The most interesting thing about McCain's pick is that she discribes herself as a soccer mom who was a beauty queen. Sounds to me like someone we all want in a position to take over executive power of our country should McCain get elected and then die while in office.

Local Alaskan tv report nails Palin lying about firing scandal. What was McCain thinking?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UojMnCgqVA

Hooray, another Harriet Miers. She won't survive vetting, either.

Who is that McCain selected to be one heartbeat from the presidency again?

Fuhget about it.

Some voters want a female candidate regardless of ability and preparedness. Certain political analysts say that McCain needs to get 5% of Hillary supporters. I'm not sure that impossible. I'm not sure that's unlikely.

Certain commentators are comparing this politician to Quayle. Maybe. For me it's too soon to tell. We all should remember one important thing: Quayle won!

It will be very ironic when the feminist upstir around Clinton's candidature ends up enhancing McCain's performance -- and it will. It remains to be seen by how much.

I've seen many blogs where hard core feminists are voting for McCain now simply based on the fact that they want some, any kind, of woman in office.

I have several co-workers that believe the same and it takes a lot not to argue until I'm blue in the face that having female genitalia does not make someone qualified.

From what I've read, Palin does not have the same views as Hillary so it will be interesting to see what kinds of votes they can gather. Sounds like the want conservatives and a nation of soccer moms to rise up and vote.

McCain is using her and the idiots of this nation will fail to recognize it. This doesn't help the nation in anyway and just shows he'll do anything to win.

It's obvious, John Mc Ain't chose this woman to get Hilary's voters. Unfortunately, Palin and Hillary are two different kinds of women. Hillary, although she didn't get to be nominated to be the Democratic presidential candidate, is the only qualified woman to be the president at this time, and not just any woman like Sarah Palin.I hope the Hillary supporters are smart enough to vote for the sake of every men and women in this country and not just for women only like us. I hope the HIllary supporters are smart enough to see the difference between Hillary and Palin. I hope they are smart enough to realize that this woman Palin is not the same woman as HIllary Clinton, and that voting for this woman does not mean voting for HIllary and the women but would mean instead as a huge INSULT TO HILLARY.

Palin is against everything Hillary is for. No way will 'millions' of women voters vote for a candidate who's antichoice, antievolution, antienvironmental just because she's a woman.

Re-evaluate the game plan? Let's not get carried away:

She's a pro-gun, aerial wolf hunting-supporting, anti-abortion/woman's rights, uber conservative, pro-drilling in anwar, bag of wind.

Let's stay focused. She's not running for president. She's a sidekick symbol...but in the end, the republican party powerful/karl rove, etc will control the white house.

From an objective view as to picking a VP candidate who enhances McCain's election chances, Sarah Patin is a three time winner:

Not a part of the Bush administration.
A woman

A true rather than neo, conservative.

Add her being a REAL hunter & shooter to bring back many disenchanted with McCain's past record on those subjects & the balance tips away from Obama.
Looks to me like the grass roots Republicans have finally been listened to & the result may well be a woman & a Republican as President in the 2012 election.

My purely subjective view:

Yeehaa!!!!!

It's obvious that McCain did NOT choose Palin in order to snag disgruntled Hillary voters. Most Hillary supporters I've heard are pretty hardcore into women's rights. Does anyone really think they're so angry that they'll vote for a pro-life, pro-NRA, very religious woman just to stick it to Obama?

Palin was chosen to cement a key swing demographic: suburbanites - especially, and I hate to use the phrase, "soccer moms" into the Republican fold. Middle-class women will love her, and men will have no problem voting for her because, to be honest, she's non-threatening. Why take the risk on Obama when you can still make history by voting for McCain/Palin? Plus, while Obama talks vaguely about the reforms he WILL institute, she can point to things she HAS actually accomplished to clean up (Alaskan) politics. Honestly, it's a brilliant play by the Republicans.

don't take the bait. the republicans don't do get out the vote--they supress the vote. and while they can suppress the african american vote again by the millions if necessary through selective voter role scrubs in key states, women are the other big democratic voting block. i don't think they picked an inexperienced, under investigation, former beauty queen from the wilderness to get hilary's votes. i think they are counting on her being ridiculed to such a degree that many women are offended enough to stay home on election day. and if that doesn't happen they will pretend she has been insulted, just as mccain has been claiming to be a victim of obama for two months. i've already heard and read some pretty stupid sexist junk and its only been out there for six hours. frankly i just hope it backfires and fundamentalists can't stand to go out and pull the lever to put a woman that close to the top.

