Palin says bloody primary battles have helped the GOP

The primary battles plaguing the Republican Party are good for the GOP, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) asserted Tuesday.

Palin said during an appearance on the conservative Rush Limbaugh show that the primary battles have made the party stronger.

She praised the GOP for its willingness to "not hesitate duking it out within the party," examples of which most recently played out in New York's 23rd congressional district.

In that race, Palin endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Dede Scozzafava, who eventually dropped out of the race to endorse Bill Owens, who was elected and sworn in as congressman from the district. The race cost Republicans the seat in Congress and gave House Democrats a critical vote in favor of health legislation.

"This is what I appreciate about the Republican Party -- we have contested, aggressive, competitive primaries," Palin told Limbaugh. "We're not like this herd mentality like a bunch of sheep with the fighting instincts of sheep, like Horowitz would say, like some of those in the Democrat Party, where heaven forbid to you take a stand and you oppose somebody in your own party 'cause it's the right thing to do."

Contested primaries have become more prevalent in the GOP in recent cycles, where groups like the fiscally conservative Club for Growth have pushed for challenges of more centrist Republicans.

Most prominently, the primary between Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination for the state's open Senate seat has been identified as the next major battle ground.

Palin denied that the challenges are an example of party infighting and discord.

"Some in the other side say they're observing what's goes on in the GOP and say, 'That's infighting, they can't get along, and there's no consensus there.'" she said. "No! This is healthy debate, good competition. It makes candidates work harder, it makes for a better product, if you will, at the end of the day."