Sarah Palin For Senate 2014? (VIDEO)
WASILLA, AK – Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is rumored to be considering a bid for the United States Senate. Politico has reported that it may be fomenting an internal civil war. A four-way race that pitted a potential Palin vs. Joe Miller, Dan Sullivan or Mead Treadwell had Palin out front with a whopping 36% lead, compared to the next closest candidate at 26%.
Palin generated attention when she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she was considering a run. “I’ve considered it because people have requested me considering it,” she said.
If Palin were to win the nomination she would face off against incumbent Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), who is thought to be vulnerable due to Obamacare. Begich has been frantically trying to respond to the dramatic failure of Healthcare.gov by saying that he is, “not waiting for the president” on a fix for the millions of people who are having their health insurance cancelled. “I am not waiting for the president’s promise. I want to see results,” Begich said. “Today we’re proposing another solution to that, and I think there is a great opportunity to move forward.”
The Alaska GOP will likely have a hard time with its nomination process if Palin isn’t the candidate. The state Republican Party has been roiled by internal controversies starting when Ron Paul supporters took over the local party. The establishment managed to reverse the advance made by libertarians, which disheartened the grassroots. Now they will have to focus on putting together a winning senate campaign dealing with the wild card from Wasilla, who has traditionally been supportive of including libertarians in the GOP.
Palin’s endorsement of Rand Paul (R-KY) was a key part of getting grassroots activists engaged with the campaign in order to secure the Kentucky eye doctor’s victory over the GOP’s establishment pick. She once said that the “worst thing” the GOP could do was to marginalize Ron Paul supporters and libertarians.
“The GOP would be so remiss to marginalize Ron Paul and his supporters as we come out of Iowa tonight and move down the road to New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, et cetera. If we marginalize these supporters who have been touched by Ron Paul and what he believed in over these years, well, then, through a third-party run of Ron Paul’s or the Democrats capturing those independents and these libertarians who supported what Ron Paul’s been talking about, well, then the GOP is going to lose. And then there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. So, the worst thing that the GOP machine can do is marginalize Ron Paul and his supporters.”
Palin could help restore the local victories made by tea partiers and libertarians if she were to emerge as the choice for the senate seat in Alaska. Despite the recent gains made by the establishment in the state, her victory would be seen as a win for the limited government wing of the party. It would be interesting to see a Senator Palin and a Senator Paul tag-teaming President Obama’s agenda as he heads for the exit in 2016.
