The Blog @ Spolitics

The Dirt on Sarah Palin

by Heywood U. Reedmore -- September 2, 2008 at 11:19 am | In 2008 Election | No Comments

The day after Obama announced Biden as his running mate I did a quick round-up of the dirt on Biden that was circulating in the media. The stories included ties to two big scandals and an apparent conflict interest between his duties as legislature and those of his lobbyist son. Of course, all of this pales in comparison to what reporters have dug up about Sarah Palin. (Editorial note: italics = sarcasm.) The NY Times has done it’s own little round-up:

On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.

Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.

Also out there are stories that she initially supported the bridge to nowhere before she nixed it for being too expensive and the fact that as a small-town mayor she sought earmarks for infrastructure projects. Apparently that’s the same as an requesting an earmark to build a monument to yourself.

So far though, most* of the “dirt” on Palin is really just much ado about nothing. But that didn’t stop the Times from suggesting it might place her “formal nomination” “in jeopardy.”

The press is just trying to spin every little nugget they dig up into the narrative that McCain didn’t properly vet Palin (which coincidentally, is also the Democrat talking points) and, therefore, his judgment is questionable. Of course, to accept that McCain didn’t know any of this stuff about Palin beforehand requires one to believe his vetters were wholly incapable of operating that Internet back hoe known as Google (apparently that’s a tool only media-types can master). Their logic seems to be, because the McCain camp didn’t provide the media with a dossier on Palin, then obviously all this is news to them too.

What’s really comical is seeing the media reaction to the stories about Biden with a shrug but to Palin’s with gasps! What does it say about the Washington press corps when they consider a daughter’s teenage pregnancy more of a blight on a candidate’s record than ties to bribery and fundraising scandals?

The story about the “secessionist,” “fringe” party, in particular, seems comically overblown and characteristic of a media establishment out of touch with Alaskan issues. Take a look at the party’s platform and decide for yourself whether or not Palin’s old and brief association with this group will turn off potential voters.

*Wootengate, aka Troopergate III, was a secret to no one who’s been following the VP story, but it is, so far, the most serious potential-scandal facing Palin. Palin’s political enemies are trying to portray her actions as a vendetta (the Trooper in question is a her ex-brother-in-law). Of course, the Washington press seems to be skipping over what should be the starting point: should the trooper have been fired or not? Based on what’s out there, it’s fair to question whether or not the state should be paying him to carry a weapon and enforce the law. If he should have been fired than everything else about Wootengate is moot. The issue then becomes, why wasn’t he fired? Was he being protected by his union or cronyism? If the Governor believed state troopers who had frequently broken rules, regulations and the law should not be allowed to remain on the force and — upon seeing evidence that this was happening — decided the situation required a change in leadership, how is that conceivably an abuse of power? If there really was no cause to fire him, then the actions of Palin’s staff could look petty and vindictive and people will want to know, rightly, what role she played in it all.

It seems like an easy enough issue to investigate, but right now the media appears to be too busy investigating the lives of the Palins who are not on the ticket.

Update: The story about Palin’s membership in the Alaska Independence Party might not even be true. It occurs to me that we might see a lot more reporting errors. Perhaps that’s the media’s true problem with the Palin pick: not that it will illustrate McCain’s poor judgment, but theirs.

Update: Now ABC is turning their Website into a soapbox for one of Palin’s political enemies. The investigation has just begun and the Democrat State Senator in charge of the effort has already decided “It’s likely to be damaging to the Governor.” So much for impartiality.

Update: Palin released a statement and affidavit telling her side of the story and calling for a formal review of the replacement of Commissioner Monegan. Sorry, Dems, but it’s looking like you might have to keep digging.