Sarah Palin Endorses Christine O'Donnell

If you're not addicted to Twitter and don't listen to talk radio, you may have missed it, but Sarah Palin endorsed Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell this afternoon. While on a short radio interview with Sean Hannity, Palin announced her endorsement, saying that she hadn't even told O'Donnell yet. Shortly afterward, O'Donnell tweeted, "Just got Gov. Palin's endorsement! Thank you for your prayers!"

Yesterday, Palin had retweeted a comment from a different talk radio host saying that "@ChristineOD is great, her election must [be] a major focus for us all." This sparked a flurry of speculation as to whether a retweet counts as an endorsement, which Palin cleared up today on air. Palin has not yet issued a Facebook endorsement, though, which has been her traditional mode of plugging candidates. No word as to whether she's framing O'Donnell as another Mama Grizzly, which could be difficult since O'Donnell does not have children.

Palin's endorsement follows spending on the race by Tea Party Express, but it appears it may be less than the $250,000 originally promised. Palin and the group often support the same candidates, as in Alaska, where the two combined to help Tea Party insurgent Joe Miller topple incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.