Not quite the ringing endorsement from those who know her best

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I see that all the TV networks have now sent a camera crew to Alaska to shoot their B-footage of "man on the street" interviews of residents, asking them how they feel about Governor Sarah Palin being selected as John McCain’s running mate.  The McMedia is working overtime to spin this as a positive choice (despite scathing criticism from some pundits on the right). The "man on the street" interviews of course were filled with shiny happy people saying positive things about the Guv.

First, never trust a man on the street interview. You can never be certain how many people were interviewed to get the clips that the reporter wanted and how much footage was left on the cutting room floor during editing.  Second, it is not uncommon for lazy reporters to camp out in front of party headquarters to get the easy interview that fits the reporter’s story angle. Finally, after the Bush administration was busted for producing "fake news" segments that legitimate news organizations were duped into airing as real news, you can never be certain that what you are watching is not just propaganda using paid actors.

So let’s check to see what the local Alaska newspapers are saying about Sarah Palin. (Not exactly what I expected to find.)

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Editorial): She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land. Republicans rightfully have criticized the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for his lack of experience, but Palin is a neophyte in comparison; how will Republicans reconcile the criticism of Obama with the obligatory cheering for Palin? … Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation’s when he created the possibility that she might fill it… It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance…  Gov. Palin, while extending her amazing adventure in politics, must prove she is more than a pawn. newsminer.com • Palin has much to prove

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Opinion – Dermot Cole): Sarah Palin’s chief qualification for being elected governor of Alaska was that she was not Frank Murkowski… She did not win because of her conservative credentials, her grasp of policy details or because of her track record as the mayor of Wasilla, an office she won in 1996 by collecting 617 votes… She is an engaging and charming politician and I have nothing negative to say about her character, her tenacity or her service to our state… However, in no way does her year-and-a-half as governor of Alaska qualify her to be vice president or president of the United States… Some claimed that she has gotten a gas pipeline going after three decades of inaction, which is far from the truth… What the national pundits didn’t say was that Palin has served as governor of Alaska during a time of unprecedented oil wealth, which has helped preserve her popularity. She has not had to make difficult budget and tax decisions of the sort that cost Murkowski at the polls. Perhaps the strangest claim repeated endlessly on the news channels is that she has proven she can cut taxes and reduce the size of government in Alaska. She may have cut taxes as mayor of Wasilla, but that’s not the same as cutting taxes as governor of Alaska, where there is no state income tax or sales tax to cut… The comments from GOP politicians about how she championed budget cuts, reduced spending and “stood up” to Sen. Ted Stevens on the “bridge to nowhere” are a distortion. The Alaska budget is growing, not shrinking. To claim that the $1,200 payouts due to Alaskans in September have anything to do with restraining government growth, as McCain supporters are doing, is false… She championed a multi-billion-dollar oil tax increase, against great opposition from the oil industry and leading power brokers in the GOP, at a time when oil prices were rising and the previous tax law had become suspect… I may be proven wrong, but the decision announced by McCain strikes me as reckless. She is not prepared to be the next president should something happen to McCain. newsminer.com • Palin unqualified to serve as vice president

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Lately her reputation within the state has been bit by allegations of mixing political and family business, and by mistreating one of the state’s premier marine mammals. Palin’s catch-phrase of “openness and transparency” has been tarnished by revelations that staff members tried to have Palin’s former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper. Also, the governor of the only state with polar bears has adamantly opposed listing the animals as a threatened species, despite strong evidence that global warming has devastated their sea ice environment off Alaska’s coast… Palin also claims to be a fiscal conservative, but watched this year as Alaska reaped the bounty of high oil prices and a revised tax structure. The excess has spared her from any sort of challenge to make tough budget-cutting decision, but did spur her to come to the rescue of Alaskans facing the nation’s highest energy costs. Palin championed a $1 billion energy assistance package that will send each resident $1,200 to help offset energy costs, which runs to more than $9 per gallon for gasoline in rural Alaska. That will be on top of dividends from the Alaska Permanent Fund, checks to each qualified resident that are expected to exceed $2,000 this year. newsminer.com • Palin vice presidential candidacy raises eyebrows in Alaska

Anchorage Daily News: John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate stunned and divided Alaska political leaders on Friday… State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news. "She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"… State House Speaker John Harris, a Republican from Valdez, was astonished at the news. He didn’t want to get into the issue of her qualifications.  "She’s old enough," Harris said. "She’s a U.S. citizen." … Former House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican political leader who has clashed with Palin in the past, was shocked when she heard the news Friday morning with her husband, Walt. "I said to Walt, ‘This can’t be happening, because his advance team didn’t come to Alaska to check her out," Phillips said. Choice stuns state politicians: Politics | adn.com

Anchorage Daily News: When John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and center. "I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan’s Gravina Island bridge. But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." … One year later, Ketchikan’s Republican leaders said they were blindsided by Palin’s decision to pull the plug… Businessman Mike Elerding, who helped run Palin’s local campaign for governor, told the paper he would have a hard time voting for the McCain ticket because of Palin’s subsequent neglect of Ketchikan and her flip-flop on the "Ralph Bartholomew Veterans Memorial Bridge." Palin touts stance on ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ doesn’t note flip-flop: Gov. Sarah Palin | adn.com

