Fallout From Sarah Palin’s Kentucky Senate Endorsement of Rand Paul

Posted on | February 8, 2010 | 78 Comments

For several weeks, I’ve been in communication with Lisa Graas, a Kentucky conservative who operated the PalinTwibe feed on Twitter, with nearly 4,000 followers. Lisa is a Sarah Palin supporter who also supports Bill Johnson in Kentucky’s GOP Senate primary, and was extremely disappointed by Palin’s endorsement of Rand Paul in that primary. Now Lisa has announced she’s pulling out of PalinTwibe:

I have decided to ask Adam Loving, Twibes creator, to allow Karen Allen to refound the Palin Twibe. He has graciously agreed to make sure it happens. Karen will also take over the Palin Twibe blog and associated Twitter account and I will be training her how to manage the feeds and the Twibe itself.
It is not my intention to undermine Sarah Palin in an unfair manner as others have done when they have withdrawn support, though I will not be silent regarding my differences of opinion with her. Be warned. Like Sarah Palin, I won’t pull any punches.

Read rest of that. Having blogged about the bitterness of the Kentucky Senate primary, I was surprised that Palin made an endorsement in that race. She defended the endorsement in her interview with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” :

WALLACE: You recently stirred up some controversy as you often do, even when you endorsed Rand Paul as the Senate, he’s running in the Senate primary in Kentucky the GOP Senate primary. And Bill Kristol, your long-time supporter was upset with you because one of the things he pointed out, Paul wants to close Guantanamo. He wants to send the detainees back to Afghanistan. He wants to repeal the Patriot Act. He wants to do away with any federal role in either gay marriage or drug laws, leave it to the states. Why would you support a guy like that?
PALIN: Because he’s a federalist and he wants the states to have more say and as we respect the 10th Amendment in our Constitution, he wants the states to have more say in a lot of these issues. But nobody is ever going to find a perfect candidate. There are things that I don’t agree with Rand Paul, and yet his domestic policies for the most part, I do agree with. He wants limited government. He wants the Feds to start taking their hands off states issues and I respect that and I’m proud to support him. Again, never finding a perfect candidate, no doubt he disagrees with me on a whole lot of issues. But proud to support him and others whom I can believe in.

In a Ron Paul Forum thread about this, someone posted a video in which Palin says Ron Paul is “cool. He’s a good guy”:

It seems that Palin has a libertarian streak that some of her supporters hadn’t reckoned with, and takes her “maverick” brand seriously. Meanwhile, Lisa Graas noted this interesting poll on the Kentucky Senate primary:

Trey Grayson 27%
Bill Johnson 23%
Rand Paul 21%
Undecided 29%

Clearly, the GOP establishment candidate Grayson has failed to gain support from a majority of Republican voters in Kentucky. The primary isn’t until May, so this story will play out for a while.

Category: Kentucky, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Senate

Comments

78 Responses to “Fallout From Sarah Palin’s Kentucky Senate Endorsement of Rand Paul”

William R
February 8th, 2010 @ 3:29 pm

I keep hearing that Bill Johnson is the Reagan conservative in this race. I don’t think so. Take foreign policy for example.

Reagan’s Wisdom on the Middle East

http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2006/07/21/reagans-wisdom-on-the-middle-east-leave/
Lisa Graas
February 8th, 2010 @ 9:05 pm

Here’s the real story behind the polls the Paul supporters keep pushing in an attempt to make us all believe their fantasies.

Background on Polling in Kentucky’s Senate GOP Primary
http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/background-on-polling-in-kentuckys.html
Lisa Graas
February 8th, 2010 @ 4:05 pm

Here’s the real story behind the polls the Paul supporters keep pushing in an attempt to make us all believe their fantasies.

Background on Polling in Kentucky’s Senate GOP Primary
http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/background-on-polling-in-kentuckys.html
Lisa Graas
February 8th, 2010 @ 9:09 pm

And as you read this story (link below), take note, it’s not just about Pulaski County. It’s about Hal Rogers’ DISTRICT

Paul can’t win. Even if he won the primary (he won’t) too many Republicans in the state would not support him in the general. That’s just a fact. Meanwhile, the “new guy”, Bill Johnson, who is a stellar candidate, is exciting people. The previous commenter who noted a “downward trend” for Paul is absolutely right.

http://www.whas11.com/news/politics/Rand-Paul-gets-Palin-but-not-Pulaski-83779847.html
Lisa Graas
February 8th, 2010 @ 4:09 pm

And as you read this story (link below), take note, it’s not just about Pulaski County. It’s about Hal Rogers’ DISTRICT

