Courting A Palin Endorsement

Chicago Congressman Mark Kirk saw the writing on the wall and that is why he reached out to Sarah Palin for and endorsement.

If I were Mark Kirk, I wouldn't expect to get it.

But the story shows where the Republican party is headed and the power that Sarah Palin holds. She, more than any other possible 2012 candidate, is seen as the keeper of true Ronald Reagan Conservative values. her endorsement brings money, attention and a likely victory, especially in a Republican primary.

She is being called the Republican "Endorser-in-Chief."

We told you here that Republican Candidates would now be forming a line from Alaska to the lower 48 to get her endorsement. Mark Kirk jumped to the front of the line when a memo to powerful GOP operative and Palin friend Fred Malek was leaked to the press. Chris Cillizza first reported the story on The Fix blog for the Washington Post.

After noting that Palin will be in Chicago later this month to appear on "Oprah", Kirk writes that "the Chicago media will focus on one key issue: Does Gov[ernor] Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk's bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?"

Kirk goes on to write that he is hoping for something "quick and decisive" from Palin about the race, perhaps to the effect of: "Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama's Senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that."

Chris followed up his Wednesday post with this nugget about the fear Palin is sending through Republican moderates.:

The news that Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk (R) is actively seeking the backing of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin in his Senate primary race is the latest evidence of the power the 2008 vice presidential nominee carries -- thanks to the fact that she has become the voice of the angry right. The rumor that Palin is considering weighing in on a race is enough to set a candidate on edge; witness the nervousness of Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) at simply the whisper that Palin was likely to endorsed former state House speaker Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate primary. (It's not happening, according to Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton, who says an it's too early for an endorsement of either Rubio or Crist.) Palin is, by all accounts, focused heavily on her book, which hits shelves on Nov. 17, and isn't jonesing to throw herself into a series of primary fights any time soon.

And that is good news for Mark kirk.

The best Representative Kirk could hope for is that Palin endorses neither leading Republican candidate candidate in the Illinois primary because it is highly doubtful that he would get her endorsement.

Mark Kirk's voting record shows him to be a moderate Republican. In the primary for the US Senate Seat formerly held by Barack Obama, he is running against real estate developer and anti-tax advocate Patrick Hughes, who is a staunch conservative.

A new analysis of polling shows Republicans in the state are overwhelmingly Conservative.

The ideological background of the primary electorate appears to favor a candidate such as Patrick Hughes. Seven in ten respondents (69%) described themselves as ideologically conservative, compared to only a quarter (25%) of respondents describing themselves as ideologically moderate

Hughes quickly used the Kirk story to his advantage:

"I believe Mark Kirk, who has consistently supported President Obama's legislative agenda, including cap and trade legislation, is quickly realizing that Republican Primary voters do not share his extreme views," Hughes said in a statement. "In a desperate attempt to prove otherwise, he is seeking the endorsement of Sarah Palin, a true Reagan conservative, to help disguise his liberal voting record."

It will be interesting to see what Sarah Palin ends up doing when she travels to Chicago in two weeks to tape the Oprah interview. My guess is that she will stay out of the Illinois race.

It seems apparent that Mark Kirk sent the request because he feared Palin might endorse Hughes. It was a preemptive strike after seeing the results of the 2009 General Election - a republican conservative sweep in state races - and the power of a Palin endorsement in NY-23.

But his attempt to preempt may have backfired. With all the attention that any Palin story gets, he has been outed as a desperate wanna-be Conservative. Watch the polls in the next week as Patrick Hughes goes ahead and Sarah didn't even have to lift a finger on her Facebook keyboard.