Political Lipskip

Sarah Palin Has the Juice

No wonder the left is scared out of their minds over Sarah Palin. There is an interesting political race happening in New York’s 23rd congressional district between a Democrat, a Republican in Name Only and a conservative named Douglas Hoffman. The GOP is putting its diminished weight behind the RINO. Fine Republicans like Newt Gingrich and the leftist blog Daily Kos are supporting Dede Scozzafave. Apparently her views are further to the left than her Democrat opponent Bill Owens!

The Tea Party Coalition has asked that she step aside:

We are extremely disappointed that the Republican Party (and leaders like Newt Gingrich) has missed the message of the Tea Parties and continues to take conservative voters for granted. We applaud all courageous statesmen (Fred Thompson, Michelle Bachmann, and Dick Armey) and call on other GOP officials to put America’s values over traditional, often corrupt and morally bankrupt, power structures.

And that is where Sarah Palin comes in. She posted on her Facebook page that she was supporting Hoffman:

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it’s important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Hot Air posted that with Palin’s support Hoffman managed to collect $116,000 in one day.

Just how effective has Sarah Palin’s intervention in the NY23 special election been? Douglas Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate that got Palin’s endorsement, raised $116,000 in a single day, according to a source within the campaign. The source told me to refer back to Chris Cillizza’s coverage of the race at the Washington Post blog The Fix, which noted that Hoffman had raised $210,000 … over the course of a week.

Stacy McCain confirmed this with another source in the campaign. He has a few updates as well on Democratic fundraising in the contest.

If nothing else, this confirms the power that Palin has with the conservative base. She can raise money hand over fist, even with some considerable negatives with other constituencies. If Hoffman winds up winning this election, Palin will become a very popular woman in the 2010 campaign, especially in Blue Dog Democrat districts where conservatives have grown appalled by the direction of a Democratic Congress. Even if he doesn’t, this has been an impressive demonstration of influence and power.