Paul can’t win. Even if he won the primary (he won’t) too many Republicans in the state would not support him in the general. That’s just a fact. Meanwhile, the “new guy”, Bill Johnson, who is a stellar candidate, is exciting people. The previous commenter who noted a “downward trend” for Paul is absolutely right.

http://www.whas11.com/news/politics/Rand-Paul-gets-Palin-but-not-Pulaski-83779847.html
Doc
February 8th, 2010 @ 11:00 pm

“Neo-conservatism” is a term almost exclusively used by the enemies of America’s liberation of Iraq. There is no “neo-conservative” movement in the United States. When there was one, it was made up of former Democrats who embraced the welfare state but supported Ronald Reagan’s Cold War policies against the Soviet bloc. Today “neo-conservatism” identifies those who believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorists.” (David Horowitz)
William: The GOP should dump the Neocons? Really? Then you would argue that Paulers do not believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorist.
That, dear readers, sums up nicely the prevailing thought processes of the Libertarian Rand Paulers. It’s not isolated to their supporters. They are routinely encouraged to condemn modern day “Neocons” and label National Security defenders like Bill Johnson, without even knowing the definition of Neocon today, by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty.
Grayson pays lip service to this in his commercials but has not put forth a cogent and realistic plan.
Paul will cut defense spending by 5%, push to cut & run in Afghanistan and Pakistan(despite the nuclear threat), close all bases abroad, dismantle the CIA, and put an “Invisible Fence” on the southern border, despite the tactical challenge of getting illegal aliens to wear those bulky Invisible Fence collars. He says he’ll end visas for countries known to have Islamic terrorists, over 60 of them.
Terrorists don’t apply for visas, Randi.
William: It’s 2010, not 1983. Reagan misjudged the Mid East’s potential to escalate Islamic terrorism. That’s called a mistake. I’m certain he wouldn’t make that mistake again now. Peace Through Strength.
Get with the program, William.
The GOP needs to dump the Libertarian element which threatens its very core conservative existence.
Doc
February 8th, 2010 @ 6:00 pm

“Neo-conservatism” is a term almost exclusively used by the enemies of America’s liberation of Iraq. There is no “neo-conservative” movement in the United States. When there was one, it was made up of former Democrats who embraced the welfare state but supported Ronald Reagan’s Cold War policies against the Soviet bloc. Today “neo-conservatism” identifies those who believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorists.” (David Horowitz)
William: The GOP should dump the Neocons? Really? Then you would argue that Paulers do not believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorist.
That, dear readers, sums up nicely the prevailing thought processes of the Libertarian Rand Paulers. It’s not isolated to their supporters. They are routinely encouraged to condemn modern day “Neocons” and label National Security defenders like Bill Johnson, without even knowing the definition of Neocon today, by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty.
Grayson pays lip service to this in his commercials but has not put forth a cogent and realistic plan.
Paul will cut defense spending by 5%, push to cut & run in Afghanistan and Pakistan(despite the nuclear threat), close all bases abroad, dismantle the CIA, and put an “Invisible Fence” on the southern border, despite the tactical challenge of getting illegal aliens to wear those bulky Invisible Fence collars. He says he’ll end visas for countries known to have Islamic terrorists, over 60 of them.
Terrorists don’t apply for visas, Randi.
William: It’s 2010, not 1983. Reagan misjudged the Mid East’s potential to escalate Islamic terrorism. That’s called a mistake. I’m certain he wouldn’t make that mistake again now. Peace Through Strength.
Get with the program, William.
The GOP needs to dump the Libertarian element which threatens its very core conservative existence.
William R
February 8th, 2010 @ 11:21 pm

NeoCons support a Wilsonian FDR, Truman foreign policy. Big government liberal internationalism. The United States getting involved in the Arab Israel conflict. As for Reagan, he wrote his memoirs years after the 1983 incident so he has plenty of time to think about it. He recognized the folly of getting involved in conflicts in that part of the world. A traditional conservative view!
William R
February 8th, 2010 @ 6:21 pm

NeoCons support a Wilsonian FDR, Truman foreign policy. Big government liberal internationalism. The United States getting involved in the Arab Israel conflict. As for Reagan, he wrote his memoirs years after the 1983 incident so he has plenty of time to think about it. He recognized the folly of getting involved in conflicts in that part of the world. A traditional conservative view!
Steve Poling
February 9th, 2010 @ 1:30 am

You said: “Palin has a libertarian streak that some of her supporters hadn’t reckoned with”

A failure to account for this “libertarian streak” (or a tendency to be willfully blind to its existence) is one of the key sources of consternation amongst Republicans Who Know Better Than Us. It doesn’t help that Mrs. Palin’s statements are characterized as “populist” when in truth they are libertarian.

