Governing not easy for Alaska's polarizing Palin
Photo 
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, right, addresses U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about Alaska's oil and gas during a daylong public hearing in Anchorage, Alaska on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, on the federal government's proposed five-year oil and gas leasing program. U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, left, listens.
JUNEAU, Alaska — It's not getting any easier for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is becoming a more polarizing figure at home while she tries to maintain a national profile from one of the most remote states in the union.
Palin was once praised for her ability to work with Alaska Democrats to push through major initiatives, but in the wake of a bruising national campaign she's more likely now to reach across the aisle to pick a fight.
She exasperated Alaska Republican legislative leaders with mixed messages on federal stimulus plans and ended up crosswise with reporters over whether she did or didn't call on the state's junior U.S. Senator, Democrat Mark Begich, to resign.
Things haven't gone much better in the Lower 48 after she and GOP presidential candidate John McCain lost the election.
Last month, McCain wouldn't commit to endorsing his running mate for president if she ran in 2012. This week, he didn't even include her name in a list of young and dynamic Republican governors.
Palin once wowed thousands of supporters at campaign rallies, but was dropped recently as the keynote speaker of a high profile Republican fundraiser in Washington, D.C., after a communications mix-up between event organizers and her political action committee.
And this week, lawmakers are slashing her budget ahead of a Sunday adjournment. Instead of staying in Juneau, Palin plans to attend another partisan fundraiser: a Thursday night county right-to-life dinner in Indiana.
Palin's actions of late have left many political observers scratching their heads over her future plans.
University of Alaska Fairbanks political science professor Gerald McBeath said he can't tell if she's preparing for re-election in 2010, a presidential run in 2012 or something else altogether.
"Her actions don't fit together in a pattern," McBeath said. "So that leaves me to suspect she hasn't figured it out. She hasn't decided. Or alternatively, maybe that's just part of her style and we just haven't gotten used to it yet.
"That would be a charitable interpretation," he added.
Palin's only announcement about her future is that she won't challenge U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, next year.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said Palin's traction outside the state has also slipped. Her public relations have been a disaster, he said, from the mix-up over the GOP dinner to the recent tell-all television interviews with Levi Johnston, who fathered a child with Palin's teenage daughter and is claiming to be squeezed out of the infant's life after he and Bristol Palin broke up.
"Almost everything that we've heard in the Lower 48 has been about controversy of one variety or another. Some have put her in a terrible light, such as the Levi Johnston matter. I mean, really, at a certain point you cease having the gravitas to run for president," Sabato said.
Palin had enjoyed the fruits of an unusually successful first two years in office, marked by passing the groundwork to build a multibillion dollar natural gas pipeline and presiding over a multibillion dollar revenue surplus driven by high oil prices. Last year, she handed out $1 billion of that surplus in fat checks to Alaskans.
But now a failed national campaign is not the only reality. She's dealing with a tighter state budget because of lower oil prices, and some question if she isn't more preoccupied with thoughts of Washington than Juneau.
While she continues to court the national conservative base, attending events like the Indiana dinner, Palin says she has turned down other requests outside the state in order to focus on Alaska.
"My priorities are to progress this state working with the other branch of government there, the lawmakers, to make sure we are meeting the priorities of our constituents," Palin said at a recent news conference. "Nothing has changed."
Recent polls show Palin is still popular among Alaskans, even though at least one "Impeach Palin" sign has sprouted in Anchorage.
But the once-brash young governor can be harsh these days at the Capitol, especially when dealing with Democrats, who used to be staunch allies on energy initiatives.
The end of session has been marked by a prolonged standoff between Palin and Democrats over filling Juneau's vacant Senate seat.
She has to choose a Democrat for the seat to replace the incumbent, but has ignored the wishes of the Juneau Democratic Party, who wanted her to select a state representative who had questioned Palin's qualifications to be vice president last fall. Palin instead asked other Juneau Democrats to apply to her directly, and the Senate Democrats have rejected her first two selections.
She had another flap over a Democrat, namely Begich, who beat former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, last November after Stevens was convicted of felony charges of failing to disclose gifts on Senate forms.
When a judge last week threw out the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct, Palin immediately joined local GOP leaders in calling for Begich to resign and for a special election to be held. Later Palin claimed she didn't call for Begich to resign, only that a special election be held.
When asked how an election could take place without his resignation, she said: "I'm not splitting hairs."
Her evolving positions on the stimulus package have also put her at odds with a nearly unified state House and Senate.
In another nod to the conservative base, Palin announced she was not accepting nearly half the stimulus spending, saying the strings attached would burden the state in the future. That half actually turned out to be only a third of the money headed to Alaska. Then Republican leaders said they couldn't find any strings.
