View Full Version : Palin steps down as governor of Alaska
SimpleDreamer
07-03-2009, 14:26
An interesting turn of events. I'm rather curious what the opinions of this community are.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin shocked the political word Friday by announcing that she will step down at the end of the month and transfer power to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.
Palin made the announcement from her home in Wasilla, flanked by her husband, Todd, and family and state commissioners.
The announcement came on the same week that one of her top public health officials says she was forced out of office because Palin felt she wasn't in step on social issues.
Palin's decision now allows her to avoid the difficult task of running for president while serving as governor.
Todd Palin told FOX News that his wife will concentrate on "doing the things for Alaska and the country" that she is passionate about and can not do as governor with the limitation and constant opposition she deals with within the state.
Palin, who defeated incumbent Gov. Murkowski in a primary in 2006,.gained national prominence when GOP presidential candidate John McCain picked her as his running mate last year. But her approval ratings in the state have skidded in recent months.
Palin has been dogged in recent months by ethics inquiries. Her office last month announced the 15th dismissal of an ethics complaint against her or one of her staff.
On Wednesday, Beverly Wooley, who has worked more than 20 years in public health in Alaska, most of it with the municipality of Anchorage, ended her stint as state public health director.
She's the second top health official to leave within days. The state's chief medical officer, Jay Butler, left in late June after declining to take on Wooley's job along with his own. He now is in Atlanta, overseeing a U.S. Centers for Disease Control task force on a vaccine to protect against the H1N1 flu virus.
FOX News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Surgicalcric
07-03-2009, 15:16
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Gov Palin in Slovenia while she and the Alaska NG TAG were waiting a connecting flight from Kosovo, where they had visited deployed Alaska NG soldiers, to Germany, where she planned on visiting wounded service members at Landstuhl AFB.
During our conversation, I made it a point to thank her for her continued service to our Nation and express how I hoped her vice-pres bid wasnt the last we would see of her. To wit she responded, that the past election was just the beginning and she had big plans and would be making some changes shortly so she could focus more on the future.
On a side note, she is the most down-to-earth politician I have met, traveling in jeans and a t-shirt and flying coach...
ETA: She is even more of a hottie in person
Crip
SimpleDreamer
07-03-2009, 15:20
Truly an American patriot. I believe that her methodology of politics would make our founding fathers proud. She still believes that it is publics service that drives government. Government action should not be praised and rewarded monetarily, but by the satisfaction of helping this great country grow and prosper. I'm deeply saddened to see her step down, and I surely hope that this is a step in the direction of that big White House.
-SD
There are already dims stating she can't take the heat of politics...yada yada yada. :rolleyes:
I think anyone that underestimates Governor Palin is making a mistake.
Crip, very cool that you were able to meet her!
Hopefully, her stepping down is about gearing up for a run in 2012 and not an issue with her personal life or her health.
I'd like to see her address some of the areas that inspired concerns among some voters (e.g. her expertise in foreign affairs*) without changing those traits that inspired out right fear in others.:cool:
She is even more of a hottie in person.
Were this observation not offered by a QP, I'd not believe it. During her visit to France, the current first lady showed her green eyes as she sat next to Mrs. Sarkozy. When President Palin goes to France, Mrs. Sarkozy will return the favor.
__________________________________
* The extent to which ABC News butchered Charlie Gibson's "interview" of Governor Palin did not receive the attention it merited. Even so, she did not demonstrate in unfiltered footage a level of familiarity with foreign affairs sufficient enough to quell her more temperate critics. I believe she would have been up to speed on the issues within the first year of her vice presidency. Now, she'll be able to punch that card repeatedly and take the issue of expertise off the table.
Team Sergeant
07-03-2009, 16:23
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Gov Palin in Slovenia while she and the Alaska NG TAG were waiting a connecting flight from Kosovo, where they had visited deployed Alaska NG soldiers, to Germany, where she planned on visiting wounded service members at Landstuhl AFB.
During our conversation, I made it a point to thank her for her continued service to our Nation and express how I hoped her vice-pres bid wasnt the last we would see of her. To wit she responded, that the past election was just the beginning and she had big plans and would be making some changes shortly so she could focus more on the future.
On a side note, she is the most down-to-earth politician I have met, traveling in jeans and a t-shirt and flying coach...
ETA: She is even more of a hottie in person
Crip
Lucky bastard.....
I'd sure like to see her run for President......;) I think she'd do a fine job.
TS
Cric, I had heard that about her. Lucky you, you got to meet her and spend a little time with her. WTG!
I think we are going to see a run for the WH in 2012. I support her and look forward to volunteering on that campaign. They will be throwing that whole "but she doesn't have any experience and has no qualifications to be president". To which the reply will be...............
Sigaba...EEK! :eek: That is a scary looking woman. Now I am going to have nightmares AGAIN and have to sleep with the light on, thanks alot. :D:D
Red Flag 1
07-03-2009, 16:40
Lucky bastard.....
I'd sure like to see her run for President......;) I think she'd do a fine job.
TS Luck indeed. His plastic surgery consult is still valid..see no reason to change that:D.
Agree! Gov Palin is a class act. I would like to see this as a prelude to a run for the White House. It will require a ton of work to rebuild the GOP to support her. IMHO, she can do that!