Yes, Mr. McCain is a man who has immense respect for women's rights and dignity. From his voting record to telling dirty 'gorilla' jokes. Spare me please.

If there are women who were originally planning on voting for Hillary, and are thinking of voting for McCain because he picked a woman for his running mate (not terribly historical - Geraldine Ferraro, anyone?), then I have to ask these women a question:

Are you out of your minds?

Why were you voting for Hillary in the first place? Just because she's a woman? Isn't that just a little hysterical? Don't you want someone whose values align with your own, rather than just someone in a skirt?

Because if you were looking for a Republican in a skirt, you should have voted for Rudy Giuliani.

If you're not going to vote for Obama because Hillary didn't get the nomination, all that makes me think is that you didn't get the pony for your birthday, and now you're going to hold your breath until you turn blue.

Do think again on the experience difference between Obama and Palin, for not all the VP's jobs are "what-if." The VP is immediately the President of the U.S. Senate (America's knottiest legislative body) and Palin has not one minute of legislative experience. Welcome gridlock!
Both Obama and Biden have years as legislators, and Biden, to whom the task would fall, would "be ready from day one."

not terribly historical - Geraldine Ferraro, anyone?

Yeah. I remember her. Thought rather highly of her, and I voted for the ticket.

For anyone interested in Geraldine's reaction, here's what she wrote in her own blog:
This Might Do It for McCain
By Geraldine Ferraro

It’s going to be a very interesting campaign. I must say that several months ago I said that it would be great if there was a woman on the ticket — that I felt that John McCain would have to pick someone, especially if Hillary was the nominee. But without Hillary being the nominee it’s really quite equally as important because people are looking for a smart campaign and I think this might do it.

There are a lot of women who are disaffected by how Hillary was treated by the media, by how she was treated by the Obama campaign, by how she was treated by the Democratic National Committee — [Democratic party chairman] Howard Dean not speaking up when sexism raised its ugly head in the media. They’ll be looking to see what happens now.

Disrespect and trash this woman (Palin) at your peril.

Makes me long for Pat
Shroeder from Colorado and
I'm from Wyoming.

For the small-minded in this field of comments, a person can be both pro-life/anti-abortion and pro-women's rights. It is decades of political spin to combine the two, much like the Republican spin on moral majority while they prove themselves to be highly deficient in that very area. You should be ashamed of yourselves for doing the same thing you claim to disdain.

Nevertheless, I do believe he (McCain) selected her (Palin) for leveraging and little else. From what I've read of McCain, he is an opportunist through and through; and when opportunity knocks, it is not always wise to hastily answer.

I don't think it's fair to say Republicans are anti-environmental. They at least support recycling. Just look, they recycled Mondale's hail-Mary from 2004.

Or to put it another way, what's the difference between Democrats and Republicans? They both do the right thing, it's just that Democrats do it 24 years earlier. So watch for a non-White Republican candidate in 2032.

Eric is right, Palin IS historical for the Republicans because Republicans finally caught up to the 24 year old Democratic history in choosing a woman VP?

Hillary came with alot of drama and Barack is running a no drama campaign. His risk would have been in CHOOSING her as it would have caused more nonsense in the end. He doesn't owe them an explanation either, who is she, his mother?? He doesn't answer to her as to why he chose Biden over her.

I'm glad they did the right thing though and redeemed themselves at the convention (Bill and Hill that is)

As a black woman, I'm very happy with the choice of Biden. McPalin does nothing for me as a woman, not for anything I believe in at all.

You're right that they will have to review their game plan. Palin is a booby trap. You can't come at her too hard or else the tough, mom/executive may pull the victim card. Just like you can't say anything about McCain without him pulling the POW card.

