Sarah Palin Commends "Future Citizen-Candidates"
The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate enthusiastically endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the special election. Hoffman managed to push the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava out of the race days before the election, but the Democrat prevailed Tuesday night.
The loss, coupled with two big gubernatorial wins for more moderate Republicans in New Jersey and Virginia, raises questions about whether high-profile conservatives like Palin should continue to push the party to the right.
"After the Republicans come off their Cloud Nine, they have a major issue to resolve within their own party: in what direction is the GOP going?" asks CBS News' Political Director Steve Chaggaris.
On her Facebook page early Wednesday morning, Palin suggested the Republican Party should continue to pursue a more conservative identity.
"I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other under-dog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds," she wrote. "To the tireless grassroots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug, please remember Reagan's words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976: 'The cause goes on.'"
Palin's comments echo those of Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele.
"Now the bottom line is this, the drama of 23 was nice and cute and fun, [and] everybody made fun about how the party's all fractured," Steele said on the CBS Early Show. "The reality is now that we have a chance to get the seat back in about a year, which we likely will."