:munchin
My $.02.
RF 1
BMT (RIP)
07-03-2009, 16:59
I'd say give her about 90 day's and she will comeout swing!!
'WE'RE NOT RETREATING. WE'RE ADVANCING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION'...
BMT
There are already dims stating she can't take the heat of politics...yada yada yada. :rolleyes:
I think anyone that underestimates Governor Palin is making a mistake.
Crip, very cool that you were able to meet her!
Ed Rollins was on XM POTUS blowing his chunks about how she made a disastrous mistake by leaving her position and it would leave doubts in many minds because of her actions.
Personally speaking I'd take Palin over any of the stooges Rollins has helped put in seats of power any day. My gut tells me that with the lack of loyalty, corruption and attacks in the Republican Party Sarah is heading to a third party.
:munchin
Goggles Pizano
07-03-2009, 19:18
Ed Rollins was on XM POTUS blowing his chunks about how she made a disastrous mistake by leaving her position and it would leave doubts in many minds because of her actions.
Personally speaking I'd take Palin over any of the stooges Rollins has helped put in seats of power any day. My gut tells me that with the lack of loyalty, corruption and attacks in the Republican Party Sarah is heading to a third party.
:munchin
I could not agree more. In fact I'd say she is ambitious enough to create/lead a new alternative party (Conservative?) not simply become Independant or Libertarian.
I saw Sen. Clinton in Haiti a couple of months ago, and she was even less of a hottie in person...some guys have all the luck! :D
I have to agree with Broadsword, this move seems a bit risky to me too. Then again, you know what our British friends say about "Who dares....."
GratefulCitizen
07-03-2009, 20:42
Carpe diem.
-The president's numbers went negative (Rasmussen) and will probably remain there.
-The economic recovery/stimulus has stalled.
-The media is starting to turn against the one.
-It's the 4th of July weekend.
People are looking for a new hope.
Her timing couldn't be better.
*************
*************
Next step:
The MSM will go on a rampage against Gov. Palin with a endless series of petty smears.
She will be put in the spotlight, where she will respond with grace not normally seen in a politician.
The president will not be able to stand not being the center of attention, and will start challenging her, rather than Rush or whomever.
She will respond with charisma which matches or exceeds that of the president and will become the de facto leader of the opposition.
The dims will lose ground in the 2010 elections (they would've anyway) -- Palin will get a good share of the credit.
Palin becomes the obvious conservative choice for 2012, and the MSM won't be able to push a "moderate" fence-sitter into the nomination.
She is the liberal's worst nightmare.
-She is charismatic.
-She triangulates them on identity politics.
-She is immune from attacks on the abortion issue.
-She is a true conservative who will absolutely mobilize her base.
2012 - I'm voting for hope and change. :D
Surf n Turf
07-03-2009, 21:00
My wife and I are strong Palin fans, and right now my wife is really pissed.
Where was McCain when Letterman attached her daughter (and Sarah).
Where are the “Republicans” in covering her “six, and helping with her legal bills for those phony ethics charges.
McCain, Romney and their respective staffs (whom they hired) have trashed Palin since the day she was nominated. The Democrat “politics of personal destruction” team has homesteaded in Alaska. Is there No one with honor?
If Romney is the only choice – guess I will sit this one out. It would be my first missed election since I cast my vote for Barry Goldwater. :p
If Sarah is the nominee, I will work, contribute, and campaign – and feel great about it :D
SnT
Defender968
07-04-2009, 07:51
Is there No one with honor?
Unfortunately the answer is no there isn't, and IMO there hasn't been for a long time, we need term limits, they're just about the only thing that will stop the madness IMO.
If Romney is the only choice – guess I will sit this one out. It would be my first missed election since I cast my vote for Barry Goldwater. :p
As for Romney, he's a sleazebag IMO, I won't be happy about voting for him, but if it's between him and the one I'll vote Romney because sitting the election out only helps the one.
As for Palin, I like her, but I think it was a mistake to resign the governorship. She needs the experience, and while I think she is a great person, I'd like someone with a little more experience in general, we're seeing first hand how bad things can go when the President has to do on the job training.
I would love however for her to start a viable third party, I've been thinking I'd like to see the common sense and personal responsibility party, I'd join in a flat second.
Personally I like Huckabee, liked him before, and I like him even more now, he's run a state, a church, and in general seems to be a classy guy who has great deal of wisdom and common sense. Do I think he can get elected, probably not, being a minister puts him in the way to conservative for the presidency category.
Unfortunately the answer is no there isn't, and IMO there hasn't been for a long time, we need term limits, they're just about the only thing that will stop the madness IMO.
As for Romney, he's a sleazebag IMO, I won't be happy about voting for him, but if it's between him and the one I'll vote Romney because sitting the election out only helps the one.
As for Palin, I like her, but I think it was a mistake to resign the governorship. She needs the experience, and while I think she is a great person, I'd like someone with a little more experience in general, we're seeing first hand how bad things can go when the President has to do on the job training.
I would love however for her to start a viable third party, I've been thinking I'd like to see the common sense and personal responsibility party, I'd join in a flat second.
