Washington, Palin-backed candidate defeated
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/26/art.ward.gi.jpg caption=" A Republican congressional candidate in Idaho who was recruited by national Republicans and endorsed by Sarah Palin was defeated Tuesday in a primary election."](CNN) - A Republican congressional candidate in Idaho who was recruited by national Republicans and endorsed by Sarah Palin was defeated Tuesday in a primary election.
Idaho state Representative Raul Labrador topped Vaughn Ward in the battle for the GOP nomination for Idaho's 1st Congressional District.
Ward, an Iraq war veteran who served as a campaign state coordinator for Sen. John McCain's 2008 bid for the White House, was picked as a candidate for the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Gun's" program. He greatly outraised Labrador in the race for campaign cash, and Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee who was born in Idaho, joined Ward at a rally last week.
But Ward apparently damaged his bid in recent weeks, allegedly plagiarizing from a speech President Barack Obama made at the 2004 Democratic convention. He also mistakenly alluded that Puerto Rico was a country during a recent debate.
Labrador, a conservative favored by local Tea Party groups, will now face off against Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick in November's general election. Minnick, a freshman member of Congress who won the district by two points in the 2008 election, was the only Democrat to receive an endorsement last month by the Tea Party Express, a national group which has organized three cross country bus tours.
The district covers the western part of Idaho, including parts of suburban Boise.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
From CNN Politics
- 5 takeaways after Newsom prevails in recall September 16, 2021 04:25 pm
- Key senators eye the exits ahead of 2022 midterms: 'It's a six-year commitment' September 16, 2021 04:15 pm
- Biden to argue US has reached an 'inflection point' in speech pushing economic agenda September 16, 2021 02:35 pm
- Trump's Big Lie is changing the face of American politics September 16, 2021 01:43 pm
- White House offers Nicki Minaj call with doctor to answer vaccine questions September 16, 2021 01:42 pm
- Republican lawmakers keep Saturday's right-wing rally at arm's length as Democrats spotlight GOP extremism September 16, 2021 12:29 pm
Congratulations Sarah, you are doing a good job. Keep it up!
He sounds almost at stupid as Palin!
Sounds like him and palin went to the same school.
who is palin, the individual endorsments by the self proclaimed are hogwash
Time to put this "young gun" back in his little holster! Hey Idaho ... Puerto Rico is a territory of the US, don't feel bad though ... we know they don't teach un-american stuff like that in ID.
It is fine to be a Tea Party member. It is fine to be for smaller government.
However, it is not ok to be an idiot and fortunately/unfortunately depending on how you look at it Palin and those she supports has roughly the same intellect and until these folks can actually put a representative with a brain for their cause they just become laughing points over and over.
Was it any surprise the one guy that wins then turns around and starts talking about things that are wrong with the civil rights laws. At the end of the day the message is fine....but those leading the charge are a bunhc of idiots like Palin and it becomes a "best of the worse" like all of our political representatives.
The Press give way too much coverage to this 1/2 term quitter Governor!!! the one who decries Socialism but had no problem negotiating Alaskan oil deals to get Oil money to redistribute to Alaskan's!! it turns out an Empty Oil Barrel often makes the most noise!!! Drill Baby Drill Or Rather Spill Baby Spill!!!
perhaps telling untruths and making statements that show how bright you are not only works for Sarah Palin because she has a strong bunch of groupies that think it's "cute"! He should have said "you-betcha" after his mea-culpas and it might have come out better.
Sarah the quitter = Kiss of death
I know Good and Great Danes Well that a palin candidate didnt copy from the President's speech,
Republicans have no clue who to support and who not to support...
Who cares. Why not report on the WH bribing people with jobs to drop out of races???
The Palin "touch" strikes again. She has quit being Governor, lost her job on Fox, lost her job on Discovery, and had to buy back over 600,000 copies of her own book (using money from political contributors to her PAC, of course). Fun times for ole' Sarah.
A looser backing a looser.Who is surprised here?
Well, so much for the Right Wing crticizing Obama's speeches... I suppose imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And of course he thinks Puerto Rico is a country! I mean, seriously, he's backed by Palin and we're all too familiar with her grasp of geography.
Another GOP/Palin product bites the dust. Gov Palin is all for herself and anyone tht thinks she can bring in votes is a fool.
RNC + Palin + Cheney = Zero for every election endorsement.
Yep..They certainly have the pulse of the citizenry eh?
Ok. Either way we get a TEA party endorsed candidate in Congress. My preference is that he have an (R) after his name, but so long as he supports lower taxes, personal firearm rights, limited Federal government, less spending, strong military and securing the borders then a (D) is acceptable.
The two together make a meager human.
Palin is a nothing. What meaning could her endorsement have?
Palin is poison! The Republican party needs to understand this.
What's really sad is that the Republican party still has NO ONE to run against Obama that has half a chance. Who are they going to run – Palin again? McCain? Huckabee? Romney? Jindal? Santorum? All LOSERS.
If the Republican Party is at all serous about wanting to beat Obama, they better start looking around to find a real candidate that people will be willing to vote for – because right now, they don't have one.
RNC + Palin + Cheney = Zero for every Election endorsement.
They certainly have the pulse of the "real" Americans eh?
What a buffoon this Vaughn Ward guy was. "Allegedly" plagiarized a speech from Obama? You could look at a side-by-side comparison of the two speeches and see that the language was identical. And he's trying to run against Obama!
Note to future candidates: YouTube exists. People watch it. You can't get away with this kind of nonsense anymore.
Of course, he was backed by a buffoon (Palin), too.
I guess Democrat Walt Minnick will keep serving the people of Idaho well, as my conservative relatives there tell me.
Palin's endorsement is appearing to be the political "kiss of death".
People get the kind of govt. they deserve. If we elect politicians that offer "political slogans" rather than "practical solutions", we deserve the mess they create.