Palin Promotions

Almost immediately after Obama was reelected, a statistic was released to the effect that Romney got 2.3 million less votes than McCain got in 2008. That number has since been called into question and ultimately discredited.

Cacophony of Opinions

Why did Romney lose? It depends on who you listen to among the cacophony of pundits expressing a confusing array of opinions – all in conformance with the opinion-holder’s world view of course. Some, such as Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel and Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank blame it on the GOP not having any ground game for the Hispanic vote. Others such as Michael Medved of the Daily Beast blame it on a highly effective negative ad campaign Obama ran against Romney. Medved disputes the notion that the GOP has a demographics problem. Obama got fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008, according to Medved who also said that Obama’s gains among Hispanics were minimized by the decline in the number of blacks who voted for him.

Battleground Watch says Romney relied on flawed internal polling. Others cite massive voter fraud – especially with touchscreen machines sans a paper ballot backup and still others cite anti-Mormon sentiment.

The Republican Party is “too socially conservative” says Republican Alien Professor, citing “changing social mores.” Speaking of “social mores,” some have alleged that Evangelicals simply would not vote for a Mormon, but data does not support this assertion at all. According to Eric Gorski of the Denver Post, 80% of Evangelicals voted for Romney. Nancy French, who spent a month in the Palin home to help Bristol Palin write Not Afraid of Life, was the founder and publisher of Evangelicals for Mitt. French hosts Bristol’s Blog on Patheos. As we’ll see later, the number of people who cited Romney’s faith as their reason to not give him a vote appears to be miniscule.

Professor John Switzer, who posts as “The Liberty Professor” suggests that Romney failed because he made his economic message “us versus them” and also because the Republican Party is trying too hard to be like the Democratic Party.

But Some Number of Conservatives Did Not Want Romney…

However many votes Romney got in 2012 versus McCain in 2008, some number of voters either did not vote at all or did vote, but abstained, voted for existing third party candidates or used the write-in. Did these voters hand victory to Obama on a silver platter? It’s debatable. But, their discontent with the Republican Party and its offerings is not debatable.

Over 37 years have passed since Ronald Reagan gave his famous “Bold Colors” speech. This speech was born out of his polling voters who stayed home, yielding a disastrous election result for the GOP. The voters Reagan polled said they saw no difference between the two parties. There was much talk back in 1975 about forming a third party. Sound familiar? Reagan, who had been a Democrat said he became a Republican because the party was different – not because it was the same. His words grace the US for Palin site in reference to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s endorsed candidates.

AGU Survey Launched

While there has been no shortage of speculative opinions and blame assignment on this disastrous outcome, no one has polled the non-voters to see what motivated their behavior, and to get some sense of where this Republican Party should go. On November 19, in my capacity as New York State Coordinator for American Grizzlies United/Organize4Palin, I launched a survey to begin answering these questions.

Polls Versus Surveys

A poll consists of only one question. Online Polls are routinely and very easily astroturfed by all parties concerned who want to show their candidate or opinion as being in the lead. Professional pollsters often purposely bias the single question to gin up the desired response. When Gov. Palin said, “polls are for strippers and cross-country skiers,” she was on target. Polls are not reliable indicators of anything.

A survey consists of several questions, follows a much more scientific process, and is far more difficult to astroturf. The magic number for a survey sample size is 400 because it yields a +/- 5% margin of error and a confidence level of 95%. Reaching this number usually requires paid panels through a market research firm or surveying multiple specific constituencies. Surveys require considerable thought as to question composition and a lengthy, often costly implementation process. A properly executed targeted survey of the general public with a sample of 400 can cost $750 to $1,500 or even more, with the higher costs being either for pre-qualified responses or surveying large panels and weeding out disqualified responses.

AGU Survey Methodology

The AGU survey is preliminary and it closed with 149 respondents. The margin of error on this survey is, therefore, 8.03%. The survey had a 100% incidence rate, meaning there were no disqualified respondents and no mid-survey terminates. No quota was set. The Republican Party has a clear and present interest in determining its political direction, thus the onus is on the GOP to survey a representative sample of its membership. The AGU survey was posted on key Palin sites, Free Republic, some generic conservative sites, and Ron Paul sites to get as representative a sample as possible of non-Romney voters. Special thanks to Josh Painter, US for Palin Editor and the Publisher of Sarah Palin Journal; Elizabeth Hawkes, Youth for Palin; and Isabel Matos, GOP Are You Listening for promoting this survey to the various non-Palinista constituencies. No paid panels were used, because this preliminary survey was conducted without a budget. I purposely did not mention any candidate’s names except for Romney or Obama in question lists, since candidates’ names are loaded words that connote different things to different readers. I instead had respondents fill in their choices tabula rasa.

