Michael Gaynor
Bravo, Laura Ingraham. Boo, Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity
By Michael Gaynor
The truth is that the insightful Ingraham was right from the start, the feisty Palin made an understandable mistake and then shamelessly stayed the course instead of owning up to it, and Hannity was AWOL in the battle in NH.
There is a huge lesson for conservatives to be learned from the New Hampshire Senate Republican primary.
In a field of seven (six men, one woman), the race came down to a choice between insurgent, anti-establishment solid conservative Ovide Lamontagne and Kelly Ayotte, a former New Hampshire Attorney General whose had been appointed to that position by both Republican and Democrart governors and who inherited the case that challenged the constitutionality of the New Hampshire's now repealed parental notification statute, lost in the federal appellate court, won a remand on remedy in the United States Supreme Court and then ran for Senator as the winner of the case even though she had quietly approved a $300,000 payout to Planned Parenthood after a federal district court rejected United States Supreme Court precedent and erroneously ruled that Planned Parenthood had been the "prevailing party" (a legal term of art) in the case.
Ayotte was the candidate of the national and New Hampshire Republican establishments.
Ayotte was NOT an ardent conservative.
Any doubt of that should have been eliminated by Ayotte's videotaped declaration that she would have supported the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as a United States Supreme Court Justice.
Radio and tv star Laura Ingraham IS a true conservative.
Last December, Ingraham interviewed Lamontagne, showered him with sincere praise and described him — RIGHTLY — as "the only tue conservative in a very important race."
Lest there be any doubt, Ingraham reiterated her full support of Lamontagne a few months ago.
New Hampshire is the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state, and so former Alaska Governor chose to make a Facebook endorsement.
Amazingly, the maverick who came to fame by challenging the Republican establishment in Alaska turned away from the New Hampshire Tea Party favorite, Lamontagne, embraced Ayotte as a fellow "Mama Grizzly" and lauded her as a fighter, citing her Supreme Court "win."
Perhaps Palin thought Lamontagne was not a viable true conservative. If so, she guessed wrongly.
Perhaps Palin didn't want a "Papa Grizzly." If she did, Lamontagne would have been her man in New Hampshire. He's as protective of life as it gets, respecting the right to life from conception to natural death, and much more so than Ayotte, who favors the misdescribed "medical emergency" loophole used to permit abortion in the absence of risk to the life of the mother.
Bottom line: Palin made a huge mistake.
As Lamontagne surged and the New Hampshire press finally noticed and reported that $300,000 Planned Parenthood payout, it was obvious to anyone who examined the facts that Palin had made a mistake and had the chance to distinguish herself sharply from President Obama by admitting and correcting that mistake.
Instead, Palin did a robo-call for Ayotte actually describing Ayotte as "the true conservative in the race."
The true establishment candidate, yes.
The true conservative?
Certainly not.
Sean Hannity, whose latest book is titled Conservative Victory and who is the conservative with the best tv show and second only to Rush Limbaugh in national radio audience, helped Tea Party favorite O'Donnell upset Republican establishment candidate Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary, should have weighed in on the New Hampshire race, but passed on the chance to opine on whether Ingraham, a Dartmouth graduate who knows New Hampshire, or Palin, an Alaskan likely to visit it in the next couple of years.
It was a no-brainer, Sean.
General statements that we need to elect conservatives, not RINOs, are not enough.
Control of the United States Senate. That's even more important than helping former British Prime Minister Tony Blair sell his book or former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani reminisce about his best days.
The truth is that the insightful Ingraham was right from the start, the feisty Palin made an understandable mistake and then shamelessly stayed the course instead of owning up to it, and Hannity was AWOL in the battle in NH.
Ingraham did all she could. Palin and Hannity needed (and need) to do much better.
© Michael Gaynor
September 17, 2010
The truth is that the insightful Ingraham was right from the start, the feisty Palin made an understandable mistake and then shamelessly stayed the course instead of owning up to it, and Hannity was AWOL in the battle in NH.
There is a huge lesson for conservatives to be learned from the New Hampshire Senate Republican primary.
In a field of seven (six men, one woman), the race came down to a choice between insurgent, anti-establishment solid conservative Ovide Lamontagne and Kelly Ayotte, a former New Hampshire Attorney General whose had been appointed to that position by both Republican and Democrart governors and who inherited the case that challenged the constitutionality of the New Hampshire's now repealed parental notification statute, lost in the federal appellate court, won a remand on remedy in the United States Supreme Court and then ran for Senator as the winner of the case even though she had quietly approved a $300,000 payout to Planned Parenthood after a federal district court rejected United States Supreme Court precedent and erroneously ruled that Planned Parenthood had been the "prevailing party" (a legal term of art) in the case.
Ayotte was the candidate of the national and New Hampshire Republican establishments.
Ayotte was NOT an ardent conservative.
Any doubt of that should have been eliminated by Ayotte's videotaped declaration that she would have supported the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as a United States Supreme Court Justice.
Radio and tv star Laura Ingraham IS a true conservative.
Last December, Ingraham interviewed Lamontagne, showered him with sincere praise and described him — RIGHTLY — as "the only tue conservative in a very important race."
Lest there be any doubt, Ingraham reiterated her full support of Lamontagne a few months ago.
New Hampshire is the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state, and so former Alaska Governor chose to make a Facebook endorsement.
Amazingly, the maverick who came to fame by challenging the Republican establishment in Alaska turned away from the New Hampshire Tea Party favorite, Lamontagne, embraced Ayotte as a fellow "Mama Grizzly" and lauded her as a fighter, citing her Supreme Court "win."
Perhaps Palin thought Lamontagne was not a viable true conservative. If so, she guessed wrongly.
Perhaps Palin didn't want a "Papa Grizzly." If she did, Lamontagne would have been her man in New Hampshire. He's as protective of life as it gets, respecting the right to life from conception to natural death, and much more so than Ayotte, who favors the misdescribed "medical emergency" loophole used to permit abortion in the absence of risk to the life of the mother.
Bottom line: Palin made a huge mistake.
As Lamontagne surged and the New Hampshire press finally noticed and reported that $300,000 Planned Parenthood payout, it was obvious to anyone who examined the facts that Palin had made a mistake and had the chance to distinguish herself sharply from President Obama by admitting and correcting that mistake.
Instead, Palin did a robo-call for Ayotte actually describing Ayotte as "the true conservative in the race."
The true establishment candidate, yes.
The true conservative?
Certainly not.
Sean Hannity, whose latest book is titled Conservative Victory and who is the conservative with the best tv show and second only to Rush Limbaugh in national radio audience, helped Tea Party favorite O'Donnell upset Republican establishment candidate Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary, should have weighed in on the New Hampshire race, but passed on the chance to opine on whether Ingraham, a Dartmouth graduate who knows New Hampshire, or Palin, an Alaskan likely to visit it in the next couple of years.
It was a no-brainer, Sean.
General statements that we need to elect conservatives, not RINOs, are not enough.
Control of the United States Senate. That's even more important than helping former British Prime Minister Tony Blair sell his book or former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani reminisce about his best days.
The truth is that the insightful Ingraham was right from the start, the feisty Palin made an understandable mistake and then shamelessly stayed the course instead of owning up to it, and Hannity was AWOL in the battle in NH.
Ingraham did all she could. Palin and Hannity needed (and need) to do much better.
© Michael Gaynor
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