Tag: Sarah Palin (page 11)

The New York Times reports that at the insistence of the McCain campaign, the debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden will have different rules than those for the Obama-McCain debate:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.

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The editorial today in the Anchorage Daily News is Abidcation by Palin, criticizing her for allowing John McCain and his operatives speak for her on TrooperGate.

The governor who said, "Hold me accountable," is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability. Is it too much to ask that Alaska's governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska's governor?

....Is the McCain campaign telling Alaskans that Alaska's governor can't handle her own defense in front of her own Alaska constituents?

The calls the takeover "offensive": [More...]

When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin filed her request earlier this week to stop the Personnel Board investigation into TrooperGate that her lawyer had requested just days earlier, she included a new reason for firing former Public Safety Director Walt Monaghan: He was a renegade who took an unauthorized trip to Washington, DC to lobby for money for a program to investigate and prosecute rape.

The project, expected to cost from $10 million to $20 million a year for five years, would have been the first of its kind in Alaska, which leads the nation in reported forcible rape.

The McCain-Palin campaign echoed the charge in a press release it distributed Monday, concurrent with Palin's legal filing. "Mr. Monegan persisted in planning to make the unauthorized lobbying trip to D.C.," the release stated.

But, ABC News has obtained the travel authorization document (pdf). The trip was authorized by Palin's office. [More...]

I received this by e-mail last week from a lawyer. Feel free to check its accuracy, but it sounds legit to me and I'm passing it on.

1. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing

Perhaps no issue is of greater importance to Alaska Native peoples as the right to hunt and fish according to ancient customary and traditional practices, and to carry on the subsistence way of life for future generations. Governor Sarah Palin has consistently opposed those rights.

Once in office, Governor Palin decided to continue litigation that seeks to overturn every subsistence fishing determination the federal government has ever made in Alaska. (State of Alaska v. Norton, 3:05-cv-0158-HRH (D. Ak).) In pressing this case, Palin decided against using the Attorney General (which usually handles State litigation) and instead continued contracting with Senator Ted Stevens’ brother-in-law’s law firm (Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot).

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The St. Petersburg Times has been conducting focus group testing on undecided voters.

Five weeks ago, the St. Petersburg Times convened a group of Tampa Bay voters who were undecided about the presidential election. Their strong distrust of Barack Obama suggested it was a group ripe for John McCain to win over.

Not anymore. The group has swung dramatically, if unenthusiastically, toward Democrat Obama. Most of them this week cited the same reason: Sarah Palin.

Among the comments: [More...]

The report in TrooperGate will be out Oct. 10 as scheduled.

The Alaska lawmaker directing an abuse-of-power investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin promised Friday the probe will be finished before the election, despite refusals by key witnesses to testify, including the governor's husband.

After waiting 35 minutes for Todd Palin and two state administrative employees to appear under subpoena before the state Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Hollis French condemned their refusal to testify and the attorney general's broken promise that seven other witnesses would testify who were not subpoenaed.

Prediction: It will be critical of Palin, and Palin will complain it's one-sided, making no reference to her and her husband and staff's refusal to cooperate.

Palinspeak: The only probe I'll cooperate with is one in which those making the decisions are under my direction and control (like the state personnel board.)

Palin's already peaked. It's almost crash and burn time. [More...]

The LA Times on Gov. Sarah Palin and the Road to Nowhere:

While seeking votes, she told Ketchikan residents she backed the 'bridge to nowhere.' As governor, she spent the money elsewhere and moved ahead with a $26-million road to the nonexistent bridge.

You can't make this stuff up.

This is an open thread. See you all tomorrow.

It's official. Alaska "First Dude" Todd Palin, husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, will refuse to comply with the subpoena issued last week to testify before the Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee on TrooperGate.

Instead of taking the 5th, something we could respect as his constitutional right, he's claiming he can't get a fair hearing. Republican politics as usual.

A state Senate committee is scheduled to meet Friday to take statements from the 12 people they subpoenaed last week, including Todd Palin. But McCain-Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said Todd Palin would not face a "fair hearing" before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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The CNN poll of polls is out, showing that leading national polls show Barack Obama with a 3 point lead over John McCain.

The latest poll of polls consists of four surveys: CBS/The New York Times (September 12-16), Gallup (September 15-17), Diageo/Hotline (September 14-16) and American Research Group (September 13-15). It does not have a sampling error.

The economic crisis has given Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, the opportunity to go on the offensive. Most Americans see Obama as more capable than McCain when it comes to the economy, polls indicate.

CNN reports Gov. Sarah Palin may have peaked. Not a moment too soon, in my view. And it's not just me. [More...]

Gov. Sarah Palin may have had an 80% approval rating among Alaska residents during her 1 1/2 years as Governor, but many who worked with her professionally in the legislature don't share their view.

Mike Bradner, a former legislator and Speaker of the House, has waived copyright to this article (pdf) this article published today explaining why Palin does not have their support.

In an editorial yesterday, the Alaska Daily News took Palin to task for failing to cooperate in TrooperGate. It begins: [More...]

Yesterday I wrote about Hillary Clinton's refusal to appear at an anti-Iran rally with Gov. Sarah Palin and the National Jewish Democratic Council's request for Palin to be disinvited.

The invitation to Palin has been withdrawn.

The NJDC responds:

Yesterday, NJDC said that Monday’s protest against Ahmadinejad was too important to be tainted by partisanship. Today, NJDC commends the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now, The Israel Project, United Jewish Communities, the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs for making the right decision by withdrawing their invitation to Governor Sarah Palin. This decision shows that bi-partisan solidarity against President Ahmadinejad has won out over partisanship - even in this highly charged election year.

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As Big Tent Democrat wrote here, the New York Times/CBS poll shows Obama regaining the momentum in the presidential race and leading John McCain.

It's not just the economy. It's also McCain's opportunistic pick of Gov. Sarah Palin for Vice President. A majority of those polled (pdf)find her unqualified and 3/4 of them believe she was selected primarily to help McCain win.

More than half of registered voters do not think she is prepared for the job of Vice President, and a majority express concern about Palin being able to take over the presidency, if necessary. Even supporters of John McCain cite “inexperience” as what they like least about her. Palin’s unfavorable rating is also up eight points from last week.

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