One of the most significant Republican primary battle so far in which Sarah Palin got heavily involved was the race to become the Republican candidate for Governor in Georgia.
Palin endorsed Handel on July 12, and this endorsement initially was credited to have given a boost to Karen Handel's campaign.
In the first round on July 20, Karen Handel was the clear winner:
Therefore it looked fairly safe for Karen Handel after the first round, as she had a significant lead.
But did Karen Handel then suffer from "Palin overdose?"
Having apparently at first received a boost from the Palin endorsement, Handel now decided to give her supporters in Georgia the full Palin blast - CNN reported on July 30:
So Karen recruited the screech from Wasilla for the final push. Was this a wise choice?
Sarah Palin's dropping into Georgia to weigh in on the state's increasingly bitter Republican gubernatorial battle, one day before the primary runoff election.
According to the campaign of GOP candidate Karen Handel, Palin will team up with Georgia's former secretary of state at a get out the vote campaign rally on Monday August 9. The next day Handel faces off against former Rep. Nathan Deal in the runoff contest.
On August 9 in Georgia, Sarah Palin played the folksy Mama Grizzly again, her favorite role - an excerpt:
But there was another backstory which is particularly interesting for us here on Palingates.
Sarah Palin, who herself is on the record on advocating abortion only if the life of the mother is in danger, had a surprising confrontation with the anti-abortion group "Georgia Right to Life" - her natural allies.
Reported by ajc:
Palin also took a very specific shot at Georgia Right to Life. Handel was the only candidate in the GOP field for governor that the anti-abortion group refused to endorse – Handel favors the right to abortion in cases of rape and incest, and opposes restrictions that GRTL would place on invitro fertilization.
Georgia Right to Life actively campaigned against Handel in the primary. “[Palin] has a son with Down Syndrome (sic), and under Karen Handel’s laws, Handel would have felt like it was OK to go in and abort that child, ” the news website Politico quoted Melanie Crozier, the executive director of GRTL’s political action committee, as saying.
Crozier later said she regretted her remark.
So "Georgia Right For Life" pointed out they considered that Handel's approach to abortion would have allowed Sarah to abort Trig.
By the way, I am quite shocked that all the other Republican candidates apparently met the standard of "Georgia Right to Life." This apparently means that all of them only support abortion if the life of the mother of the child is in danger (which simply is a horrible policy in my opinion).
But what did Palin make of this attack by "Georgia Right to Life?" She said in her speech in Georgia on August 9, 2010:
Well, what surprise. Trig still is Palin's favorite human shield - and virtually every mention of Trig is an attack on him.
“I know that Karen Handel is pro-family. She’s pro-life. You’ve got really great pro-life organizations here in this state that make a positive difference…Unfortunately, a few – maybe one of these organizations, kind of crossed a line, using my baby Trig in a pretty disgusting, certainly unnecessary attack on your candidate.”
See from about 14:10 in this video (then she talks about fishing again, which now has become one of her most favorite "memes").
Sarah then tells the audience at 15:05, after going on about her "Mama Grizzly" nonsense, that "an innocent" was "dragged into a vicious smear" in this incident.
But this controversy about abortion gets a new dimension when you for example see the comment by the right-wing website "redstate.com":
So here we go again.
The fact is that Handel is Pro-Life, and that GRTL has far-overstepped anything resembling the bounds of decency. Attacking Karen Handel and stating that she’d have supported aborting Trig Palin is no different than the liberal accusation that Trig was in fact Bristol Palin’s son. They have no evidence of the assertion and in fact have contravening statements from anyone relevant involved. Rather than making a statement of fact, Melanie Crozier has taken the low-road to ad-hominem attacks and baseless claims of supporting euthanasia.
So here we go again.
Like a real Mama Grizzly, Sarah Palin then proudly displayed Trig on stage in Georgia - the precious Down Syndrome baby who wasn't aborted, the embodiment of her pro-life credentials.
In any case, the Palin blast didn't pay off for Karen Handel - the final result shows that it was very close:
Karen Handel already conceded in the Republican runoff for Governor.
Karen Handel already conceded in the Republican runoff for Governor.
After the final vote, a lot of commentators on ajc were deeply unhappy or even angry of the involvement of Sarah Palin in the Georgia primary race. While this is not a scientific study, it clearly shows that many voters were turned off by the Quitter Queen:
Maybe the "fairly moderate" Karen Handel together with Sarah "my way or the highway" Palin wasn't such a brilliant combination after all.
Drafting Sarah Palin is not a winning strategy. She is not only the ultimate diva, but also a trojan horse, as her involvement easily backfires. Karen Handel had to learn it the hard way.
UPDATE:
Already an update! We have picked the right topic today - the heads of the Palinbots will explode. The downfall of Sarah Palin has begun, and even the dumbest Palinbot should be able to notice it.
US Rep. Jack Kingston, a Republican who represents Georgia's first congressional district, has just set the cause for Palin's next facebook rant. Jim Galloway from ajc reports again:
On “America’s Morning News” , U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston was drawn into a discussion of Georgia’s Republican runoff for governor.