The only real cure to this disability is to actually pay attention to what she says and has written, and file what others put in her mouth alongside Tina Fey quotes.
Steve Poling
February 8th, 2010 @ 8:30 pm

You said: “Palin has a libertarian streak that some of her supporters hadn’t reckoned with”

A failure to account for this “libertarian streak” (or a tendency to be willfully blind to its existence) is one of the key sources of consternation amongst Republicans Who Know Better Than Us. It doesn’t help that Mrs. Palin’s statements are characterized as “populist” when in truth they are libertarian.

The only real cure to this disability is to actually pay attention to what she says and has written, and file what others put in her mouth alongside Tina Fey quotes.
uberVU - social comments
February 9th, 2010 @ 2:07 am

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by rsmccain: #TeaParty @TCOAmerica @LisaGraas Fallout From Sarah Palin’s KY Sen. Endorsement of Rand Paul: http://bit.ly/9OrMgi…
Doc
February 9th, 2010 @ 2:41 pm

Reagan also said, William, ““Some of you may remember that in my early days, I was sort of a bleeding heart liberal. Then I became a man and put away childish ways.”
I remind you, again, This is 2010. Conditions on the ground have changed but you simply want to abandon Israel to a second Holocaust. That’s your solution to global terrorism?
You cannot address the specific challenges of Post #29 so you attempt a diversion? Your candidate, Prince Randi,is an empty suit, thus you refuse to be responsive.
At least tell me how he’s going to get those invisible illegal aliens to wear their Invisible Fence collars! While you’re at it, explain how he intends to use his “helicopter gunships” concept? Whom does he intend to shoot? Visible illegals?
Prince Randi also claims to be able to close the border in three months! Wow! That’s quite a promise. He can’t even keep illegals out of Bowling Green, his hometown and the second fastest growing community of illegals in KY, much less close the border in three months! The fact is he aids and abets human trafficking of illegals into Bowling Green by his own admission!
Come ahead, William. Show me your stuff. Focus. I know it’s hard too squeeze your thoughts through that little mouse in your right hand but try.
Tell me how Prince Randi is going to do all these things. Stay en pointe. Don’t wander into ADD, Answer Deficit Disorder.
I really want a dialogue but find it awkward since you folks never answer a single point! Your Campaign for Liberty tea parties apparantly include more than smoking tea, based on the paucity of substance in your posts and your obvious looseness of associations.
Doc
February 9th, 2010 @ 9:41 am

Reagan also said, William, ““Some of you may remember that in my early days, I was sort of a bleeding heart liberal. Then I became a man and put away childish ways.”
I remind you, again, This is 2010. Conditions on the ground have changed but you simply want to abandon Israel to a second Holocaust. That’s your solution to global terrorism?
You cannot address the specific challenges of Post #29 so you attempt a diversion? Your candidate, Prince Randi,is an empty suit, thus you refuse to be responsive.
At least tell me how he’s going to get those invisible illegal aliens to wear their Invisible Fence collars! While you’re at it, explain how he intends to use his “helicopter gunships” concept? Whom does he intend to shoot? Visible illegals?
Prince Randi also claims to be able to close the border in three months! Wow! That’s quite a promise. He can’t even keep illegals out of Bowling Green, his hometown and the second fastest growing community of illegals in KY, much less close the border in three months! The fact is he aids and abets human trafficking of illegals into Bowling Green by his own admission!
Come ahead, William. Show me your stuff. Focus. I know it’s hard too squeeze your thoughts through that little mouse in your right hand but try.
Tell me how Prince Randi is going to do all these things. Stay en pointe. Don’t wander into ADD, Answer Deficit Disorder.
I really want a dialogue but find it awkward since you folks never answer a single point! Your Campaign for Liberty tea parties apparantly include more than smoking tea, based on the paucity of substance in your posts and your obvious looseness of associations.
William R
February 9th, 2010 @ 4:50 pm

To hell with Israel. They can take care of themselves. We can no longer afford the empire we have constructed. It it time to cut defense, and that means stop defending nations that are fully capable of defending themselves. It’s time to throw the Neocons under the bus. They drove the Republican over the cliff. And Reagan correctly judged the problems in the Middle East. As our own CIA warned us there is going to be blow back from our actions in the region. The idea that the United States can go around the world and bomb nations without expecting anything in return is absurd.
William R
February 9th, 2010 @ 11:50 am