More recently, even as Palin disparaged the stimulus money as "an unsustainable, debt-ridden package of funds," she changed course and proposed using some of that money to replace state spending on education. Senate leaders rejected the idea as being too late and too risky.
Palin's defensive posture and waffling is at odds with the resolute and self-assured Palin of the past. Even her sometimes divisive nominee for attorney general said he wanted to help Palin regain her footing and re-establish better communications with lawmakers.
"As somebody in her cabinet said the other day, 'You can't kick every dog that barks at you,'" Wayne Anthony Ross, Palin's nominee for attorney general, told the House Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing. "I'm trying to convince her that she ought not get treed by the Chihuahuas."
Apr 22, 2009 at 3:08 p.m.
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I can still hope for bipartisan support on issues and dislike Sarah Palin. I'm not bashing all Republicans...just one...Palin. I will continue to bash her until I die. Because Palin happens to be a woman, does that mean that I bash all women? Nope. Just this one. She happens to be a Republican...I have equal distain for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, if that matters...my point is that my dislike is on an individual basis. I realize since I wrote "the Democrats" will slaughter her, it sounded like I was attacking the party. I didn't mean it like that...I just meant to attack Palin...I definitely miscommunicated there.
Apr 18, 2009 at 4:52 a.m.
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"I honestly cannot stand Governor Palin...PLEASE put her on the ticket. Doing so will secure another Democratic president. Her idiocy shines everytime she opens her mouth! This woman is a joke at best. The only credibility she ever had was being associated with John McCain...The maverick sure looked mavericky in that interview, didn't she?... It's obsurde that she actually has any followers. Again, please put her on the ticket, the Democrat Party will slaughter her in the election...I'm not scared. I"m hopeful."
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Gosh, to think just 5 days ago you stated "Constant bashing of the party you disagree with isn't going to solve anything at all. If anything, it will further abandon any chance of an intelligent conversation." ---- Very consistant?
Apr 17, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
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I honestly cannot stand Governor Palin. That being said, Whoanellie, etc. PLEASE put her on the ticket. Doing so will secure another Democratic president. Her idiocy shines everytime she opens her mouth! This woman is a joke at best. The only credibility she ever had was being associated with John McCain. This "liberal" media you refer to...it wouldn't happen to be Katie Couric, would it? Yeah, she was really unfair to poor old Palin. Especially asking her all of those tricky questions about the USSC. The maverick sure looked mavericky in that interview, didn't she? It's called "preparation" people. The Republicans should have done a better job vetting. And they should have done a better job preparing Palin for those "hard" questions. It's obsurde that she actually has any followers. Again, please put her on the ticket, the Democrat Party will slaughter her in the election...if she gets past the primary. So, no, Whoanellie, I'm not scared. I"m hopeful.
Apr 17, 2009 at 3:23 p.m.
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Hey nemisis, you left out Nixon, Tom DeLay and Rush Limbaugh. Just because they were criminals or drug addicts doesn't mean the darn liberal media needs to report that. By the way, booch11, why did Palin even mention "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."? Oh yeah, she was answering a question about her foreign diplomacy experience. Republicans do not need the "liberal media" to show the world how utterly stupid they are. They prove that each time they oppose sensible legislation like banning assault weapons or show support for bad legislation like eliminating taxes on capital gains. Palin doesn't need anyone to show the world how unprepared she is to lead this nation, she can do that all on her own.
Apr 17, 2009 at 2:51 p.m.
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If Gov. Palin thinks she had it rough in the media this last time, wait till she runs for 2012. She'll be attacked at every turn by both the left and the right. If all her boastful claims of shaking up the old boy club have any grain of truth to them, that same old boy club is sure not to have forgotten. Elephants never forget, as the saying goes.
That being said, I do wish her luck. I won't vote for her, but I wish her luck.
Apr 17, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
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Don't forget her blissful commentary in front of the turkey killer....
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:27 p.m.
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whoanellie: Governor Palin is smart, articulate and knows how to run a state as evidenced by the fact that they were in the red when she got in office and they are now operating in the black.
What difference does that make? The U.S. was operating in the black until the Bush administration took over and left us deeply in debt. But did the people who protested socialism and taxes this week come out and protest his budgets over the last 8 years? Or how about his spending in Iraq which was never even honestly put in the budget? No. They are complaining about our country's financial mess now and calling it socialism. People don't make their political decisions on what makes sense, it's all about the partisan games.
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:04 p.m.
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oops 2012
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:03 p.m.
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Your damn right we are afraid of her (policies). Go ahead run her in 1012 i dare you. lmao.
Apr 17, 2009 at 12:19 p.m.