Would you have preferred that Sarah Palin butt out of it, Kingston was asked? “I wish she will,” Kingston said. But never mind the grammar – it was live radio. He continued:
(America's Morning News with John McCaslin & Amy Holmes - The program is nationally syndicated by Talk Radio Network)
As far as I can remember, that's probably the most critical remarks a Republican from the Lower 48 has ever made about Sarah Palin since the 2008 elections. The message is clear: Stay out of our business.
On “America’s Morning News” , U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston was drawn into a discussion of Georgia’s Republican runoff for governor.
Would you have preferred that Sarah Palin butt out of it, Kingston was asked? “I wish she will,” Kingston said. But never mind the grammar – it was live radio. He continued:
“Because what’s she’s doing is dividing the Republican party at a time when we don’t need to be divided.
“Because in a case like this, really what people were saying – ‘Well, she’s endorsing Karen Handel because she’s a woman.’ [Palin] got up on stage on Monday and said, ‘I’m not doing it because she’s a woman – although she is a sister.’ You know — wink, wink.
“And I understand that. But what it does is, it makes Republicans say, well, maybe we do need to rethink Karen Han – I mean, Sarah Palin, as somebody who does shoot from the hip a little bit too much. Because I think Karen Handel is a very decent candidate, but she’s clearly the more moderate person in the race….”
Rep. Jack Kingston also said:
"Why Sarah Palin decided to get in the race is beyond me. I don't know why she feels compelled to get into primaries all over the country. But, you know, fortunately Georgia voters are doing their own thinking on things like this."
Here is the audio clip - I made a youtube video with the relevant part, where they talk about Sarah Palin:
Click here for the full clip - the part about Sarah Palin starts at 3:55.
(America's Morning News with John McCaslin & Amy Holmes - The program is nationally syndicated by Talk Radio Network)
Sarah Palin, who sees herself as the next US President, won't like those statements one bit. A case for her Palinbot brown shirts! Jack Kingston clearly is a RINO, is he not? Well, they will soon tell us, I am sure.
I think it's "Game on!" And it's about time.
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UPDATE 2:
As was to be expected, the Palinbots shot back, as their Queen was insulted. Yesterday the Peezoo very quickly published the first response...
...and today followed the inevitable headline:
Their accusation is that Jack Kingston once was honorary Georgia co-chair Mitt Romney's campaign in 2008, and that Jack also appeared on Bill Maher and criticized Sarah Palin's "death panel" claim. Both are deadly sins in Palin's world, and Jack Kingston needs to be severely rebuked for his treasonous acts.
I find it fascinating that all forms of dissent with the Queen immediately trigger the harshest response by the Palinbots. It doesn't really matter who the target is. Jack Kingston for example is nothing but a staunch conservative. It's somebody that Sarah Palin should reach out to, if she really wants to build a network of political friends, if she wants to build bridges.
But Sarah Palin is unable to do that. Her Palinbots just simulate Sarah's character - if you are not 100% for me, if you don't OBEY, then you are against me and ideally need to be destroyed. That's how Sarah Palin ruled Wasilla and also Alaska, in her famous 2 1/2 years (minus campaign time).
So everyone who doesn't think that the sun shines out of Sarah Palin's ass is immediately an enemy, regardless whether this person comes from the "left" or the "right." In the eyes of the Palin worshippers, you are automatically a "hack."
In addition, it's obvious again that Sarah Palin has no problem in dishing out - she never had. But for her, it's a one way street. It's not allowed to criticize her in return. If you do so, prepare to be labelled "sexist", "RINO", "hack" etc. In the worst case, you even want to take away Palin's "free speech." How dare you!
Sarah Palin is anointed by God. You are not allowed to touch her. If you do so, excommunication or worse will follow. Simple, isn't it?
Oh, and did I mention that Sarah Palin is representing the United States?
Jack Kingston, do you represent the United States?
No?
See! Jack, you cannot compete with Sarah Palin.
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UPDATE 3:
Our friend Ennealogic (link to her blog) just left a wonderful comment which I would like to share:
I think we should call palinbots what they really are: members of the Cult of Palin.
Sarah is not a politician. Sarah is not a celebrity. She is a cult leader, and I mean that in the strictest sense. She has worshipers. They may seem blind or deaf or dumb because they have eyes and ears and tongues only for her. They rise up as one to defend their cult leader, and would likely drink hemlock in unison as well if she commanded it. She is their Goddess, someone they can touch and see, someone that assures them of the existence of the God they cannot relate to directly.
I would not be at all surprised if she ultimately withdrew from public view to a sprawling commune in Montana, surrounded by devotees (but not necessarily her family) where she continued to play the role of the crucified one. Once a year she'll dress up in a gown, heels and tiara and parade across a ceremonial stage while her worshipers cast their eyes downward so as not to offend, daring to peek only briefly at their shining one. Afterwards, she'll leave them to feast on boxed wine and moose droppings as she retires to her inner chamber to quaff another Red Bull with some pills.
Pitiful, really. I mean, what else could be in her future?
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