Fischer’s defeat of Bruning is remarkable.  She was heavily outspent and as of two weeks ago was a distant third in the polls.

Then Sarah Palin endorsed her, and she got the “big mo’.”  Palin still has star power.

Senator Jim DeMint was “all in” for Don Stenberg, but he couldn’t make it happen.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell favored Bruning.

While Lugar’s defeat made national headlines last week, Fischer’s win is a much bigger story.

The bottom line: Palin is more important than two of the most important Republican Senators in the nation.

However, if conservatives, who are more likely to cite the Founding Fathers in a political of philosophical debate, were consistent in their thinking, they would embrace the press as an important safeguard to liberty.

Instead, conservatives routinely bash the media, the “MSM”, the “left-wing rags” – hey, I’ve done it at times as well.

This whole line of thinking – the importance of a free press – got started when I was interviewed last week by Dave Biscobing, a young, aggressive reporter with ABC 15 in Phoenix.  This is a guy who takes his job as a reporter seriously – he truly investigates, ask the tough questions and seeks the truth without bias.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is likely no fan of Biscobing, and my guess is that any public official who engages in questionable activities or puts their public trust at risk is going to get to know Dave.  Having met him, I’m glad we have a free press to keep politicians honest.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu dropped out of the race for Congress from Arizona’s 4^th District and announced he would run for re-election as Sheriff.

His official reason is that his hand-picked successor is prohibited from running for office while being paid from an account funded by federal dollars.  The real reason is that he realized he was going to lose and needed to save face.

It’s no secret that I believe he is unfit for office.  I was one of the first to call for him to resign as Sheriff.  I’ve questioned his use of official resources for campaign purposes, advised him to stop digging, discussed his lack of fiscal discipline and pointed out that the cover up is more politically damaging than the initial scandal.

So rather than do the right thing and walk away, he has wasted hundreds of thousands of supporters money running for Congress, only to then say that he was convinced by those supporters to abandon his Congressional run.

Many Pinal residents have asked me to stay as their Sheriff and continue this fight. Many worried that my voice and impact would be lost if elected as one of 435 members of Congress. I was elected because I listen and respond to the people I represent.

So let me get this straight.  He runs for Congress because he was encouraged to “take the fight to Washington” and then blows a pile of contributors money and then says, oh, you’re right, why be one of 435 measly Congressmen?

The arrogance is stunning and disappointing.

[Disclosure - as of yesterday, my firm, DC London, was retained by Pinal County Sheriff candidate, Derek Arnson]

First Solar received a $455 million loan guarantee from Ex-Im to sell solar panels to a company in Canada.  The hook?  That company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Solar.  So First Solar fleeces taxpayers to sell solar panels… to itself.

Thankfully, every Republican in the Arizona delegation voted no on reauthorization.  When only 93 Republicans vote against ending corporate welfare, it demonstrates the problem in Washington.

This video from Heritage Action sums it up well.

The problem for Democrats is that the combined total of votes cast (with 92.4% reporting) in the Republican primary was 589,176 and the combined total in the Democrat primary (with the same 92.4% reporting) was… 585, 888.

Think about that.  Democrats had a robust primary campaign between Barrett and Cathleen Falk, but Walker had no real competition, and more ballots were cast in the Republican primary than the Democrat primary.

That does not bode well for Democrats going into the June 5 general election for the recall.

Prediction: Gov. Walker wins the recall, further minimizing union power in Wisconsin and putting Wisconsin in play for both the Presidential election and the U.S. Senate election.

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock defeated 36-year Senator Richard Lugar by more than 20 points.  This is not a surprise; Lugar ignored the real angst that Hoosiers felt about his lack of attention to conservative principles.

Despite the narrative that Democrats and the media are trying to push, Mourdock will win the general and add a conservative voice to the U.S. Senate.

Last week a couple polls came out that showed Romney and Obama basically dead even in Arizona.  There were breathless stories about how Obama was expanding the map.

To test against those polls, my firm commissioned a poll.  But this poll would be a big sample (900) and would be of likely voters (since the other two polls were of registered voters).

Rather than Romney and Obama in a dead heat, it’s Romney by three lengths.

Romney leads Obama 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, and 54 percent to 42 percent among motivated voters.