They are trying to pull on heartstrings but this is not a sympathy election it's for our future!

There he is ......one senile,cynical and yes,weird,old candidate who has no idea what he did when he
picked this woman as his VP..............but then again,who knows who actually did the pick`n.

Based on the first revelation someone is getting of her is that of a " Cheney-kind-of -Dick " who likes some real shoot`n like " that Dick " .....as well as some Mooseburger eaten while out there hunting.

Imagine that old goat is going to drop dead (should he ever be president..god forbid !) and here is this
"Mooseburger - eaten - shoot`n,toot`n Cheney-kind-of -a Dick " suddenly becoming the next President ?

Seriously,the rest of us has to wonder if this choice is that of an insane,out of touch with reality Moron
or has the whole GOP - gone completely nuts,thinking that the general public is that plain stupid ? ?

...and how did that work out for Ferraro? not so well. It was used as a gimmick and 'hail Mary' by Mondale in '84 and is being used by McCain the same way now, except that this time it's a 'Hail Sarah!'

You're absolutely right, Thomas...and do we want a hair-trigger, opportunist running things..I think not.

I also wish everyone would stop misrepresenting the different side on the issue women's reproductive rights. Just like a battery you can't have two negative sides of an issue or two pro.

So it's either Pro-Life vs Anti-Life, Pro-Abortion vs Anti-Abortion, or Pro-Choice vs Anti-Choice.

Women make choices throughout their reproductive lives to choose to have the child or to abort the child (sometimes God/nature/biology makes that choice and a miscarriage occurs.

No women is Pro Abortion, it's about making that difficult choice since she is the one who will have to ultimately carry that child. If a man got pregnant, this would be a moot point. It would be legal and accessible without debate, pretty much like Viagra is now!

Let me get this straight. It was OK for McCain to bash Obama for his supposed lack of experience, but Obama has to treat Palin with kid-gloves JUST BECAUSE SHE'S A WOMAN??!!

Reverse sexism, anybody?

When the cheering is over about Palin, her entire life will be under a microscope. Let's hope her stance on very important issues makes into the main-stream press. Should the McCain-Palin team be elected, U.S. women can kiss safe abortions goodbye. I come from the same state Palin came from, Idaho, and she certainly has the ultra-conservative mind set as the majority of voters and elected leaders have in Idaho. In Idaho many joke "Welcome to Idaho, set your clocks back 20 years." If McCain and Palin are elected the U.S. can set the clock back 35 years, to a time before Roe v. Wade. Once that great piece of jurisprudence is dashed, many other progressive ideas will be left on the table. A vote for McCain-Palin will be a vote for the status quo. At least with Obama-Biden there is a chance for something different.

A vote for McCain-Palin will be a vote for the status quo. At least with Obama-Biden there is a chance for something different.

Are we looking at the same Obama/Biden?

Two beltway insiders..., one who's been in Congress 10 years LONGER than McCain??
One who comes from the most corrupt corner of Democratic politics? The home of His Hereditary Majesty, Mayor Daley & thousands of Democratic voters who's addresses are in a cemetary?
How do they represent "something different"?
Because they're sloganizing "change"?
Not very convincing to me.

I'm voting third party, again, because I really DO want change.

Regardless of her pluses and minuses, her mere presence is the issue. She is going to make Obama's job harder - much harder. One day after the convention where McSame became the battle cry, McCain is no longer McSame but once again an audacious maverick. You may say WTF or but, but, but and make valid or insane arguments. Nonetheless, the waters have been muddied. What used to be an obvious, almost-impossible-to-credibly-deny fact is now open for discussion, all but demolishing the strength of the McSame hammer.

I imagine the Republican tactic is to co-opt all of Obama's signature distinctions and muddy them the same way. It doesn't matter that the co-opted version is hollow. The goal is imbroglio. And Palin makes it possible.

McCain is now an agent of change, like it or not -- be it true change or politically expedient change. Where the argument used to be change vs inertia, it is now OUR change is better than YOUR change -- A much harder if not impossible argument to win.

