http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/25/AR2009102502246.html

 Quote:
Sarah Palin's decision late last week to endorse the Conservative Party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special U.S. House election in Upstate New York is the latest example that the former Alaska governor's allegiance is to her conservative principles rather than the party's edicts.

"Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual," Palin wrote on her Facebook page.

She also cited President Ronald Reagan's belief that "blurring the lines" is not the way to rebuild the party and added: "The Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race."

Palin is the highest-profile Republican to endorse Hoffman over state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R) in the Nov. 3 special election for the seat vacated by John McHugh, who President Obama named secretary of the Army. The race has rapidly developed into a battle for control of the party's direction.

Palin joins former senators Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Fred Thompson (Tenn.) and former House majority leader Dick Armey (Tex.) in Hoffman's camp. Among those who have endorsed Scozzafava is former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) .

Of his decision to back Scozzafava, Gingrich wrote last Thursday: "We have to decide which business we are in. If we are in the business about feeling good about ourselves while our country gets crushed then I probably made the wrong decision."

Several other nationally known Republicans have delayed making an endorsement, although Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty expressed doubts about Scozzafava's conservative credentials late Friday.

At issue is the debate between the "head" choice (Scozzafava, because she is the party's candidate) and the "heart" choice (Hoffman, because his belief system hews closer to core conservative principles).

That divide isn't likely to go away no matter who wins the district in eight days. The head-vs.-heart dynamic is already shaping up in a higher-profile race in Florida's U.S. Senate primary between Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House speaker Marco Rubio. And if Palin runs for the party's presidential nomination in 2012, she could be the choice of the movement conservatives, while Pawlenty and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are likely to battle for the establishment banner.