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I would be scared to death if she was elected president, that's for sure!
Apr 17, 2009 at 11:22 a.m.
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booch
It doesn't matter if she specified from an island or not, she was responding to a question about nation security experience.
Apr 17, 2009 at 11:20 a.m.
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"the guy who was convicted, then had the conviction set aside,"
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Then had it set aside? Wow how twisted your facts are. A federal district judge (appointed by Clinton) set aside the conviction while excoriating the case's prosecutors. "In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case," Sullivan said. Then he appointed an independent, nongovernment attorney, Henry Schuelke III, to investigate possible misconduct by the government lawyers who prosecuted the senator. Pick a link in google this story is the same everywhere.
Apr 17, 2009 at 11:02 a.m.
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The last 2 comments are an example of what I wrote before. Admit it you a scared to death of her!!!haha!!!
Apr 17, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.
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It really is hilarious how many factions in Alaska alone she has pissed off. People in the Republican Party are actually thinking of running Ted Stevens -- the guy who was convicted, then had the conviction set aside, where observers said "they framed a guilty man" -- against her for Governor in a primary challenge. So much for being a popular national veep candidate. All the local party forces will be against her, with most of her support coming from the rest of the country where she symbolizes the right wing philosophy of "as long as it infuriates liberals, it's a great policy!" It's going to be fun to watch all this continue to implode.
Apr 17, 2009 at 10:49 a.m.
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Whoanellie - You've got to be kidding!
Apr 17, 2009 at 10:21 a.m.
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No matter what she does she will be critisized by the left because she is a threat to their future in the whitehouse! Governor Palin is smart, articulate and knows how to run a state as evidenced by the fact that they were in the red when she got in office and they are now operating in the black. The left is scared to death of her and you can see it in their biased reporting about her every chance they get. Why do they not talk about other Governors who attend functions?? they seem fixated on her. Maybe it's because she has an intact family and has wonderful values. Something the pc crowd is probably secretly envious of her for. Instead they take every opportunity to attack her for it! For Shame!!
Apr 17, 2009 at 9:39 a.m.
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darwin: in case you don't recognize a liberal media,let's take for example the reporter at the tea party yesterday from CNN. That is a perfect example.
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:33 a.m.
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booch11, his example of the "guy" who smeared Hill is about right. This same guy who self-confessed to this is also the same guy who started and runs Media Matters (dot) org; a left wing spin machine. I wonder how at one moment in time you say you smeared a person for the right and now smear all the people on the right for the left? The word consistancy does not fit at all.
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:28 a.m.
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cnn is conservative? msnbc is conservative? NBC is conservative? get a life, or shall i say evolve into a human darwin
Apr 17, 2009 at 1:24 a.m.
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booch11 don't even waste your time trying. After you try to directly respond to any of his comments he just goes off on another realm of nothingness.
Apr 16, 2009 at 11:17 p.m.
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darwin,
please excuse my feeble conservative mind, but, what's your point? seriously -- i can't figure out what you mean.
Apr 16, 2009 at 9:43 p.m.
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The guy who smeared Anita Hill for the conservatives admitted it was a smear campaign. Fox News is liberal? The Wall Street Journal is liberal? Talk Radio is liberal? The American Enterprise Institute is Liberal? Can you give some examples of the liberal news media? Do a google news archive search for "bleeding heart liberal" and see how often the liberal media uses this derogatory term.
Poor rich conservatives they have it so rough? Are they going to cry now? I am sorry I thought you would be too busy pulling yourself up by your boot straps to be whining.
Apr 16, 2009 at 9:18 p.m.
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I think it irks those in the liberal news media that Palin is still around doing her job.
Those on the left just can't stand a republican/conservative who they tried to destroy as Palin to remain in power.
Just ask Dan Quayle, Robert Bork, or Clarence Thomas about that.
Apr 16, 2009 at 5:53 p.m.
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woody is a shill
Apr 16, 2009 at 4:03 p.m.
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part of Gov. Palin's PR problem has been the Dan Quayle effect.
She was labeled a lightweight by the mainstream press -- and they never let up.
woody is typical of the perception of Palin.
she never said that. Tina Fey did on SNL.
What Gov. Palin said was, "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." (That is 100% true -- you can see Russia from the United States island of Little Diomede -- Russian territory is a scant 2.5 miles away.)
Also telling in this article is Palin's popularity in the state of Alaska. She currently has a 59.8% approval rating -- Obama's is 62%. Yet she is described as 'polarizing," with ONE 'impeach palin" sign in the city of anchorage. I'd say that's not too bad in a city of 359,180.
Apr 16, 2009 at 2:13 p.m.
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"I can see Russia from my house". Heh Heh
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