RSS Feed MenuYesterday, Sarah Palin complicated GOP efforts to target Democratic Senator Patty Murray in Washington. By endorsing outside candidate Clint Didier to be the GOP’s nominee in the senate race, Palin may have forced out Dino Rossi, the mainstream establishment candidate with the best odds of actually defeating Sen. Murray in a general election.
Palin endorsed Didier on her facebook page, calling him a “selfless, inspiring commonsense conservative” who would “help put our country on the right track.” With Palin’s endorsement of Didier however, former Washington state senator and two-time Washington gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi may face a contentious primary fight.
Rossi, who had not yet made a decision on entering the race, had been heavily courted. He met with both John Cornyn (Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee) and Michael Steele at the end of March.
Rossi also has statewide appeal and high recognition. In 2004, he lost the closest gubernatorial race in the history of the United States by only 133 votes to Democrat Christine Gregoire. (Rossi had actually been certified as governor before ultimately losing in a recount.) He subsequently ran for the same office in 2008 and again lost to Gregoire, this time by a margin of 53-47%.
Polling numbers suggest that if Rossi does not run, the GOP is not likely to take Patty Murray’s Senate seat. Rossi has polled far better than either Didier or the other candidate Don Benton. As of May 4th, Rasmussen shows Democratic incumbent Patty Murray leading Didier 51%-36% and leading Don Benton 52%-38%. Murray only leads Rossi 48%-46%, however.
Rossi was never likely to be a Tea Party favorite (today he is speaking at the Mainstream Republicans annual conference in Setac, where tomorrow’s events include a panel titled “Tea Party or the Republican Party? How Ross Perot Elected Bill Clinton”). Palin’s backing for another candidate makes the prospect that Rossi could win the support of tea party supporters in the primary even less likely.
In a year that has not been kind to establishment candidates, Mr. Rossi now must make a decision knowing that in order to win the GOP nomination, he will have to defeat a candidate supported by the same tea party machine that helped swing the Kentucky primary to Rand Paul and ended Bob Bennett’s renomination bid in Utah.
mpolito // May 21, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I would have preferred she endorsed Rossi, but, with all due respect, the NRSC has not done a great job lately…Specter and Crist come to mind.
TerryF98 // May 21, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Go for it Snowbilly Grifter. Go for the gold (cash) and fame. Go, go please go away.
Danny_K // May 21, 2010 at 7:18 pm
I don’t think Dino had much stomach for the race, even before this endorsement. He’s been refusing to get in or get out, and annoying other GOPers in Washington State, for a while now. I think Patty Murray will be hard to beat, though — she takes constituent service (and local business) seriously and has a been a strong advocate for Washington issues. That means a lot in a state full of environmentalists, Boeing workers, and military bases.
sparty // May 21, 2010 at 7:40 pm
All you need is “commonsense.” The world is just so simple!
gmckee1985 // May 21, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Good. Primary fights should be competitive and challenge the candidates.
AMurphy // May 21, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Palin- I am a Poujadist, hear me roar!!!
COProgressive // May 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Jeb wrote;
“Palin endorsed Didier on her facebook page,”
(Laughter……)
Facebook page? Oh come on now.
But I hope the former Halfgovernor continues to help split the Republican party. You go girl!
“Sarah Palin for president! We Don’t Think She’ll Quit This Time!”
TerryF98 // May 21, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Interesting to see that Palin’s boyfriend Rand Paul has followed the quitter by quitting on meet the press this weekend. Quitting seems to be a pre requisite for teabaggers.
bamboozer // May 22, 2010 at 8:49 am
As we say in Delaware: Ya’ gotta love it! Conservative, you wanted it, now you live with it. Or in this case, her.
athensboy // May 22, 2010 at 10:06 am
Why would a half-term governor have any say in what the gop does in Washington?Sarah just likes to be in the spotlight.A pretty face with an empty head.Run Sarah run
Mark Rosenthal // May 22, 2010 at 10:25 am
Ah, Sarah Palin, the gift that keeps giving.
I hope the GOP nominates her for President in 2012.
TEZZA // May 22, 2010 at 11:44 am
I am glad Sarah-Pay-in is endorsing “Clint Didier”. That will ensure his loss!! She may get alot of attention from the media, but any person with common sence knows she’s just the 21st century’s version of P.T. Barnum. She knows theres a sucker born every second now. I am from the state of Washington and I would love to see Patti Murray removed from politics forever. I don’t hold out much hope though, as this is the state that produced Glenn(Im a fully functional sociopath) Beck. It’s full of “Fundamental Republican Christians” who know whats best for us??? The Dem’s have created a Welfare State and have ruined this state. Come on Rep’s get it together, listen to Frum and retool for the 21st century . I am a registered Democrat…Peace
sinz54 // May 22, 2010 at 11:52 am
I’m sorry, but this is Dino Rossi’s fault, not Sarah Palin’s.