• 55 percent of respondents have an unfavorable opinion of President Obama
• 55 percent disapprove of his job performance
• 56 percent disapprove of the health care law

Romney is also up by nine percent among independents – 49 percent to 40 percent – and by four percent among women – 49 percent to 45 percent. (You can see the entire poll and cross tabs here.)

So Obama and his team can talk about winning Arizona until they are blue in the face… but it ain’t happening.

There is a growing chorus of former SEALS grumbling about the President continuing to take personal credit for the kill.

And now a group called Veterans for a Strong America has released a new ad.  Powerful.

The Obama campaign released a web ad today featuring former President Bill Clinton talking about how impressive it was that Obama made the decision to give the green light to an operation that led to Osama Bin Laden’s death.

President Obama is the Commander in Chief and deserves our gratitude for his willingness to make that call.

However, Obama’s ad then questions whether Mitt Romney would have made that same call.  The argument is beyond absurd.  That’s like questioning whether Al Gore would have approved the operation to capture Saddam Hussein – of course he would have.

Here is the Romney campaign response:

“The killing of Osama bin Laden was a momentous day for all Americans and the world, and Governor Romney congratulated the military, our intelligence agencies, and the President. It’s now sad to see the Obama campaign seek to use an event that unified our country to once again divide us, in order to try to distract voters’ attention from the failures of his administration. With 23 million Americans struggling for work, our national debt soaring, and household budgets being squeezed like never before, Mitt Romney is focused on strengthening America at home and abroad.”

Aside from questioning whether Romney would have made the same call, The Weekly Standard makes a great point:

This latest ad contradicts President Obama’s own pledge after he took out bin Laden. “You know, we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies,” Obama told CBS soon after the terrorist mastermind had been taken out. He added: “Americans and people around the world are glad that he’s gone. But we don’t need to spike the football.”

Part of the problem for Obama is that he can’t help giving himself credit for things that don’t only rely on him.

For example, this is an analysis about the difference in the speeches given by President Bush announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein and President Obama announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Here is a synopsis of Obama’s speech on Osama bin Laden:

“Tonight, I can report . . . And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta . . . I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden . . . I met repeatedly with my national security team . . . I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action. . . . Today, at my direction . . . I’ve made clear . . . Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear . . . Tonight, I called President Zardari . . . and my team has also spoken. . .These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief . . . Finally, let me say to the families . .. I know that it has, at times, frayed. . . ..”

Compare that with the speech given by George W. Bush on December 14, 2003:

“Good afternoon. Yesterday, December the 13th, at around 8:30 p.m.
Baghdad time, United States military forces captured Saddam Hussein alive.

He was found near a farmhouse outside the city of Tikrit, in a swift raid conducted without casualties. And now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions.
The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq…

And this afternoon, I have a message for the Iraqi people: You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again.

All Iraqis who take the side of freedom have taken the winning side.

The goals of our coalition are the same as your goals — sovereignty for your country, dignity for your great culture, and for every Iraqi citizen, the opportunity for a better life…

The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force.
Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people.

Their work continues, and so do the risks.

Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate ‘em.
I also have a message for all Americans: The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq.

We still face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent than accept the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East…

Two different approaches.  It will be interesting if Obama’s approach works as the political message he has made it.

Did you know that Newt Gingrich is still in the presidential race?  No? Apparently you are not alone.

Tuesday was one of the biggest primary days this year (in terms of delegates) and Gingrich was pinning his hopes on moving forward with a win in… Delaware.  Delaware has 17 delegates. Compare that to the delegate counts for the other states that had primaries on Tuesday: Rhode Island (15), Connecticut (28), Pennsylvania (72) and New York (94).

So it makes a lot of sense to judge the future of your campaign in the second smallest state… Not.

It didn’t matter though.  Gingrich lost to Romney by 30 points in Delaware – and Gingrich did two times better in Delaware than in any of the other states on Tuesday.

Mitt Romney is 300 delegates shy of the number needed to be the nominee officially, and that doesn’t count the 72 unallocated delegates in Pennsylvania.

Newt is reportedly “assessing” his campaign’s future. That shouldn’t take more than 15 seconds.