Eric Kleefeld May 6, 2010, 3:13 PM

Sarah Palin has now endorsed a candidate in the California Senate Republican primary, coming out in favor of former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina — the same Carly Fiorina who infamously said during the 2008 campaign that Palin couldn’t run a major company.

Palin pitches Fiorina as the best shot in the primary to stop former Rep. Tom Campbell, who currently leads in the polls: “Please consider that Carly is the conservative who has the potential to beat California’s liberal senator, Barbara Boxer, in November. I’m a huge proponent of contested primaries, so I’m glad to see the contest in California’s GOP, but I support Carly as she fights through a tough primary against a liberal member of the GOP who seems to bear almost no difference to Boxer, one of the most leftwing members of the Senate.”

The TPM Poll Average gives Campbell a lead of 28.7%, followed by Fiorina at 20.2%, and the even more conservative state Rep. Chuck DeVore with 12.4%.

The really funny part about this is that Fiorina committed a notorious gaffe while acting as a surrogate for the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008, when she was asked by a radio host whether Sarah Palin had the experience to run a major company like Hewlett Packard. “No, I don’t,” responded Fiorina. “But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.”

Fiorina then did a damage control of sorts in a separate interview, saying that John McCain couldn’t run a major company, either. “Well, I don’t think John McCain could run a major corporation, I don’t think Barack Obama could run a major corporation, I don’t think Joe Biden could run a major corporation,” Fiorina said. “It is a fallacy to suggest that the country is like a company. So, of course, to run a business, you have to have a lifetime of experience in business, but that’s not what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Joe Biden or Barack Obama are doing.”

Fiorina was then absent from the campaign trail for a couple weeks.

2010 elections, CA-SEN, Carly Fiorina, Sarah Palin, Senate '10