The primary’s less than two weeks away. Hatch is still a strong favorite to win in Utah. If the tea party’s going to make a splash this cycle, this is their very best chance.

Time to rally the troops.

I join commonsense conservatives in endorsing Richard Mourdock to be the next Senator from Indiana. Conservatives of all stripes are uniting behind Richard Mourdock. It’s not just Indiana that benefits from sending the right Senator to serve for the right reasons; the nation as a whole benefits, and that is one reason why the eyes of so many around the nation are focused on the Indiana race.

Indiana deserves a conservative in the Senate who will fight for the Hoosier State, uphold our Constitution, and not just go along to get along with the vested interests of the permanent political class in D.C.

Richard Mourdock is the conservative choice for Indiana. Senator Lugar’s 36 years of service as a Senator are appreciated, but it’s time for the torch to pass to conservative leadership in Washington that promises to rein in government spending now.

Get the facts here. Learn more about Richard Mourdock at www.richardmourdock.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Good call by Palin. Citizens United released a poll yesterday showing Mourdock leading by five thanks to a 63/24 split in his favor among tea partiers. Victory here is distinctly possible if those voters turn out; this endorsement will help make that happen, and if it does she’ll get some credit for it. And if not, she’ll get no blame: Remember, both Romney and Mitch Daniels have endorsed Lugar so he’s gotten the Republican establishment’s gold-star seal of approval. As such, if he squeaks through it’ll be no surprise, just a moral victory for grassroots conservatives in making a close race of it instead of an actual victory. For Palin, it’s a smart way to start positioning herself as a counterweight to/critic of Romney on the right. She can’t be too hard on him during the campaign since job one for all Republicans is beating Obama, so she and other tea partiers will have to find subtler ways to signal principled disagreement. This is one way to do it.

Here’s her old running mate inadvertently demonstrating the difference between them. Exit question: Is an endorsement of Dan Liljenquist over Orrin Hatch coming next? I’m guessing … no.