Sharron Angle backed Rick Santorum; Karen Handel is getting blamed for the Komen ‘anti-women’ move. A look at who the Grizzlies are backing in the GOP race. By Allison Yarrow
Clockwise from top left: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images; Steve Helber / AP Photo; Jacquelyn Martin, EPA / Newscom
She declared that she wouldn’t run, but she just keeps showing up. Sarah Palin is adamant that she won’t endorse a GOP hopeful, but continues to encourage primary voters to choose underdog Newt Gingrich at the polls to keep the electoral process alive. Julianne Moore plays the Queen Grizzly in the HBO adaptation of the 2008 campaign diary Game Change, airing March 10. And though her star is not what it once was, many Palin friends and foes believe her second act is yet to come.
Sharron Angle picked Rick Santorum for GOP nominee, calling him a “strong fiscal and social conservative who stands on principles above politics.” Both politicians lean far to the right on social issues. True to the Tea Party way, by the end of the Nevada pol's own Senate race in 2010, she had friends and enemies on both sides.
The senior vice president for public policy of the Susan G. Komen Foundation reportedly lead the charge to defund Planned Parenthood’s screening programs, a decision that ignited debate this week. Handel’s failed gubernatorial bid in Georgia was endorsed by Sarah Palin last July. Newt Gingrich supported her primary opponent, Nathan Deal, who won the office. A combination of Komen’s hiring Handel (a longtime opponent of abortion and Planned Parenthood) and a government investigation into Planned Parenthood resulted in the decision to pull the funding, Jeffery Goldberg wrote in The Atlantic.
John Bazemore / AP Photo
Mitt Romney counts Christine O’Donnell among his endorsements. She joined Romney’s team in the same breath as she confessed to liking all the GOP contenders—O’Donnell said in December that she gave money to Herman Cain, and would give to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. O’Donnell is the Grizzly most often compared to Palin, and both women are pretty brunettes who have been parodied in Saturday Night Live skits. The pair were scheduled to appear together at an Iowa Tea Party rally, but Palin went and O’Donnell didn’t because she was busy on a book tour. She fled Piers Morgan’s set when, during their interview, he asked her views on same-sex marriage, after having been invited on to discuss her book, Troublemaker: Let’s Do What It Takes to Make American Great Again, hit shelves in August 2011. She landed the book deal after losing her bid to win one of Delaware's U.S. Senate seats in 2010.
Jacquelyn Martin, EPA / Newscom
South Carolina’s first female governor was an early Tea Party star and Palin cub. Before January's primary, the Indian-American Republican endorsed Mitt Romney, citing his business experience. Recently, she's denied interest in becoming his running mate. (Romney told Fox News he was potentially interested in Haley, among others.) Newt Gingrich ultimately won Haley’s Palmetto State, where her approval numbers have recently dropped.
New Mexico’s governor may have been propelled to office by Sarah Palin’s visit to her state. Martinez’s numbers “got an 8 or 9 point bounce” post-Palin, a Republican strategist told The New Republic. Corruption and border security between her state and Mexico are office priorities for Martinez. Her name has been bandied along with Marco Rubio’s as potential GOP nominee running mates, most recently by Mitt Romney on Fox News.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican candidate for the Senate is often called moderate, but Sarah Palin still backed her race, calling the Californian a “common-sense conservative” who “shakes things up.” She was dubbed a “mean girl” for comments criticizing Barbara Boxer’s hairstyle, not knowing her mic was on. Fiorina hasn't backed a GOP candidate yet, but some compare her battle to overcome her corporate past to Romney's battle explaining his role at Bain Capital.
Take back her crystal ball. The Oklahoma governor said Michele Bachmann’s speedy rise to popularity didn’t surprise her, and that Rick Perry would make an excellent vice president. Fallin has tackled issues like education and energy while in office, and recently promised to lower the state income tax.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
After bagging sixth place at the Iowa caucuses, the media-savvy foster parent and former tax attorney dropped out of the race. She said she won’t endorse Romney during his visit to her state, but not because there are hard feelings. Bachmann announced that she’ll seek reelection for her Minnesota congressional seat.