AGU Survey Results

As we see from the first chart, of the 149 people surveyed, 116 voted in the 2012 general election, 31 did not vote at all citing disgust with both parties, and two did not vote at all due to sickness, accident, or other emergency.

The second chart reveals that the largest bloc of those who did vote – 61 – picked an existing third party candidate on the ballot. The second largest bloc – 51 – used the write-in. The remaining voters voted down-ticket only and abstained from the Presidential contest. There is an apparent discrepancy between the number of non-votes and those who voted in the 2012 general election. This is because some respondents abstained in the Presidential contest, yet voted down-ticket.

Gov. Palin got the lion’s share of the write-in choices with 38 votes. Libertarians Ron Paul and Gary Johnson were second and third in trail with 13 and 10 votes respectively. The remaining three votes went to fringe candidates.

“No difference between the two candidates” represented the largest sub-group in the sample with 54 responses. “Not a true conservative” took the second largest sub-group with 25 responses.

Flashback 37 years: “More than half of those who didn’t vote have been polled and say, ‘it no longer makes any difference which party wins….’”

Excessive change in positions on issues – “flip flopping” – took the third largest sub-group with 21 responses.

Only five people cited Romney’s Mormonism as their reason for not voting for him. Three were of the “Mormons aren’t real Christians” mindset. The other two were against all religion and cited Romney and/or the GOP being “too religious” as their reasons. Both sides only add up to 2.68% between them.

All 149 respondents expressed who they wanted to see run in 2012. Gov. Palin got 82 responses – 55%, followed by the Pauls, Johnson, Judge Napolitano, and Jesse Ventura – the Libertarians at 44 votes or 30%. Fringe candidates took 13 responses, and 10 people didn’t have a candidate in mind for 2012.

The vast majority of respondents 116 or 79% said the GOP should return to the principles of Reagan conservatism. Only 32 respondents or 21% said the Republican Party should “broaden the base” by becoming more moderate on social issues.

The 82 people who wanted Gov. Palin to run in 2012 are obviously Palinistas. Among them only two people chose “broaden the base,” and that choice may have been an unintended selection error. One did not vote at all due to disgust with both parties. The other Palinista voted for Gov. Palin using the write-in and picked Romney’s excessive changes in positions as the reason for discomfort with Romney. A strong argument could be made to infer that these two Palinistas intended to choose Reagan conservatism, but an equally strong argument could be made against that decision, for the respondents may in fact have intended their answers. A surveyor may use inference to correct obvious errors. To use inference in this instance is incorrect, because doing so interjects surveyor’s bias. The two Palinistas’ choices stand as entered.

Our community has always seen Gov. Palin as “Reagan in a woman’s body,” and this is often depicted by images of Reagan’s spirit toasting, saluting, passing a torch or otherwise transitioning his legacy to Gov. Palin. I should know, since I am the creator of the saluting montage. That 98% of our community would respond with a return to Reagan conservatism is not a surprise….

What is surprising is that 44 respondents identified as Libertarians via their desired 2012 candidate choices, yet 24 out of the 44 or 55% joined ranks with our Palinista community in saying that the GOP should return to Reagan conservatism. Libertarians are fiscal conservatives, foreign policy isolationists, and tack far toward the left on social issues. The majority support abortion-on-demand as well as legalization of drugs and prostitution as core components of their platform. Libertarians tend to be non-religious if not outright anti-religious. Libertarians are RINOs, because many of their positions contradict the Republican Party platform. So, 55% of this sub-sample within this constituency supporting a return to Reagan conservatism is a surprise. I can only conclude that fiscal conservatism took priority over social liberalism for this group. The remaining 45% not surprisingly chose “broaden the base.”

This preliminary survey with its 8.03% margin of error is not the end-all or be-all. The results will be forwarded to Reince Priebus, the GOP party chair with the suggestion that he either continue the study until the sample size reaches 400 or conduct one of his own. Will he do either? I won’t know until he is asked. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Irrespective of Mr. Priebus’ decision, 79% of the entire sample – supporters of multiple political figures – said they wanted a return to Reagan conservatism. Even 55% of a group we would consider RINOs also desire this return to basics.

This survey suggests that history has repeated itself:

“Let’s have a new first party – a Republican Party – raising a banner of bold colors – no pale pastels – a banner instantly recognizable as standing for certain values which will not be compromised.”

A week after the New York State primary, I wrote, “A Sign of Things to Come?” which prominently featured this billboard that the leftist owners of Manhattan Mini Storage posted on their West Street/9A and 44th Street storage facility for months. The article was negative toward Romney and his primary competitors, but that is not the point. I noticed a trend that could have proven fatal to Romney’s election: low voter turnout. In “Sign,” I wrote about how Romney won New York State with less than 6% of the GOP base voting. Other states had similarly low turnouts. I concluded that poor turnout numbers in the general would result in Obama’s reelection. Unfortunately for us, that billboard became a self-fulfilling prophesy. Mitt Romney couldn’t beat Obama.

Why?

At least two articles suggest that poor turnout indeed was the death knell of the Romney campaign. Associated Press reporter Josh Lederman in Turnout shaping up to be lower than 2008, which was syndicated to the Kentucky Post, among others, said turnout in this 2012 general election – one so critical to the future of our country – was lower than in 2008. It gets worse. According to Lederman, the turnout was less than 2004 levels in many states! Conservatives4Palin‘s Editor Doug Brady expounded on how polling samples work and why turnout was fatal to Romney in: It’s the Turnout, Stupid!

“A comparison of 2008 election results and 2012 election results indicate Obama received about 9 million fewer votes yesterday than he did in 2008. But the data also indicate that the Romney-Ryan ticket received almost 2.3 million fewer votes nationally than the McCain-Palin ticket did in 2008. (Incidentally, that 2.3 million voter deficit is only marginally less than the number of votes by which Obama beat Romney in the popular vote.),” Brady wrote.

Brady wrote about how he listened to Rush Limbaugh yesterday while driving. I happened to also have been listening while driving between job sites. Limbaugh said this was a classic “turnout election.” That is, Romney’s success or failure would be decided by voter turnout.

Unity

Gov. Palin did unite behind Romney and called upon her supporters to do likewise – multiple times. She supported him in no uncertain terms since June and our community – in the main – followed her lead. SarahPAC gave his campaign $5,000. Gov. Palin kept her support low-key and chose not to speak at the convention or brag about the donation. She said she “wanted to help, not hurt and helping sometimes means stepping aside.” Many Palinistas, myself among them did step up to the plate, put our misgivings aside, and united behind the ticket. We made things very uncomfortable for those who refused, both in and out of our community.

But, Romney apparently did not close the deal with enough people to motivate their votes. Most Romney supporters were voting against Obama, and that is simply not a recipe for success. Was there voter fraud? There certainly were naked attempts at it in multiple venues that were well-publicized. But, Romney chose to concede the race and not pursue the matter of voter fraud. Whatever voter fraud did occur, Romney’s concession forever closes the book on voter fraud claims.

Christian Whiton, Fox News concluded that this election was a damning indictment of the Republican establishment and moderates such as Romney, Bush, McCain, and others. Whiton wrote, “Recovery begins with saying goodbye to this Beltway GOP establishment.” Whiton wrote that Romney and the party establishment took the conservative base for granted. Sounds familiar?

Sarah 2016?

Gov. Palin’s brother, Chuck Heath, Jr. posted “Sarah 2016” on his Facebook Page today. I think I can safely speak for all Palinistas when I say we enthusiastically support her running and would do all we can do to help get her elected. I dare say, we’d go to Hell and back to get her elected. On that level, I share in Chuck Heath, Jr.’s support of his sister.

But, I am not at all comfortable in building and pushing a “Sarah 2016″ narrative that originates from anyone other than her. “Palin 2012″ was born November 4, 2008 when Obama got his last electoral vote. Almost immediately, we forgot the narrative was ours, not hers. When Gov. Palin announced she was not running, it devastated our community because we invested so much in “her” narrative that was never hers.

