Who needs a news conference when you can just endorse a candidate via Facebook?
That appears to be the logic of Sarah Palin, who on Sunday night took to the social network platform to tell her followers— all 3.4 million of them— to vote for Mitt Romney in tomorrow’s presidential election.
The former Alaskan governor and Republican vice presidential candidate spent most of the election cycle on the sidelines, choosing not to publicly endorse her party’s presidential nominee. That all changed over the weekend, when she published a 900-word tome urging her followers to support Mitt Romney.
“Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have offered a credible alternative to Barack Obama’s failed policies,” she wrote. “Governor Romney deserves a chance to lead. President Obama had his chance. He’s failed, and we can’t afford to go backwards.”
“On Tuesday, please vote for Governor Mitt Romney and the commonsense conservatives running for office in your states.”
At least one pundit—the Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri— sees Palin’s post as a halfhearted and belated attempt to shore up support for her party’s nominee.
“And frankly, this is the endorsement equivalent of an e-card,” Petri snarked. “As a friend of mine once quipped, ‘Nothing says, ‘I completely and entirely forgot’ like an e-card.’”
Given Palin’s strong social media presence, however, choosing to back Romney via Facebook does make some sense. Palin has used the social network platform on more than one occasion to show her support for causes. On Aug. 1, the Tea Party darling posted a photograph of her and her family dining at a Chick-fil-A in support of the restaurant’s stand against marriage equality. That image received over 264,503 likes and was reshared 24,753 times.
Her Facebook endorsement also appears to be popular, though not to the same extent. 17 hours after it was posted, the message has been liked 48,645 and reshared 3,851 times.
Photo via Sarah Palin/Facebook