He keeps playing Hamlet (“To be, or not to be”), refusing to make a decision as to whether or not he will run. If he had announced his candidacy by now, he probably would have locked up the nomination. Washington State is a Blue State; even the Republicans there are mostly moderates.
But if he doesn’t decide to run, then he’s leaving the door open for a right-wing Tea Party candidate to seize the nomination by default.
JonF // May 22, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Re: the NRSC has not done a great job lately…Specter and Crist come to mind.
If Specter had been able to remain a Republican with asurances he would not face a well-funded challenger, do you think he would not have won reelection?
And Crist was a shoo-in for senator, in a race which he is still favored to win, but with less certain results for the GOP numbers in the Senate.
Remember, you are trying to win control of the House and Senate, and only the numbers of Republican elected, not their ideological purity, count for that goal .
Oldskool // May 22, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Palin can play the spoiler as well as Perot did and with less effort. No charts or long info-mercials, just folksy platitudes and lots of winking. She even represents the same constiuency. I betcha under every Tea Party bumper sticker is an old United We Stand.
SFTor1 // May 22, 2010 at 5:17 pm
How does Sarah Palin’s voiced opinions from the 2008 campaign match up with the Tea Party’s (if they have any that stand still long enough to be counted)?
Did she work to change McCain’s platform to make it more libertarian?
Did she reduce the size of government in Alaska?
Did she work to amend laws that the Tea Party may deem unconstitutional?
Questions, questions.
easton // May 22, 2010 at 7:42 pm
“All you need is “commonsense.” The world is just so simple!” Yes, I am waiting for the commonsense cure for Luekemia and a commonsense Nuclear fusion reactor. Is there nothing commonsense can’t do?
JonF, the Republicans could have stopped Health care reform dead in its tracks if the GOP didn’t drive Specter out (it might have still passed but via the reconciliation route but not in the form it is now). Specter, if he had stayed a Republican, would have had a better chance against Sestak (provided the Republicans had laid the hammer down on Toomey and Toomey had still not won the primary). Against Sestak I don’t imagine Toomey will win, he has a very difficult record to defend (he helped bring about the end of Glass Steagal) and has not much by way of biography in comparison to Sestak (overgrown Peter Pan versus 3 Star Admiral). Toomey also is not a hunter or an athlete.
And now in Washington Republicans might nominate another guy way out of sync with the residents. Just bizarre. Republicans have won with candidates like Brown, Christie, and McDonnell who ran pretty moderate campaigns. That is what you have to do in Blue states.
forkboy1965 // May 22, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Damn if she isn’t mavericky
anniemargret // May 23, 2010 at 8:15 am
Palin and now Rand Paul. The voices of ‘reason and logic’….. One, who calls herself a ‘Christian’ said the President of the US ‘pals around with terrorists’ and that healthcare reform will lead to seniors to ‘death panels,’ – the other (sorta kinda) says maybe the Civil Rights Act wasn’t such a great idea after all.
They’re both theater.
Bad for the GOP – (if they got any common sense and decency left that is)….and BAD for America.
andydp // May 23, 2010 at 6:20 pm
The GOP “gave birth” to this person. The GOP has not “briefed her” on how to do politics right. The GOP is afraid of its “base”. The GOP is afraid of mongering by the Ex DJ and Oxycontoin laced “entertainer leaders” of the GOP.
Watching the GOP die little by little is sad. Watching Gov Palin think she is the answer is sad. Watching the GOP heirarchy do nothing to counteract her statements is sad.
Knowing the GOP will be in for many more years in the wilderness as long as Gov Palin is allowed to roam unchecked is diheartening. Knowing the GOP heirarchy KNOWS she has to be stopped and won’t do anything is sadder still.
How the Tea Party Libertarians Will Destroy the GOP this November | The Pink Flamingo // May 24, 2010 at 8:17 am
[...] is the wisdom of this? “…Rossi was never likely to be a Tea Party favorite (today he is speaking at the Mainstream Republicans annual conference in Setac, [...]
LFC // May 24, 2010 at 1:22 pm
anniemargaret said… – the other (sorta kinda) says maybe the Civil Rights Act wasn’t such a great idea after all.
And don’t forget that like the “pals around with terrorists” comment, Rand Paul had to take a BS swipe at Obama with “What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.’ I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business.”
Dear Gulf Fisherman, Tourism Providers, Etc. Sorry, but we shouldn’t make BP pay for the cleanup. It would be un-American to do so, so you’ll simply have to pay with your livelihoods.
Diomedes // May 24, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Which basically solidifies the notion that the only thing Sarah Palin is actually interested in is: SARAH PALIN!
I’ll give her kudos though for staying in the public eye. And for milking the rubes out of $cash$ by spewing an incessant stream of drivel and banking it in the form of book and lecture appearances.