Governor Palin Is The Biggest Winner Of The New Jersey Senate Election

Here are the Real Clear Politics polls for the New Jersey senatorial election from the day that Governor Palin announced her support for Lonegan October 2nd

And here are the polls on election day October 16th

The sharp upward movement for Lonegan is obvious and the average against him went from 17.5 to 13.8
The last Rutgers poll had Booker winning by 22 and Quinnipiac had him up by 14
The election result on the night was Booker by only 10.3.
Lonegan did a lot better than imagined in a very blue state. He won 10 counties, more counties than Romney did and by wide margins. including a couple that were won by Obama in 2012.

And remember; Last NJ Senate race: Menendez won by 19.5%. President Obama carried the state by just under 18 points over "moderate"Romney.

But above and beyond the indisputably positive effect Governor Palin's endorsement had on the Lonegan campaign-not only in lifting his poll support, finances and activist support there was her heroic, self-negating dedication to her beliefs in what was, at all times, a very long shot campaign.
"Democrats outnumber Republicans in New Jersey by about 700,000 voters"
"New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since Clifford Case in 1972."
“We are being outspent 12-to-1"

To quote from C4P "There's no one in the State who has his back; he's just twisting in the wind in a very blue,blue State. Gov. Palin showed a lot of courage endorsing him. A typical weasel politician would have calculated the odds and stayed away. If he loses she will be blamed in the sense that the Rovians will try to say that it's an example of her being "irrelevant". 

The truth is, it shows that she puts principle above self, principle above political odds. She's willing to use her influence even for someone who may be a long shot because with her it's about principle."

Lonegan was a very long shot and Governor Palin knew she will be attacked, if he lost, as a "kiss of death" endorser (which is a lie of course given her outstanding record) but for her all that matters is that she does what she believes in.

That is absolutely correct. Lonegan was, at one stage, 35 points behind the Dem's high flyer Cory Booker and it was noticeable that Governor Christie has given Lonegan the most perfunctory of support. It was at that Palin moment, at great political risk, gave not only her endorsement but flew all the way from Alaska to headline a mass rally.

That there was such a huge turnout gave the lie to Palin's detractors who said she is irrelevant and only appears in public for money making speeches. Campaigning for a very long shot, who was written off by all the commentators, can be chalked up as one of Governor Palin's greatest triumphs-no matter the election result.

What Palin has shown by her huge effort for Lonegan is that she puts her beliefs above any personal consideration whatsoever.There is no personal benefit, in the politcal sense, that can be ascribed to Palin's support of Lonegan. But the sense of gratitude from her supporters for the ongoing and in this case huge reinforcement of their belief in her ethics and selflessness is immense.

Palin proved, yet again, that her brand of "country first' is almost unique. It is inspiring and she deserves all kudo's
for being a beacon of hope and truth in a political desert.