Yes, I think “Sarah 2016″ absolutely must originate from Sarah Palin, and absolutely must not originate from us. Certainly, the Obama win creates a circumstance far more favorable to a “Sarah 2016″ run than a Romney win would have. But, latching onto and pushing the “Sarah 2016″ narrative as our own could set ourselves up for more hurt and disappointment. We’ve been there, done it and even got the T shirt. Gov. Palin running in 2016 or any other cycle is her decision to make, not ours and no amount of encouraging, egging on, or trying to force the issue is going to change this fundamental fact. Also, things are little different now that we are established supporters as opposed to four years ago, when many of us were wet-behind-the-ears fanbois and girls. Gov. Palin knows the support is there – we don’t have to prove ourselves by screaming “Sarah 2016″ everywhere we go for the next three years.

I think “Sarah 2016″ and the onus for pursuing it or not rests with Gov. Palin. She’s got 20 years of experience in politics. She knows how to file FEC paperwork and organize a campaign. As seasoned veteran supporters, let’s defer to Gov. Palin’s professional judgment and wisdom on this. Let’s support what she is doing and how she does it and learn the lesson that 2012 should have taught us.

Bold Colors Candidates

Gov. Palin’s final endorsement success rate for 2012 is 64.28% based on nine out of 14 candidate having been elected for either a primary or the general (two endorsements were made after the primaries in their respective states).

In my numbers, I count Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Gov. Palin said she was not using the words “I endorse” for him, because she wanted to draw attention to his Lieutenant Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch. Gov. Palin, however, reaffirmed her staunch support of Gov. Walker and explained why she avoided the use of endorsement phraseology in reference to him. Those who insist Gov. Walker not be counted are free to use 13 as the number of endorsed candidates. Gov. Palin’s 2012 endorsement success numbers improve to 69.23% overall with 13 candidates counted as endorsed.

Of the nine successful endorsements, seven went on to win the general, resulting in an endorsement success rate of 77.77% for this subset. These winners did not just eke it out. They won by landslides. This is as much vindication of Gov. Palin’s Reagan Conservatism as Romney’s loss is a damning indictment of the establishment which must be consigned to history’s dustbin. Most politicians would kill for Gov. Palin’s endorsement success numbers: 64.28% (or 69.23% if you don’t count Gov. Walker) overall; and 77.77% of her primary winners going on to win a general.

The 2014 mid-term election cycle gives Gov. Palin another round in which to purge, cleanse, and rebuild via candidate endorsements. So does 2016 and the off-cycle elections in 2013 and 2015.

Let’s Build a New First Party…

During this time, we need to root out the party bosses at every level. We need to begin the war against Rule 12 in earnest.

We need to be better about sharing things on social media. Don’t ask! Just share! That’s what the leftists do. We need to push Facebook to fix their mobile setups and their smartphone apps to enable sharing. Our devices are crippled from effective sharing. We should be able to share on our iPhones/Droids just as we do on our desktops. Social media is about sharing, not just admiring our own musings.

We need to leave our comfort zones. We’ve been too myopic and preached way too much to the choir. Having the “best” Palin site, the Palin site with the most traffic, or being the “most famous Palin site” means nothing if the larger world does not read our content or even know we exist. We’re just kidding ourselves if we think we have the Internet all wrapped up. We don’t. Not in the least.

We need to stop wasting our time on mindless conspiracy theories of all stripes and the toxic debates that surround them.

We need to work more and complain less. How many among us called for Romney/Ryan? Put up a sign? Shared campaign material? Live-Tweeted campaign tweets during the debates? Convinced at least one person to vote the ticket? How many of us did these things for Gov. Palin’s Bold Colors candidates?

Obama’s win and our failure to retake the Senate is our call to arms. So what are we going to do?

The time to rebuild is now. You do not need a title to make a difference. Leadership is not about the position you hold. Leadership is about what you do.

“Let’s have a new first party – a Republican Party – raising a banner of bold colors – no pale pastels – a banner instantly recognizable as standing for certain values which will not be compromised.”