Personally I like Huckabee, liked him before, and I like him even more now, he's run a state, a church, and in general seems to be a classy guy who has great deal of wisdom and common sense. Do I think he can get elected, probably not, being a minister puts him in the way to conservative for the presidency category.
IMO - The vast majority of those that are toting that supposed 'special' experience needed to be President, Congresmen, Senators and Cabinet members are people I would not and do not trust. Their special experince and attributes tend to tilt towards to screwing whoever, to attain whatever, at whatever cost and to maintain the status quo.
Personally speaking I would rather have common folk lacking these sleezy traits and skills running things.
Defender968
07-04-2009, 13:16
IMO - The vast majority of those that are toting that supposed 'special' experience needed to be President, Congresmen, Senators and Cabinet members are people I would not and do not trust. Their special experince and attributes tend to tilt towards to screwing whoever, to attain whatever, at whatever cost and to maintain the status quo.
Personally speaking I would rather have common folk lacking these sleezy traits and skills running things.
I agree with you for the most part when it comes to politicians, congressional experience to me is all but worthless, as a matter of fact I think it's a more of a negative attribute than anything else. I my next presidential candidate (and hopefully president) to have some political experience, but more on the governor or maybe large city mayor level, I'm more looking for executive experience. I'd like someone with some experience running an organization, a CEO (of a non bailed out company would be ok, or a Colonel or General, again someone who knows how to run a very large organization.) My problem with Gov Palin is she has very little experience in that realm, she was getting it as Gov, and had much more than the one (not that that says much), but still her experience level left something to be desired. Now I would love to see her as the VP to Huckabee, that would be the best of both worlds in my mind. Gov Huckabee for his wisdom and experience in running organizations, as well as his common sense, and her views from the real world and common sense, her fire, enthusiasm, and drive, as well as her ability to call the baby ugly (which I love) and to mobilize the conservative base, not to mention as VP it would give her the opportunity to develop the experience she will need to be a player on the national scene.
Just my .02
Listening to her speech made me wonder whether Caribou Barbie had been munching on some tainted tundra or maybe something similar to whatever Mark Sanford must've consumed prior to his big press embarassment last week. :confused:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
I'm with Richard. The speech was a disaster. But I'll be honest, I have never been a fan of her.
TrapLine
07-07-2009, 20:04
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Gov Palin in Slovenia while she and the Alaska NG TAG were waiting a connecting flight from Kosovo, where they had visited deployed Alaska NG soldiers, to Germany, where she planned on visiting wounded service members at Landstuhl AFB.
During our conversation, I made it a point to thank her for her continued service to our Nation and express how I hoped her vice-pres bid wasnt the last we would see of her. To wit she responded, that the past election was just the beginning and she had big plans and would be making some changes shortly so she could focus more on the future.
On a side note, she is the most down-to-earth politician I have met, traveling in jeans and a t-shirt and flying coach...
ETA: She is even more of a hottie in person
Crip
Crip, I am jealous. A beatiful woman in a beautiful country, IMHO. I have been fortunate enough to travel to Slovenia a few times to visit relatives. I hope you were able to enjoy a Lasko Pivo while you were there. Na zdravje!
TrapLine
Less filling - looks great - sounds as if she's got the Monday Night Football crowd in her ballot box. :rolleyes:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Palin needs "political" grooming. I'd link her up with Ms. Rice for a year.:lifter
Stay safe.
Dozer523
07-07-2009, 23:41
i do not think she will be missed in the great white (American) north. So, when she come south, where will she go? How will mukluks and hockey play in say. . . Texas? Seriously, where does the 2012 Republican Hope make her Continental start? (I'm NOT messing with you.)
Palin needs "political" grooming. I'd link her up with Ms. Rice for a year.:lifter
Agreed.
But we are in an age where snark and sound bites are the preferred means of political discourse. I don't know if even Ms. Rice (who is loathed by the same parties who despise the governor) can succeed as Professor Higgins to Ms. Palin's Eliza Doolittle.
Regardless, Ms. Palin must first stop being her own most damaging exhibit in the kangaroo court of public opinion. (I am well past tired of Mr. Letterman's venomous 'jokes.')
So, when she comes south, where will she go? How will mukluks and hockey play in say. . . Texas? Seriously, where does the 2012 Republican Hope make her Continental start?
Maybe Idaho - her home state - her parents still live there.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
uboat509
07-08-2009, 05:29
I have never had anything personally against Sarah Palin, nor did I join the throngs who anointed her the savior of the party either. One of Barrack Obama's biggest liabilities was his lack of experience. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin left me scratching my head at first. Then I began to see why he did it. Certain parts of the Republican party spent so much time during the primaries spewing bile at McCain, howling with indignant rage that other members of the party DARED to vote for McCain's nomination and just generally acting like spoiled children that they found themselves in an ideological corner once McCain was nominated. There were even some who were threatening to vote Democrat to punish the Republican party for having dared to nominate McCain. The shear arrogance of that is mind boggling. Enter Sarah Palin. She was attractive and said the right things. She, in essence, gave the anti-McCain republicans an excuse to vote for McCain, something I am finding increasingly ironic because lately I have been reading that part of the reason she was successful as the governor of Alaska was that she was willing to reach across the aisle to get things done in Alaska, which was apparently one of McCain's unpardonable sins. I also find it sadly ironic that some of the people who spent the most time spewing bile at McCain have the gal to be outraged that he doesn't jump to defend her from the largely spurious attacks against her.