As Michael Kinsley says:
"With so much going their way in this election, the biggest challenge the Democrats face is simple: The Republicans just play the game of presidential politics so much better. They play it with genius, courage, creativity and utter ruthlessness."

I am still amazed by the lack of critical thinking and the absence of a basic, responsible voting ethos for the small portion of citizens who will choose McCain/Palin primarily because of Palin's gender or as a vote against Obama because Clinton was/is not the nominee.

Your position is base, utterly sophomoric, willfully ignorant, self-sabotaging, and totally indefensible.

Voting in our democracy requires a maturity and responsibility that this clique of voters shuns completely; with total disregard to the legislative intentions of their chosen ticket, this group of people represents the worst of us. If you choose to vote out of spite, or out of a totally apolitical decision to vote for any ticket that includes a woman, you do so in direct conflict and opposition with Clinton's entire agenda; literally, every issue she ran would be represented in the polar opposite manner by the McCain/Palin ticket.

What will you have gained, at such extreme expense? You do not belong in the marketplace of ideas; go home, grow up, and participate in this imperfect democracy in a manner that gives us all the best chance for better lives.

FactChecking...factcheck.com ObamaAugust 29, 2008He stuck to the facts, except when he stretched them.SummaryWe checked the accuracy of Obama's speech accepting the Democratic nomination, and noted the following:

Obama said he could “pay for every dime” of his spending and tax cut proposals “by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens.” That’s wrong – his proposed tax increases on upper-income individuals are key components of paying for his program, as well. And his plan, like McCain’s, would leave the U.S. facing big budget deficits, according to independent experts.
He twisted McCain’s words about Afghanistan, saying, “When John McCain said we could just 'muddle through' in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources.” Actually, McCain said in 2003 we “may” muddle through, and he recently also called for more troops there.

He said McCain would fail to lower taxes for 100 million Americans while his own plan would cut taxes for 95 percent of “working” families. But an independent analysis puts the number who would see no benefit from McCain’s plan at 66 million and finds that Obama’s plan would benefit 81 percent of all households when retirees and those without children are figured in.
Obama asked why McCain would "define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year"? Actually, McCain meant that comment as a joke, getting a laugh and following up by saying, "But seriously ..."
Obama noted that McCain’s health care plan would "tax people’s benefits" but didn’t say that it also would provide up to a $5,000 tax credit for families.

He said McCain, far from being a maverick who’s "broken with his party," has voted to support Bush policies 90 percent of the time. True enough, but by the same measure Obama has voted with fellow Democrats in the Senate 97 percent of the time.

Obama said "average family income" went down $2,000 under Bush, which isn't correct. An aide said he was really talking only about "working" families and not retired couples. And – math teachers, please note – he meant median (or midpoint) and not really the mean or average. Median family income actually has inched up slightly under Bush

Actually when I voted for Hillary in the primary it was because she was a woman. I'll have no trouble at all voting for McCain/Palin.

Sarah Palin is the weak buffalo in the herd and the Press haven't had a thing to eat all cycle.

FREE AMERICA

DIRECT DEMOCRACY

My problem is this:

I'd **** Sarah in a heartbeat...

Die if I had to **** Hillary

I think Bill ****-ed the pooch

Won't vote for ****-head McCain because my 80-year-old dad will, and I'm smarter than him

And know too many racist ****heads to believe Obama can win....

What shall I do?

I am a recovering Independent that has gone Democrat. I am one of those women that everyone is chasing for a vote. I am, also, offended by the choice that John McCain made to pick Palin as a running mate. Once again, it shows that his judgment is unscrupulous. Yes, I supported Hillary Rodham Clinton and would have loved to have seen a woman in the White House but Palin is no Hillary. This is a slap in the face to all intelligent women all over the United States, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. I supported Hillary based upon her history and policy initiatives. How dare John McCain and Republicans try to pacify my beliefs, my efforts, and my labor by putting someone on his ticket that has no more experience or credentials to be President than I do? Then to add insult to jury, all of the news commentators are saying you can’t be mean to her because she is a woman, WHY NOT! If McCain wins, she will be second in line to the Presidency. God forbid something happens to that man; then what, do you think that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is going to be nice to her? The future of this country is not a joke. I am outraged! John McCain chose to overlook viable candidates (that have been preparing for this position and are aware of the major issues that we face today) so that he too could have a historical moment. I am now a foot soldier for Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden. I am proud to support Senator Obama, our next President of the United States of America.

