2008 vice presidential candidate, and former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin endorsed Mitt Romney???s choice of running mate in a lengthy Facebook post, in which she wrote: ???Congratulations to Mitt Romney on his choice of Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. President Obama has declared that this election is about ???two fundamentally different visions??? for America. Goodness, he???s got that right.???
???Our country cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama???s fundamentally flawed vision,??? Palin continued. ???We must now look to this new team, the Romney/Ryan ticket, to provide an alternate vision of an America that is fiscally responsible, strong, and prosperous ??? an America that understands and is proud of her exceptional place in the world and will respect those who fight to secure that exceptionalism, which includes keeping our promises to our veterans.???
She also reminded readers of the importance of getting involved in House and Senate races, ???to ensure that our next president has a responsible and ethical Congress that actually gets things done for America.???
Palin followed up with a Fox News appearance in which she noted Ryan will build positive enthusiasm among Tea Party voters, who until now have been well aware of the importance of voting against Obama, but are hungry for the Romney campaign to give them something to vote for. ???This ticket represents the message that this campaign is about the economy, and with Paul Ryan ??? who???s known for his conscientious concern for our budget, and for getting America out of debt ??? this makes it tougher for Obama to do his continual distracting and dividing and pivoting off the economy.???
Palin warned Ryan to expect the same treatment from the Left that she received after being tapped as John McCain???s running mate, but promised ???there???s a lot of us who will have his back, and we will call out the media for their lies, for their distortions, as they try to thrash his reputation and his record.???
She contrasted this with the poor support she felt she received from the McCain campaign, many of whose operatives ???had friends in the media, and they wanted jobs in the media afterwards??? they didn???t really defend what I stood for.???
Palin described Ryan???s reform plan for Medicare as a plan ???to live within our means and allow more free choices when it comes to health care and health care coverage.??? She noted that the ???lamestream media??? has continually distorted this plan, mischaracterizing it as an attempt to ???cut??? Medicare benefits for existing enrollees, but as Ryan has explained, its changes affect no one who is currently 55 or older.
???The changes he proposes are some common-sense austerity measures that are the only way, if they???re implemented, to save Medicare??? and Medicaid, and Social Security, and our other safety nets for many Americans who will rely upon them,??? Palin said. ???We have to do things differently. We cannot keep repeating the same mistakes from the past.???
Palin's enthusiasm for Ryan is significant because certain elements of the media made a brief attempt, using the ever-popular "anonymous sources," to create some sort of rift between Palin and the Romney campaign. It looks like it didn't work.
