Thread: ALIPAC in WSJ: Palin Makes Fans Uneasy by Backing McCain

Palin Makes Fans Uneasy by Backing McCain

Tea Party Favorite Heads to Arizona to Help Running Mate Battle a Primary Challenge From Immigration Foe Hayworth

March 25, 2010
By TAMARA AUDI
Wall Street Journal


PHOENIX—Like many of his fellow Tea Party activists, Lee Earle adores former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. But when Ms. Palin shows up at a pair of rallies in Arizona on Friday and Saturday, he won't be attending.

That's because Ms. Palin is coming to stump for her former running mate, Sen. John McCain. Mr. Earle is backing J.D. Hayworth, Mr. McCain's challenger in the Republican primary on Aug. 24. Mr. Hayworth, a former congressman and talk-radio host, has become a darling for some in the Tea Party movement.

"Most of the Tea Party people I know are disappointed with her decision" to support Mr. McCain, says Mr. Earle. "But we understand she's fulfilling an obligation to Sen. McCain for pulling her from obscurity."

While Ms. Palin is in Tucson on Friday, Mr. Earle will be at a rally in Phoenix with antitax protester Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, "Joe the Plumber," who gained fame during the 2008 election. When Ms. Palin is in Mr. Earle's hometown of Phoenix Saturday, Mr. Earle will be at a Tea Party event 30 miles away. "But I still love Sarah," he says.
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Mr. Earle's position illustrates how much the political order has been transformed since the last election. Mr. McCain was the Republican nominee for president in 2008, but he is now fighting off an aggressive primary challenge in a state he has represented since 1983.

A Rasmussen Report released March 16 shows Mr. McCain ahead by seven points, with a margin of error of plus or minus four points. Earlier polling put Mr. McCain ahead by 22 points.

Arizona's primary race "went from very sleepy to being very captivating," says Randy Pullen, chairman of the state's Republican Party.

Immigration, long a contentious issue in the border state, will loom large in the primary. A controversial bill introduced last month in the Arizona state senate would count students who are illegal immigrants to get an estimate of how much the state pays to educate them.

Some Tea Party members and conservatives are still angry over Mr. McCain's leadership on a 2007 bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants and beefed up border security.

Mr. Hayworth opposed the bill, and has said he would make illegal immigration a centerpiece of his candidacy. Last month, the conservative group Americans for Legal Immigration announced it backed Mr. Hayworth.

Mr. McCain's Senate campaign spokesman, Brian Rogers, says the senator "takes very seriously his commitment to securing the border and to find real solutions to solve the problem we have."

For her part, Ms. Palin said in a 2008 interview with Univision that said she supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Ms. Palin couldn't be reached for further comment.

Bringing in Ms. Palin is a slightly awkward move by the McCain camp. Since the presidential campaign ended, McCain aides have aired a lot of criticisms of the former running mate, and in her book "Going Rogue," Ms. Palin called the McCain campaign disorganized and slow to focus on the economy.


However, neither Ms. Palin nor Mr. McCain have criticized each other directly. Mr. Rogers says the relationship between the two "is strong. …She's coming to Arizona because she knows Sen. McCain is the right kind of leader for Arizona."

Mr. McCain's campaign is banking on Ms. Palin's visit to help capture some of the political energy generated by the Tea Party movement, which advocates conservative ideals and limited federal government, and consists of independent groups scattered across the country. There is no central leadership, and groups and the individuals within them are often at odds with each other over candidates.

Several Tea Party organizers interviewed for this article said they supported Mr. Hayworth or Jim Deakin, another GOP challenger. But earlier this month, four Tea Party groups here said they would not endorse any candidate in the primary.

"J.D. [Hayworth] likes to say he is the Tea Party candidate, but the Tea Party is not a monolith," says Mr. Rogers. "Mr. McCain has plenty of support among those groups."

Trent Humphries, co-organizer of the Tucson Tea Party, says his group includes supporters of Sen. McCain and Mr. Hayworth. Mr. Humphries is undecided, but plans to attend Mr. McCain's Tucson rally.

Last weekend, around 700 people showed up to hear Mr. McCain speak at an event hosted by the Yavapai Tea Party, near Prescott. Yavapai organizer Jennifer Campbell says it was not a campaign event, but an opportunity to hear from an elected representative. Ms. Campbell says her group, which claims 1,500 members, won't endorse a candidate. And Ms. Campbell says that while she was impressed with Mr. McCain, she is undecided. Both Mr. McCain and Mr. Hayworth "leave something to be desired," she says.

Ms. Campbell says an official with the McCain campaign invited her to the weekend campaign events with Ms. Palin, but she declined. "You don't learn much at those things," she says. Instead, her group would like to host a debate between Mr. McCain and Mr. Hayworth.

Ms. Campbell and other Tea Party organizers say Ms. Palin could sway some voters to reconsider Mr. McCain. "She's a force we haven't really seen in politics in my lifetime," Ms. Campbell says.

In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Hayworth said it was support from Tea Party activists that prompted him to run against Mr. McCain. He said the effect of Ms. Palin's presence on the campaign "has been one of the most-asked questions since the campaign began. I guess we'll see."

Mr. Hayworth said he has never met Ms. Palin, "but we have a lot in common.... I welcome her support following the primary."
—Laura Meckler contributed to this article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... opCarousel

There are many people who like Sarah Palin, but amnesty will be the divide, for Americans cannot support any candidate that would sacrifice the United States to another amnesty. The first one has almost destroyed us, brought ten millon plus more illegal aliens, and it has brought division and ridiculous demands from lawbreakers and their followers.

J.D. Hayworth needs citizens in Arizona to vote against Senator McCain. That would be a very loud "no" to the disaster of amnesty, something that John McCain has fought long and hard for over so many years.

Psalm 139:14

Added to Homepage with amended title:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5060--0-0.html

I do not support McCain. He has been in Congress too long. It is time to go. We need a person who does not support amnesty for illegal aliens. We need a person who will support legislation to stop illegal aliens in this country.

If the Tea Party folks want to hold true to their colors of non-partisanship, they need to distance themselves from the likes of Amnesty Palin and the entire lot like her and the rest of the McLame crowd.

And Dick Armey....

Kathyet

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

If the Tea Party folks want to hold true to their colors of non-partisanship, they need to distance themselves from the likes of Amnesty Palin and the entire lot like her and the rest of the McLame crowd.

Should we start referring to her as "Pamnesty/"

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

If the Tea Party folks want to hold true to their colors of non-partisanship, they need to distance themselves from the likes of Amnesty Palin and the entire lot like her and the rest of the McLame crowd.

Should we start referring to her as "Pamnesty/"

That's Rich RB! That's rich!

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

If the Tea Party folks want to hold true to their colors of non-partisanship, they need to distance themselves from the likes of Amnesty Palin and the entire lot like her and the rest of the McLame crowd.

Well said Hylander!! The Tea Party movement was hijacked by people like Perry, Palin, and other idiot neo-cons. I was apart of the ORIGINAL movement (Ron Paul) before the Republicans took it over to control the talking points. I left the movement shortly after. If the ones that remain are TRUE Tea Partiers then they need to stop affiliating themselves with the like of Palin and other nutjobs. I suspect that there are no more Libertarians in the movement though, just by looking at the protests. They are now spouting neo-con talking points instead of protesting ALL government.