Signs that 'Palin effect' is wearing thin
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Monday, 15 September 2008
There are growing signs that the "Sarah Palin effect" is starting to wear off and that the Republican candidate John McCain has already peaked.
Democrats took heart from four national opinion polls which show that despite the phenomenal bounce caused by interest in Alaska's Governor Palin, Mr McCain now leads by an average of just 0.25 points, his smallest margin since the convention.
The latest polls come amid a flurry of critical news reports into Mrs Palin which reveal a large credibility about some of her claims to be a squeaky clean reformist. Senator McCain’s claims that his running mate had not sought special interest funding from Congress have been shown to be completely wrong.
It emerged yesterday that she asked US to fund $453 million worth of projects in oil rich Alaska for the past two years. Among the requests was $4.5 million for an airport serving less than 100 people on a Bering sea island and $9 million to help Alaska’s already hugely profitable oil companies.
Democrats quickly mocked the governor as "an earmark queen". The disclosures come on top of evidence that her administration also held onto more than $500 million in US federal funds for a much derided "bridge to nowhere" which she maintains she vetoed.
For two weeks the McCain campaign has wallowed in the media’s obsession with Governor Palin. A huge bounce in the opinion polls followed, with women especially declaring that they were changing their allegiance because they admired her so much.
But that appears to be changing as the focus of the election turns to the economy and especially the northern states. In Iowa new Des Moines register poll has Barack Obama with a comfortable lead of 12 points. He is also ahead in New Jersey, although it is not a battleground state.
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Signs that 'Palin effect' is wearing thin
Showing posts with label bridge to nowhere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridge to nowhere. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin II: The Bridge To Nowhere
The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin II: The Bridge To Nowhere
Andrew Sullivan - The Atlantic
Sept 15, 2008
In her speeches, Sarah Palin routinely and repeatedly uses the phrase: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere." In the McCain-Palin ads, the claim is that she "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere."
These are, again, demonstrable lies. Again I will cite Wikipedia, since it's the fairest summary of the facts of the case, and includes all the links for you to see for yourself:
In 2006, Palin ran for governor on a "build-the-bridge" platform,[101] attacking "spinmeisters"[102] for insulting local residents by calling them "nowhere"[101] and urging speed "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."[103] About two years after the introduction of the bridge proposals, a month after the bridge received sharp criticism from John McCain,[104] and nine months into Palin's term as governor, Palin canceled the Gravina Bridge, blaming Congress for not providing enough funding.[105] Alaska will not return any of the $442 million to the federal government[106] and is spending a portion of the funding, $25 million, on a Gravina Island road to the place where the bridge would have gone, expressly so that none of the money will have to be returned.[101] Palin continues to support funding Don Young's Way, estimated as more than twice as expensive as the Gravina Bridge would have been.[107]
Your call.
Read the whole story here:
The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin II: The Bridge To Nowhere
Andrew Sullivan - The Atlantic
Sept 15, 2008
In her speeches, Sarah Palin routinely and repeatedly uses the phrase: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere." In the McCain-Palin ads, the claim is that she "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere."
These are, again, demonstrable lies. Again I will cite Wikipedia, since it's the fairest summary of the facts of the case, and includes all the links for you to see for yourself:
In 2006, Palin ran for governor on a "build-the-bridge" platform,[101] attacking "spinmeisters"[102] for insulting local residents by calling them "nowhere"[101] and urging speed "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."[103] About two years after the introduction of the bridge proposals, a month after the bridge received sharp criticism from John McCain,[104] and nine months into Palin's term as governor, Palin canceled the Gravina Bridge, blaming Congress for not providing enough funding.[105] Alaska will not return any of the $442 million to the federal government[106] and is spending a portion of the funding, $25 million, on a Gravina Island road to the place where the bridge would have gone, expressly so that none of the money will have to be returned.[101] Palin continues to support funding Don Young's Way, estimated as more than twice as expensive as the Gravina Bridge would have been.[107]
Your call.
Read the whole story here:
The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin II: The Bridge To Nowhere
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Palin's track record marked by bitter clashes
Palin's track record marked by bitter clashes
Tim Harper, Washington Bureau The Star
Sept 13, 2008
WASILLA, ALASKA –Twelve years before she became America's right-wing sweetheart, Sarah Palin rode another wave of "change" to power.
