Posted on 07/21/2010 3:47:17 PM PDT by neverdem
Sarah Palin got some push-back Wednesday, but not from one of her liberal critics in the "mainstream" media. No, it was a conservative -- and influential -- New Hampshire newspaper that tartly dismissed the former Alaska governor's recent endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte.
In a front-page editorial, New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid wrote that Palin's endorsement should "neither surprise nor upset the other campaigns" since voters in the state are "rarely impressed by what outsiders have to say."
Better pay attention: in a state that traditionally hosts the first presidential primary -- and will again in 2012 -- the Manchester newspaper wields considerable clout, particularly among Republican voters.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, "isn't making these endorsements because, as she claims, she had spent time in New Hampshire and thus knows that the people here are a lot like Alaskans. She spent a few hours here one day during the 2008 presidential election. That's still more time than she spent getting to know Ayotte, but it takes quite a lot longer to know New Hampshire," McQuaid said in the editorial. The publisher called Ayotte a formidable, legitimate contender in a four-person race for the GOP Senate nomination. But he advised other candidates: "Don't fret over what a 'Mama Grizzly' from Alaska does. Right now, Granite Staters have more to worry about in keeping bears away from bird feeders."
In a Facebook posting, Palin praised Ayotte as a "Mama Grizzly" and said she was the "strongest common-sense conservative who can win in the fall."
Ayotte, the former New Hampshire attorney general, is well financed and the front-runner in polls heading into the Sept. 14 Republican Senate primary. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) is the likely Democratic nominee in a contest to succeed Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-N.H.), who chose not to seek a fourth term.
I’ve been a reader of FreeRepublic for years, but this is the first time I have ever posted anything. I feel what I have to say is that important. Many, many voters of Tn. 08 hope to goodness that Sarah does not endorse the congressional candidate the NRCC has chosen to support and fund. His name is Stephen Fincher. He voted in a democratic primary as late as May ‘10. His voting record shows he has an 80% record of voting democrat. The NRCC did not do their homework on this guy it turns out. He also has taken over 3 million in farm subsidies over the years. He has the backing of all the farmers around here. He looked good on paper, but now I’m sure they wish they had not chosen him. It’s too late now, and they are still going to try to push him through to save face. I don’t know how Sarah picks them, but I sure hope she does her homework.
Okay, that's your opinion.
I think it needs to be repeated over and over again until at least 51% of the country understands that conservatism IS common sense.
We will simply apply to government the common sense we all use in our daily lives.
-- Ronald Reagan, GOP convention acceptance speech, July 17, 1980
I agree. I’d also add that the term ‘common sense’ completely separates herself from the inside the beltway, establishment GOP- who haven’t been common sense for a few decades. I proudly call myself a common sense conservative, mainly because there are too few people today who apply common sense to anything, let alone politics.
That isn’t going to happen because most people have no idea what that is. Articulating how it would apply to policy and values puts a face on the slogan.
You see, HopemChange was whatever anyone wanted it to be. Obama created the situation he is in now. Yes, He WON, but he also mislead people to get there.
I don’t think too many intelligent voters are into slogans at this point in time.
Maybe in a year or so.
Intelligent voters know that elections are won by winning the voters that don't pay real attention, using a phrase like "common sense" is for them, surely you as an "intelligent voter" can handle hearing it.
Amnesty was in 1986. Otherwise, your point is well taken.
Bingo. We had PLENTY of social conservatism with Bush, but not dime's worth of fiscal conservatism. What was the result? We alienated the educated and affluent Republican voters. And, what was the practical implication? We only have 40-seats in the Senate, lost the House and the Presidency.
If the Republican party doesn't get back to its fiscally conservatives roots, it's doomed. They'll be able to carry a few Southern states with the people who vote exclusively on cultural issues. That's it.
People (the fiscal conservatives and social moderates) voted for Obama because he campaigned like a fiscal conservative. Sure, he was lying and people are on to him now, but that how he campaigned. So, he won.
The people that have to be told that will vote for Obozo. The truth is that the GOP to be successful has to be careful that when they promise something, they will deliver. It will not be skittles and rainbows to undo the extreme damage Obama has done. Somehow they will need to inform people of the damage with specifics and prepare them for the difficult task of getting the country healthy again.
If they fail, it will be their last chance for a long time to come. The outcome in 2012 will depend heavily on what happens if the GOP wins one or both houses in 2010.
I will worry about 2012 sometime next year. By then people will start to really feel the pain Obozo and the dems have strapped them with.
As a former NH resident, I believe it lost its status way before 2000.
I think Palin’s use of “common-sense” as a modifier for “conservative” is well-taken.
We live in a world where for many people, the endless drumbeat of liberal “journalism” has persuaded them that “conservative” = “scares the children.”
There is a whole cohort of idiot moderate voters who need to persuade themselves to vote for a conservative; as long as there is no compromise of principles (as “compassionate conservative” definitely was), then “common sense conservative” suite me fine.
Sadly, that's probably true. But, I'm not sure any campaign slogan is going to appeal to these uninformed, uneducated and mostly disinterested voters. These are the people with whom the MSM still has sway. What is more important than a candidate's rhetoric (with these voters), is how they're portrayed on Saturday Night Live and other pop-culture outlets.
This is why Republicans have an uphill battle. People are idiots.
Indeed she does. She may rub some the wrong way at times but her independent, yet altruistic, streak is what draws one to admire her.
To any on the Right Mrs P has angered: If you want a candidate to be a carbon copy of yourself, then why don't you seek elected office and cease with the fecking whinging.
It’s too bad - because I would love to see ANYONE keep Hodes from winning ANYTHING! However, as Attorney General in NH, Kelly Ayotte chose which laws to enforce and ignored other infractions of written law while stating the argument she was under-staffed and too busy chasing drug dealers and child molesters...even when she was handed unequivocal proof of misdemeanors and felonies being committed, probably because they were white collar crimes.
So if they can pick and choose which laws to enforce, can we pick and choose which laws to obey?
Well thank you. I feel like I’ve been here for years, just didn’t post. I felt the need to vent tonight.
That is ignorant, and naive, and the media loves a vacuum, it is good that Palin uses that phrase, people hear "common sense, and they identify with it.
I'm not aware of any politician in America that is being so effective in speaking to the public and firing them up as Palin is, and surely no other conservatives.
I was hoping you’d see the post, Al. I knew you would come up with the quote which shows it was Reagan who coined, or at least popularized, the term commonsense conservative. That was the characteristic that drew me to him in the first place.
So, who is Kelly Ayotte up against in the primary? Is there anyone better?
To 8 - It may very well mean nothing to you, I’ll, but it just might resonate in the minds of some who are not yet sold on Mrs Palin.
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