Former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has endorsed GOP U.S. Senate candidate Julianne Ortman, who is running in a crowded field of Republicans angling to unseat Democratic Sen. Al Franken.
In a post of her Facebook page, Palin slammed Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" star and liberal radio host, calling his political career a "joke." Palin also heaped praise on Ortman, a state senator, calling her a "conservative champion" and a "fighter for life and for our Second Amendment rights."
"Let's give voters a contrast this fall: a clown vs. a Mama Grizzly, an Obama 100 percenter vs. a Blue Star Mom, a talker vs. a doer, and a liberal Obama rubber stamp legislator vs. a proven conservative fighter," Palin wrote.
"Let's make this proven conservative the one to take the fight to Al Franken this fall and make him the punch line. Julianne Ortman is the choice. She is good enough, she is smart enough, and doggone it, people like her!"
Palin even took a shot at Mike McFadden, one of Ortman's Republican rivals. A host of current and former U.S. senators have shown support for McFadden's campaign, including former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who lost his seat to Franken.
"[Ortman] is running a grassroots campaign against a well-funded favorite of the Washington GOP establishment whose policy record is a blank slate," Palin wrote in a veiled reference to McFadden.
Responding to Palin's endorsement, Ortman wrote: "I've long admired Sarah Palin's courage, composure and conviction. So you can imagine how thrilled and grateful I was when she answered my request and decided to endorse me."
Palin has endorsed a select group of candidates in the past week, including Senate hopefuls in Georgia, Iowa and Oklahoma.
