AMES, Iowa — Donald Trump snagged the coveted endorsement Tuesday from conservative superstar Sarah Palin, giving his run for the GOP presidential nomination the latest in a series of momentum boosts with just 12 days until this state’s leadoff caucuses.
The backing of Mrs. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and tea party favorite, is a huge coup for Mr. Trump in Iowa, where Mrs. Palin is immensely popular.
It’s also a blow to his chief rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running neck-and-neck with Mr. Trump in most Iowa polls and has credited Mrs. Palin’s support in 2010 with helping him win his Senate seat in Texas.
“Doggone right we’re angry and justifiably so,” the former Alaska governor said, making her endorsement in a spirited speech that revved up the rally of a couple thousand people inside a cavernous agricultural events center.
Mrs. Palin praised Mr. Trump for bucking the GOP establishment, injecting honesty into the political process and backing a strong military. She also chided critics who have questioned his conservatism — a dig at Mr. Cruz who has made that his main line of attack against the billionaire businessman.
“He’s gone rogue left and right and that’s why he’s doing so well,” she said in a speech that bounced from topic to topic much like Mr. Trump’s speeches, although much faster and with more more catch phrases that resonate with her fans.
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“They stomp on our necks and say, ’Relax,’” she said of the establishment politicians. “We’re not going to chill. It’s time to drill baby drill into the Washington establishment.”
She also acknowledge the spectacle of her and Mr. Trump teaming up to put two figures often maligned by GOP establishment and mainstream media on the same stage.
“Media heads are spinning. This is going to be so much fun,” she said.
Mr. Trump said that he was proud to have the endorsement, and he called Mrs. Palin and her husband Todd Palin “amazing people.”
“From day one, I said that if I’m going to do this, I’ve got to get her support,” said Mr. Trump.
The endorsement capped a series of developments that benefited Mr. Trump’s campaign or undercut Mr. Cruz’s run, including Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad telling caucusgoers not to back Mr. Cruz and Christian conservative leader Jerry Falwell Jr. vouching that Mr. Trump lived in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
SEE ALSO: Glenn Beck to endorse Ted Cruz: report
“This is a bad day in Iowa for Ted Cruz,” said Jamie Johnson, former senior director for Rick Perry and a veteran Iowa GOP operative. “It’s a one-two punch, first from Gov. Branstad and second from Sarah Palin.”
Earlier Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad urged state residents not to back Mr. Cruz because of his opposition to renewable fuels such as ethanol, which is a pocket-book issue in this top corn-producing state.
“We should not be supporting somebody who is opposing those things that are of critical importance to the economic well-being of our state,” the Republican governor said at a renewable fuels summit near Des Moines.
Responding to a reporter’s question, the governor said that he wanted to see Mr. Cruz defeated in Iowa. “This would be a great way to send a strong message,” he said.
Mr. Branstad has has not endorsed a candidate in the Republican presidential race.
The endorsement by Mrs. Palin elated Mr. Trump’s supporters.
“This locks down Iowa for Trump,” said Ken Crow. a prominent Iowa tea party activists and outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump. “In Iowa, she’s beloved. She’s a rock star. Maybe not in the rest of the country, but in Iowa she is.”
Mr. Johnson agreed, saying said her endorsement could swing the caucus results by between 5 percent and 10 percent in Mr. Trump’s favor, based on surveys showing that much as 15 percent of GOP caucus-goers identify themselves as tea party voters.
That’s a big swing when many voters are still on the fence between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz.
“If they are on the fence and the queen of the tea party decides to make one of them king, they’ll go with him,” said Mr. Johnson.
Mrs. Palin’s endorsement goes a long way toward dispelling Mr. Cruz’s accusations that Mr. Trump is a closet liberal because he previously was a pro-choice Democrat.
Craig Robinson, editor of the Iowa Republican blog, said he didn’t think endorsement carried much weight in elections but that it would guarantee that Mr. Trump dominates another news cycle.
“She fits with Trump because she is a strong advocate for the military, she’s an outsider. She challenges the establishment. She fits nicely with Trump,” he said.”It takes away from the notion that all the conservatives are backing Ted Cruz.”
Mr. Cruz has won most of the endorsements form Iowa conservatives, including Rep. Steve King. But those endorsements pale in comparison to one from Mrs. Palin.
When news of the endorsement leaked, the Cruz campaign balked that she risked muddying her reputation as a conservative.
“She would be endorsing someone who’s held progressive views all their life on the sanctity of life, on marriage, on partial-birth abortion,” Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler said on CNN’s “New Day.”
The campaign later softened it’s response.
Mr. Cruz told reporters in New Hampshire that he will always be grateful for the support Mrs. Palin showed him during his successful 2010 Senate campaign.
“I love Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is fantastic. Without her friendship and support I wouldn’t be in the Senate today,” he said, adding that he would remain a fan of hers despite her endorsement of Mr. Trump.
Earlier, Mr. Trump got another public endorsement the daughter of the late John Wayne, who said the Duke would have been a supporter, too.
“If John Wayne were around, he’d be standing here instead of me,” Aissa Wayne said standing beside Mr. Trump at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset, Iowa.
“The reason I am here to support Mr. Trump is because America needs help and we need a strong leader and we need someone like Mr. Trump with leadership qualities, someone with courage, someone who is strong like John Wayne,” she said.
Mr. Trump called the endorsement was a “tremendous honor” and that he was a longtime fan of the actor.
Mr. Trump’s supporters have long viewed the straightforward and combative Mr. Trump as a John Wayne figure who they believe ban unite blue-collar and conservative voters to win the White House and put the country back on track.
Ms. Wayne previously endorsed Mr. Trump in a letter posted online. But the public appearance helped cement the link between the actor and the movie star with Iowa voters ahead of the state’s leadoff caucuses Feb. 1.
Standing in front of a life-size statue of John Wayne dressed in cowboy costume, he said that the actor was “bigger than life.”
“Come to think of it, who do we have that’s bigger than life today,” Mr. Trump said. “I won’t use some of the names of the actors, but not the same thing.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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