Once again Sarah Palin’s wisdom and political savvy has been proven to be spot on. Sarah saw weeks ago what others are just now realizing: Chuck DeVore has no hope. He has no chance of winning the Californian Republican primary against Carly Fiorina and Tom Campbell.
As we have said before, it was shaping up to be a great battle and California, and the Nation would have been well served by either a Senator Fiorina or a Senator DeVore. Though not a Californian, I was an early DeVore supporter, however, ethics issues that have surfaced trouble me greatly.
Had this race remained a two way competition, I seriously doubt Sarah would have stepped in and endorsed anyone, saving her political capital for the general election and Barbara Boxer. Life throws one curves though and Tom Campbell is a serious wrench thrown into the works!
Campbell, who is arguably to the left of Boxer, and has some very troubling ties to radical Islam, and a palpable hatred for Israel, was running for Governor. With Meg Whitman being the darling of the Romney-Bush-Establishment wing of the party, and Conservative champion Steve Poizner surging in the polls (he’s wiped out Whitman’s 50 point lead) there was just no place for Campbell.
Of course, as we as seeing many career politicians do, rather than go quietly into the night, they try some other path to worm their way into government. In Campbell’s case, he decided to muddy the waters in the Senate race.
With that said, it’s been quite aggravating this week dealing with indignant and irrational DeVore supporters. How a group of folks can become so divorced from reality is simply beyond me. As we have written extensively, we supported the notion of a Senator DeVore. But it simply isn’t to be.
Since Campbell entered the race, support for DeVore not only stopped growing, it actually fell off, with him having a hard time getting double digit numbers in the polls. DeVore has simply failed to capture the imagination of enough Californians to be a viable candidate.
Now we are faced with a horrific proposal. With the Conservative vote somewhat split, California could end up electing Tom Campbell as the Republican nominee. This would be a terrible outcome. Tom Campbell would be the weakest against Boxer, as he and Boxer are so similar, and even if he won, the Nation loses, as he would be as bad a Senator as Boxer, if not worse.
Rational people are quickly coming to understand why Sarah Palin took the initiative to try and right this terrible wrong. While the armchair quarterbacks bemoan her as some sort of traitor to the cause, other major political players are acknowledging Sarah’s wisdom and standing beside Carly Fiorina.
The latest to do this is RedState.com Editor-in-Chief Erick Erickson, who has been a staunch DeVore supporter using the pages of RedState to sign his praises. Tuesday, while appearing on CNN, Erickson gave DeVore and his supporters what amounts to an ultimatum. Get in gear or step aside.
A prominent conservative is issuing an ultimatum, essentially telling the candidate he supports to do better in the polls – or lose his support.
Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of RedState.com, backs Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the California Republican senate primary. DeVore is locked in a battle with former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Rep. Tom Campbell for the right to face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in November.
Speaking Tuesday with CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, Erickson – a CNN contributor - said he won't support DeVore much longer if the candidate does not improve his political standing.
"Look, if Chuck DeVore hasn't gone up in the polls within two weeks significantly, I'll be with Carly Fiorina because Tom Campbell is that bad," Erickson said.
DeVore is considered the more conservative of the three candidates. But Campbell has maintained a steady lead over his opponents in recent polls even as both DeVore and Fiorina attack him as too liberal.
"There are a lot of Republicans who feel like Chuck Devore, with four weeks left, hasn't been able to surge," Erickson said on CNN's John King, USA. "And it's everybody, anybody but Campbell."
While we fully support Carly, and firmly believe she will make an outstanding Senator, make no mistake about it, the "any one but Campbell" sentiment is strong among rational thinkers.
Once again Sarah Palin has not only shown a political savvy that few in modern politics possess, she has also proven she has the courage to take bold action when the rest are simply too timid and too afraid. Unlike others who put political maneuvering above all, Sarah looks at a situation, asks herself what is the right thing to do, and then does it, political ramifications be damned!
One has to ask if a Mitt Romney, or any of the other 2012 presidential wannabees would have had the savvy to understand the California situation, the courage to act on it, or the ability to withstand the vitriol that would come their way from making the unpopular, but correct choice.
One can think of no better a test to judge one’s presidential timber than to see how they handle themselves when it is time to make tough, correct, but unpopular choices. America needs a real leader, not someone who has to have multiple polls and focus groups to tell them what to think, and how to act. .
Sarah Palin is that leader. She is the one with that courage, and forthrightness.
Karen Allen has put a great video together that explains Sarah’s strength, wisdom and courage where others falter:
When we have our bull sessions, at the [virtual] clubhouse, one notion we throw around quite a lot is the fact that Sarah Palin is playing chess, while the rest of the world is playing checkers. That truly seems to sum up Sarah’s ability to see the big picture, to be a leader.
We all kind of figured there would be some detractors when Sarah decided to step in and endorse Carly Fiorina in the Californian Republican primary. But the over the top histrionics, and the unprofessional reaction from the DeVore camp simply amazed me.
Oh, it didn’t amaze me that people were upset, especial Chuck DeVore. I mean he wanted the endorsement as well. An endorsement from Sarah Palin is money in the bank and an almost sure victory. It also means that other politicians, the more timid among them, will suddenly fight over who will make the next endorsement in your favor, once Sarah had made it "cool."
