OLD American Century / White Rose Society message boards > Some of what Alaska's media has to say about Sarah Palin

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sky of mind

Sunday, 31 August 2008, 1:42 pm

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/...8_08/014477.php

August 30, 2008
THOSE WHO KNOW HER BEST....

There's never been a politician from Alaska on the national stage before, so I kind of expected Alaskans and the Alaskan media to have a decidedly positive attitude about Sarah Palin joining the Republican ticket. It's not exactly turning out that way.

* The Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks: " She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land.... Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation's when he created the possibility that she might fill it."

* State Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla: "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?"

* Dermot Cole, a longtime columnist for Alaska's second largest newspaper, The Daily News-Miner, called McCain's choice of Palin "reckless" and questioned her credentials.

* Mike Doogan, a former columnist now serving as a Democrat in the state legislature: "John McCain looked all over the United States to find the single Republican who is qualified to be, as the saying goes, a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he came up with Sarah Palin. Really? ... [L]et's be honest here. Her resume is as thin as the meat in a vending machine sandwich.... The long and short of it is this: We're not sure she's a competent governor of Alaska. And yet McCain, who is no spring chicken, has decided she's the best choice to replace him as president if he should win and then fall afoul of the Grim Reaper. Sarah Palin? Really?"

* The Anchorage Daily News' Gregg Erickson: "[Palin] tends to oversimplify complex issues, has had difficulty delegating authority, and clearly has some difficulty distinguishing the line between her public responsibilities and private wishes.... It is clear that she has not paid much attention to the nitty-gritty unglamorous work of government, of gaining consensus, and making difficult compromises. She seems to be of the view that politics should be all rather simple. That often appeals to the wider public, but frustrates those who see themselves as laboring in the less glamorous parts of the vineyard."

Erickson's description kind of makes Palin sound like George W. Bush, doesn't it?

sky of mind

Sunday, 31 August 2008, 1:49 pm

Add this to that.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080831.../a1uiw5tqp4em_1

McCain Defends Sarah Palin as Some Alaskans Question His Choice
Tony Hopfinger and Ken Fireman
2 hours, 5 minutes ago - 8.31.8

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain defended Sarah Palin, his vice presidential choice, as a ``soul mate'' who will take on corruption in Washington, even as a growing chorus in the Alaska governor's home state questioned her credentials.

``She's a reformer,'' McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said today on Fox News Sunday. ``I have watched her for many years; I've seen her take on her own party.'' Asked whether Palin is the best person for the job, he said, ``Oh yeah.''

McCain and Palin will accept the presidential and vice presidential nominations at the Republican National Convention, which begins tomorrow in St. Paul, Minnesota.

``This is a person that will help me reform Washington,'' McCain said, adding, ``What this brings is a spirit of reform and change that is vital.''

Still, some Alaskans -- including a supporter of Palin's 2006 run for governor and a former staff member -- expressed reservations about the choice.

``She's not qualified, she doesn't have the judgment, to be next in line to the president of the United States,'' Larry Persily, who until June worked in the governor's Washington office as a congressional liaison, said in a phone interview yesterday.

A supporter of Palin's campaign for governor, Jim Whitaker, the Republican mayor of Fairbanks, also questioned Palin's readiness to serve as vice president in a phone interview yesterday.

`Avid Supporter'

Whitaker said that while he is ``still an avid supporter'' of Palin as governor, he will continue to back Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Palin, 44, is less than halfway through her first term as governor. Before her election to that post, she served on a state commission that regulated the energy industry and was mayor of the town of Wasilla, which had an estimated population in 2007 of 9,780, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Persily, who worked for three different governors in the state's Washington office, said he left the job on good terms with Palin. He said he left out of frustration because the state was ``fighting the same old wars'' on trying to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development.

`He Created Her'

Persily said Palin owed her election to the unpopularity of then-Governor Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated in the Republican primary by running on a platform of overhauling state government. ``He created her,'' Persily said. Murkowski declined to comment.

Two McCain backers who were mentioned as possible choices for the vice-presidential nomination expressed support for Palin today.

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' program that McCain made a ``bold choice'' in selecting Palin. ``This is about changing Washington so it works again,'' he said. ``John McCain has found a maverick who has done exactly the same thing at the state level that he's done at the federal level.''

McCain adviser Carly Fiorina said of Palin on CBS: ``This is a person of great accomplishment. I have heard from many women and they are truly excited about this pick.''

McCain contrasted what he said was Palin's willingness to take on senior Alaskan Republicans like Murkowski and Senator Ted Stevens with Obama's record.

A phone call to Palin spokesman Sharon Leighow requesting comment wasn't immediately returned.

`Executive by Nature'

Alaska Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell defended Palin's readiness to serve as vice president. ``Of course she is,'' he told reporters on an Aug. 29 conference call. ``She is an executive by nature.''

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said on the same call that Palin is older than John F. Kennedy was when he ran for president in 1960 and that ``of four people on two national tickets, she is the only one with executive experience.''

McCain, on Fox today, also sought to contrast Palin with his Democratic rival.

``Senator Obama has never taken on the leaders of his party,'' McCain said. ``She's been an independent spirit that has taken them on at every opportunity.''

Home-state newspapers have questioned McCain's choice. An Aug. 29 editorial in the Fairbanks News-Miner newspaper also raised questions about Palin's readiness for national office.

``Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job,'' the newspaper wrote. ``McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation's when he created the possibility that she might fill it.''

The Anchorage Daily News, the state's largest paper, noted in an editorial that Palin is enmeshed in a legislative investigation of her July 11 firing of the state's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan. He has since asserted that he received pressure from Palin's family and administration to fire a state trooper involved in a contentious divorce from Palin's sister.

Libertas

Sunday, 31 August 2008, 5:24 pm

QUOTE

Senator John McCain defended Sarah Palin, his vice presidential choice, as a ``soul mate''

Good Lord. I really am going to start taking bets on whether an affair will be alleged or substantiated.

QUOTE

of four people on two national tickets, she is the only one with executive experience.''

I've always wondered why executive experience counts for so much... are people really suggesting there is ANY job that is adequate preparation for President of the United States? Being a governor of a podunk State should count for next to nothing, because the duties of a governor are nothing like the duties of the President. If anything, I would think a Senator would be preferable because he/she knows Washington, knows the Legislature he/she will be signing bills on, and has probably served on a committee that works with the executive branch. In most cases, an "executive" from another State has done none of those things.

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