I am a woman and proud military member and I have to say that McCain's choice for VP is a joke, if something was to happen to McCain, Palin would be my Commander-in-Chief?...yikes...no way.
OBAMA has my vote.

I am a third party independent voter because I REALLY want to see change. McAin has forced me to be an Obama supporter as there is NO way Palin has the experience to run this country when (not if) he keels over or leaves office for health reasons.

At least Sarah Palin can handle an M-4 without her hands shaking. And hit her target.

If I were in a position to be facing combat, I'd have damned little confidence in the military leadership of someone who's probably never handled a cap gun, let alone real, deadly force potential.
Hell, with a commander-in-chief who doesn't know his rifle from his gun, or a lemon grenade from lemonade, I could end up a corpse being dragged naked through the streets of Mogadishu.., or some other third world hell-hole.

Given Joe Biden's embrace of the 'Liberal Military-Interventionist' philosophy, it would seem entirely too likely for my comfort.

Let's check in on what the other world leaders think about Traitor John McBush's VP pick.

Wait..........just another moment.........any second now......

Nope, sorry.........none of them have stopped laughing yet.

It sickens me that Traitor John McBush would pick Elaine from Seinfeld as his running mate. When you put the entire country at risk just to further your political career you meet the criteria of Traitor. Traitor John McBush meets the decription of TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY.

Elitest Traitor John McBush is also an adulterer. While married to his first ex-model wife he apparently wasn't settled with owning just two homes so he had an affair with an elitest ex-model who along with being an adulterer herself, for entering into an affair with a married man, owned an additional 6 homes. So now Elitest Adulterer Traitor John McBush should be happy now that he has 8 homes. Although Traitor John McBush's Adulterer wife should be worried....Traitor John McBush's pick was also an ex-model and is almost 30 year younger.

But no, he wants to be president. Traitor McBush is behind in the polls so what does Traitor John McBush do? Instead of picking a qualified Vice President, Traitor John McBush picks the mayor of a town smaller than some US high schools. Then Traitor John McBush tries to say that Elaine from Seinfeld is more qualified than Barak Obama because she ran a town of 6000 people with a budget of $3 million. That by the way is less than half of what Traitor John McBush earned last year. Not only is Elaine from Seinfeld not qualifed to be vice-president she isn't qualified to be Traitor John McBush's accountant. Thats what a journalism degree is worth from the Univ of Idaho.

I guess Traitor John McBush thinks a journalism degree from Idaho trumps Obama's law degrees from Columbia and Harvard Law School (where he was President of the Harvard Law Review), 8 years in the Illinois state senate and 4 years in the US Senate.

And yet there are some Traitor Republicans who will insist on voting for Traitor Elitest Adulterer John McBush. These are the people who hate this country.

I don't know me... but if I thought there was such thing I would say "heaven help us all" with Msr McCain's choice of Danielle Boone aka the "Palinator" as vice president it paints a grim picture of the future for the planet earth. A rougette in for a rouge nation. Ta Bar Nac...

I wouldn't focus too much on McCain's VP choice in an attempt to discredit it/her, as this will make Deems appear angry or hostile towards women.
Cheney will travel to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan in an attempt to smooth tensions after Russia’s parliament voted unanimously to urge the president to recognize the independence of Georgia’s two breakaway regions. The debates should address this role of the VP and if Palin or Biden is more capable in this role.

This is a serious VP choice and to underestimate the power of McCain's affirmative action move could cost us the election.

Palin is an attractive woman, who is an attractive woman, who happens to be an attractive Republican woman, so she is more than qualified to be VP in the United State in the eyes of most voters. I urge restraint and the recognition that as a politically inexperienced woman incapable of filling the role as VP that she is untouchable by the Deems- it will need to be the press that brings her down.

