Sarah Palin

11th Governor of Alaska
Sarah Palin (R)
2006  — 2009 Preceded by: Frank Murkowski

Sarah Louise Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the former Governor of Alaska, having resigned before the completion of a single 4-year term, and was the Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election.

Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996, then won two terms as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004 while also serving as Ethics Supervisor of the commission.

In November 2006, Palin was elected the governor of Alaska, becoming the first woman and youngest person to hold the office. She defeated incumbent Republican governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election, garnering 48.3% of the vote.

On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate. She was nominated at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Palin is the second woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket and the first Republican woman to do so.

Writings

"Going Rogue"- Sarah Palin's first book, "Going Rogue" was recently released, and it has been a top seller in the country. The book includes accounts of her perspective on the 2009 election campaign as a Republican Vice Presidential candidate for John McCain. Her book was completed and released just four months after her book deal was announced.

"America by Heart" - Palin's latest book was released November 24, 2010. In her book, Palin reviews American history, culture and current events through her root values of faith, love of country and family. She includes portaits of Americans who have influenced her perspective, favorite American patriots, and some of her favorite brief readings from classic and contemporary literature. The book raised $500,000. in just the first month.

Biography

Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho. She is the third of four children born to Sally and Charles Heath, a school secretary and science teacher/track coach respectively. When Palin was 3 months old her parents moved the family from Sandpoint to Wasilla, Alaska.

Growing up in Wasilla, Palin would often go moose hunting with her father and running with her family. She attended Wasilla High School where she played point guard for the Wasilla High School Warriors basketball team. During her playing days she earned the nickname "Sarah Baracuda" for her hard-nosed style of play. In 1982 Palin and her team would go on to win the Alaska small-school basketball championship. In 1984, Palin competed in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year. She would finish third (second runner-up) in the Miss Alaska pageant.

Palin is a graduate of the University of Idaho (1987) where she holds a bachelor's degree in journalism. After college she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska as well as the Wasilla based Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

In 1988 Sarah Louise Heath married her high school sweetheart, oil-field production operator and commercial fisherman, Todd Palin. They have five children: sons Track (b. 1989) and Trig (b. 2008), and daughters Bristol (b. 1990), Willow (b. 1995), and Piper (b. 2001). On September 11, 2007 at the age of 18, Track joined the Army. On September 11, 2008 his unit deployed to Iraq.

On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome. The Palin's oldest daughter Bristol is expecting her first child in December. She is engaged to the baby's father, 18-year-old Levi Johnston of Wasilla. The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.

Pre-gubernatorial political experience

Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996 and became a two-term mayor and city manager of Wasilla, one of Alaska's fastest-growing communities. She was in office from 1996 to 2002. Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

In 2002, Palin made a failed bid for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a four-way race. After Frank Murkowski became governor (resigning his long-held U.S. Senate seat in mid-term), some considered Palin to be his possible successor. However, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-Alaska State Representative Lisa Murkowski.

Then-Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served from 2003 to 2004 -- until resigning in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. Her critics included the state Republican party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners (who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive email). Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes (who was eventually acquitted). Palin also served an elected term on the Valley Hospital board.

Governorship

While serving as Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she concluded there was a "lack of ethics" stemming from the leadership of her own political Party (Republican). This would serve as the primary reason for her decision to challenge sitting GOP Governor and the man who appointed Palin to her Ethics Commissioner position, Frank Murkowski. Running on a "clean government" platform, she defeated Murkowski in the primary and later former two-term Governor Tony Knowles in the November 2006 general election.

When elected, Palin became the youngest governor in Alaskan history (42 years old upon taking office), and the first woman to be Alaska's governor. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006. Her Lieutenant Governor was Sean Parnell.

Judicial appointments

The Alaska Judicial Council narrowed the field of applicants to Justice Matthews' position to two in early February of 2009. Those two are Morgan Christen and Eric Smith. Governor Palin had until March 20, 2009 to make an appointment from the nominees.

Palin chose Morgan Christen as her appointee.