We’ve seen it before, most notably with Doug Hoffman in New York. Jeri Thompson really "discovered" the guy. She and Fred worked tirelessly, but once Sarah weighed in, EVERYBODY rushed to be next in line, well everyone but Newt....who went down with the sinking S.S. Scozzafava ship. We are seeing it in Kentucky with Rand Paul, another endorsement from Sarah that sent a few knee jerk reactionaries into convulsions.
Look, at this point everyone and their uncle has written something about this, including Stacy Drake and I. You can read our thoughts here and here.
Our favorite Barbarian also has a nice piece up that details the reasoning behind many of the endorsements of Carly over DeVore. The reasoning behind a Carly Fiorina endorsement is laid out quite well by the California Pro-Life Council. You should take the time to read this well thought out reasoning here.
The bottom line though is this: Chuck DeVore has zero chance of becoming the Republican nominee for the United States Senate race. Zero.
There are a any number of reasons why DeVore simply didn’t get traction. Most of it can be narrowed down to the fact that he ran a poor campaign The DeVore campaign had trouble raising money, and even more trouble managing money.
Evidently, DeVore doesn’t play well with others, as noted here and here.
The thing is though, and this is what the "educated," the "political strategists," the pundits, and the armchair quarterbacks fail to understand: This ain’t about Chuck DeVore!
The reason why Sarah stepped into this race is Tom Campbell. Campbell, as has widely been written, is a far left progressive posing as a Republican. Tom was not a factor early on, because he was running for Governor. When reality slapped him in the face, telling him he couldn’t win, he decided to jump in the Senate race and really muddy the waters. Campbell is so radical, morally bankrupt, and corrupt, that it would almost be preferable to leave Barbara Boxer in place over electing Tom Campbell. At least Boxer stands up for Israel, and has never taken campaign money from a convicted terrorist!
This is why Sarah stepped in. As crazy as California politics are, Campbell, who is further to the left than Boxer, is leading in the polls! (At this point Stacy Drake usually goes off on "Country Club Republicans," but I digress!) On the other hand, Carly is only a couple of points behind and within the margin of error in some polling. Carly can beat Campbell.
Sadly, DeVore is barely polling double digits, and has never polled well in a 3-way race. He simply cannot win the primary. Now I know everyone is saying that polling shows DeVore might beat Boxer, the operative word being "might," but that is no real feat in this climate. That Boxer is going down is all but a forgone conclusion. The problem is, you have to make the field, to be in the race, and take the big win. Sadly, there is simply no way for that to happen for DeVore.
We are only a month away from the California Republican primary, and DeVore is barely treading water, and barely breaking into double digit numbers. Here’s a clue...if you are a month out, and after all of your campaigning,...you are sweating it just to get over 10% of the voters to back you, it’s time to call it a day. Reality is staring you in the face, and it isn’t smiling.
Sarah saw this as well. Look, Sarah is the only real leader we have in this country. Other politicians are just that, and way too timid for their own good. Of course it may simply be they aren't smart enough to see just how dire the situation is.
At any rate, Sarah looked at reality, the same reality Chuck DeVore is looking at, and did what leaders do...She led! Sarah knew this race needed to be shaken up, she knew the real deal here was to defeat Tom Campbell, and stave off ceratin disaster for California and the American people.
This wasn’t personal, it was practical. It’s truly disappointing to see the way DeVore and his people have reacted. One understands the disappointment, and sympathizes, but one cannot accept their complete divorce from reality.
Chuck DeVore, is not a viable candidate at this point, and hasn’t been for some time. The minute Tom Campbell entered the race, it was all over. It is what it is...deal with it.
On the other hand, Carly Fiorina has ran a good campaign. She’s a solid candidate. She has no problem raising money, or support. She stands for the right things, and brings a life time of solid business experience to the table. She’s the real deal. She’s pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Business, against dangerous "cap and tax" legislation, as well as ObamaCare.
More importantly, Carly can not only beat Tom Campbell, who is arguably as bad, or worse than Boxer, she can beat Boxer as well.
This is simply reality. That only Sarah Palin recognized this, and took the steps to prevent disaster, says a lot about not only Sarah, but the sorry state the Republican Party is still in. We refer to Sarah as the Leader of the Free World, because,....well,....she is. Sure would be nice if some of the lessor players would help pick up the slack though!
Oh, and now that Sarah has endorsed, Senators Tom Coburn and Rick Santorum have also endorsed Carly.
Frankly, it’s time folks took hard look at reality, set aside personal egos and agendas, and got behind Carly Fiorina. It’s what’s good for California, and what’s good for America. We will long remember the actions of those who would stand in the way of the defeat of Tom Campbell, and the ultimate defeat of Barbara Boxer, and the Obama regime’s dangerous Marxist-progressive agenda.
***As luck would have it, while putting the finishing touches on this bit of writing, DeVore was putting the finishing touches on his Senate bid. In the California debate today...Sunday...DeVore proclaimed that the Taliban and al Qaeda do not pose "existential threats" to the United States. Oh my...does Chuck not watch TV or read the papers? The Times Square Bomber has ties to the Taliban!
Say goodnight Gracie!
Hello Senator Fiorina.
Our friends over at The Right Scoop have more on this here.