-President Ronald Wilson Reagan,
1975 Address to Young Americans for Freedom

Let’s build that new First Party together…

Our work continues…

Lt. Colonel Allen West visits The Palin Radio Update with Kevin Scholla to talk about his race in Florida as well as the battle for The White House. Hear Congressman West’s thoughts on Benghazi, the socialism and Marxism he sees in the Obama administration, and the Alinsky tactics being thrown at conservatives. Plus, West tells Kevin what he thinks of Sarah Palin. Also we get out the vote for Palin-powered candidates Ted Cruz, Dan Bongino, Deb Fischer, Jeff Flake, Richard Mourdock, Orrin Hatch, Mia Love, Paul Gosar, and Ted Yoho. All this and SarahNET Radio’s Steel Resolve, our weekly commentary from Sarah Steelman.

West Campaign Doing Well

Rep. West is running for re-election in his FL-18 Congressional seat. The American Grizzlies General Election candidate is leading by 12 points in pre-election polling and early voting. Rep. West is still welcoming volunteers and donations and invited listeners to visit his website to obtain more information. He said volunteers have traveled from neighboring states and even far-flung states like New York, Connecticut, and Alaska to help his campaign.

Obama Vulnerable in Florida

Rep. West has been supporting the Romney-Ryan campaign and said the only part of Florida Obama may carry is south Florida. But, with high unemployment, leading the nation in foreclosures, a Jewish community not happy with Obama’s relationship with Israel, and talk of Benghazi on the street, he is vulnerable in south Florida as well.

Obama’s Dangerous “Look the Other Way” Foreign Policy

Rep. West said the Benghazi scandal is the worst Presidential scandal in American history. “Watergate was just a bungled burglary,” yet Nixon had to resign. He said if Obama was a Republican, the media would have been covering Benghazi non-stop and he likely would have been impeached, even with the election looming so close. “This cannot be the new normal – that we lose an Ambassador – which has not happened since the Carter administration, a State Department worker, and two former Navy SEALS – and the President doesn’t want to answer it,” he said. Rep. West said the Obama administration lied and misled the American public about the attack being carried out over a YouTube video, meanwhile no one knows where attackers are.

“We have gone from ‘peace through strength,’ which was the Reagan maxim to ‘weakness is provocative, lead from behind,’” Rep. West said about our dangerous “look the other way” foreign policy. He said China’s blue-water navy is expanding, a Russian submarine was in the Gulf of Mexico undetected for months, and the “Middle East is catching fire.” He continued, “you either win a war or you lose it.” He said “on the 11th anniversary of September 11th for countless embassies to be attacked, have our flags ripped down and radical Islamic flags raised over our embassies is an act of war, and we don’t have the type of President to lead and show resolve.” Rep. West harkened back to Obama’s appeasement tour of the Middle East early in his term.

Gov. Palin Exceptional, True Constitutional Conservative

Scholla asked Rep. West his thoughts on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who several times said that the former Lt. Col. would make a good Vice Presidential candidate before Paul Ryan was picked. Gov. Palin also endorsed the current Congressman in his 2010 run.

“I think Gov. Palin is an exceptional woman. She really is indicative of a true constitutional conservative. I think that she has a voice that has to be reckoned with as we continue to grow this conservative movement in the United States of America – to restore our republic. I don’t know where she wants to take her future, but I’ll tell you what – she is a key player, and I am just very humbled and honored that she considers me in such high regard. And, I really was just floored to have been able to meet her back last year at Rolling Thunder when we got the chance to meet and take a couple of photos.”

West on the Issues

Shifting back to his own race, Rep. West said, “my opponent doesn’t stand for anything, and the only thing he is running on is to hate me.” He said we cannot continue down the path of 1.6% GDP growth and he said the right tax policies affect that. Earlier, Rep. West said ObamaCare is already hurting Florida seniors via hospitals being fined for multiple visits within 30 days and doctors deciding to no longer treat seniors. He said many regulations which strangle small businesses and community banks need to be repealed and ObamaCare needs to be repealed and replaced with a market-based alternative. He advocates developing all of our energy resources, stopping Obama’s “War on Coal,” building the Keystone XL pipeline, developing Alaskan fields and natural gas deposits, and renewables.

