Sarah Palin Upholds Conservative Principles

Sarah Palin has shown once again why conservatives love her: she’s a true conservative who stands on principle, even when it means standing up to her own party.

On Thursday Sarah Palin announced her endorsement of 3rd party candidate Doug Hoffman in his run for the congressional seat in New York’s 23rd District.

Palin’s endorsement of Hoffman puts her at odds with the GOP establishment which, unfortunately, chose Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava as their candidate. Scozzafava supports abortion rights, same-sex marriage, card check, President Obama’s stimulus package, and other liberal policies. As Palin said in her endorsement announcement, “there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race.”

By endorsing Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party ticket, Palin has shown herself to be a far more dependable conservative than such formerly dependable conservatives as Newt Gingrich, who has endorsed Scozzafava even though he admits that “some of her values do not match” his values, and that “she’s clearly more liberal” than he is. Gingrich says that his choice in endorsing Scozzafava “is a practical one,” and that his “number one interest in the 2009 elections is to build a Republican majority.”

Does Gingrich not realize that the reason Republicans lost the majority is that they failed to govern as conservatives? Does he not realize that Republicans will never again achieve large-scale electoral success until they once again run conservative candidates?

Even if expediency were all the GOP seeks when choosing candidates, choosing conservative candidates would be far more expedient than attempting to appease the left with candidates like Scozzafava. Sarah Palin understands that, but she also understands something far greater than expediency; she understands principle. In announcing her endorsement of Hoffman, Palin wrote the following:

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

Political parties must stand for something.

Government officials must also stand for something, and Sarah Palin is one of the few who do. She stands for true conservative values. While many politicians talk about no more politics as usual, Palin demonstrates her commitment to principle, and she remains faithful to her conservative principles, even when it means going against the party establishment. That’s true leadership, and that’s one thing that sets Sarah Palin apart from most politicians.