Immediately after her election as mayor, the self-described pit bull ran into trouble in this tiny community tucked into Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, sparking a colourful internecine political battle. It was remarkable even by the intense, incestuous standards of America's Last Frontier.
John McCain's Republican presidential running mate arrived as mayor already facing allegations she had introduced conservative social issues – including her anti-abortion position – into the mayoral campaign. She even questioned why the incumbent mayor's wife still used her maiden name.
As mayor, she fired administrators, gagged others and tried to move a museum out of the downtown.
She mused about banning books, was accused of being in the pocket of the National Rifle Association, dissolved a commission seeking ways to improve the city's problem with drinking and driving, and faced charges she had tried to break laws to put her supporters on council. On Day 120 of her administration, the first day such a move was allowed by law, she faced an incipient recall movement.
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's track record marked by bitter clashes
Tim Harper, Washington Bureau The Star
Sept 13, 2008
WASILLA, ALASKA –Twelve years before she became America's right-wing sweetheart, Sarah Palin rode another wave of "change" to power.
Immediately after her election as mayor, the self-described pit bull ran into trouble in this tiny community tucked into Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, sparking a colourful internecine political battle. It was remarkable even by the intense, incestuous standards of America's Last Frontier.
John McCain's Republican presidential running mate arrived as mayor already facing allegations she had introduced conservative social issues – including her anti-abortion position – into the mayoral campaign. She even questioned why the incumbent mayor's wife still used her maiden name.
As mayor, she fired administrators, gagged others and tried to move a museum out of the downtown.
She mused about banning books, was accused of being in the pocket of the National Rifle Association, dissolved a commission seeking ways to improve the city's problem with drinking and driving, and faced charges she had tried to break laws to put her supporters on council. On Day 120 of her administration, the first day such a move was allowed by law, she faced an incipient recall movement.
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's track record marked by bitter clashes
Palin, McCain contradict each other on spending
Palin, McCain contradict each other on spending
Carla Marinucci, SF Chronicle Political Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2008
In a televised interview Friday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defended her request for an estimated $200 million in federal projects from Congress - even as earlier in the day her GOP running mate John McCain insisted Palin had never sought money from Congress.
In a second ABC interview with Charlie Gibson, the GOP vice presidential candidate acknowledged that she has supported millions of dollars in congressional money - including the famed "Bridge to Nowhere" - to allow Alaska "to plug into ... along with every other state, a share of the federal budget in infrastructure."
But she said she and McCain would seek to reform that system.
She also told Gibson that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama probably regrets not naming Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his running mate - and dismissed as an "old wives' tale" reports that she had tried to ban books in public libraries.
McCain, for his part, faced an even tougher grilling on the usually friendly daytime show "The View," where hosts including Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg jabbed him on issues like abortion, his "maverick" record, separation of church and state, and his campaign attack ads.
Asked by Walters about Palin's statements that she would reform Washington, McCain insisted that she would "reform all of Washington, just like she did ... in Alaska. Earmark spending, which she vetoed half a billion dollars worth," said McCain.
When reminded by Walters that Palin took earmarks in Alaska, McCain said, "Not as governor she didn't."
"She took government out of the hands of the special interests," he said.
Independent analysts and the Web site of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, have both noted that under Palin's leadership as governor, Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth nearly $200 million - an amount that taxpayer groups say places Alaska as the per capita leader on such fundraising.
McCain appeared a little riled when Behar aggressively challenged him on his latest campaign ads - one accusing Obama of supporting sex education for kindergartners and another suggesting sexism in the use of the phrase "putting lipstick on a pig."
"Those ads aren't true. They're lies," said Behar, as Walters noted that McCain himself used the lipstick phrase to describe Clinton's health care proposal.
"They're not lies," McCain said, adding that Obama "chooses his words very carefully ... this is a tough campaign. And he shouldn't have said it."
Read the rest of the story:
Palin, McCain contradict each other on spending
Carla Marinucci, SF Chronicle Political Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2008
In a televised interview Friday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defended her request for an estimated $200 million in federal projects from Congress - even as earlier in the day her GOP running mate John McCain insisted Palin had never sought money from Congress.