To hell with Israel. They can take care of themselves. We can no longer afford the empire we have constructed. It it time to cut defense, and that means stop defending nations that are fully capable of defending themselves. It’s time to throw the Neocons under the bus. They drove the Republican over the cliff. And Reagan correctly judged the problems in the Middle East. As our own CIA warned us there is going to be blow back from our actions in the region. The idea that the United States can go around the world and bomb nations without expecting anything in return is absurd.
Doc
February 9th, 2010 @ 9:35 pm

William,
Your response is sine qua non representative of why the Pauls cannot be allowed any influence in or election to Washington.
Doc
February 9th, 2010 @ 4:35 pm

William,
Your response is sine qua non representative of why the Pauls cannot be allowed any influence in or election to Washington.
William R
February 9th, 2010 @ 9:57 pm

Doc, it’s obvious you put the interest of a foreign country ahead of your own. You are just anti-American. As for closing the border, bring our troops home from the Middle East and we could close our border in a week. Ron Paul doesn’t hold any elected office in Bowling Green so he has nothing to do with the illegal problem. Whether it’s 1983 or 2010 nothing has changed. We have troops occupying Muslim countries. Reagan learned from his mistake. It is in the national interest of the United States to be neutral in the Middle East just as Reagan proposed in his memoirs.
William R
February 9th, 2010 @ 4:57 pm

Doc, it’s obvious you put the interest of a foreign country ahead of your own. You are just anti-American. As for closing the border, bring our troops home from the Middle East and we could close our border in a week. Ron Paul doesn’t hold any elected office in Bowling Green so he has nothing to do with the illegal problem. Whether it’s 1983 or 2010 nothing has changed. We have troops occupying Muslim countries. Reagan learned from his mistake. It is in the national interest of the United States to be neutral in the Middle East just as Reagan proposed in his memoirs.
Doc
February 10th, 2010 @ 12:38 am

So, William, are these the tactics you endorse in politics? What’s next, kneecapping Herr William?

Get a load of Big Daddy Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty threats against Bill Johnson’s Special Forces Bloggers, a groub of (mostly) disabled, retired, older men and women who support their candidate and engage the opposition.

Manners, Rand. That’s all it takes.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=230378
Doc
February 9th, 2010 @ 7:38 pm

So, William, are these the tactics you endorse in politics? What’s next, kneecapping Herr William?

Get a load of Big Daddy Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty threats against Bill Johnson’s Special Forces Bloggers, a groub of (mostly) disabled, retired, older men and women who support their candidate and engage the opposition.

Manners, Rand. That’s all it takes.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=230378
Doc
February 10th, 2010 @ 5:40 am

You’re awfully quiet, William. Who said, “I agree with my father on all but the most minor of issues.”?
William, these are not minor issues:
http://reddiva.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/nancy-reagan-would-be-proud-of-you/
Doc
February 10th, 2010 @ 12:40 am

You’re awfully quiet, William. Who said, “I agree with my father on all but the most minor of issues.”?
William, these are not minor issues:
http://reddiva.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/nancy-reagan-would-be-proud-of-you/
Doc
February 12th, 2010 @ 1:41 pm

McCracken County GOP Senate Debate Internet live stream broadcast at 12:30 PM CST Saturday, Feb. 13
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kentucky-us-senat…

Johnson v.Grayson & Paul
Doc
February 12th, 2010 @ 8:41 am

McCracken County GOP Senate Debate Internet live stream broadcast at 12:30 PM CST Saturday, Feb. 13
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kentucky-us-senat…

Johnson v.Grayson & Paul
kygater
February 23rd, 2010 @ 1:42 am

Count me in at one of those disillusioned by Palin’s endorsement. If she is supposed to be the face of the conservative movement, she has a lot of uncovered homework. There is quite a difference between a true conservative, and a true libertarian. Rand Paul has stated he is a libertarian, but knows he can’t get elected as such in Kentucky, which is the typical politician’s deceitfulness. He has also changed his position on abortion already and he hasn’t even made it to the primaries yet. If Palin really wants credibility, she had better do a little more research before making endorsements, and figure out what party she belongs to, and what her platform is.
kygater
February 22nd, 2010 @ 8:42 pm

Count me in at one of those disillusioned by Palin’s endorsement. If she is supposed to be the face of the conservative movement, she has a lot of uncovered homework. There is quite a difference between a true conservative, and a true libertarian. Rand Paul has stated he is a libertarian, but knows he can’t get elected as such in Kentucky, which is the typical politician’s deceitfulness. He has also changed his position on abortion already and he hasn’t even made it to the primaries yet. If Palin really wants credibility, she had better do a little more research before making endorsements, and figure out what party she belongs to, and what her platform is.

The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Fallout From Sarah Palin’s Kentucky Senate Endorsement of Rand Paul

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