On Thursday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Retired Col. Rob Maness, who is the conservative candidate in the race to unseat incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), in Louisiana’s jungle primary.
“Many of us have encouraged the election of more conservative warriors to join the fight in the United States Senate this election cycle,” Palin wrote. “In the Louisiana Senate race we have the opportunity to send a true conservative and a real warrior to join that fight. So, today I am lending my support to retired Col. Rob Maness for U.S. Senate.”
Palin described Maness as a “true conservative” for “opposing amnesty, pledging to protect our Second Amendment rights, and promising to defund Obamacare.”
“As the grandfather of a now healthy 2-year-old baby grandson born at just 28 weeks and 2 lbs., 5 oz., he knows first hand the miracle of life and promises to protect it,” Palin added. “Rob is the admitted underdog in this race. Having spent his career in uniform, he does not have deep pockets or lobbyist connections to fund his campaign. To me, it’s a blessing, not a curse that he’s not held office before. After all, our founders weren’t politicians – many of them in fact were military leaders. Maybe it’s time we got back to those roots!”
Maness said that he sought “the endorsement of Gov. Palin because she is truly one of us who became a great public servant for her town, and her state, and our nation” who is “passionate about restraining the scope of the federal government particularly in our energy sector and in our healthcare decisions.”
Maness added that he was “truly humbled Governor Palin would lend her credibility to a regular guy like me.”
“We are winning this campaign the old-fashioned way — by putting people over politics. I’ve logged 50,000 miles in my Ford F-150 and visited all 64 of Louisana’s great parishes — this endorsement is just the energy we need to keep trucking!”
Former South Carolina Senator and Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint has said Palin’s endorsement is the most influential in GOP primaries and Brian Brox, a political scientist at Tulane University, said it would be significant in Louisiana.
“First, it will generate media coverage, and for an outsider candidate taking on establishment candidates, any coverage that can help raise name recognition is important,” Brox told the Times-Picayune. “Second, Palin’s endorsement will alert her many followers that Maness is someone who deserves their support. Maness will likely leverage this endorsement for fundraising, so it will be interesting to see if Palin and her followers will turn this rhetorical support for Maness into financial support.”
Palin also blasted Maness’s moderate and liberal opponents who are seen as two sides of the same establishment coin. She said that Landrieu “to this day says she would vote for Obamacare again – this, despite the fact that an estimated 80,000 Louisianans will see their current health plans cancelled despite promises from President Obama and Senator Landrieu that this would not occur.”
She also ripped he Republican establishment’s preferred candidate who “opposed President Reagan in the past and was actually a supporter of Mary Landrieu until recent years.”
“He voted to raise the debt ceiling, was one of 19 Republicans to vote for President Obama’s hate crimes legislation, campaigned in support of the government bailout (but now opposes it), voted for Obamacare Medicare savings (but now opposes them),” Palin wrote of Rep. Bill Cassidy. “Come on, GOP, is this the best we can do? I say no. Let’s come together and unite behind conservative warrior Col. Rob Maness – a proven fighter for freedom.”
Palin described Maness’s background, which included his rescue efforts on 9/11 at the Pentagon:
Col. Maness fought for 32 years in uniform upholding his pledge to support and defend our Constitution, and he is ready now to continue that service in the U.S. Senate. A decorated combat veteran, Rob fought to protect our freedoms and liberties and was awarded the Air Medal and Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone. On that fateful day in September 2001, Rob was stationed in the Pentagon when the terrorists attacked. Rob rushed from his office to the crash site and quickly jumped on one of the first teams entering the building in an attempt to save their colleagues. You can hear more of Rob’s inspiring story from that day here.
“Louisiana, Col. Rob Maness fought for us for 32 years. Let’s fight for him these next six months and let him continue to support and defend our Constitution in the U.S. Senate,” Palin wrote, while asking people to learn more about him at www.robmaness.com.
As Breitbart News has reported, because of Louisiana’s “Jungle Primary,” the top-two candidates after the November 4 election will face off in a runoff if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote. Recent polling has show Landrieu hovering around 40% while Cassidy and Maness are around 20% and 10%, respectively.
The Maness campaign also released its first television ad to coincide with the endorsement: