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Palin's Republican women triumph in primary contests

Two top businesswomen triumphed in yesterday's primary election in California.

Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina became the GOP nominee for the US Senate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman became the party's nominee to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as the state's governor. Both women spent big to win their races and have lots more treasure in their coffers. Nonetheless, both have uphill battles ahead of them. Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer has a 7% lead in the Senate race (profiled here by the Washington Post) and Jerry Brown has a similar advantage in the race for the Governor's mansion.

On the eastern coast, Nikki Haley looks set to win the nomination to be Republican candidate for Governor.

Interestingly all three women were endorsed by Sarah Palin. Huffington Post notes that Haley was at the back of the pack until she got the nod from the former VP candidate. The endorsement of Fiorina caused some concern for Palin's more socially conservative supporters (according to National Review):

"Thousands of conservatives commented in anger below the Facebook endorsement, scratching their heads about why Palin, of all people, would back Fiorina, whom they considered a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Chuck DeVore, considered by many, including Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), to be the most tea-party-aligned of the contenders, was left empty-handed. With Palin having endorsed her former running mate, Sen. John McCain, a moderate, in Arizona’s Senate primary months before, “that’s two strikes against you, little sister!” wrote one commenter. “One more and you’re done.” Shelby Baker, a leader of Tea Party Patriots, complained to Human Events that the “bloom’s off the rose,” dubbing Palin “a company girl . . . a Republican, and not in a good way."

...Palin eyed the online debate for a bit, and then jumped in with a Facebook update. Look, she typed, “some reaction right out of the chute calls for more information.” Fiorina, she argued, is “pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-military, and pro-strict border security and against amnesty,” as well as being for repealing Obamacare and for supporting the Second Amendment. “That’s no RINO,” Palin mused, “that’s a winner.”"

Another victory for Republican women - and, more notably, the Tea Party Movement - was Sharron Angle in Nevada. Nevada is a more likely pick up for the Republicans than California. The state currently representated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would provide the juiciest of victories for Republicans. Left-wing blogs are welcoming Angle's win, however, saying her Tea Party views make her the weakest opponent for Reid.

The big question for November's mid-term elections is whether the general drift to the right of Republican candidates will fit the national mood or will save Obama from an otherwise messy set of results.

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