Palin's Paul Ryan endorsements are paying off for us long-term

Palin endorsed Paul Ryan's Roadmap on December 10, 2010. To my knowledge she was the first major contender to do so. When I wrote about it on this blog, I mentioned how at the time Ryan's Roadmap was considered somewhat of a risky proposition that only serious conservatives would endorse to either their success or their peril.

Now it's May 2011 and Ryan's Roadmap has become one of the most significant arguments in nearly every debate. Each candidate is framed on whether or not they endorse his plan and to what degree. Even the President had to make a rebuttal to Ryan's budget proposal during the budget talks. Not only has this piece of policy become so significant, but Ryan himself has become the go-to guy on our country's economic issues. Would this have happened if Palin hadn't endorsed the plan back in December?

Last Sunday, official 2012 candidate Newt Gingrich slammed the Medicare component in Ryan's budget proposal to his peril. Every major conservative pundit has declared Gingrich done in the 2012 race. I don't know if he did this to make waves in order to get the focus on him and to get more popularity or something, but whatever he wanted to accomplish completely backfired. The 2012 candidates need to realize that we are really fed up with big government and we're not going to forgive gaffes like this so easily.

Palin endorsed this plan in December. She endorsed Ryan's policy credentials throughout the past two years. It's because of her high profile endorsements that these economic policy debates are happening. She has such a great eye for who is going to be good for this country and who is passionate about their work. She's already paved the way for us picking a great nominee in 2012 - one who can go toe-to-toe with Obama and one who is not a RINO squish. Gingrich has been weeded out because of her. That's got to be a great feeling.

On the surface, Ryan endorsement seems pivotal to 2012

Those of us entrenched in following Palin are not surprised to see that she endorsed Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan's Roadmap for America's Future. The content of which is policy that her supporters could easily identify as in line with Palin's views.

However, I will admit I was surprised to see so many comments and posts throughout the blogosphere saying that this endorsement legitimizes Palin as a presidential candidate in their minds. I also hadn't really noticed that Ryan is one of Palin's favorite politicians. I can't believe I didn't notice that, or the view that endorsing this would make her a serious candidate to those who hadn't previously thought of her that way. (Maybe being pregnant most of the year explains how I missed it :)) Ace said endorsing the Roadmap is risky. Well, Palin is all about taking risks so that did not surprise me in the least. There's also this myth among RINOs that she doesn't discuss substantive issues or policy and this is the BIG tipping point where she finally does. Well, if you read her Facebook posts, Going Rogue, America by Heart, her Twitter feed, watch her interviews, listen to what she says on Fox as a contributor...you'll see that she addresses substantive policy daily.

In any event, I'm happy for the change of heart and I welcome it. If this is what it took, then I'm very happy she endorsed it. Where's Romney and Huck and what do they think of the Roadmap?

The endorsement also seems to be pivotal in that many (including myself) are recognizing that Palin really likes Paul Ryan, a lot. She endorsed his views in February and August of this year, too, which I read about at Hot Air.

Palin is definitely doing two things with the Roadmap endorsement: (1) bringing conservative policy reforms to the forefront of the national discussion; and (2), bringing attention to Paul Ryan, again.

She could possibly be doing a third or fourth thing: (3) setting the scene to pick Ryan as her VP; or (4), pushing Ryan to run for president and giving him the ammo to do so by her endorsement of his policy ideas.

In her interview with Mary Hart earlier this year, Palin said (paraphrased) that she'll run for President in 2012 if there isn't a better candidate who will take on the tough task of undoing what Obama and the Left has done to this country. So, she could be hinting that Paul Ryan could be one of those better candidates. But in the February article linked above, Ryan said that he won't run in 2012 point blank. So maybe she's grooming him for her VP pick?

Either way, this endorsement has proven to be pivotal for the 2012 candidates. Palin, for publicly supporting this policy and seeing those who are not publicly supporting it, and Ryan, who may run for President or could be picked as a VP.