Sarah Palin endorses primary challenger to Walter Jones

[jct74]

Sarah Palin Endorses Challenger to Anti-War Republican Congressman

By David Weigel
APRIL 29 2014 8:34 AM

DURHAM, N.C.—One of this year's few endangered Republican incumbents is not a "moderate," or an establishment figure, or a lover of TARP. He's Rep. Walter Jones, a 10-term congressman who turned hard against the Iraq war in 2003 and became a reliable vote against foreign aid, war funding, and basically any deficit spending. He allied with Ron Paul's growing movement, becoming a familiar speaker to Paul-aligned groups like Young Americans for Liberty and allying with the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. But Jones' regular votes against Republican budgets got him booted from committee assigments before the start of the current Congress, which was condemned at the time by Sen. Rand Paul.

This year, though not for the first time, more hawkish conservative donors are trying to oust Jones in a primary. Yesterday, as early voting got underway, they were joined by Sarah Palin, who's living through her umpteenth cycle of stories about whether her influence is spent. (Endorsing a couple of Tea Party challengers who got little help from other national groups did not help her batting average this year.)

"In Washington, we need you to stay true to your beliefs of smaller government, protecting life and furthering conservative principles," wrote Palin in a message to Jones' main challenger, Taylor Griffin. "America needs fighters in Congress -- go to DC remembering the good patriots of Eastern North Carolina who put their trust in you to fight for them."

Palin was amplifying the message that Griffin and some local Tea Parties have homed in on, that by constantly voting against GOP leadership Jones is functionally voting with Democrats.

From the official statement:

New Bern, North Carolina — Taylor Griffin’s congressional campaign got a big endorsement today from an old friend. Former Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her husband Todd Palin endorsed Griffin’s run for the Republican nomination in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District. Griffin worked with Gov. Palin and Todd in 2008 during Palin’s Vice Presidential campaign.

“I am incredibly honored to receive the endorsement of Governor Sarah and Todd Palin. I consider Governor Palin to be the epitome of a principled conservative and her endorsement reinforces my message that I will give Eastern North Carolina the conservative representation we deserve.” Griffin said after receiving the news of the endorsement.

Griffin also added the endorsement carries with it a great responsibility. “When a local veteran or commercial fisherman tell me I have their support, I feel the responsibility to represent them in a manner fitting their trust. I feel the same way about the endorsement of Governor Palin and Todd I can assure them and the people of Eastern North Carolina that my conservative principles will not waiver after I get to Washington.”

Griffin wrote Governor Palin and Todd requesting their support for his candidacy:

“I chose to launch my campaign last year because in my time in politics and government I have watched our country, and at times my own party, veer so far off course from the fundamental constitutional values and free market ideals that made our country great. My time working with you and your family in Alaska was one of the most important experiences of my life. Like Alaskans, Eastern North Carolinians believe that the solution to our nations problems lie in its people rather than in ever expanding edicts from Washington."

Palin responded yesterday with the following note:

“Taylor - Thank you for your note and for putting your name on the line to help restore our country. Todd and I are happy to honor your request and support your candidacy. In Washington, we need you to stay true to your beliefs of smaller government, protecting life and furthering conservative principles. America needs fighters in Congress - go to DC remembering the good patriots of Eastern North Carolina who put their trust in you to fight for them. You have our support - we have directed SarahPAC to make a financial contribution to your campaign today. Thank you for your patriotism and commitment to our cause! - Sarah Palin”​

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2...enger_to_anti_war_republican_congressman.html

 

[Warlord]

Palin is moronic

 

[kathy88]

I wish she'd shut her mouth.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Well, I've never been one who supports Palin for office, but I've been willing to grant her a pass all these years.

Pass revoked.

 

[William Tell]

Well, I've never been one who supports Palin for office, but I've been willing to grant her a pass all these years.

Pass revoked.

Same here.

 

[cajuncocoa]

But....but.....but....she's such a gosh durned friend of the liberty movement....why, she's coming around....she's one of us!!

 

[donnay]

I wish she'd shut her mouth.

I second that notion. It's bad enough she is an imbecile...then she opens her mouth and proves us right.

 

[specsaregood]

Well, I've never been one who supports Palin for office, but I've been willing to grant her a pass all these years.
Pass revoked.

Indeed, same here. Her star has faded; guess she went back to the well for neocon support.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Indeed, same here. Her star has faded; guess she went back to the well for neocon support.

It also turns out that Griffin was the establishment mentor sent to help Palin during the 2008 campaign...