SFC W
Ed Rollins was on XM POTUS blowing his chunks about how she made a disastrous mistake by leaving her position and it would leave doubts in many minds because of her actions.
Personally speaking I'd take Palin over any of the stooges Rollins has helped put in seats of power any day. My gut tells me that with the lack of loyalty, corruption and attacks in the Republican Party Sarah is heading to a third party.
:munchin
I had the exact same thought. I don't see her running with GOP next to her name. I think the woman is crazy as a fox, and is going to surprise a lot of her critics.
I also predict Hillary is going to run against Obama for the DEM ticket in 2012 and we will see Palin vs Clinton.
I had the exact same thought. I don't see her running with GOP next to her name. I think the woman is crazy as a fox, and is going to surprise a lot of her critics.She has time too devote to revamping since she resigned. Clear her head and develope her message w/guidance from some buddha.
Just imagine if she were too seek out Antenori.:D
Stay safe.
She never should have never quit, no matter the reason. Quitting gets easier every time you do it.
Utah Bob
07-09-2009, 09:32
Madame President, there's been a terrorist bombing in Philadelphia. Looks like it might have been a low yield dirty device. The Iranians are saying they support "whoever the Jihadist Martyrs are".
And the Chinese ambassador is on line one. Seems he wants to talk about our debt.
Also, here are the latest unemployment figures for last month, and the DOW is down 450 points.
"I quit!":rolleyes:
People like to project their feelings into issues.
Their views will shape how they view this incedent.
Me? I'd go to one of her rallies.
Look for the Kittens who lost their Mitten to start whispering to the press.
greenberetTFS
07-09-2009, 14:48
I had the exact same thought. I don't see her running with GOP next to her name. I think the woman is crazy as a fox, and is going to surprise a lot of her critics.
I also predict Hillary is going to run against Obama for the DEM ticket in 2012 and we will see Palin vs Clinton.
Excellent analysis, I totally agree......:) I think these two gals are destined to meet in the next election.....:rolleyes: BHO won't be able to run because of his humongous failures in his initial term and the dems will convince him not to run again.....
They will rally around Clinton to save the party..... Palin will be the the rebs response and it will make an interesting election in 2012..........;)
Big Teddy :munchin
She is coming to Texas to campaign for Texas governor Rick Perry who is being challenged by Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson in the Republican primary. They've been very chummy
As an Alaskan, I'm disappointed that Governor Palin is stepping down from the job that we, in all confidence, gave her. Despite her talk of lame duck status the only thing lame is her excuse for quitting. In the remaining eighteen months of her term there are issues vitally important to the state that need her leadership. She could still make a difference here.
That said, her future in national politics is an exciting thing to ponder. No doubt she's got her sights on Washington. What remains to be seen is what she does next. (My fear is that she'll continue to take advice from the same dufus who advised her to quit as Governor. Her detractors will have a heydey with her quitting the only job that gave her executive leadership experience.)
Alaskans have tempered our ardor for Sarah Palin, we've even grown jaded, or jealous perhaps, as we see her reach for things beyond our state. (In some ways we're like the girl-next-door ditched by her boyfriend for the Next Hot Thing.) Even so, Sarah Palin has a place in our hearts.
As we say here, "Alaska Girls Kick @ss!"
You go girl!
GratefulCitizen
07-09-2009, 19:09
I think "right-wing bomb-thrower" Ann Coulter has the current hysteria nailed.
Sarah Palin has deeply disappointed her enemies. People who hate her guts feel she's really let them down by resigning.
She's like the ex-girlfriend they're SO over, never want to see again, have already forgotten about -- really, it's O-ver -- but they just can't stop talking about her.
Liberal: Ha, ha ... Sarah who? She's over, she's toast, a future Trivial Pursuit answer, nothing more.
Normal person: Whatever. How about the North Korean missiles?
Liberal: Can you believe she just resigned the governorship like that? What a quitter!
Normal person: Speaking of quitting, how's work?
Liberal: Did you hear she might get a TV show? There's no way Sarah Palin's getting a TV show! No way! I can't believe stupid Sarah Palin could get her own stupid TV show now. Well, I'm sure not gonna watch it -- that's for sure!
Normal person: Have you seen all the Michael Jackson coverage on TV?
Liberal: How does she think she can run for president in 2012 if she can't finish her term as governor of a Podunk state? She's finished.
Normal person: OK, then! You won't have to vote for her.
Liberal: I was never going to vote for her! But now I'm not going to vote for her twice. And I will never watch her TV show. I am so over her.
Reporters had already written their stories on Palin's press conference -- "rambling!" "incoherent!" -- before she even stepped to the podium.
Whatever you think of Palin, her argument for resigning was the opposite of "rambling" and "incoherent."
Palin's basketball analogy couldn't have been clearer, even to prissy liberal pundits who get uncomfortable when the subject turns to sports: She decided to destroy the other team's game plan, which has been to obsessively focus on her, by resigning.
This is particularly apt here -- she's passing the ball to a fantastic right-wing lieutenant governor, who shares her principles but doesn't set off the left's neuroses.
