Palin Backs Fiorina Over Tea Partier, Riles Up Fans

(Newser) – Sarah Palin yesterday endorsed Carly Fiorina in the race to unseat California Sen. Barbara Boxer, stirring up howls of protest on her Facebook page from fans of Tea Party favorite Chuck DeVore. "That's 2 strikes against you, little sister!" writes one furious follower, referring to Palin's McCain endorsement as well. "One more and you're done." And another: "I am now ashamed to say that I once admired you….because you are obviously not the upright Christian Constitutionalist that I once believed you to be! "

Palin updated her Facebook announcement to counter charges that Fiorina is a RINO, listing her conservative bona fides on abortion, gay marriage, immigration, guns and oil. "And most importantly, Carly is the only conservative in the race who can beat Barbara Boxer,” she wrote, concluding: “That’s no RINO. That’s a winner.” The endorsement was particularly surprising, Politico adds, because Fiorina once quipped, during the presidential campaign, that Palin wasn't qualified to run a corporation—a remark she later amended to say then-candidates Barack Obama and John McCain weren't qualified either.