Sarah Palin (R-AK) is a political powerhouse whose every word is devoured by both sides of the political spectrum and the national media. Her personal charisma and sheer will power allowed her to reenergize the 2008 Presidential Election as well as redefine an entire political movement. However her largest impact may have been on the ascendancy of women to prominent positions within the Republican Party. Palin and her Political Action Committee (SarahPac) have helpe fund and campaign for Republican women across the country, and helped to propel many, such as: Nikki Haley (R-SC), Christine O'Donnel (R-DE), Carly Fiorina (R-CA), and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) to victory in hotly contested primaries. In the two years since America asked 'Who is Sarah Palin', the role of the Republican woman has been reshaped and empowered to a new level.
The Palin Pack
The latest results show that of the 44 candidates currently endorsed by Sarah Palin, she has a primary season win loss record of 18 wins, 11 loses, 8 unopposed victories, and 6 candidates who were endorsed after their primary. This high success rate has created an entire group of Republican women who have been pushed to the forefront by Sarah Palin's powerful endorsements. This new system has placed Sarah as the 'Big Mama Grizzly' of the bunch with the others reaping the benefit of her name. A short list of Sarah Palin's Grizzly Pack is listed below.
Just a few years ago Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was a no name first year Congresswoman who was just getting her feet wet in D.C. politics. Now, two years after Sarah Palin helped introduce her to the nation, Bachmann is now sitting comfortably as the Lt. in all things conservative women. She has campaigned with Palin on multiple occasions, even holding massive rallies at her side. She has become a mainstay at conservative conventions across the nation and has also recently established her own political action committee. Her power as the Vice Sarah Palin has endeared her to the conservative movement but has made her many enemies on the other side of the aisle. In her own reelection bid she is leads her democratic challenger by a margin of 48% to 39% of the vote, partially thanks to an endorsement from Mrs. Palin.
Nikki Haley, the Republican Gubernatorial Candidate in South Carolina, went through a primary election nightmare. Starting as one of the lesser known candidates in the race, the ideological heir of embattled South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) found herself towards the middle of the pack until Sarah Palin worked her magic. Palin appeared with Haley at a rally in South Carolina, increasing her face time tenfold. Palin also taped a robocall endorsing Haley calling her a 'common sense conservative.' But nobody expected what happened next. A South Carolina blogger announced, via blog, that he had an extramarital affair with then State Senator Nikki Haley, followed by a similar announcement a week later by a former campaign adviser to one of her opponents. The media pushed the story hard but the lack of evidence and credibility in the story helped the impact to dissipate rather quickly. However the rollercoaster ride wasn't over yet. A fellow South Carolina State Senator, Jake Knotts, referred to her repeatedly throughout an interview as a 'raghead,' a comment on her Indian-American heritage. Yet Haley has prevailed through everything the Republican establishment has thrown at her, and with the help of Sarah Palin she is on course to win the governors mansion with 50% of the vote compared to her opponents 33%.
Sarah Palin went above and beyond the regular endorsement when welcoming former New Hampshire Attorney General into the Palin Pack. Announcing her endorsement of establishment candidate Ayotte via Facebook, Palin then continued to dub Kelly Ayotte 'The Granite Grizzly'. Ayotte went on to scrape a narrow victory in her primary (38.2 % to 37% with her closest challenger) and is now heading into a moderately difficult general election battle. The latest polls indicate that from August through September (the most recent poll was released September 24th) Ayotte has stood at an even 51% of the vote while her opponent Representative Paul Hodes (D-NH) has varied between 38-44%. As long as Ayotte keeps her nose clean and continues to connect with the voters, she should capture her Senate seat come November.
Perhaps no other candidate more clearly resembles Sarah Palin's tenacity and sheer will power better than Christine O'Donnel. The Republican Senate Nominee from Delaware pulled an upset victory over the establishment candidate, former Governor and Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE). Her victory came with mixed emotions, with Karl Rove and the political establishment calling her win unfortunate and signaled that the chances of retaking the Senate had no dimmed, while Republicans like Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Sarah Palin heralded her win as a triumph of the people and the Tea Party Movement. Now as the general election heats up, comedian Bill Maher is using dated videos of O'Donnell as leverage to try and get her on his show. She currently trails her Democratic opponent Chris Coons (D-DE) by about 15% in most polls, but if anyone other than Sarah Palin could pull this off, it would be Ms. O'Donnell. Christine O'Donnell is a politician not to be underestimated because every time she is counted out, she comes back swinging, much like a certain former Alaskan governor.
2010: The Year of the Republican Woman
Besides the Palin
The dawn of the emergence of a strong unit of elected Republican women is at hand and is being guided by two fantastic women, Sarah Palin and Jan Brewer. This voting bloc may very well be the necessary factor in reestablishing the Republican party as a big tent party and an integral part within the Republican coalition.
Later,
Cody
p.s. Something rather strange was pointed out to me. I will just show you all these two pictures and let you figure out what is so strange.
Creepy huh?(Photo Credit, in order of appearance: the Associated Press, Associated Press, Getty Images, Ayotte Office Portrait, Rob Carr/ the Associated Press, Getty Images, and Rob Carr/the Associated Press)
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