This is better for him, better for the state, better for the conservative program and better for Palin personally, whose family is sick of all the crap. Now she can make a lot of money and promote conservatism on a national stage.
It certainly won't be held against Palin by people who don't already loathe her. (On the other hand, her approval ratings among people who think she's worse than Hitler are down to 48 percent.)
With the left frenetically filing ethics complaint after ethics complaint against Palin, costing her state millions of dollars and her personally half a million dollars, citizens of Alaska must be asking, "Can we please have our state back?"
But to read the news reports -- which actually were rambling and incoherent -- you would think Palin was speaking in tongues.
The truth is liberals are furious they won't have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore -- at least not with Palin's hands tied behind her back by her public office.
Something tells me Keith Olbermann isn't going to be pulling any big numbers this summer attacking Eric Cantor and Michele Bachmann. I don't anticipate any sudden outbreaks of "Mitch McConnell Derangement Syndrome."
Soon we'll only hear about Keith when his creepy e-mails using his mother's death to hit on chicks start making the rounds again. (Tip to Keith: When a girl refuses to give you her phone number, her assistant's phone number or her personal e-mail address, and only gives you her assistant's e-mail address, you're not halfway in the sack.)
Bonus: If Olbermann gets canceled as a result of Palin's resignation, that will put her in a really good position for 2012.
But instead of being honest and saying, "Oh well, it was a good ride while it lasted," liberal chatterers indignantly demand: "Is this not the greatest betrayal a public servant ever committed against the people?"
On one hand, liberals are enraged at the heinousness of Mark Sanford -- whom they didn't vote for -- for not resigning and, on the other, they're enraged at Palin -- whom they also didn't vote for -- for resigning.
The peculiarly venomous hatred of Palin is driven by women of the left and their whipped consorts. All that needs to happen is for a feminist to overhear two Nation readers saying, "I hate to admit it, but Palin is kind of hot" and ...
WHAT??????????? YOU CALL THAT HOT? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT A MEGA-SUPER HOTTIE IN DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. AND NEED I REMIND YOU AGAIN OF THE RAW SEX APPEAL OF RACHEL MADDOW?
Democrats are a party of women, and nothing drives them off their gourds like a beautiful Christian conservative. (How much money has that other beautiful born-again, Carrie Prejean, been forced to spend on lawyers to respond to liberal hysteria?)
So the motives are clear, but the money is not. Who is paying the rent for the losers filing all these frivolous complaints against Palin?
At least when Richard Mellon Scaife was funding investigations of Bill Clinton, we knew who Scaife was, he was an American citizen, and his money was accessible to U.S. tax authorities and not stashed in offshore accounts like a certain Hungarian Nazi-collaborator I can name.
How about some modern-day Scaife investigate the investigators?
http://www.anncoulter.com/
Is criticism from members of the GOP about the direction of the party or about control of the party?
Source is here (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-palin-gop13-2009jul13,0,538206,print.story).
Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin
Their harsh views conflict with those of grass-roots GOP voters, revealing a serious split within the party.
By Mark Z. Barabak
July 13, 2009
Since announcing her resignation, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been pummeled by critics who have called her incoherent, a quitter, a joke and a "political train wreck."
And those were fellow Republicans talking.
Palin has been a polarizing figure from the moment she stepped off the tundra into the bright lights last summer as John McCain's surprise vice presidential running mate. Some of that hostility could be expected, given the hyper-partisanship of today's politics.
What is remarkable is the contempt Palin has engendered within her own party and the fact that so many of her GOP detractors are willing, even eager, to express it publicly -- even with Palin an early front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Some admit their preference that she stay in Alaska and forget about any national ambitions.
"I am of the strong opinion that, at present day, she is not ready to be the leading voice of the GOP," said Todd Harris, a party strategist who likened Palin to the hopelessly dated "Miami Vice" -- something once cool that people regard years later with puzzlement and laughter. "It's not even that she hasn't paid her dues. I personally don't think she's ready to be commander in chief."
Others suggest a delayed response to last year's shaky campaign performance, now that the race is over and Republicans feel free to speak their minds.
"I can't tell you one thing she brought to the ticket," said Stuart K. Spencer, who has been advising GOP candidates for more than 40 years. "McCain wanted to shock and surprise people, and he did -- in a bad way."
It is more than cruel sport, this picking apart of Alaska's departing chief executive. The sniping reflects a serious split within the Republican Party between its professional ranks and some of its most ardent followers, which threatens not only to undermine Palin's White House ambitions -- if, indeed, she harbors them -- but to complicate the party's search for a way back to power in Washington.
Consider a USA Today/Gallup poll released last week. About 7 in 10 Republicans said they would be likely to vote for Palin if she ran for president. Other surveys place Palin in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, the former governors of Massachusetts and Arkansas, respectively, who sought the White House in 2008 and give every indication that they will try again in 2012.
Although any presidential poll taken this far out has to be taken with a sea's worth of salt, that is not the reason so many Republican strategists and party insiders dismiss Palin.
"People at the grass roots see a charismatic personality who is popular with other people at the grass roots. But their horizon only goes so far as people who think like them," said Mike Murphy. The veteran GOP ad man eviscerated Palin -- a "political train wreck," "an awful choice" for vice president, her resignation an "astonishing self-immolation" -- in a column published Thursday in the New York Daily News.
