Editorial: Sarah Palin goes rogue for Trump

Just when you thought Donald Trump’s campaign couldn’t become a crazier circus, here comes Sarah Palin bounding on the stage.

They deserve each other. They’re both as much reality-TV stars as politicians, and both will say almost anything that pops into their fevered imaginations.

While Trump gave his usual boastful stump speech, Palin was more outrageous in her rambling tirade of an endorsement Jan. 18 in Iowa. It was Trump on steroids, or after several glasses of wine. She offered up lots of red meat for conservatives, especially haters of President Barack Obama, whom she called a “weak-kneed capitulator-in-chief.”

It was must-see TV for political junkies, but it was completely shallow. At times, her speech was confusing, or just bizarre. You have to wonder if evangelical Christians, a crucial voting bloc in Iowa, liked being called “holy rollers.”

If Trump wants voters to see him as a presidential candidate of any substance, campaigning with Palin is not the way to do it. And it’s unclear how much her backing will actually boost him anyway.

Sure, she’ll attract more media attention and still has some grass-roots support from her vice presidential candidacy in 2008. It may hurt Sen. Ted Cruz, whom she barnstormed for in Texas in 2012 and who is now neck-and-neck in the polls with Trump for the Feb. 1 Iowa caucus, the first contest for the GOP nomination.

The biggest loser may be the Republican establishment. She accused it of spreading lies about Trump because he’s “going rogue left and right.” Some establishment candidates, she said, wear “political correctness kind of like a suicide vest.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 3:30 AM with the headline "Editorial: Sarah Palin goes rogue for Trump."