‘Suburban mom’ who took on her own party

Parent Cafe
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<p>By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Denver</p>

<p>Published: August 29 2008 18:18 | Last updated: August 29 2008 18:18</p>

<p>Sarah Palin made the leap from being a small town mayor to governor of Alaska two years ago by vowing to reform a party that was imbued with corruption and tainted by its cosy ties to the oil industry.</p>

<p>The meteoric rise of Alaska’s first female governor, a mother of five who is a conservative Christian, soared to even greater heights on Friday after John McCain, Republican presidential candidate, chose Ms Palin as his running mate.</p>

<p>In some ways, the choice reflects Mr McCain’s own narrative of being an outsider within his own party, a politician who chooses country first with “grit, integrity, and good sense”.</p>

<p>Ms Palin became governor in 2006 by defeating Frank Murkowski, the sitting governor, in the Republican party primary. In that race she portrayed herself as a reformer, an agent of change amid a state Republican party whose most senior members were under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.</p>

<p>Attacks by her Democratic opponent that she lacked the skills to negotiate with oil companies to build a new natural gas pipeline, fell flat. Voters connected with her image as a “suburban mom” who ran marathons and liked to hunt and fish.</p>

<p>She stood out for accusing Randy Ruedrich, the chairman of the state Republican party and a member of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, of misusing his office for political gains.

Ms Palin’s personal story is also compelling. After completing her first year in office, the mother of four, who was pregnant with her fifth, was told her child had Down’s Syndrome. Three days after she gave birth the governor returned to work in Anchorage with her baby son and husband.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Source: [FT.com&lt;/a&gt; / In depth - 'Suburban mom' who took on her own party](&lt;a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7fab850e-75ec-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=729ab242-9cb1-11db-8ec6-0000779e2340.html%5DFT.com"&gt;http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7fab850e-75ec-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=729ab242-9cb1-11db-8ec6-0000779e2340.html)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Agree with the choice or not, she's impressive.&lt;/p&gt;
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<p>As long as we are posting articles about this newcomer to the national political scene:

Source: [Exclusive:</a> Chief Fired by Palin Speaks Out - Washington Post Investigations](<a href=“http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/08/exclusive_chief_fired_by_palin.html]Exclusive:”>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/08/exclusive_chief_fired_by_palin.html)</p>

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<p>That was mentioned in the above article.</p>

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<p>One problem with a “suburban mom” is that she may not have the experience & training to know when she’s crossing the line – such as understanding the legal ins and outs of the concept of conflict-of-interest.</p>

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<p>^Generally that’s why people have attorneys. Even attorneys get attorneys if they’re smart.</p>

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<p>I have a problem with the conflict of interest story. It is not ok to pressure the chief to fire her ex-bil.</p>

<p>If there is more to this story I think it reflects badly on McCain in picking her. I expect her to be vetted before being selected.</p>

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<p>What is the big deal? THE ONE threw his pastor of 20 years and poor white grandma of 46 years under the bus. Didn’t he bamboozled his state senate opponent as well?</p>

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<p>I guess this goes both ways:</p>

<p>Biden Was Accused of Plagiarism in Law School </p>

<p>By E. J. DIONNE JR., SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: September 17, 1987</p>

<p>LEAD: Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Democratic Presidential candidate, was accused of plagiarism while in his first year at Syracuse University Law School, academic officials familiar with Mr. Biden’s record said today. </p>

<p>Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Democratic Presidential candidate, was accused of plagiarism while in his first year at Syracuse University Law School, academic officials familiar with Mr. Biden’s record said today…</p>

<p>According to the people familiar with the record of the 44-year-old Senator from Delaware, he was called before the disciplinary body at the law school during his first year because of charges that he had committed plagiarism on a paper. Mr. Biden entered the school in 1965 and graduated in 1968. </p>

<p>CBS News tonight quoted an aide to Mr. Biden as saying he had been exonerated. However, an academic official said Mr. Biden had been found guilty, ‘‘threw himself on the mercy of the board’’ and promised not to repeat the offense. This, according to the official, persuaded the board to drop the matter and allow Mr. Biden to remain in law school. Mr. Biden’s office declined to clarify the circumstances surrounding the case, saying the Senator had insisted on handling the matter himself at the news conference. </p>

<p>[Biden</a> Was Accused of Plagiarism in Law School - New York Times](<a href=“http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DD173BF934A2575AC0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all]Biden”>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DD173BF934A2575AC0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all)</p>

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<p>Biden on the Vice Presidency:
“I would not accept it if anyone offered it to me. I would much prefer to stay as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.”</p>

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<p>IT AIN’T SO, JOE</p>

<p>By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer</p>

<p>If ever there was a crash that tugged at the heart of the entire state, it was the one that took the lives of Joe Biden’s wife and baby daughter and hospitalized his two toddler sons 35 years ago, just weeks after his precocious election to the U.S. Senate. </p>

<p>It was an unbearable turn of events, from one of the most daring political breakthroughs in Delaware political history to unspeakable grief, and there is no reason to make the accident appear worse than it was.</p>

<p>While campaigning in Iowa for the Democratic presidential nomination, however, Biden did. </p>

