Sarah Palin Urges Newt Vote in Florida, Says Gingrich Will ‘Clobber’ Obama

Sarah Palin is urging Florida voters to vote for Newt Gingrich on Tuesday in their state’s Republican primary.

“Vote for Newt,” Palin told Jeanine Pirro, host of the Fox News weekend program “Justice with Jeanine.”

Palin made a passionate plea for Republican voters to reject Mitt Romney in Florida to keep the primary process going forward.

The former Alaska governor made it crystal clear that she favors former House Speaker Gingrich, suggesting that the Republican establishment in New York and Washington is trying to anoint former Massachusetts Gov. Romney the GOP nominee.

“And I say, you know, you’ve got to rage against the machine at this point in order to defend our republic and save what is good and secure and prosperous about our nation,” Palin said. “We need somebody who is engaged in sudden and relentless reform and is not afraid to shake up the establishment. So, if for no other reason, rage against the machine, vote for Newt, annoy a liberal, vote Newt, keep this vetting process going, keep the debate going.”

Here are key points Palin made on Fox:

• “Ronald Reagan wasn’t afraid to take on sitting members of his own party who were in office. He challenged a sitting Republican. He knew politics of personal destruction hurt the cause of conservatism. What we see today what happened there in Florida this past week – it’s gone beyond the pale, gone beyond aggressive and fair campaigning against an opponent.”
• Rick Santorum pointed out that Romney “drew first blood, and at first, Newt Gingrich didn’t respond – he wanted to take the high road . . . [Newt] announced his intention to take the high road, but when you’re continually hit and bombarded with negative rewritten history about yourself and your record, you have to hit back. And that’s what you saw Newt Gingrich engage in . . .”
• “I’ve been the proponent of continuing this vetting process and aggressive debate. It should be fair though the healthy debate that our country the electorate will benefit from . . . We see these pundits and politicos and elites and the far away Washington, D.C., beltway telling the electorate that by Florida it’s going to be all wrapped up and we’ll have our nominee.”
• “Well, look at the players in the establishment who are fighting so hard against [Newt]. They want to crucify him because he’s tapped into that average everyday American tea party, grass-roots movement that has said enough is enough of the establishment that tries to run the show and tweak rules and laws and regulations for their own good and not for our nation’s own good.”
• “Both party machines and many in the media are trying to crucify Newt Gingrich for bucking the tide and bucking the establishment. That tells you something. I say you have got to rage against the machine at this point in order to defend our republic . . . Vote for Newt, annoy a liberal. Vote Newt. Keep this vetting process going.”
• “Which candidate is most passionate about the sudden and relentless reform that’s needed? Which candidate understands that government is not the answer? Not on a state level – same when it comes to mandating what level of healthcare you must purchase? . . . I’ve appreciated again Newt Gingrich. His style in debates, his thinking, his way of explaining what he stands for, so I think that in a debate Newt Gingrich would clobber Barack Obama. That’s one step closer to the voters being able to have a tool to make up their minds whether it should be Obama or the GOP nominee.”

{Newsmax Wires/Matzav.com Newscenter}