He said “renewables and green energy cannot be the sole focus, and that is where the crony capitalism comes in.” He said sequestration must be allowed to go through. He said we must have the military capability to deal with enemy combatant guerrillas and “high-end belligerents” like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

He said today’s Democratic Party is not the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy; it’s the party of Marx and Lenin. Scholla and West discussed the Alinsky tactics and divisiveness by groups that the party uses to achieve its objectives. Rep. West said the Democrats play by Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals we need to use the same playbook against them.

Palin-Powered Candidates

Scholla went on to discuss Gov. Palin’s endorsed candidates, all of whom he interviewed. They are archived at SarahNET Radio, US for Palin, and the American Grizzlies United / Organize4Palin State System.

Sarah Steelman on the Cost of Freedom

Sarah Steelman said during her Steel Resolve segment that Braveheart is one of her “favorite movies, because it is about the cost of becoming free.”

“One of the most excruciating and emotional scenes in the movie is when the English are torturing William Wallace for leading the Scottish Rebellion, against the Scottish nobles and the English. The English hanged, racked, and disemboweled Wallace. While he is laying in the rack being stretched apart, through the agony of this horrific pain, he screams out with every breath left in him, one word. That word was, ‘freedom,’” Steelman said.

She continued,

“History proves that the desire to be free is a powerful force. The yearning to remain free is the motivating force behind this election. Many people have asked me, ‘how are we less free now?’ A government that over-regulates takes away our freedom. It’s that simple. Yes, the economy and jobs are important to all of us, but the heart of the economic argument is the case for freedom. Americans want to chase their own dreams, pursue their own happiness, whatever that may be. Freedom is about choosing your own path to achieve your goals.”

“This election offers two futures for America,” Steelman said in her closing statement.

“Gov. Romney understands that Americans want to be free and the power of government must be limited. President Obama believes the government should be bigger and more powerful and can make better decisions about your life than you. This Election Day, please remember all the generations of men and women who sacrificed their lives for America. Protect this beautiful, God-given gift to each one of us: freedom. Make your vote count. This Election Day, choose freedom.”

Complete Audio Transcript of Allen West Interview

Downloadable Audio Transcript:

Download this interview and listen anywhere, anytime! -> Colonel Allen West <-

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today posted this Status Update on Facebook:

This Tuesday our country’s future is in our hands.

What’s past is prologue. We know what we will get from a second Obama term because we’ve all endured his first term. We know how well he kept his 2008 campaign promises. Do we really believe he’ll keep his 2012 promises?

Do we believe the word of a man who promised he wouldn’t raise taxes on the middle class, but then slammed the middle class with a massive tax hike in the form of Obamacare (and don’t forget that his own lawyers argued before the Supreme Court that the individual mandate is a tax)?

Do we really believe he won’t raise taxes even more on every American in order to pay for his wasteful spending and his crony capitalism?

Do we believe that the same president who increased the debt in his first term by more than all the first 41 presidents combined will suddenly decide to cut the deficit in his second term?

Do we believe that the president whose reckless spending led us to the first credit rating downgrade in our nation’s history will suddenly become a responsible fiscal manager if we reelect him?

Do we really believe that a president who promised us that job creation was his number one priority despite month after month of dismal job numbers now has a credible “plan” for the job growth that eluded him for the past four years?

Do we believe that the same president who shut down the Keystone Pipeline and blocks domestic oil and natural gas development at every turn is somehow going to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and lead us to energy independence?

Do we really believe that our country’s national security is safe in the hands of a president whose administration denied security and assistance to our consulate under attack on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on America, and then blamed that consulate attack and the death of our ambassador on a “spontaneous” protest over an obscure YouTube video despite all the real time evidence to the contrary?

Do we believe that a president who was caught on a hot mic telling the Russian president that he would have “more flexibility” after his reelection is being honest about his plans for a second term?

We know what we will get from a second Obama term. We will get the same failed policies. We will get Obamacare locked into law without any chance of undoing this dangerous legislation and any chance to seek real patient-centered health care reform. We will get a debt crisis. We will get more inflation and higher gas prices. We will get tax increases. We will get fewer jobs. We will get more small businesses collapsing under the weight of higher taxes and unfair regulation. We will get more corruption and crony capitalism favoring the Obama administration’s friends. We will get less domestic energy development and increased dependence on terrorist sponsoring foreign regimes for our energy needs. We will get a “blame America first” foreign policy that bows to our enemies and snubs our friends like Israel and leaves America and the world less safe. We will get less opportunity and security for ourselves and for our children.