Energy policies

Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded the appointment of former chief of staff Jim Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, reversing an appointment made in the closing days or hours of Frank Murkowski's Administration. Clark later pled guilty to conspiring with a defunct oil-field-services company to channel money into Frank Murkowski's re-election campaign.

In April 2007, Palin announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet, to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.

In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted against the measure, and in June Palin signed it into law. On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian Company, Transcanada Corp, was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant.

In response to high oil and gas prices, and in response to the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates. She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly.

Gay rights and abortion

Palin is pro-life and is a member of Feminists for Life. She opposes same-sex marriage; but, she has stated that she has gay friends, and is receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination. While the previous administration did not implement same-sex benefits, Palin complied with a state Supreme Court order and signed them into law.

She supported a democratic advisory vote from the public on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter. Alaska was one of the first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.

Palin's first veto was used on legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska's Attorney General on the constitutionality of the legislation.

Budget

In the first days of her administration, Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit account) by the Murkowski administration. The state placed the jet for sale on eBay three times. In August 2007, the jet was sold for $2.7 million.

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled an 11 miles (18 km) gravel road outside of Juneau to a mine, reversing a decision made in the closing days or hours of the Murkowski Administration.

In June 2007, Palin signed into law the largest operating budget in Alaska's history ($6.6 billion). At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The US$237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to nearly US$1.6 billion.

Approval ratings

In July 2007, Palin had an approval rating often in the 90s. A poll the following month had her approval rating at 84 percent, with five percent disapproving. A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 confirmed Palin's approval rating remains at 80%.

Commissioner firing

On July 11, 2008, Palin fired Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. According to Monegan, he was terminated over his reluctance to fire an Alaska State Trooper involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly McCann. Palin claimed that she fired Monegan so the Department could head in a "new direction" and noted that her ex-brother-in-law is still employed by the state. Alaska House Speaker John Harris disputed that claim, stating there is "no different direction we are going in."

The legislature hired Steve Branchflower, a retired longtime Alaska assistant district attorney, to investigate Palin and her staff for possibly violating the state personnel act. On September 1, 2008, the Alaska state legislature announced that Palin would be represented by Thomas Van Flein, a partner in the Anchorage firm Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness, and will be paid $185/hr up to $95,000 to represent Palin and others in the Governor's office. The law department said that Attorney General Talis Colberg has a conflict of interest that prevents him from representing Palin. "Please know that we intend to cooperate with this investigation," said Van Flein in an August 29 email.

On July 28, the state legislative counsel, a bipartisan panel of senators and representatives, approved $100,000 for the investigation and hired Branchflower to lead the probe. Senator Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat and former state prosecutor, instructed Branchflower not to comply with Van Flein's request for copies of all witness statements and documentary evidence. Van Flein has argued that the investigation should be shifted to the state's personnel review board and not the legislature, which has a Republican majority.

Matanuska Maid Dairy controversy

Matanuska Maid Dairy was a state-owned business. When the Alaska Dairy Board recommended closing the unprofitable business, Palin fired the board and appointed long-time Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska associates to replace the ousted boardmembers —including influential real estate businesswoman Kristan Cole. The new board quickly approved raising the price of milk offered by the dairy, in an ill conceived attempt to control fiscal losses, despite the fact that milk from Washington was already offered in Alaskan stores at lower prices.

In the end, the dairy was forced to close, and the state tried to sell the assets to pay off its debts, but no bids were received.

2008 vice presidential campaign

On August 29, 2008, presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain introduced Palin as his vice-presidential candidate during a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio. Even though Palin's name had been mention as a possibility during the V.P. selection process, McCain's decision to make her his running-mate was still a surprise. During the vetting process, political analysts placed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as the front-runners for the GOP vice presidential slot. Independent Democrat, Sen. Joeseph Lieberman and former Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge were also believed to be serious contenders for the running-mate position.

Palin is considered to have similar policy positions to John McCain in some respects. One exception is drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Palin strongly supports and McCain has opposed. She has supported aspects of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's energy plan related to encouraging the further use of natural gas but has opposed his plan to institute a windfall profit tax on oil companies.

