Local Iowa paper eviscerates Joni Ernst for eagerly accepting Sarah Palin endorsement.

Courtesy of the Daily Times Herald:  

What's astounding to me is that Ernst didn't reject the Palin comparison. 

"Well, I guess we are both women, and we are both Republican, and we are mothers and grandmothers," Ernst could have said. "But look, I'm a rural Iowan, not a TV personality. I look no further than Chuck Grassley, a man who knows the farms of the state like I do, as the inspiration for the kind of senator I plan to be for Iowa. Sarah has strong family values, and we share that. But being from Iowa is a pretty specific privilege, and quite honestly, I plan to go about my service in an Iowa way. I'll never not take a call from Sarah Palin, but trust me, Senator Grassley will be the one I'm calling regularly for advice." 

Or she could really have flipped the script, reached out to independent women and even some rural Democrats. 

"I admire a lot about many women in politics, and not all of them are Republican," Ernst could have said. "For example, while I disagree with her on a lot of issues, I am inspired by the work of Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a military veteran. I think we could do some good work together for our veterans and create a better environment for women in the military. I'd like to learn from Tammy." 

But no, instead Ernst tells us she's "flattered" with the comparison to Palin, whom, if you're really being honest, sold out her own party. Palin made some famous missteps in her 2008 vice presidential campaign. But she had a platform, a voice. Instead of hunkering down and completing a term as governor of Alaska, honing her worldview, and preparing for future elective opportunities, she cashed in on the fame. 

Bottom line: Sarah Palin is 100 percent celebrity, zero percent statesman. 

An "independent voice" and "strong leader" are laughable descriptions of Palin from Ernst. 

Palin is a half-term governor who never breaks ranks with the Right's talking points. She's not an ideas person like Rand Paul or Ted Cruz or Newt Gingrich or Paul Ryan, and that would be resoundingly reflected in Iowa by Republicans themselves were Palin to enter the 2016 presidential race. Palin wouldn't be able to summon enough momentum in Iowa to make a go of it in New Hampshire. 

From all strategic angles it makes no sense for Joni Ernst to tie herself to the dimming star that is Sarah Palin. 

So there's really only one explanation for Joni Ernst's unequivocal - even dreamy eyed - embrace of Sarah Palin. Ernst is truly speaking her mind. She wants to be like Palin. Iowans, if they elect Ernst, can't say they weren't warned.

This is really Democrat Bruce Braley's strongest attack against Ernst. 

If she really wants to embrace Sarah Palin she has to accept the bad with the...is there any good?

In other words if your idol is a woman who hated her job and hated her state, and ran from both the minute that somebody waved a dollar bill in front of her g-string, then who's to say that doing the same in not your ultimate goal?