Trump's spotlight

Palin scores moment in Trump's spotlight

The one-time kingmaker endorses the front-runner, putting her conservative cred at risk.

By Ben Schreckinger

Sarah Palin’s Tuesday endorsement of Donald Trump was a big get – for Sarah Palin.

Conservative observers questioned just how many votes the endorsement, teased with great fanfare by Trump’s campaign, would move. But it undoubtedly generated buzz and thrust the former Alaska governor in the national spotlight at a time when her star power has been on the wane.

“Attention getting? Yes,” wrote strategist Matt Strawn, a former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. “Something that creates momentum for Trump with Iowa conservatives? Don’t see it.”

"I don't think there's any Ted Cruz voter who said 'man, Sarah Palin endorsed, I'm switching to Donald,” said Daniel Horowitz, the former policy director at the Madison Project and a senior editor at Conservative Review. "Honestly this is more of a boost to Sarah Palin than it is to Donald Trump."

Palin’s name remains a big one on the right, and her endorsement can only help in a contest between two outsider Republicans. But since electrifying American politics in 2008, she has faded from political relevance. Though she continues to issue coveted political endorsements, since resigning as governor of Alaska she has focused more on building a media and lifestyle brand than on a political career.

Last January, Palin briefly cropped up on the national radar with a rambling speech at the Iowa freedom summit that was panned by influential conservatives, more than one of whom described it as “incoherent.” Since then, her highest-profile moment has been a softball interview of Trump she conducted last summer for the conservative cable network One America News.

“She’s off of Fox News. She’s not making speeches. She’s trying to stay relevant,” said one Trump insider. “This helps her. It’s media savvy.”

The endorsement cements Palin’s relationship with Trump, giving her the mogul’s ear at a time when many on the right are eager to have it. Trump defies conservative orthodoxy on issues such as trade, government intervention in the economy, and eminent domain. In the past, Trump has also been a vocal advocate of abortion rights, though he now describes himself as pro-life. But rather than condemn Palin’s endorsement, conservatives expressed hope that Trump would come around to their positions.

“Sarah Palin is the original maverick republican and I think she’s identified someone of like mind,” said Dan Schneider, executive director of the American Conservative Union.

“Lots of Donald Trump supporters disagree with him on various issues,” said Schneider. “There are a number of issues where we want Donald Trump to understand the correct conservative point of view, like on property rights.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony List, which promotes conservative female candidates, said she hoped Palin’s influence would solidify Trump’s anti-abortion stance and prevent the mogul from flirting with reproductive-rights figures such as Scott Brown, who Trump mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick last week. "We hope the endorsement from a longtime pro-life leader like Governor Palin represents an end to consideration of unacceptable picks like Scott Brown,” she said.

Palin was an early and influential supporter of Cruz when he ran for Senate in 2010, and her endorsement remains relevant enough that by giving it to Trump, she has caused a stir in his camp.

"I think it’d be a blow to Sarah Palin, because Sarah Palin has been a champion for the conservative cause, and if she was going to endorse Donald Trump, sadly, she would be endorsing someone who’s held progressive views all their life on the sanctity of life, on marriage, on partial-birth abortion," Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told CNN's "New Day” on Tuesday.

The comment prompted a rebuke from Palin’s daughter, Bristol, who published a blog post titled, “Is THIS Why People Don't like Cruz?”

But Cruz reset the tone by expressing his gratitude for the former Alaska governor at a campaign stop.

“I love Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin is fantastic, without her friendship and support I wouldn’t be in the Senate today,” he said in New Hampshire on Tuesday. “So regardless of what Sarah decides to do in 2016, I will always remain a big, big fan.”

“I think sooner or later Cruz will earn Palin’s endorsement,” said Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of the Family Leader, whose own much-coveted endorsement went to Cruz last month.

The move also caps off Palin’s estrangement from John McCain. In 2008, McCain’s selection of the little-known Alaska governor – who electrified the presidential race but came off as erratic and uninformed – as his running mate helped seal his defeat. Trump has relentlessly attacked John McCain, and notoriously challenged the Arizona senator’s status as a war hero at a July event in Iowa.

“It’s just classless,” said a former senior adviser to McCain of the endorsement, predicting it would backfire. “It’s undermining to a key Trump message which is one of competency. What Trump has said is that he’s going to hire the very best people and bring in men of Carl Icahn’s ilk … and he’s appearing with someone who’s viewed as one of America’s most astounding morons.”

But Palin has been nothing but shrewd in aligning herself with Trump. Just as her endorsement became public on Tuesday, she updated her Facebook page with a new cover photo promoting Sarah PAC. The group is currently accepting donations.