If former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska decides to run for president in 2012, she will now have plenty of help. In New Hampshire, which holds the first primary, Ms. Palin can count on the support of its newest senator, Kelly Ayotte. When the presidential campaign moves to South Carolina, the state’s new governor, Nikki Haley, will owe her one.
And out West, Susana Martinez, the governor-elect in New Mexico, will be ready to help during a potential general election matchup with President Obama as both parties battle over the growing block of Hispanic voters.
Ms. Palin wasn’t on any ballot. But the self-described “Mama Grizzly” had plenty at stake Tuesday night as she sought to bolster her credentials as the Republican Party’s most powerful kingmaker and the voice of the newly empowered Tea Party movement. Ms. Palin was anything but timid in the midterm elections, endorsing dozens of candidates, including in some of the most high-profile races.
The result was a mixed record that included some very big losses — Delaware and Nevada — but plenty of victories that Ms. Palin and her allies have already begun to point to as evidence of her political prowess and her ability to shape and direct the unwieldy frustration that is fueling American politics.
In a late-night message posted on Twitter, Ms. Palin thanked the conservative voters who helped sweep her candidates into office. She used the not-quite-English phrase that she accidentally coined months ago on Twitter.
“As always, proud to be American! Thanks, Commonsense Constitutional Conservatives, u didn’t sit down & shut up . . . u ‘refudiated’ extreme left,” Ms. Palin wrote.
In another Twitter message, Ms. Palin played pundit, saying that the Republican victories during the campaign sent a “very clear message to Pres Obama: we’ll send our representatives to DC to stop your fundamental transformation of America. Enough is enough.”
It is not clear whether Ms. Palin will make a presidential bid. She has said she would consider doing so if there was no one else to do it.
And if she does run, she may have to answer to the Republican establishment for pushing candidates who made it harder — not easier — for the party to seize control of the Senate on Tuesday night.
In Delaware, Ms. Palin all but created the Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell, helping thrust the young woman onto the national political stage over the strenuous objections of the Republican elite in Washington. And in the end, Ms. O’Donnell never had a chance, handing what most likely would have been a Republican Senate seat to Democrats.
And in Nevada, Republican celebration was muted when their top target — Harry Reid, the Senate’s majority leader — handily defeated Ms. Palin’s chosen candidate, Sharron Angle, to return to Washington.
In Ms. Palin’s home state, Alaska, political turmoil still reigns thanks to her support of Joe Miller, the Tea Party favorite who defeated Senator Lisa Murkowski in the state’s Republican primary this year. But with “write-ins” leading Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski may retain her seat.
Still, as potential 2012 presidential contenders begin lining up support and cashing in chits, Ms. Palin will have plenty of places to look for support. In addition to the Senate and governors’ races, there are dozens of lesser-known House candidates who had earned her blessing.
In the meantime, Ms. Palin will happily toy with the news media and the political pundits (of which she is one). She will appear in a reality television show called “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” in which she will celebrate the outdoors in her home state. In an ad for the show that ran Tuesday night, Ms. Palin is shown hiking and kayaking with her family.
“I’d rather be doing this than in some dumpy old political office,” Ms. Palin says in the ad. “I’d rather be out here being free.”
