Tag: Sarah Palin (page 7)

TrooperGate report is out. Findings: Gov. Sarah Palin abused the power of her office.

The report by investigator Steve Branchflower found that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that "each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

The full report is here (pdf.) The vote to release it was unanimous. I'll update as I read it.

Pages 65 to 67, reproduced here, explain the finding that Palin abused the power of her office.

Florida's Jewish voters are not happy with Sarah Palin, and many who thought they might vote for McCain have now decided otherwise.

As one Jewish voter, Jamie Erenreich, puts it:

She finds so much about Palin objectionable that she almost doesn't know where to begin. There's the abortion issue, for one. Palin "wouldn't want anyone to have an abortion even for rape or incest," says Jamie. "Who is she to judge by telling me how to live my life and overturning the things women have worked so hard for?"

Equally disconcerting is Palin's seeming shallowness on some of the most pressing matters facing the country. "She doesn't know what she is talking about and makes it up as she goes along," says Jamie. "The fact that she had to be coached for two weeks [to prepare for the vice presidential debate] tells me she doesn't know anything. She just talks in circles."

Political scientists and polling data explain. [More...]

Newsweek released a new poll today. Sen. Barack Obama leads John McCain by 11 points, 52% to 41%.

The chief reason: the economy. Another: voter disapproval of Sarah Palin.

While 60 percent of voters think Palin would fit in well with their local community, only 39 percent of those surveyed say they believe McCain's running mate is qualified to serve as president, while 55 believe she is not.

Obama leads with almost every group of voters.

He now leads McCain among both men (54 percent to 40 percent) and women (50 percent to 41 percent). He now wins every age group of voters—including those over 65 years of age, who back him over McCain 49 to 43 percent.

88% of former Hillary supporters are now on board with Obama: [More...]

The Alaska Supreme Court has refused to block the legislative investigation and report in TrooperGate. The report should be out today.

The Guardian reports that Gov. Sarah Palin, and some of her employees, may be censured.

In an attempt to mitigate the fallout, the McCain campaign released a competing report. Naturally, the report clears her. (Note: the report is by the McCain campaign, not the Personnel Board.)

The details of her husband Todd Palin's answers in the legislative probe are here. The Court's decison is below, the opinion should follow shortly.

Time Magazine reports on Gov. Sarah Palin's unclear religious views. Is she a Pentacostal or an Evangelical?

It is this Pentecostal association that most concerns and confuses the McCain campaign. As Minnery makes clear, millions of Evangelicals have accepted Palin because of her membership in a Bible church. But there is no denying that mainstream Evangelicals and Pentecostals, while political allies on many social issues, have historically had significant tensions over theological differences. The Evangelicals' swoon for Palin might fade if it turns out that she continues to hold fast to Pentecostal practices and beliefs.

More...

Warren Zevon version here.

Here are First Dude Todd Palin's sworn interrogatories (pdf) submitted today in TrooperGate. Shorter version: Poor, poor pitiful me.

It is unfair to apply a double standard against my wife just because she is the state's first female governor."

More...

The latest Ipsos/McClatchy poll has Sen. Barack Obama 7 points ahead of John McCain. Why? The economy and Sarah Palin.

First, voters are ever more anxious about the faltering economy and trust Obama by a 15-point margin over McCain to steer it. Second, their confidence that McCain's running mate Sarah Palin is qualified to step into the presidency if necessary has fallen sharply.

...Palin's sunk since her debate last week with Joe Biden. Before the debate, voters thought her qualified to be president by a margin of 48 percent to 44 percent. After the debate, she was seen as qualified by 43 percent, while those saying she's not qualified rose to 51 percent.

The Alaska Legislature's TrooperGate report will be out Friday.

In lieu of testimony, seven employees, after Republicans lost their lawsuit to have the probe declared invalid, answered written questions under oath.

First Dude Todd Palin had until today to get his answers in.

A legislative panel has scheduled a meeting for 9 a.m. Friday to receive Branchflower's report on Monegan's firing and whether Palin or members of her administration abused their powers in pushing for the dismissal of a state trooper involved in a child-custody fight with the governor's sister.

Who didn't cooperate? Gov. Sarah Palin. [More...]

Last week on the day the Dow had its astounding 770 point loss, I asked how much can you afford to lose? I mentioned:

I don't have any investments, but my mother has a modest amount that is used to pay for her nursing home care. ... Today, she lost thousands.

Friday, the bailout agreement agreement passed and things have gotten worse. Yesterday and today she lost thousands more. All in so-called "large cap" (less-risky) stocks that supposedly always come back. I hope she lives that long.

I don't know many people who can lose such huge sums in a week and keep on trucking. Here's what I think it means for the election. [More...]

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claimed during the Vice Presidential Debate:

"When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur." --Sarah Palin, Oct. 2, 2008, VP Debate

Not so, say Alaska Dems in a press release today. In fact, adds Shannyn Moore, she lied. [More...]

Shameless, clueless Sarah Palin, speaking at a Florida rally today, did her Obama the terrorist-sympathizer schtick, leading one supporter in the audience to yell "Kill Him!"

Palin's response? Nada.

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said. "Boooo!" said the crowd. "And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated. "Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

Palin went on to say that "Obama held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayers's living room, and they've worked together on various projects in Chicago."

More...

My last Sarah Palin post for the night: Her gaffe in San Francisco today, calling Afghanistan "our neigboring country."

Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.

In other election news, a new poll by the Denver Post finds McCain and Obama in a dead heat. I don't think Colorado will matter -- it's going to be about turnout in the big states like Florida, Ohio, PA and MI and Obama's massive voter registration drive seems to be working.

I've got very early court in the morning so let's make this an open thread.