Radley has the scoop on how Palin's opposition to the "bridge to nowhere" began AFTER it had become clear that it wasn't going to happen and she has been an enthusiastic supporter of pork right up until the Alaska delegation's indictments made it unfeasable.
The big thing Palin is bringing to the ticket policy-wise is her experience as a reformer and an enemy of government waste. Too bad for McCain that it doesn't seem to be true.
I'll leave the conclusions to Radley:
Which means that Palin either wasn’t vetted at all, or McCain’s staff did vet her and didn’t see a problem with any of this.
Neither scenario inspires much confidence in McCain or his staff.
16 comments:
Thomas Friedman talks today about McCain-Palin and energy/environment issues: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/opinion/03friedman.html?hp
This Alaskan can tell you that Gov. Palin asked our legislature to give each one of us (including children) a $1200 "energy rebate," and the legislature complied. So on Sept. 12, we'll have $1200 (plus our $2000+ PFD) deposited into our bank accounts.
She's also lifted the state gas tax. Not sure for how long.
All that extra money--makes me want to drive less, drive more slowly...and, oh yes, wear a sweater.
You're snarky, new commenter. We like that. Come back anytime!
Expect more of this motley combination of low blows and criticism of her judgment.
I really believe that this is going to backfire in the end because the only way McCain has kept this race close is that he has daily made vituperative attacks on Obama. Now the focus is on Palin. She could be a ceaseless stream of negative news for the next several weeks, and nothing would put McCain off message better.
If the race becomes a comparison of Palin v the GOP Establishement in Alaska, compared to Obama v the Regular Dem Org in Illinois it's going to be uphill for Obama.
Especially if indictments come down on Blagojevich before the election. That could easily happen.
Let's see what she does tonight. She's got a lot riding on one speech! Watch how she handles the pressure.
I don't think that Obama is claiming to have reformed Illinois the way one keeps hearing Palin has reformed Alaska.
CC
On the way home last night, someone on NPR was blathering on about Sarah Palin the Reformer and my blood pressure shot up so high I had to turn off the radio! NPR! It's not usually that exciting.
Although a few weeks ago I was also angry while listening to NPR. A Republican strategist said that the Democratic convention was "as exciting as a Unitarian wedding," and he didn't mean it as a compliment.
But I digress. For the most part, Sarah Palin is the beneficiary of political reform in Alaska, not its instigator.
I thought you LIKED candidates who were for things before they were against them.
The Alaskan sister called today to report on my nephews... and so I asked about Palin. Sister and sister's husband are conservative and quite-conservative (respectively).
Sister laughed... and then said she thought it was absurd that Palin was even considered, that running a small town (at great cost to the inhabitants, and very controversially) and briefly being governor wasn't qualification for being president or almost-president. She touched briefly on the media frenzy over Trig and Bristol... saying she felt that wasn't really an issue or appropriate (though she thinks, personally, that Palin is a posterchild for some very questionable decisions...)... and then asked why Bristol and her now-fiance are being centerstaged at the RNC (who is being exploited by whom here? If the RNC centerstages Bristol and whatshisname so that they can... what... talk about what great family values they represent (premarital sex among teens usually gives huge swathes of the GOP the vapors...)... then are they THEN a legitimate topic of discussion? Or does only the GOP get to talk about the very young adults who they parade at their convention? Anyway, sister thinks that it's appalling, and as an Alaskan, she's horrified (despite the extra $1200 per warm body they're getting). If Palin and Parnell get their ways, the governorship of the largest, most importantest state in the Union, on the very border of menacing Rooshia, falls into the lap of a lawyer from Wasilla (one of Palin's cronies) who was appointed by her.
(Another reason to hope that Young wins his still-being-counted primary; at least someone elected to office would be governor. And Parnell's the only elected Alaskan GOP figure of significance not indicted or undergoing a serious investigation.)
Sister and sister's husband are not-happy. Disgusted. No votes being won there by any Republicans right now.
Have you all seen the email going around from someone named Anne Kilkenny? It's about Sarah Palin, and I checked Snopes, and it's not there yet.
kim, I saw a diary at DailyKos in which the diarist claimed to have called -- assuming the letter is the one I'm thinking of; I don't remember the author's name. If so, the diarist spoke at some length to her. You could do a search there.
Sarah Palin is dangerous in my opinion. As much as I may disagree with some of McCain's viewpoints, I actually like the man. But Palin seems sneaky and oppresive to me. We should be very wary.
And, here record on the environment is horrible.
Here she is speaking to her home congregation a few months ago, telling them that the US role in the Iraq war and drilling in ANWR are commissions from God.
My conclusion: she's a dominionist who believes in the redemptive power of violence. Very scary.
Fausto - wow. Just wow. Scary is right!
Re Kim's question about Anne Kilkenny:
The Kilkenny letter has been reposted at the Crosscut Seattle website here, supposedly with Kilkenny's express permission. I trust the site as a reliable source. I know the editor of Crosscut personally, and I have known his wife since sixth grade, and I last saw them just two weeks ago. They both used to be investigative reporters at the Seattle Times, and if he says he has confirmed the letter's authenticity with Kilkenny herself, I believe he has.
It turns out that, in the comments section at Crosscut, my friend confirms that he spoke with Kilkenny for 45 minutes and did an independent background check. She's real and so is her letter.
Thanks, Fausto.
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