Supporters of Conservative Party congressional candidate
Doug Hoffman -- whose special election
campaign in upstate New York's 23rd district is drawing
nationwide attention -- have begun to wonder why former Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin hasn't endorsed Hoffman.
"In doing so she will join former Presidential candidate Fred
Thompson, and the fiscal conservative group Club for Growth to
endorse Hoffman over the Republican nominee," conservative blogger Dale
Gordon wrote yesterday.
Hoffman supporters say a Palin endorsement would
counterbalance the GOP
establishment's backing of liberal Republican candidate
Dede Scozzafava.
Josh Painter of the Texas for Palin blog says an
endorsement from Palin "could be posted on the former governor's
Facebook Notes
page, and it would be an instant sensation among Sarah's
928,739 Facebook supporters . . . and the media would give
it an audience of millions more."
Painter notes that Palin, who
energized grassroots conservatives as the 2008 GOP
vice-presidential candidate, has
declared her desire to support "candidates who believe
in the right things, regardless of their party label or
affiliation."
More than anything, Hoffman
campaign officials say, they need a quick injection
of cash to match the big money the two major national
parties are giving to their candidates. There is a rapidly
escalating money battle in the
three-way NY23 campaign.
Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are
planning fundraising events for the little-known Democratic
candidate, Bill Owens. The
Republican National Committee and the National
Republican Congressional Committee have
enraged conservatives by giving "six figure"
contributions to Scozzafava.
Hoffman's grassroots supporters say time is running out
for Palin to make an endorsement, if she is to have any
impact on the Nov. 3 election, now barely two weeks
away. Hoffman is endorsed by the
pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, and some of
Hoffman's pro-life supporters have reportedly launched
an e-mail campaign -- including prayer requests -- to secure
the endorsement of Palin, whose pro-life bona
fides would carry weight with the significant
share of conservative Catholics in the rural upstate New York
district.
