Sure Looks Like She’s Running To Me

This beautiful new ad from SarahPAC called Iowa Passion certainly seems to suggest we can expect an announcement in the near future:

On a related note, Steve and I discussed (among other things), today’s feature from Michelle Malkin, in which she rightfully takes Greta Van Susteren to task about her bizarre and inaccurate defense of Senator Orrin Hatch, and Palin’s disappointing response:

First, the title of van Susteren’s blog post: “Is someone trying to manipulate the UTAH Tea Party vote unfairly away from Senator Orrin Hatch?”

Van Susteren absurdly suggests that dark, sinister, unnamed, and uninformed forces in Utah with outside backing are somehow trying to take away Hatch’s seat through nefarious means. She’s clearly talking about D.C.-based fiscal conservative groups like FreedomWorks and Club for Growth that support possible GOP primary challenger and current Rep. Jason Chaffetz (whom I also support). But she won’t come out and just name these groups. What gives?

Moreover, she fails to explain how it’s bad for a few Beltway-based groups to “manipulate” the race by encouraging primary challengers, but it’s fine for Beltway-based van Sustern to influence readers with her ill-informed dissection of the race and her promotion of Hatch’s purported Tea Party bona fides.

Hatch’s people have lined up big national guns from outside Utah to help him hold on to his power and perks. It seems clear to me Hatch is calling in every last chit he has amassed over four decades in the Beltway. It’s the only rational explanation for the beyond-laughable promotion of Hatch as a — gag — “Tea Party visionary.”

Whatever their reason for coming to Hatch’s aid, I wish some of these outside supporters of the incumbent would show a little more self-awareness and refrain from accusing other non-Utahans of “manipulating” the race and disregarding facts when their own fundamental understanding of the history and agenda of the Tea Party movement is so fatally flawed.

Utah voters themselves sent a clear, potent message that entrenched incumbency is no argument for more entrenched incumbency last May when they booted Hatch’s Senate big government Republican colleague Bob Bennett from office in the primary. Were they “manipulated,” too?

Van Susteren’s sloppy blog post (which doesn’t include a single hyperlink) provides erroneous facts about the Tea Party movement, erroneous characterizations of the core Tea Party agenda, and erroneous analysis of Hatch’s fiscal record after three decades in office. After insinuating that unprincipled motives are fueling those who oppose Hatch, she wraps up with a rather specious conclusion that based on Hatch’s creaky old support for the balanced budget amendment, she “would think that fact alone would make him the champion (the visionary?) of the Utah Tea Party.”

Head to Michelle’s site to read the entire piece because as usual, she provides plenty of links to legitimate sources to back up her opinion in terms of Van Susteren’s colossal ignorance about Hatch’s record and all of the motivating factors comprising the Tea Party Movement. As Steve said today, as much as we’ve both followed Congressman Allen West (whom I also had the pleasure of voting for), it’s hard to remember a time when the Tea Party Republican leader spoke much about a Balanced Budget Amendment — that’s not to suggest he never did, but Steve brought it up to prove Michelle’s point that the Tea Party is focused on reducing the size of government, cutting back on entitlement and other runaway spending and returning the country to Constitutional principles. That also means securing the borders, getting a handle on illegal immigration, implementing a sane energy policy that includes drilling for our own oil instead of remaining dependent on countries that hate us, and reforming the political system.

A BBA is one component in a very large range of issues, and for Greta Van Susteren to condemn Tea Party activists for recognizing the glaring truth that — BBA aside — Hatch is the antithesis of what their movement stands for, based on his own words and actions, is absurd and wrong. Career politicians like Hatch are part of the problem, not the solution.

That said, I wish Palin had responded by reaffirming all of the principles held by Tea Party activists and upholding their right to kick a big-spending, open-borders incumbent out of office, citing her own recent Facebook note to House freshmen in which she reminded them that contested primaries are a good thing. So yes, I was pretty disappointed.

However, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a deal-breaker for me should Palin (I hope and pray) get into the 2012 race. Actions after all, speak louder than words and her record as a proven reformer, veto pen wielder and accomplished leader with a legacy of accomplishment of which AGIA and ACES are but two remarkable examples speaks for itself.

And let’s not forget that from Day One on the national scene, she’s been on offense against Obama and his reckless policies in spite of the relentless smears perpetuated against her in the media and pop culture, death threats from unhinged individuals and some of the most debased attacks against her children, including her youngest son Trig.

Further, she was the driving force in the success of the 2010 midterms, putting her time, money and energy behind Tea Party candidates all across the country. Although Michele Bachmann might have forgotten, Palin supporters will never forget that the congresswoman has the former governor of Alaska to thank for rescuing her congressional campaign from Nancy Pelosi’s cross-hairs and helping her to win re-election in a year that was highly favorable to Republican candidates.

So while I share Michelle’s disappointment in Palin’s reaction, and applaud her excellent work in exposing Greta Van Susteren’s sloppy reporting, it in no way diminishes my support for a Palin run, particularly given the field we have right now. Win or lose, her presence on the ticket can only be a net positive, forcing the candidates to address the issues and defend their records. This is a woman who went right into the belly of the beast in Madison this past April and delivered what I believe was probably the opening salvo in the 2012 campaign while union thugs hurled the most vicious and misogynistic insults at her in front of her children. If she has the stomach for that, I am more than certain she can handle vigorous debate among her primary opponents.

Run Sarah Run!

UPDATE: Hatch supporter Mark Levin makes a statement via Facebook:

Now, I have endorsed Hatch. His opponent, Jason Chaffetz, has an extremely thin record. Prior to serving the last 31 months in the House, he served as Jon Huntsman’s state-wide campaign director and then his chief-of-staff. When I endorsed Hatch, Chaffetz called me to try to convince me to reverse course. But after I spoke to him, he could not point to any evidence of his conservative credentials apart from his votes in Congress. Prior to that, I can find no conservative movement or Tea Party credentials. And I told him so. I think Chaffetz has been a very solid member of Congress. I support him for re-election. He has earned it. But beyond his 31 months in the House, his record is very recent, and I am not prepared to support his potential primary candidacy over Hatch. Despite some of Hatch’s votes, his overall record is very solid, and he was a crucial senator throughout the Reagan years. And if we are to measure the last 31 months, thereby comparing Hatch with Chaffetz head to head, Hatch has been every bit as solid as Chaffetz. Moreover, Hatch has been a leader on the balanced budget issue for decades, while Chaffetz was working on the Dukakis campaign in college. So, yes, I have some disagreements with parts of Hatch’s record, but overall, it is a good conservative record. He is no Dick Lugar, et al.

Back to the point, however. I have no idea who Leon H. Wolf is, nor do I care, but he posts on RedState, a website I respect. People are free to advocate for whomever they wish. But Wolf’s post is pathetic. If advocates for other candidates, perhaps Rick Perry in this case, think that by trashing solid conservatives like Palin will score points, as Karl Rove is now trashing Perry, it will not work. I saw Palin at Tea Party event after Tea Party event. I saw her breaking her back to help defeat liberal Democrats and RINOs in the last election. I don’t know where Leon was, or if it mattered. But we all know she is detested by the GOP establishment.

Incidentally, Leon, I will compare my conservative credentials and activities to yours any day of the week — from Reagan to Landmark Legal Foundation to Tea Party to whatever.