In a second ABC interview with Charlie Gibson, the GOP vice presidential candidate acknowledged that she has supported millions of dollars in congressional money - including the famed "Bridge to Nowhere" - to allow Alaska "to plug into ... along with every other state, a share of the federal budget in infrastructure."
But she said she and McCain would seek to reform that system.
She also told Gibson that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama probably regrets not naming Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his running mate - and dismissed as an "old wives' tale" reports that she had tried to ban books in public libraries.
McCain, for his part, faced an even tougher grilling on the usually friendly daytime show "The View," where hosts including Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg jabbed him on issues like abortion, his "maverick" record, separation of church and state, and his campaign attack ads.
Asked by Walters about Palin's statements that she would reform Washington, McCain insisted that she would "reform all of Washington, just like she did ... in Alaska. Earmark spending, which she vetoed half a billion dollars worth," said McCain.
When reminded by Walters that Palin took earmarks in Alaska, McCain said, "Not as governor she didn't."
"She took government out of the hands of the special interests," he said.
Independent analysts and the Web site of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, have both noted that under Palin's leadership as governor, Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth nearly $200 million - an amount that taxpayer groups say places Alaska as the per capita leader on such fundraising.
McCain appeared a little riled when Behar aggressively challenged him on his latest campaign ads - one accusing Obama of supporting sex education for kindergartners and another suggesting sexism in the use of the phrase "putting lipstick on a pig."
"Those ads aren't true. They're lies," said Behar, as Walters noted that McCain himself used the lipstick phrase to describe Clinton's health care proposal.
"They're not lies," McCain said, adding that Obama "chooses his words very carefully ... this is a tough campaign. And he shouldn't have said it."
Read the rest of the story:
Palin, McCain contradict each other on spending
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Palin Drops “Bridge to Nowhere” Reference in Speech
Palin Drops “Bridge to Nowhere” Reference in Speech
By Monica Davey NY Times Plotics Blog
September 11, 2008, 5:17 pm
In speech after speech to crowds in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia in recent days, Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president, has made sure to mention the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, the Alaska project that has become the symbol of earmarks, and what she portrays as her “thanks but no thanks” position on it.
When she landed in Fairbanks in her home state on Wednesday night, though, the bridge was notably absent from an (otherwise mostly similar) speech she made inside an airplane hangar before her homestate crowd.
Ever since she first said it, two weeks ago, critics have questioned her claim that she “told Congress, ‘thanks but no thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere.’”
Her relationship with the bridge to the tiny Alaskan island of Gravina was actually more complicated. In 2006, she expressed support for the bridge project. Later, as support for the project was vanishing in Washington, she announced she was abandoning the project. (Alaska was still able to keep the federal money once intended for the bridge and direct it to other projects.)...
Read the rest of the story:
Palin Drops “Bridge to Nowhere” Reference in Speech
By Monica Davey NY Times Plotics Blog
September 11, 2008, 5:17 pm
In speech after speech to crowds in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia in recent days, Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president, has made sure to mention the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, the Alaska project that has become the symbol of earmarks, and what she portrays as her “thanks but no thanks” position on it.
When she landed in Fairbanks in her home state on Wednesday night, though, the bridge was notably absent from an (otherwise mostly similar) speech she made inside an airplane hangar before her homestate crowd.
Ever since she first said it, two weeks ago, critics have questioned her claim that she “told Congress, ‘thanks but no thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere.’”
Her relationship with the bridge to the tiny Alaskan island of Gravina was actually more complicated. In 2006, she expressed support for the bridge project. Later, as support for the project was vanishing in Washington, she announced she was abandoning the project. (Alaska was still able to keep the federal money once intended for the bridge and direct it to other projects.)...
Read the rest of the story:
Palin Drops “Bridge to Nowhere” Reference in Speech
Palin's Ethics Scrapes May Undercut Pledge to End Old Politics
Palin's Ethics Scrapes May Undercut Pledge to End Old Politics
By Timothy J. Burger and Tony Hopfinger
Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate sent a signal that he would end business as usual and cronyism in government. Her record shows the Alaska governor engaged in some of the same practices she and McCain now condemn.
