Politics

Palin bucks ‘tea party’ candidate in Utah, endorses Hatch for seventh term

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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On Tuesday night’s “On the Record with Greta Van Sustren” on the Fox News Channel, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined some of her fellow conservative movement counterparts in endorsing six-term incumbent Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch.

“I want him to win,” Palin said of Hatch. “I join Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and other conservatives who would like to see Mr. ‘Balanced Budget’ return to Washington.”

Palin explained that Hatch, who is fighting former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist for his party’s nomination for Utah’s senate seat, was one of the rare long-time incumbent Republican figures who have earned another term in Washington, D.C.

“He’s part of that 1 percent you hear about — not the 1 percent that’s mocked and criticized in the press lately, but the 1 percent of national politicians who I believe should be reelected, sent to Congress because of his commitment to see a balanced budget in the United States of America. He wants to apply that common sense economic principle of balanced budget, fiscal responsibility and I want to see him reelected. So my endorsement of him will differ from others, of course, in that race in Utah — no different in many sense when we talk about endorsements in Texas.”

Palin later released a statement on Facebook her page elaborating on her decision to endorse Hatch, calling his leadership “Reagan-like” and saying he fell in line with this election cycle’s start-up candidates Richard Mourdock, Deb Fischer, and Ted Cruz.

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