<p>“Let me tell you a little story,” he was quoted as saying last Friday in the New York Times. </p>

<p>“I got elected when I was 29, and I got elected November the 7th. And on December 18 of that year, my wife and three kids were Christmas shopping for a Christmas tree. A tractor-trailer, a guy who allegedly – and I never pursued it – drank his lunch instead of eating his lunch, broadsided my family and killed my wife instantly, and killed my daughter instantly, and hospitalized my two sons, with what were thought to be at the time permanent, fundamental injuries.” </p>

<p>Except there was no drinking. There was not even speeding. The truck’s brakes checked out, as well. It was not the driver’s fault. </p>

<p>Biden insisted Wednesday in a brief telephone interview from Iowa he told the story as he knew it. </p>

<p>“All I said was what I heard at the time. What I heard from folks at the time is he’d been drinking,” Biden said, sounding agitated. “I don’t want to talk about it. . . . She must have pulled out. . . . It’s still painful to talk about 35 years later.” </p>

<p>The embellishment is reminiscent of one of the problems that undid Biden the last time he ran for president 20 years ago. He was swallowed up mostly by plagiarism charges, but there was also an incident, taped by C-SPAN, in which Biden became irritated with a New Hampshire voter and belittled him by inflating his own uneven academic credentials. </p>

<p>Among Biden’s claims, he said he was named the outstanding student in political science at the University of Delaware and was in the top half of his law school class at Syracuse University, both untrue, and won an international moot court competition, which was true. He also gibed, “I’d be delighted to sit down and compare my IQ to yours.” </p>

<p>In Biden’s memoir, Promises to Keep, his explanation for that blowup was along the lines of his account of the accident – lack of knowledge. </p>

<p>“I lost my temper in New Hampshire. What I’d said about my academic achievements was just faulty memory or lack of knowledge. I hadn’t remembered where I finished in my law school class. I hadn’t cared. But to say, ‘Wanna compare IQs?’ was so stupid,” Biden wrote…</p>

<p>[Delaware</a> Grapevine](<a href=“http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/12-07bidencrash.asp]Delaware”>Delaware Grapevine)</p>

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<p>Palin CNBC Interview</p>

<p>[Video-</a> CNBC.com](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=809906073]Video-”>http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=809906073)
7/31/08</p>

<p>On questions about being McCain’s potential VP running mate:
Palin- “I can’t answer that question until someone answers for me what is it exactly that the Vice President does.” (9:40)</p>

<p>A storm is brewing…</p>

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</p>

<p>Yeah, that’s much worse than consorting for 20 years with a racist reverand and using other peoples work and trying to pass it off as your own.</p>

<p>They all have lied, they all have done stupid things. Get over it. Which ticket will do the best job for the country? We can’t tell because they spend so much time talking trash about the others and no time telling us details of their plans.</p>

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<p>Scott, so spell it out for us. What exactly does the VP do (aside the from the stuff you learn in government class)? I want you tell give details of her role in the McCain administration. We’re waiting…</p>

<p>What makes you think that it is an unreasonable question to want to know exactly what role she would play?</p>

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<p>When it comes to integrety all we need to know about Palin is that she rejected the “bridge to nowhere” that was authorized by Congress to be built in Alaska. It was a hugh waste of money for American but a bonanza for Alaskans. She was brave enough to reject the bridge. Not many elected officials would have done the same.</p>

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<p>She’s also been quoted as saying that she supported the bridge. Someone dug up an old statement of hers that she wanted the bridge to go through while Alaska still had a strong Congressional delegation.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I have read that in a few places.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>"People across the nation struggle with the idea of building a bridge because they’ve been under these misperceptions about the bridge and the purpose,’ said Palin, who described the link as the Ketchikan area’s potential for expansion and growth.</p>

<p>Palin said Alaska’s congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she ‘would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge.’”
Ketchikan Daily News 8/8/06</p>

<p>"Part of my agenda is making sure that Southeast is heard. That your projects are important. That we go to bat for Southeast when we’re up against federal influences that aren’t in the best interest of Southeast.'</p>

<p>She cited the widespread negative attention focused on the Gravina Island crossing project. ‘We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative,’ Palin said."
Ketchikan Daily News 9/28/06</p>

<p>Yawn…</p>

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<p>Nice try, but I’m not the one on the ticket. If she can’t answer a simple question such as this, especially given her trumped up “experience” by the GOP, then how can you reasonably expect her to handle the increasingly complex national and global problems?</p>

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<p>“She’s also been quoted as saying that she supported the bridge.”</p>

<p>So? THE ONE was against off-shore drilling and now he is for it, he was going to take public financing then he reneged. He was for pastor then he was against him. </p>

<p>Biden was against the THE ONE because THE ONE was not ready, now he is with him.</p>

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<p>THE ONE was against off-shore drilling and now he is for it,</p>

<p>Wasn’t it “The Other One” aka McCain? As recently as a couple of months ago?</p>

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<p>The bottom line is that Gov. Palin sent back over 200 million dollars of taxpayer money to congress because she saw that the bridge was a waste of taxpayer money for all Americans. No one would have criticized her for taking money that was approved by Congress and many in Alaska could have voted against her for passing up such a large some of free money.</p>