A possible consideration in Palin's selection was her appeal to former Hillary Clinton supporters in the contentious Democratic primary. Palin, when asked about Senator Clinton's complaints regarding her coverage by the press, said "that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, women in general, wanting to progress this country...when I hear a statement like that from from any woman, I think that there is a perceived whine."

Alaska Republicans had mixed reactions to the news of Palin's selection. State Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has often feuded with Palin, remarked, "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" On the other hand, Alaskan Attorney General Talis Colberg, a Palin appointee, remarked that, "It's wonderful. It was an emotional thing to see the governor walk out with her family and I say, wow, I work for her."

There was speculation back in October 2007 that Palin was seen as a possible choice of the vice-presidency of John McCain's rival of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Palin is the second U.S. woman to run on a major party ticket, after Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee of former vice-president Walter Mondale in 1984.

Palin and the media

The Palin campaign has been charging media bias from the onset of the campaign. One week after John McCain named Palin as his running mate, reports surfaced that Palin was not the mother of newborn Down Syndrome child Trigg Palin. The popular political blog Daily Kos reported that 17-year old daughter Bristol Palin was actually Trigg's birth mom. The blog claimed a photo taken of the Palin family showed Bristol with a "baby bump" approximately 5 weeks before Trigg was born on April 18, 2008. It was later revealed that the photo was taken in 2006 when Bristol was 16 and published in the Anchorage Daily News.

After complaints from the press that journalists did not have appropriate access to Palin on the campaign trail, Palin sat down with Charlie Gibson of ABC News for her first one-on-one interview since receiving the Vice Presidential nomination.

The most publicized moment of the interview dealt with Palin's response to Gibson when he asked "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?" She responded with "In what respect, Charlie?" Gibson's initial reluctance to elaborate before defining the doctrine as "that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense" raised more charges of bias from Palin supporters. Gibson also misquoted Palin about Iraq, contending that his quote was accurate when it was not [1].

United Press International writer Martin Seif compared the ABC interview of Palin with Gibson and an interview conducted by George Stephanopoulis with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama the previous Sunday.

"Charles Gibson of ABC News was out for blood and inherently applied a double-standard compared with the kid gloves George Stephanopoulos used on Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois on Sunday night," Seif wrote. "Gibson was out to embarrass Palin and expose her presumed ignorance from the word go. By contrast, when Obama referred to his 'Muslim faith' on Sunday and did not correct himself, Stephanopoulos rushed in at once to help him and emphasize that the senator had really meant to say his Christian faith."

A CNN interview with Palin included a quote from National Review that was completely taken out of context; CNN later aired a correction [2].

The Washington Post has repeatedly printed false and misleading information about Palin [3] [4] [5].

The transcript of the vice presidential debate included an error favorable to Palin's opponents. The New York Times later corrected the error, but CNN did not [6].

Palin supporters also have pointed to questions from the media over whether serving as Vice President would interfere with Palin's ability to care for her five children, including one who has Down Syndrome, as evidence of media sexism.

Wikipedia controversy

Controversy arose when it was made public that Sarah Palin's entry at Wikipedia had been substantially edited by a single user within the 24 hours before Palin was announced as McCain's choice for running mate. The edits included glowing remarks about Palin's achievements as governor of Alaska and stories of her upbringing, with much of the material coming from the biography Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment on Its Ear by Kaylene Johnson. Some of the edits were considered biased and conflicting with Wikipedia's standards of neutrality.

The user responsible for the edits went by the name "YoungTrigg," a possible reference to Palin's infant son, Trig. The coincidence of the user’s name, and the sudden spurt of activity just before news broke of McCain’s choice, has raised suspicions that YoungTrigg was a campaign operative tasked to make sure that her Wikipedia article would appear more positive in time for the announcement.

Prior to the announcement, YoungTrigg discussed the article with other Wikipedia editors, many of whom praised his work. When one editor added that Palin was McCain's running mate on Thursday night, without citing a source, YoungTrigg wrote, "Where did you hear that Palin was the VP nominee? I can’t find anything online." Some believe this is not the behavior of a McCain/Palin insider.

YoungTrigg later updated his Wikipedia user page, stating that he was not Sarah Palin or a member of her family. He went on to say:

I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.