"Professional operatives keep their eye on a broader horizon and understand, without independents and swing voters, she can't win," Murphy said. "She's a stone-cold loser in a general election."
That, of course, is debatable and subject to any number of developments over the next few years. A Palin spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.
In an interview Sunday in the Washington Times, Palin said she planned to write a book and campaign for candidates nationwide, regardless of party affiliation, who shared her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence.
But the reaction to her resignation from Republican candidates around the country has been telling. Asked if they planned to invite Palin to visit and campaign on their behalf, several of those facing tough races -- the ones who need to do more than turn out the party faithful or collect their contributions -- were not rushing out the welcome mat.
"I don't generally need people from outside my district to do a fundraiser," Rep. Frank R. Wolf, a Republican from the Democratic-leaning suburbs of northern Virginia, told the Hill newspaper.
"There's others that I would have come in and campaign, and most of them would be my colleagues in the House," Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said in the same piece.
Whatever one thinks of Palin, there is no question she has been subjected to a level of internal sniping -- friendly fire seems like a misnomer -- that is extraordinary.
The Republican criticism of Palin, 45, began during McCain's presidential run, privately at first, then breaking into the open during the last troubled days of the Arizona senator's campaign. Finger-pointing and back-stabbing are hardly unusual in politics, especially on the losing side. But like so many things Palin-related -- the crowds, the adoration, the antipathy -- the verbal strafing seems of a whole other magnitude. (How many other losing vice presidential candidates would merit a 10,000-word exegesis in Vanity Fair, which depicted Alaska's governor as a narcissistic, one-woman demolition derby?)
Some blame sexism, though again there is sharp disagreement between Palin's supporters and detractors. Some think the former beauty queen has always been hurt by her looks, whereas others think her appearance has helped her considerably. "If Sarah Palin looked like Golda Meir, would we even be talking about her today?" Murphy asked.
Others see a knee-jerk reaction from the political establishment, which will always frown on any populist outsider (think Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, Howard Dean), much less a governor who quits midterm and shows up on TV in hip waders.
"The fact that she is a woman who's extremely attractive and dynamic and charismatic throws them for a loop," said Bay Buchanan, who strategized for her brother's two insurgent presidential campaigns. "Once they sense the first little sign of weakness, that's when they go in for the kill."
No one knows where the future will take Palin, not even the governor herself. Her reemergence on the national scene and the scathing response from so many of her party peers underscore one thing, however: Republicans may hold dear their memories of the late Ronald Reagan. But his famous 11th commandment -- "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican" -- was laid to rest a long time ago.
mark.barabak@latimes.com
From the front end of the horse...;)
Richard's $.02 :munchin
TIME's Interview with Sarah Palin: 'It's All for Alaska'
Jay Newton-Small, Time, 8 Jul 2009
The Palins were staying with Sarah's in-laws Bob and Blanche Kallstrom when the soon-to-be-ex-governor of Alaska sat down for an interview. The Kallstroms are two of the 2,500 full-time residents of Dillingham, Alaska, and owners of the Bristol Bay Inn and a hardware store. The town's population swells to 7,000 in the summer, as it's a magnet for sport fishermen. Todd Palin grew up in a house across the street from the hardware store — a building that has since been "moved," Blanche says, to make way for another building.
About 10 years ago, the Kallstroms moved into a two-story wooden house with a bright orange garage door. The house is modern with two octagonal windows (Blanche says the carpenter who built the place was "some hippie" who put in all the windows). They have two cottages — both also with bright orange doors — at the end of the driveway. One is a type of sauna with a wood-burning stove. The other is a smoke shack for fish. Their catch of the day is hanging from a clothing line strung from the shack to a tree. The driveway is littered with boots, gray-and-red-tipped fishing socks, waders, scooters, tricycles and a green yoga ball with bunny ears for kids to bounce on. On an opposite line, fishing gear is being hung out to dry. Two cars bear McCain/Palin stickers and faded "Palin for Governor" stickers.
Sarah Palin is in a long-sleeved blue T shirt that reads "Go Slam a Salmon, Peter Pan Seafood" on the back, brown drawstring Capri cargo pants and sneakers, with a ponytail and a beautiful French manicure. She looks tired under her TV makeup. Todd and their daughter Piper are both there, wearing T shirts. Todd is outside chopping wood and feeding it into the stove. Piper is in the driveway holding the Palins' youngest son, Trig. She will later bring him inside to put him to bed, on her mother's instructions.
Sarah Palin gives me a tour of the two shacks, starting with the sauna. "Usually you stay out there until the fish aren't hitting anymore, and then you come in," she says. "And here, especially in Native Alaskan culture, you come in and take a seat, and you sweat everything out." She asks Todd how hot it usually gets. "220 [degrees Fahrenheit] is too hot," he says. "190's good." "Too hot for me," she says. "But these guys do it. So, everybody comes in after fishing and gets buckets of water, and the steam lets you sweat everything out, and it's all guys and it's all gals. That's the tradition."
