After Michele Bachmann pounced on Rick Perry last night for his executive order mandating young girls to receive the HPV vaccine, former Alaska governor and now conservative darling-celebrity Sarah Palin has also piled on the Texas governor over the same issue, calling it a possible product of “crony capitalism.”
Palin has used this term before. According to the New York Times, Palin used it before at a Tea Party rally describing it as generally “the process by which lawmakers become wealthy by using taxpayer dollars to benefit corporations and donors.” However, this is the first time Palin has leveled this term directly at Perry. As a matter of fact, this seems to be her first direct, “overt attack” on Perry.
Last night, on Fox News, Palin suddenly recalled that she knew “even at that time something was up with that issue,” referring to the fact that Perry’s former chief of staff had ties to Merck, the company that manufactures the Gardasil vaccine. “And now we’re finding out, yeah, something was up with that issue. It was an illustration or a bit of evidence of some crony capitalism.”
“Crony capitalism” seems to have suddenly become a popular term with Tea Party presidential aspirants, as Bachmann used it on NBC’s “Today” show when she said that “it’s very clear that crony capitalism could likely have been the cause” of Perry’s unfortunate executive order.
The Times cautions that while Palin may be sounding like an ally of Bachmann, she may also be considering her own presidential run by attacking Perry—if she ever decides to run. Other sources are claiming that the door to Palin’s entry into the race is closing fast.
The Times concludes:
Mrs. Bachmann is taking the “crony capitalist” line and running with it. We’re still waiting to see whether Ms. Palin lets Mrs. Bachmann continue to be the sole beneficiary, or if she’ll start using the phrase in her own campaign.
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