In 2008, Barack Obama promised to fundamentally transform America. And for all his failures and broken promises, that’s the one thing he has delivered on. He’s transformed us from a nation of hope to one of anxiety. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Tuesday is our chance to turn things around.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have offered a credible alternative to Barack Obama’s failed policies. Governor Romney understands how the free market works. His pro-growth economic policies will benefit all Americans. He has promised to move us toward energy independence, deficit reduction, and responsible entitlement reform that honors our commitment to our seniors and keeps faith with future generations. Governor Romney deserves a chance to lead. President Obama had his chance. He’s failed, and we can’t afford to go backwards.

We must also remember the many good Republican candidates who are running for the House and Senate this year. They deserve our support as well. If you are like me, you have watched these campaigns, learned about the candidates, and know where they stand despite the skewed lens of a partisan media bent on keeping liberal leadership in power. We saw the destruction a Democrat controlled White House, House, and Senate brought us after the 2008 election. Our country can’t afford that again. Your vote is the only safeguard against that happening.

On Tuesday, please vote for Governor Mitt Romney and the commonsense conservatives running for office in your states.

Voting is our duty and our right. We must never forget the immense sacrifices generations of Americans, including our brave men and women in uniform today, have made to give us this right. And we must never forget the duty we owe to generations of Americans yet to be born to exercise our right to vote prudently. The White House and control of the Senate is in the balance in this election, and every vote will count.

I firmly believe it is our responsibility to restore this country and secure the blessings of liberty and prosperity for our children, just as it was secured for us. This is our sacred duty to the past and to the future. We will succeed in this so help us God.

God bless you and God bless America.

With an Alaskan heart,

Sarah Palin

Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin/posts/10151250767808588.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today posted this Status Update on Facebook:

We had a really good presidential debate tonight, and I hope every American is energized to get out and vote in three weeks. I also just want to give a quick thank you to everyone who supported Bristol & Mark. I know how much they appreciated the support. Now Bristol can head home just in time to enjoy Alaska’s new fallen snow!

Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin/posts/10151220364188588.

Mr. L reviewed Our Sarah: Made in Alaska, and discussed the political future of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in a broadcast he released yesterday. Political commentators on both left and right have jumped to the erroneous conclusion that Gov. Palin has left politics because of a picture she posted on Facebook in the minutes prior to her daughter Bristol’s Week Three Dancing With the Stars performance, and a picture of her reading the National Enquirer on a supermarket line. He laughed off pundits who speculated that Gov. Palin’s appearance in a sleeveless dress suggests she is out of politics. Should women look like Hillary Clinton? he asked. “What should she read on a supermarket line? Tolstoy? Dostoyevsky?” Mr. L asked sarcastically.

Mr. L said Gov. Palin’s father and brother do not know what the future holds in store for her. He said Romney’s performance as President – assuming he wins – is an unknown. He cautioned listeners to not “fall asleep” just because a Republican is back in office.” Romney could do well, or he could do poorly enough to be primaried. Or, Obama could win.

He said Our Sarah is as much a book about Alaska as it is about its former governor. He quoted a passage from the book in which the Heaths wrote that Alaska has beautiful scenery everywhere you turn, but death is always very close in the Final Frontier.

Mr. L detailed the matriarchal society of Alaska’s Natives, the tradition of the “wise woman” and how they shape the characters of both Gov. Palin and her husband, Todd who is part Yup’ik.

Mr. L said he supports Gov. Palin whether she chooses to run for another office or not. He said some supporters were so invested in a 2012 Presidential run that “they were so far up her behind they were touching her tonsils!”

In his synopsis, Mr. L wrote,

“My review of the new book “Our Sarah” written by Sarah Palin’s father and brother Chuck Heath Sr. and Jr. According to punditry on the right & left, Sarah Palin is done with politics. They believe this due to a few candid pictures taken of her last week. Sarah Palin goes on Fox News and makes one strongest and most encouraging statements about running for office in the future. Sarah Palin 2016 or 20___? Who knows? If her own father and brother don’t know, how can any of her supporters pretend to know?”

Whatever path Gov. Palin chooses to take, her compass always points to True North.