It's hard to take seriously a woman who publishes a website like this:

http://sarahpalin.typepad.com/

On the other hand, should she become Vice President, the US will have serious problems.

Sarah Palin isn't really a moron, she's just drawn that way.

FREE AMERICA

DIRECT DEMOCRACY

To jts,

Don't forget dishonesty and sleaze.

If McCain wins, look to him retiring four years from now in favor of Ms. Palin.

Does anyone remember what Clinton said in her speech at the convention? If you voted for her because she is a woman, it was wrong. If you voted for her because she could bring about change we desperately need then you were on the right track. A vote for Palin because she is a woman is stupid.If you believe she would make a great president, then vote for her. But if you do vote for her because you think she'll make a great president, you may want to get checked to see if you have a brain. Obama has had eight years--count them, eight--as a state senator, and two years as a U.S. senator, just the same as JFK had when he ran. Palin has been governor for a year and a half? Part-time mayor of a small Alaskan town? Gee, I want her to command our military, face down Putin, go head to head with the boys in the Middle east who are Muslims who disrespect women generally. Please, let's get real. McCain wants us to bend over and gleefully allow him to do the nasty on us just so a woman can be president if he dies. He's insulting every American, placing us in danger and wanting only to be elected president so he can validate his military record by being commander-in-chief. He's not a war hero; he is a former POW who has gotten to where he is by playing that POW card ad nauseum. Yeah, he was kicked around some and maybe--maybe--tortured. We have only his word on that. But he also sold us out, signed documents against the U.S. Is there anyone alive who can corroborate his story? Or are we being sold a sack of garbage along with Palin?

Yes, if John McCain is a hero-leader because he endured torture, then we have created a huge pool of hero-leaders among those who have become our enemies because we were defrauded into aggressing on them. It's a situation to set straight. That can't be accomplished by egotists who live by fables and don't take truth-finding as a solemn endeavor.

McCain has just shot himself in his foot with Palin's gun.

I am a born-again Christian and I think McCain's choice of Palin is a disaster. I think she is a hypocrite. Let me tell you why. As Christians we are taught that sex outside of marriage is the sin of fornication. That said, how could any good Christian woman expose her daughter's sins to the world like that. I'm not critisizing the child because I believe she was either deprived of full information in sex education or lacked the self esteem to tell the boy, "No." I think that the mother is hanging the girl out to dry all for her own self interest. Now how can the interest of a country be trusted to a woman who puts her own self interest before that of her own daughter. She should be protecting her daughter from public scorn. Sarah Palin is a phoney and evangelical Christian should not be fooled by her.

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months. She is anti-choice. She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym. She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters. She's smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents. During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a fiscal conservative. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration were not enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once. These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city. As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state. In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road project, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the old boys club when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the States top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he intimidated
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness. Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the old boys club when she dramatically quit, exposing this mans ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the bridge to
nowhere after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as anti-pork.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her Sarah Barracuda because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as AGIA that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum. Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned as a private citizen against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the States lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interiors decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President. There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she. However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
Hockey mom: true for a few years
PTA mom: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
NRA supporter: absolutely true
social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).
pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
Pro-life: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Downs syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
Experienced: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
political maverick: not at all
gutsy: absolutely!
open & transparent:??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
a Greenie: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
Spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90s.

Anne Kilkenny
annekilkenny@hotmail.com
August 31, 2008

Anne Kilkenny, your post is extremely well-written and helpful. Thank you so much for posting. An objective view of a woman who is not, in my opinion, anywhere near being fit for the role she has taken on. Sorry to hear you happened to end up on Palin's blacklist. Apparently not hard to do. Hope all goes well for you as you stand up courageously to this bully.

She isn't a woman. She's Pat Robison with a vigina. What woman would drag her pregnant, teenage daughter through this.

Frederick Lee Fuller observes: Obama has had eight years--count them, eight--as a state senator, and two years as a U.S. senator, just the same as JFK had when he ran.

Frederick, I knew Jack Kennedy.
I served with Jack Kennedy.
Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine, and Frederick, Obama is no Jack Kennedy!