McCain defensive as VP choice Palin’s story unfolds
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/68zglp
September 2nd, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
As the media dug deeper into the life and politics of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Vice President nominee for the McCain’s campaign, the smile and enthusiasm has faded since the day of her nomination announcement.
Here is a list of potential issues the media has unveiled over the long weekend about Sarah Palin’s history and policies:
- Anti-pork barrel spending? Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was the mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group. There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project — all intended to benefit Palin’s town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage. John McCain introduced Sarah Palin as someone who has opposed pork-barrel spending. It seems that isn’t true.
- No to ‘Bridge to Nowhere’? Sarah Palin actually did support the infamous ‘bridge to nowhere’ project in Alaska during her 2006 race for Alaska governor and kept the money allocated for it. She even urged quick action to build the bridge while Alaska’s congressional delegation (i.e., Stevens and Young) was well-positioned to secure the necessary federal tax dollars. Only when the bridge became a public relations debacle did Palin flip positions and declare that Alaska didn’t need it after all. John McCain touted her “opposition” which was more of a political calculation when she became Governor of the Alaska.
- Alaska First, Alaska Always. The running mate of “Country First” candidate John McCain has ties to Alaska Independent Party, a party with motto - Alaska First, Alaska Always, a message that is echoed by the party’s official support of splitting from the United States of America. It is not clear whether Sarah Palin has been a member of AIP at any time. Lynette Clark, the chairman of AIP party claim Sarah Palin and her husband had been members in 1994 and joined the AIP convention back then. The John McCain campaign denies that Sarah Palin has been a member of AIP, however it took the campaign one day after NBC asked the question to come up with that answer, raising further questions about the truthfulness of that statement.
- ‘Abstinence Only’ champion. Sarah Palin is an abstinence only champion and is extremely conservative on similar other issues. However, Sarah Palin’s own daughter Bristol Palin is a 17 year old teenager pregnant with her boyfriend Levi Johnston - an 18 year old self-described ‘f–ing redneck’ in his Myspace page. The bloggers kept pounding Palin on how she can be a’Abstinence only’ supporter when she could not implement the same policy in her own home. Obama has however made a public statement on this and requested the media to keep family members away from politics and the presidential debate.
- Power Abuse? Palin family has authorized a private attorney to spend upto $95,000 to help her fight accusations of abuse of power. This came in the wake of allegations that Sarah fired a state’s top public safety official after that official failed to fire state trooper Michael Wooten - Sarah’s ex brother-in-law. Nothing has been proved yet.
- Iraq War a word of God? Sarah Palin believes the soldiers in Iraq are on a mission from God recorded in this video.
By the end of the day on Tuesday, it was clear there is so much more to be figured about Sarah Palin than John McCain is comfortable with as was evident from the fact that John McCain cancelled his Larry King appearance on CNN in the wake of McCain’s campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds tough interview with Campbell Brown.
The question that Campbell Brown was asked repeatedly was “Can you tell me one decision that she [Sarah Palin] made as commander-in-chief of Alaskan National Guard?”
McCain’s campaign also issued statements calling the coverage of Bristol’s pregnancy “smear” and “irresponsible journalism” and claimed Sarah Palin has been a Republican since 1987.