SARAH PALIN ENDORSES TAYLOR GRIFFIN – As a Republican operative in 2008, Taylor Griffin helped former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin transition into a national political figure. Now, she is trying to help Griffin get back to Washington as a congressman.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/29/3820228/morning-memo-us-chamber-ads-part.html

 

[Hyperion]

What a joke. Jones is a fantastic representative.

 

[devil21]

IIRC, Palin's endorsement track record isn't very good at all. Rand being one of the notable exceptions.

 

[RandallFan]

Hopefully more Walter Jones supporters turn out and vote for Brannon as well. Almost all NC Republicans have an anti-amnesty challenger. Jones opponent is pro-amnesty.

 

[anaconda]

Same here.

Same here. Stick a fork in her. She can go do lunch with Glenn Beck. This reminds me of the time Michele Bachmann voted to extend the Partiot Act. No second chances for Bachmann after that. Nor this time for Palin.

 

[anaconda]

Does anyone know if Rand so much as lifted a finger to help Walter Jones? I haven't seen any evidence of it.

 

[cajuncocoa]

I always found it amazing that some here ever thought she was on our side.

 

[LibertyEagle]

But....but.....but....she's such a gosh durned friend of the liberty movement....why, she's coming around....she's one of us!!

Yeah, it's easier if you just hate everyone from the outset, eh, Cajun.

 

[cajuncocoa]

Yeah, it's easier if you just hate everyone from the outset, eh, Cajun.

There you go again, always equating disagreement with hatred.

Where Mrs. Palin is concerned, it didn't take 8 years for me to figure her out. It probably wasn't right from the outset, but it didn't take long for me to tell that she and I didn't have a lot in common, politically.

 

[Anti-Neocon]

Sarah Palin only cares about Sarah Palin and staying in the spotlight.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Antle's take...

In 2010, Sarah Palin endorsed Rand Paul for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Most other reliable Republican hawks — Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani, Rick Santorum — endorsed his primary opponent.

Three years later, when Chris Christie criticized Paul’s stand on warrantless surveillance, Palin endorsed him again. “I’m on Team Rand,” she said. “Rand Paul understands, he gets the whole notion of ‘Don’t tread on me, government,’ whereas Chris Christie is for big government and, you know, trying to go along to get along in so many respects.”

In a North Carolina congressional primary, however, Sarah Palin is on the side of the hawks. Palin endorsed Taylor Griffin, a former George W. Bush aide running against Walter Jones, a 10-term incumbent who has emerged as one of the strongest anti-war Republicans in Congress.
...
More interesting is how someone can move seamlessly from Team Rand to Team Bush depending on the circumstances. Palin is representative of large swathes of the Republican base.
...
George W. Bush ran for president promising a “humble foreign policy” and talking about exit strategies, not nation-building. The 9/11 terrorist attacks changed all that, and the party changed with Bush.

Nearly everyone favored hitting the Taliban and going after Osama bin Laden in retaliation against the murder of our countrymen. But an overwhelming majority of Republicans signed up for nation-building too. Only seven Republicans in both houses of Congress voted against the Iraq war. Only three of them were conservatives.

Palin may or may not have supported Pat Buchanan in the 1990s. She supported all of the above during the Bush administration. In 2008, she described Ron Paul as “cool.”

The GOP has followed a similar course. Even since Barack Obama has been president, we have seen Republicans vote with Dennis Kucinich against war in Libya and actually stop war with Syria. Then some of those same Republicans have rapped Obama for being too dovish with Russia and Iran.

The New York Times‘ Ross Douthat has observed, “the Republican base doesn’t really have a detailed set of foreign policy positions.”

“What it has, instead,” he continues, “is the cluster of sympathies and instincts (pro-Israel, pro-military, nationalist rather than globalist, fretful about radical Islam, skeptical of international institutions) that Walter Russell Mead has famously dubbed ‘Jacksonianism,’ which can incline G.O.P. voters for or against different policy choices depending on how those options are presented.”
...
http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/30/the-sarah-palin-primary/

I might paraphrase that as saying that Palin is like the average voter who doesn't have a strict set of principles. It's more like a Team Red vs. Team Blue, "where do we stand on this issue today people?" process.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

It also turns out that Griffin was the establishment mentor sent to help Palin during the 2008 campaign...

After thinking about this, I am more of the opinion that this was a personal favor, rather than true opposition to Jones. But that is the net effect, so I'm still not happy about it. She waited a long time, so maybe she was conflicted, and only a personal appeal from Griffin got her to do it?

Has Palin endorsed any other GOP candidates running against GOP incumbents?