“Conservatives are getting ready for the 2014 and 2016 primaries. We have long memories, and there will be consequences for those who break campaign promises and vote for this amnesty bill," Palin told Breitbart News. "Competition makes everyone work harder, be better, and be held accountable. This applies to politics, too. No one is ‘entitled’ to anything."
She continued, "Rigorous debate in competitive primaries allows candidates the opportunity to explain their flip-flops. So think of contested primaries as a win-win for politicians and their voters."
Palin responded to Breitbart News's request for comment about an interview she did earlier on Tuesday with John Gibson on Fox News radio in which she said Rubio and Ayotte "turned their back" on voters and should be primaried to be held accountable. Rubio and Ayotte will be up for reelection in 2016.
"Every politician should be held accountable for breaking their campaign promises," Palin said during an interview on the "John Gibson Radio Show" on Fox News radio. "They turned their back on the American public, so why should they not be held accountable?"
Palin said Rubio had promised that "border security would come first," and he would not support "legalization of illegal immigrants" and "amnesty" before border security while running in the Florida Republican Senate primary against Charlie Crist in 2010. She said Ayotte, whom she endorsed, had on her campaign website in 2010 that there were "no excuses" not to secure the border and also said she would not support amnesty.
"I think that they should be challenged. I don't have a problem with heated debates and contested primaries where they have to answer to constituents regarding their flip-flopping on such a fundamental position as amnesty for illegal immigrants," she told Gibson. "I don't have a problem at all with contested primaries. In fact, competition makes us all better and makes us be held accountable and I'd like to see them held accountable and answer as to why it is that they flip-flopped."
Rubio particularly should worry because as he campaigned to become a Senator, in 2010, he publicly stated that " earned pathway to citizenship" was "basically code for amnesty," and almost three years later he is one of the main proponents calling for a pathway to citizenship (wink wink) for 11 million illegals. (Video of him saying that is here)
Voters do remember when a politician makes campaign promises to get elected, then turns around and betrays that trust by breaking those promises and according to a United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, 49 percent of Republicans say they would be less likely to vote to re-elect a lawmaker that supports amnesty aka "pathway to citizenship" for those in the country illegally. 30 percent say it wouldn't effect their vote and 15 percent would be more likely to vote for that candidate.
Does the hope of peeling away some Hispanic voters from Democrats outweigh the 49 percent of Republican voters who would be less likely to support a candidate for re-election if they voted for amnesty?
By The Numbers
In Florida, as of October 9, 2012, Latinos make up 13.9% of the state’s more than 11.9 million active registered voters. Among Latino registered voters, 476,000 are registered as Republicans, making up 11.2% of all Republican registered voters. And 645,000 Latino registered voters are registered as Democrats, representing 13.5% of all Democratic registered voters. (Source- PewResearch Hispanic Center)
In New Hampshire, the numbers are far lower and as of August 2012, NH was determined to be a battleground state where only 4 percent of the electorate were projected to be Hispanic.
The numbers alone show Rubio and Ayotte will lose far more voters than they will gain from breaking their promises to their constituents by supporting amnesty.
[LISTEN] To Palin on Rubio and Ayotte below:
