Palin's re-emergence underscores GOP split

While she's hardly the conservative kingmaker she once was, Palin remains a favorite of the tea party insurgency, and her endorsement of Donald Trump for the 2016 GOP nomination gives him an added boost of conservative, anti-establishment credibility.

[...] the GOP system is cracking, leaving some in the establishment feeling they would be the outsiders in a party helmed by Trump — or by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a frequent tormentor of Republican leaders who is a strong contender for the nomination.

Dole has been an especially vocal critic of Cruz, who has blamed Republican failures in presidential contests on the party's tendency to elect mainstream candidates like the longtime Kansas senator.

[...] Dole suggested in an interview Wednesday that he might be able to make peace with a Trump presidency, saying the businessman's reputation as a "dealmaker" could mean he's able to work with Congress.

With less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses kick off the nominating process, strong showings by the billionaire and the senator could turn the Republican race into a two-man contest.

Even after the 2010 tea party takeover in the House, the GOP nominated Mitt Romney — the former governor of moderate Massachusetts — in the 2012 presidential race.