YoungTrigg is now listed as "retired" from Wikipedia.

Personal

Palin is a self-described "hockey mom" and mother of five. Among her hobbies are hunting, ice fishing and riding snowmobiles; she has also run a marathon, and owns a floatplane.

According to the New York Times, Palin "appears to have traveled very little outside the United States" and in July 2007 had to get a passport before visiting members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait. She also traveled to Germany to visit wounded soldiers, and her spokesman Ben Porritt stated that she has also visited Canada.

Religion

Palin was originally baptized as a Roman Catholic, but her parents switched to the Wasilla Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, where she was rebaptized at age 12 or 13, and attended under pastor Ed Kalnins until 2002. When she is in the capital, she attends Juneau Christian Center, another Assemblies of God church. Her current home church in Wasilla is The Wasilla Bible Church, under Pastor Larry Kroon, an independent congregation. Initial reports described her as the first Pentecostal ever named to a major party's presidential ticket; Palin has described herself as a "Bible-believing Christian" who attends a non-denominational church. The National Catholic Reporter described her as a "post-denominational" Christian.

In June 2008, Palin spoke at her former church. On the topic of Iraq, she asked that people pray for the soldiers and that "there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." In regards to a proposed natural-gas pipeline she said, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built."

On August 17, Palin was attending church services when David Brickner, executive director of Jews for Jesus, suggested in a sermon that terrorism against Israel is due to Judaism not recognizing Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Political opponents of Palin have tried using this event in an attempt to persuade Jewish voters against her. However after being thoroughly investigated by the Jewish Telegraph Agency the facts are that she was never aware Brickner was speaking at her church that day and she has rejected what some would deem as offensive remarks. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, came to her defense stating there is "no evidence" that she shares such views.

Personal

Sarah Palin eloped with her high-school boyfriend, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988, when she was 24 years old. Todd works for BP as an oil-field production operator and owns a commercial fishing business. The family lives in Wasilla.

The couple have five children: sons Track (born 1989) and Trig (born 2008), and daughters Bristol (born 1990), Willow (born 1995), and Piper (born 2001). Todd and Track Palin are registered to vote as independents ("undeclared"), though Todd was registered with the Alaskan Independence Party until 2002. Track Palin enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11, 2007, subsequently joining an infantry brigade. He is set to be deployed to Iraq in September 2008. Palin's youngest child, Trig, has Down syndrome, diagnosed prenatally.

Governor Palin announced on September 1, 2008, that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant and intended to keep the baby and marry the father of her child, 17-year-old Levi Johnston. The McCain-Palin campaign stated that John McCain was aware of her daughter's pregnancy, but that it did not affect his choice. Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama and his campaign staff declared the subject "off limits" in the coming campaign.

Businesses

In addition to the commercial fishing business owned by her husband, the Palins had a 40 percent ownership in Anchorage Car Wash LLC, according to state corporation records filed in 2004. Palin failed to report her stake in the company when running for governor in 2006; in April 2007, the state issued a "certificate of involuntary dissolution" because of the company's failure to file its biennial report and pay state licensing fees.

Palin's gubernatorial disclosure filings in 2005 did show that she had secured a license for a marketing business named "Rouge Cou."Her filing said that the company had not done any business.

External links

• Alaska Office of Governor Sarah Palin
• National Governors Association - Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin biography
• University of Idaho alumni magazine - Sarah Palin - winter 2008 - p.14
• Follow the Money - Palin 2006 campaign contributions
• Follow the Money - Palin/Parnell 2006 campaign contributions
• On the Issues - Sarah Palin's issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Governor Sarah H. Palin profile
• Palin for Governor
• Sarah Smile Anchorage Press, August 2006 cover story
• Governor of Alaska Frank Murkowski ousted in a humiliating defeat to Sarah Palin Alaska Report, August 24, 2006
• Official Portrait
• Alaska's 'Frustrated' Governor Palin On Our 'Nonsensical' Energy Policy Interview with Investor's Business Daily
• Sarah Palin Wikipedia article

Portions of this article are from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.