Palin: God's gift to Trump

Sarah Palin has endorsed Donald Trump. Under a picture of the two, the New York Daily News ran with the headline: "I'm with stupid."

In fact, the endorsement is a smarter move than it might first appear. Sure, Palin has been near-invisible this campaign season and, sure, she is toxic to many liberal commentators and moderate voters. But Trump doesn't need their votes right now. He needs to win Iowa.

The downside to being endorsed by Palin is association with a loser veep candidate who was widely mocked for her lack of understanding of economics, foreign policy and basic geography. Looking ahead to November, any Republican nominee would be wise to disassociate themselves from the Palin clan and their snowmobile racing shtick.

Timothy Stanley

Indeed, pundits on left and right have had a jamboree over this particular pairing. "They are both reality-TV personalities with distinctive syntaxes and hairstyles," wrote Alexandra Petri. SE Cupp asked "where have you gone, Sarah Palin?" chiding the Alaska maverick for siding with a "liberal." And the most interesting take was by David Frum, who argued that Palin/Trump vs. Cruz was a contest between conservatism as identity and conservatism as ideology.

Palin and Trump are no more familiar with conservative economist Friedrich Hayek than a kangaroo is with the music of Beethoven. For them, conservatism is about identifying with outsiders and marginalized white Americans.

But there is some biography behind this pairing, as the Washington Post notes. Trump endorsed Palin in 2008. Palin endorsed Trump's crusade to see Obama's birth certificate. The two had pizza in 2011. Last year, the former Alaska governor appeared on Saturday Night Live to make some gags about a Trump/Palin ticket. "Sarah, you're teasing us," said Jerry Seinfeld, "That's not nice."

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com