911review/palin

Along with the winks and folksy "doggone" moments early in her debate with Joe Biden last week, Sarah Palin repeated her familiar claim to the title of "maverick," declaring that "as a governor and as a mayor," she's had a "track record of reform" and has now "joined a team of mavericks."

Despite the free fall that her polling numbers went into after her disastrous interviews with Katie Couric, that branding as a "reformer" has been resilient. Introduced skillfully before tens of millions during an intense surge of interest six weeks ago, it's been hammered home with repeated soundbites.

But the label doesn't hold up under close scrutiny. From the controversy that catapulted her to the governorship, to her ties to the indicted patriarch of Alaska's GOP, to the multilayered nexus of lobbyists and Big Oil interests around her, and, finally, to the Wasilla sports complex that capped her mayoral career, the myth of Sarah Palin, reformer, withers under inspection.

PALIN'S CLAIM to fame as an Alaska reformer--that she risked her career to expose the chairman of the state GOP--is revisionist. In fact, Palin supported the methane-drilling project that helped sink GOP boss Randy Ruedrich before she later decided she was against it--a mirror of her flip-flop on the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. And her reversal had more to do with seizing a political opportunity than following her conscience.

In 2003, Ruedrich, an oil executive known for his ability to raise industry contributions for the party, was appointed to the powerful Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) by Governor Frank Murkowski at the same time as Palin, who had finished her second term as Wasilla mayor the year before. Murkowski had given Palin the plum position to compensate for overlooking her when he appointed his own daughter Lisa to the U.S. Senate seat he vacated when he was elected governor in 2002. Palin's near-win in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor earlier that year--losing to the first Alaskan of native ancestry ever elected to state office--had made her a statewide star. She had filmed commercials and stumped for Frank Murkowski that fall, so he owed her. But she rejected other top posts that he offered until she got the one she wanted--a position that allowed her to live at home and commute to Anchorage, rather than relocate to Juneau. She certainly also saw the commission appointment as a stepping-stone, and as late as October 2003, she told reporters that she was considering a race against Lisa Murkowski in the upcoming 2004 special senate election.

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Oct. 6: Countdown's Keith Olbermann points out in a Special Comment that while John McCain might want to use Sarah Palin to hit Barack Obama below the belt and accuse him of terrorist associations, he overlooked the unfortunate fact that "pallin' around with terrorists" is one area where Palin has more experience.

WASHINGTON - The federal government on Friday determined that a species of beluga whale native to an inlet off Anchorage, Alaska, is endangered and will require additional protection to survive.

The finding could even have presidential implications: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's running mate, had questioned scientific evidence that the population was declining.

The listing has the potential to affect major Alaska projects including an expansion of the Port of Anchorage, additional offshore oil and gas drilling, a proposed $600 million bridge connecting Anchorage to Palin's hometown of Wasilla and a massive coal mine 45 miles south of Anchorage.

From the page: "Ode to Sara Palin
From the cold up north comes a woman who hunts
she was very good at Karl Rovian stunts
She attracts conservative crowds far, wide, and big
Not bad for a candidate, with an IQ 3 more than a pig

She barks so loud - Don't, Don't, Don't vote for him
He eats Arugula salad, and has black skin
He is a terrorist, a liberal, he's different you see
He cares about the poor, He has a college degree

It's about HOPE, and CHANGE, thats OUR message TOO..
But the difference is, is that We're red white and blue

Its taxes, the economy, that big money tree
We can fix it, like before, just look at Bush 1, 2, and three"

From the page: "Based on the documented analysis I posted on my website finebergresearch.com [finebergresearch.com] ) Sept. 27, I feel compelled to oppose Governor Palinâ€s candidacy for national office. For case studies that call into question Governor Palinâ€s management of major oil and gas issues, please check out the facts and documents I have assembled and posted. My analysis identifies and documents:
• fundamental flaws and inconsistencies in the design of Governor Palinâ€s major oil and gas policy proposals;
• disappointing implementation failures;
• a strangely reclusive management style; and
• potential staff and consultant conflicts of interest within her administrative team that sully her image as a reformer.

The story line on my website is simple: The events I have documented and reported suggest that problems I first dismissed as anomalies in 2007 turned out, in fact, to be harbingers of dubious policy outcomes in 2008. In my estimation, Governor Palin is extremely adept at using public relations to mask problems that result from an apparent unwillingness or inability to roll up her sleeves and deal with the all-important nuts-and-bolts issues that are essential to good governance."