuckles.
photo
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
ObamaYouBetcha
Never runs with scissors.
10:09 PM on 08/01/2010
Palin endorsed Lisa Murkowski's opponent, and he's running WAY behind Lisa. Maybe Parnell asked Palin to spare him the kiss of death, aka her endorsement.
photo
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
brt929
01:44 AM on 08/02/2010
I think they had a falling out. After all, Parnell wasn't Parnell Palin's running mate? It seems very strange to abandon him now.
SouthernYankeeBelle
Dream Big,Work Hard & don't let anyone tell you no
09:29 AM on 08/02/2010
I hope the people in AK vote him out too. A cleaning out of the Palin stinch that is left over.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Randolph Evans
12:27 PM on 08/02/2010
Lmao. You betcha and also too
photo
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
siamao
09:50 PM on 08/01/2010
I suspect that Palin has a big grudge against Alaska because the majority of the citizens
no longer genuflect in her presence. She's an all or nothing gal; black or white; no in
the middle with this Queen of Mean. If she gets it in for an entire State--even if it's her
home state--that includes all the citizens and officials. Sarah doesn't see the gray area,
can't do it, isn't capable, wouldn't be prudent!
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Susanmg
09:46 PM on 08/01/2010
I hardly think that the charges were "baseless." Just because the three member, appointed by the Governor, Republican Alaska Ethics Board found her almost innocent does not make it so. They did actually find problems with her Legal Defense Fund setup, and also with another charge, but to Palin, it's all Obama driven trashtalk and means nothing. Never mind that she has spent the past two years accusing him of all kinds of crap, and the only time he has even mentioned her was to note her lack of qualification regarding nuclear weapons, which she can't even pronounce. I think she's amd because the popular boy ignores her.
SouthernYankeeBelle
Dream Big,Work Hard & don't let anyone tell you no
09:34 AM on 08/02/2010
The myth that Palin is getting a beating by the democrats is nothing but lies. All the problems in her state has been with her own party. She is nothing but a liar.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ButchManowski
Life's Been Good To Me.
08:52 PM on 08/01/2010
"Why Isn't Sarah Paylin Endorsing Alaska Gov. Parnell?"

Because, so far, there hasn't been enough financial reward offered to her?
Just a guess...
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
dancingstu
Christian, liberal lawyer
08:46 PM on 08/01/2010
Why should she endorse him? He hasn't pardoned her yet.