Todd Palin -- not Sarah -- endorses Newt Gingrich for president

By Paul West

January 9, 2012, 10:53 a.m.

Reporting from Nashua, N.H.—

One day ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Newt Gingrich announced that he has received the coveted endorsement of Alaska's Palin -- not Sarah, the former governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate, though.

At a Rotary Club lunch at the Nashua Country Club, Gingrich said he has the backing of Todd Palin, better known as the First Dude.

Palin's wife, who teased a presidential candidacy for months, has yet to make an endorsement of her own.

Gingrich, once seen as the last, best chance for conservatives to stop Mitt Romney from running away with the GOP nomination, has been sinking steadily in the polls.

The former House speaker is currently third in Gallup's national tracking survey -- behind Romney and Rick Santorum. Here in New Hampshire, he could finish as low as fifth, far back of Romney, the prohibitive favorite.

paul.west@latimes.com

Comments (33)

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Steve Huter at 6:49 PM January 09, 2012

Now there's an endorsement that carries a lot of weight.

Real Alaskan at 5:57 PM January 09, 2012

Just like his Grifter wife, Todd Palin doesn't actually care about Gingrich or the GOP nomination. He only cares about how he can USE the issue for his own benefit. Todd has recently tried to get the Discovery channel to produce another BOGUS "reality" show, this time about Todd's participation in the Iron Dog snowmobile race. Discovery turned him down flat. Fox "news" is likely to not renew Sarah's contract, primarily because of the incredibly shoddy way she handled her Presidential run prospects. Sarah has been like a stripper teasing the audience , and for the same reasons. She wants to fleece as much money as possible off the rubes who blindly follow her. The legacy of the Tea Party and it's poster girl Palin, and the Right Wing extremists like Rush Limbaugh and the Koch brothers is the total destruction of the GOP's leadership

JohnRJ08 at 2:13 PM January 09, 2012

This is an obvious attempt to embarrass John McCain, who just endorsed Mitt Romney late last week. Todd didn't like McCain, especially when McCain wouldn't let Sarah give her speech after McCain gave his concession speech in 2008.

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