Palin's office approved a state job for a friend and campaign aide with whom she shared a land investment, financial records and interviews over the past two weeks show. She hired a former lobbyist for a pipeline company to help oversee a multibillion-dollar deal with that same company.
She named a police chief accused of harassment to head the state police. And she sent campaign e-mails on her city hall account while serving as mayor of Wasilla -- conduct for which she later turned in an oil commissioner on ethics charges...
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's Ethics Scrapes May Undercut Pledge to End Old Politics
By Timothy J. Burger and Tony Hopfinger
Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate sent a signal that he would end business as usual and cronyism in government. Her record shows the Alaska governor engaged in some of the same practices she and McCain now condemn.
Palin's office approved a state job for a friend and campaign aide with whom she shared a land investment, financial records and interviews over the past two weeks show. She hired a former lobbyist for a pipeline company to help oversee a multibillion-dollar deal with that same company.
She named a police chief accused of harassment to head the state police. And she sent campaign e-mails on her city hall account while serving as mayor of Wasilla -- conduct for which she later turned in an oil commissioner on ethics charges...
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's Ethics Scrapes May Undercut Pledge to End Old Politics
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sarah Palin: Separating fact from fiction
Sarah Palin: Separating fact from fiction
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
The Star’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON | Since rocketing into political stardom as John McCain’s running mate two weeks ago, Sarah Palin has been dogged by questions.
She will sit down today with ABC for her first interview. While all politicians are attacked on, and boast about, their records, the fact that the governor of Alaska burst so suddenly onto the national stage in the lower 48 states makes it more difficult for voters to separate truth from fiction. So here’s a quick review of the issues
Read the rest of the story:
Sarah Palin: Separating fact from fiction
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
The Star’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON | Since rocketing into political stardom as John McCain’s running mate two weeks ago, Sarah Palin has been dogged by questions.
She will sit down today with ABC for her first interview. While all politicians are attacked on, and boast about, their records, the fact that the governor of Alaska burst so suddenly onto the national stage in the lower 48 states makes it more difficult for voters to separate truth from fiction. So here’s a quick review of the issues
Read the rest of the story:
Sarah Palin: Separating fact from fiction
Sunday, June 3, 2007
With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go
With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go
By Melissa Campbell
Alaska Journal of Commerce
June 3, 2007
Ketchikan's airport ferry docks in the Southeast city. A much maligned bridge to Gravina Island and the airport won't be a reality any time soon, but a road will be built as part of the original funding package that included the bridge.
The state Department of Transportation has awarded a $25.7 million contract to build a highway on Gravina Island. The 3.2-mile road is being funded as part of a $48 million earmark that survived after a larger federal earmark was pulled from federal legislation for the Gravina Island Bridge.
Gov. Sarah Palin should give the money back, said Lois Epstein, of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a nonprofit group.
"My proposal to the Palin administration would be that it's a good idea to return this money. It would be a responsible, ethical step for the administration to take,” Epstein said. “She should send a message there is a new regime in Alaska, a new administration. In a very public way, she should say, ?We've had projects that had not been of good use and are looking at them, but we are responsible now."
Read the rest of the story:
With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go
By Melissa Campbell
Alaska Journal of Commerce
June 3, 2007
Ketchikan's airport ferry docks in the Southeast city. A much maligned bridge to Gravina Island and the airport won't be a reality any time soon, but a road will be built as part of the original funding package that included the bridge.
The state Department of Transportation has awarded a $25.7 million contract to build a highway on Gravina Island. The 3.2-mile road is being funded as part of a $48 million earmark that survived after a larger federal earmark was pulled from federal legislation for the Gravina Island Bridge.
Gov. Sarah Palin should give the money back, said Lois Epstein, of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a nonprofit group.
"My proposal to the Palin administration would be that it's a good idea to return this money. It would be a responsible, ethical step for the administration to take,” Epstein said. “She should send a message there is a new regime in Alaska, a new administration. In a very public way, she should say, ?We've had projects that had not been of good use and are looking at them, but we are responsible now."
Read the rest of the story:
With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go
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