Confirming a rumor the Trump campaign has been eagerly stoking, Sarah Palin has announced that she will be endorsing Trump at a rally in Iowa this afternoon. Somewhere nearby, Ted Cruz is slowly crab-walking to his time-out closet, where he will spend the evening eating ice cubes in a hair shirt.
According to the New York Times, Palin’s backing, which comes with “an impressive fund-raising list,” is surprisingly important to candidates like Cruz and Trump, and marks the highest-profile endorsement in the GOP race thus far:
Mrs. Palin, who is to appear alongside Mr. Trump at a rally on the Iowa State University campus in Ames late Tuesday afternoon, could amplify the news media-circus aspects of Mr. Trump’s candidacy: Like him, she is a reality-TV star accustomed to playing to the cameras and often accused of emphasizing flash over substance.
But Mrs. Palin, who despite her waning visibility within the Republican Party retains a sizable following, provides Mr. Trump with valuable new currency at a moment when he is being attacked over his conservative bona fides by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, with whom Mr. Trump is neck-and-neck in the Iowa polls.
Palin has missed out on some important family time in order to be there for Donald today; yesterday, Palin’s son Track was charged with assault, interfering with a report of domestic violence, and possession of a weapon while intoxicated.