Anchorage Daily News (Opinion – Mike Doogan):John McCain looked all over the United States to find the single Republican who is qualified to be, as the saying goes, a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he came up with Sarah Palin. Really? … [L]et’s be honest here. Her resume is as thin as the meat in a vending machine sandwich. I’m thinking being mayor of Wasilla doesn’t qualify her. And she’s less than two years into her first term as governor. Except for her high-profile gas pipeline legislation — which I like a lot — she doesn’t have much to show. Oil taxes? Most of that work was done by the legislature. Ethics? Ditto. And her role in killing the much-touted Bridge to Nowhere? Talk about coming in after the battle is over and bayoneting the wounded… The long and short of it is this: We’re not sure she’s a competent governor of Alaska. And yet McCain, who is no spring chicken, has decided she’s the best choice to replace him as president if he should win and then fall afoul of the Grim Reaper. Sarah Palin? Really? Palin as the president-in-waiting of our nation? Really?: Opinion | adn.com

Anchorage Daily News (Editorial): McCain’s choice of Palin was somewhat surprising because she most definitely is not a standard-issue Republican. She worked with liberal Democrats in the Legislature to pass a multi-billion-dollar tax increase on Alaska’s oil industry. She went back to Democrats again to win approval of her natural gas pipeline deal, which bypasses Alaska’s major oil companies in favor of a Canadian company. In fact, Palin is almost totally alienated from the Republican Party establishment here. She tried and failed to get rid of ethically compromised party Chair Randy Ruedrich; they’re not on speaking terms. In the August primary, Palin urged fellow Republicans to desert long-time Congressman Don Young in favor of her inexperienced and uninspiring Lt. Governor, Sean Parnell. McCain picked Palin despite a recent blemish on her ethically pure resume. While she was governor, members of her family and staff tried to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers. Her public safety commissioner would not do so; she forced him out, supposedly for other reasons. While she runs for vice-president, the Legislature has an investigator on the case. For all those advantages, Palin joins the ticket with one huge weakness: She’s a total neophyte on national and international issues. Palin picked: Opinion | adn.com

Juneau Empire: As an inexperienced governor, Palin has had a sometimes rocky relationship with the Legislature, but also has had success in pushing her legislative agenda, including a bigger share of the state’s phenomenal oil wealth and getting the state on the road to a natural gas pipeline. Those rough relations weren’t helped in Palin’s first legislative session as governor, when legislators said they didn’t get guidance from her on spending priorities and were then surprised when Palin vetoed many of their priority projects. Compounding what was seen as a high-handed attitude was her statement at the time that there needed to be an "adult in the house." Among those irked by that was House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, an experienced legislator who had dealt with budgets for years. When asked about her qualifications by the Anchorage Daily News, he said, "She’s old enough. She’s a U.S. citizen." Palin has spent little time in Juneau, rarely coming to the state capital except when the Legislature was in session, and sometimes not even then. During a recent special session called by Palin herself, she faced criticism from several legislators for not showing up personally to push for her agenda. Someone at the Capitol even printed up buttons asking "Where’s Sarah?"… Palin’s gubernatorial office has been plagued by turnover. She just appointed a new chief of staff this week, she’s on her third legislative director in 21 months, and her press office has had numerous staff coming and going. State leaders question Palin’s qualifications – Juneau Empire

Juneua Empire: In her acceptance speech as McCain’s running mate Friday morning, Palin held up her opposition to the bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina – the "bridge to nowhere" – as an example of "the abuses of earmark spending." … "I think in Ketchikan, there’s still quite a bit of concern about the Palin administration," said Mayor Bob Weinstein. "Number one, we don’t think we’re nowhere. And number two, when she campaigned in Ketchikan, she was supportive of the project."  When campaigning in Ketchikan in September 2006, Palin promised Ketchikan residents the bridge, the Ketchikan Daily News reported at the time… The man who coordinated the Ketchikan campaign to get her elected for governor in 2006 said he’s sorry now.  "She hasn’t communicated with us or spent any time with us. The people who helped get her elected are shocked," said Mike Elerding. "She’s alienated a lot of the Republican base here in Ketchikan." That’s much of the town. When did he start to worry about Palin? "Right after the inauguration," he said. Some in Ketchikan react to nomination with concern, ire – Juneau Empire

Juneau Empire (Editorial): Palin’s selection was a flabbergaster here in Alaska, across the nation and around the globe. With Palin, McCain fired the shot that stunned us all… At the national level Palin will have to be much more than a fresh and pretty face. Even in the next 24 hours she’ll need a boatload of schooling on a shipload of issues, and the savvy to convince others she really does know what she’s talking about. That’s a tall order for a self-described hockey mom, former small-town mayor and first-term governor who critics claim has minuscule knowledge of national affairs and even less knowledge of world affairs. For Palin and her handlers to say she’s reformed a corrupt political system in her first two years as Alaska’s governor is a stretch at best. So is saying she boldly bucked the influences of big oil in the state, and that she flatly said no to Ketchikan’s infamous "bridge to nowhere," that had been earmarked in the federal budget. Then there is the lingering investigation over her termination of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Some say he was fired because he would not bow to pressure from Palin’s allies to fire Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had a messy divorce and custody battle with Palin’s sister. That could boil over in the national media in a problematic way for McCain. Empire editorial: Palin’s nomination good for Alaska – Juneau Empire

Finally, there is this news item Sarah Palin’s mother-in-law uncertain about how she’ll vote. Faye Palin admitted she enjoys hearing Barack Obama speak, and still hasn’t decided which way she’ll vote… Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday. "I’m not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she’s a woman and a conservative. Well, she’s a better speaker than McCain," Faye Palin said with a laugh.

Not quite the ringing endorsement from those who know her best. An informed voter will have to monitor the news from Alaska since the McMedia are lying to us.

Poor Monty (above) probably wound up as a freezer full of moose burgers and a trophy rack on the den wall of the Palin home.