Then she shows me the smoke shack. "This is usually the subsistence catch," she says, gesturing to the gutted, smoked fish drying in the 10:45 p.m. sun, "which means it's just going to be for personal use." Todd hands me a frozen pack of smoked salmon from a freezer. "And it's the best-tasting stuff in the world after a couple of weeks of drying. People then store it away and eat it through the winter. But they smoke it there and dry it here."
For the interview, Sarah Palin sits down on a curved cement wall next to the shacks, moving some red rubber gloves to make room.
TIME: I wanted to start out somewhat philosophically: Did you feel that the institution of government was no longer the best way to bring change about?
Sarah Palin: There certainly needs to be reform of government on a national level. On a state level, we've been successful in reforming our level. This being my third year, heading into my final year in office, though, knowing that my agenda to reform state government, to rein in the rate of government growth that our state had been on — it was a trajectory that was going to put our state in dire straits if we couldn't rein it in. So we did that. We adopted an agenda that would responsibly develop our resources so that our state would be on good economic grounds but also in a position to more fully contribute toward energy independence for America. We have done that. We've reformed on a state-level government with ethics reform. My first year in office, we worked with the lawmakers to usher through ethics legislation that would disallow any of the previously accepted unethical practices in state government. So we did that. Now, heading into my final year in office, though, it's quite apparent that I will not be the one to effect more fully that continued reform on a state level. But Sean Parnell, our lieutenant governor, will be.
Is that because you feel you don't have a mandate anymore?
It's not that. It's that our administration is so stymied and paralyzed because of a political game that has been chosen to be played by critics who have discovered loopholes in the ethics reform that I championed that allows them to continually, continually bombard the state with frivolous ethics-violation charges, with lawsuits, with these fishing expeditions. We win the lawsuits, we win the ethics charges, we win all that — but it comes at such great cost. The distraction, the waste of time and money, the public's time and money — it's insane to continue down this road. And Alaskans who have paid attention to what's going on, they understand that.
Now, there's been some frustration with some in the media not fully reporting what's been going on, so this may come as a shock to some Alaskans. We have sat down with reporters, showed them proof of the frivolity, the wastefulness — you know, millions of dollars this is costing our state to fight frivolous charges. And countless, countless hours from my staff, our department of law, from me every single day just trying to set the record straight. And it doesn't cost the adversaries a dime in this game. It costs our state so much in time and in resources. Alaskans that have paid attention to that, despite the media choosing not to fully report on the circumstances today, Alaskans understand why there had to be a shift here. There has to be a change of direction, and it makes sense for Alaska, my final year in office, to not only be honest with them and tell them that I'm not going to run again, knowing that we've accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, but taking it one step further, saying I'm not going to put them through a lame-duck session where there will be, obviously, more wasted time and money because of the political game being played right now.
When you resigned from the AOGCC [Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission], that was a huge catapult for you. Do you think this might catapult you as well? Or do you see it as kind of a selfless move, more for the state than for you?
It's all for the state. For me personally, it's extremely tough to make a decision and an announcement like this because I love my job and I love Alaska. This is who I am. This is what I am. And serving the people of Alaska is the greatest honor. But when you know that you come to a point when you cannot effect the change because of circumstances that have so greatly changed, and that happened on Aug. 29, the day that I was tapped to run for VP. Circumstances have so drastically changed, I just have to be realistic about it and I have to be honest about it and say Alaska — certainly, Alaska, our state's fine without me at the governor's desk — but Alaska's going to be even better off in terms of progressing and reaching our potential and our destiny with Sean Parnell coming in, taking over the reins. Same agenda, same staff, but it turns down the volume on the distractions that had been ramped up on Aug. 29.
Why make the announcement on July 3? Because I think that date more than anything set people off — right before the three-day weekend. People assume scandal.
Yeah, that's amazing to me. That hit me like a ton of bricks there, this assumption that there must be something more to it than the altruistic, sincere and articulated reasons why I know that this is best for Alaska, that there was speculation that there must be scandal. July 3 is the eve of Independence Day. It is meaningful to be able to say, Look, there needs to be freedom all the way around here to progress. Alaska, we're going to continue to waste resources and time if this political game continues, and it will only continue, because it's a game of political, personal destruction is what the attempt is. But for me personally, it doesn't affect me like the way some people would assume, personally. Anybody growing up in Alaska is pretty tough and rugged. And, you know, I've been in politics since 1992. Local politics is really tough too, so on a local level, on the state, jumping on an international stage, I've got those years under my belt and I expect and even invite the constructive criticism and those things that hold a public servant accountable, and I invite that. But the circumstances have changed, where we have seen this allowance of critics who lie, who stymie progress and who try to paralyze an administration. That hurts a state. That's not fair to the people of the state. And that's why I said circumstances — my choice is to react to the circumstances, maybe unconventionally, but wisely and fairly to Alaskans.
(cont'd)
TIME's Interview with Sarah Palin: 'It's All for Alaska' (cont'd)
At one point during the campaign you said Hillary Clinton whines a little bit too much about being in the public eye. Do you now sort of sympathize with her?
