Endorses Newt Gingrich
Todd Palin caused a significant stir today when it was announced he had endorsed Newt Gingrich. Todd Palin, ever his own man, was a guest by telephone on Greta Van Susteren’s On The Record on FoxNews. Conservatives have been abuzz with this news, and some are taking it to imply something about who Sarah Palin will support. The theories today have been wild and untamed, from the preposterous to the vaguely feasible to the outright maniacal. Facebook and Twitter are likewise jumping with activity, as people try to figure out why Todd is making an endorsement, but Sarah has not. Meanwhile, Gingrich was quite happy with this turn of events.
Anybody who follows the Palins knows that by their own accounts, they don’t always agree, so maybe it’s that, or maybe Sarah Palin simply hasn’t made up her mind. Whatever is going on, it will be difficult to ignore that Todd Palin has come out for Newt Gingrich. I expect that this will be the subject of much discussion on the eve of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Still Palin supporters are scrambling to understand the meaning of this announcement, but it’s likely to be precisely that which it seems: Todd Palin prefers Newt Gingrich at this juncture, and Governor Palin isn’t ready to endorse a candidate just yet.
What some conservatives are wondering is if this is some sort of proxy endorsement on behalf of Sarah Palin, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. Todd Palin said during this interview that he was glad Sarah decided to “sit this one out.” It seemed to me to be a simple, straight-forward endorsement of Gingrich. Mr. Palin cited Newt’s credentials as a reformer, and that he thought Gingrich was best-suited to take on Obama. Thinking about Gingrich, it’s true that he was the architect of the mostly successful “Contract With America,” and he did lead to the first Republican majority in the House in more than four decades. Watch the video below:
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Whatever Gingrich’s other flaws may be, it’s clear that in Todd Palin’s view, Gingrich is more inclined to lead the kinds of reforms Mr. Palin finds important to the nation’s future. Whether this is a hint at Sarah Palin’s thinking is anybody’s guess. Maybe we will get a better indication of Governor Palin’s thinking when she delivers the keynote address at CPAC on the 11th of February in Washington DC, if not sooner.