What I said was, it doesn't do her or anybody else any good to whine about the criticism. And that's why I'm trying to make it clear that the criticism, I invite that. But freedom of speech and that invitation to constructively criticize a public servant is a lot different than the allowance to lie, to continually falsely accuse a public servant when they have proven over and over again that they have not done what the accuser is saying they did. It doesn't cost them a dime to continue to accuse. That's a whole different situation. But that's why when I talk about the political potshots that I take or my family takes, we can handle that. I can handle that. I expect it. But there has to be opportunity provided for truth to get out there, and truth isn't getting out there when the political game that's being played right now is going to continue, and it is. When you realize that it doesn't cost them a dime and it's a fun sport for some, you know it's going to continue. I love Alaska too much to put her through this in a lame-duck session.
Now that you've thought about Alaska, what do you think might interest you moving forward?
I will work extremely hard for Alaska, continuing to work for Alaska, but helping other people who can effect this change, whether they're in office or out of office. I don't need a title to do that. I don't need to be sitting in front of a governor's desk. In fact, my intention is to go out and to campaign for people who can effect change all across our nation. I can't do that from the governor's desk no matter how careful I were to be, because we've got lots of double standards hitting us. Other governors probably could travel around and campaign for others and speak candidly, using their First Amendment rights to express what they feel about a person, a candidate, a position. I get hit with ethics-violation charges if I do that. I mean, literally, I do. The first day back from the campaign trail, I met with reporters in my office who kind of bombarded me there in the lobby of the office. I answered their questions and I got hit with an ethics complaint, and it cost a lot of money to fight things like that, and that's ridiculous. But I'd like to work for other people who'd like to effect change, and Alaska's going to play a big part in the effectiveness of America. As our country progresses with energy independence and Alaska's role in national security and Alaska's part, too, in ratcheting down this government overgrowth that President Obama is ushering in.
You sound a lot like someone, campaigning for other candidates, perhaps fundraising for them, who's going to run in 2012. Is that an interest?
I honestly [pausing to brush Piper's cheeks, who has come back in the room] don't know. I cannot predict what's going to happen. I don't know what doors will be open or closed by then. I was telling Todd today, I was saying, "Man, I wish we could predict the next fish run so that we know when to be out on the water." We can't predict the next fish run, much less what's going to happen in 2012.
So you wouldn't rule it out?
Todd and I, our family's always believed in keeping all options on the table and seeing in this case still what is best for the family and what is best for Alaska.
What do you think is particularly wrong with what Obama is doing now?
President Obama is growing government outrageously, and it's immoral and it's uneconomic, his plan that he tries to sell America. His plan to "put America on the right track" economically, incurring the debt that our nation is incurring, trillions of dollars that we're passing on to our kids, expecting them to pay off for us, is immoral and doesn't even make economic sense. So his growth of government agenda needs to be ratcheted back, and it's going to take good people who have the guts to stand up to him, stand up to him and debate policy, not personalities, not partisan politics, but policy to effect the change that we need there. And allow free enterprise and the industrious Americans who run our small businesses and want to raise a family, allowing our families to grow and prosper and thrive, Americans who still believe in those ideals to get in there and effect change. I want to work for people who believe in that.
Two of his big platform issues now are universal health care and your favorite issue, energy, his global-warming plan. What do you think of his positions on both?
His cap-and-trade agenda is a cap-and-tax agenda, and it's going to drive the cost of consumer goods and the cost of energy so extremely high that our nation is going to start exporting even more jobs to China and to other countries that do not have the corporate tax or the equivalent of the corporate tax that the cap-and-trade — I call it cap-and-tax — agenda is going to usher in. What he needs to be understanding is, we have the domestic supplies of energy in America. It's conventional sources — oil, gas, coal, it's nuclear — and we have the renewable sources here in America. But if we're not allowed to drill and develop those conventional sources in this transition period between now and when we can rely more on alternative sources, we're going to become more and more reliant on foreign sources of energy and importing more and more goods because they're going to be cheaper over there to produce, and our country is going to be in a world of hurt. And that, of course, has so much to do with his economic policy in thinking that it's O.K. to borrow money from other countries to fund this government largesse that he's believing in. It doesn't make any sense. We need to develop responsibly our natural resources of energy here. This will provide the jobs here, the true economic stimulus is developing our domestic, safe supplies of energy here, and Alaska is the place to look to contribute.
And health care?
And health care too. I remember certainly on the campaign trail, John McCain and his ideas — basically, bottom line, allowing businesses to afford to pay for health care, to provide health care and to give employees options, and Obama scoffed at that. His campaign thought that that was ridiculous. It's funny now to hear him kind of go to some of John McCain's ideas. John McCain had some good ideas about bolstering the economy through businesses so that families could afford to pay for health care and making sure that no one was falling through the cracks and not receiving health care. One way you do that is to reduce the corporate tax on our small businesses especially in America. You're going to see Obama increase those taxes on small businesses — whether he admits it today or not, he's going to. One thing reporters aren't asking the Administration is — it's such a simple question and people around here in the real world, outside of Washington, D.C., want reporters to ask — President Obama, how are you going to pay for this $1 [trillion] or $2 [trillion] or $3 trillion health-care plan? How are you going to pay off the stimulus package, those borrowed dollars? How are you going to pay for so many things that you are proposing and you are implementing? Americans deserve to know what the plan is to fund these things, health care included.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1908983,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly