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Go Home Barracuda

POLITICS OCTOBER 22, 2008

Barracuda

BY NOAM SCHEIBER

It's unlikely the name Sarah Palin would mean much to anyone if not for a man named Nick Carney. Long before she stood up to Republican cronies and "the good old boys" of Alaska, Palin stood up to Carney, a colleague on Wasilla's city council. As Kaylene Johnson explains in her sympathetic biography, Sarah, Carney had the gall to propose an ordinance giving his own company the city contract for garbage removal. In Johnson's telling, it was the first time Palin bravely spoke truth to power: "'I said no and I voted no,' Sarah said. 'People should have the choice about whether or not to haul their garbage to the dump.'" Johnson writes that Palin's vote made Carney into a "political enemy"--the first of many, it turns out.

The episode might serve as a compelling, if small-bore, example of Palin's reformer instincts. Except that, according to those who were present, Carney wasn't quite the crooked trash magnate Palin makes him out to be. For one thing, Carney couldn't have proposed the ordinance because he'd recused himself from the matter. The council, in fact, had asked him to appear as a kind of expert witness on the relevant rules and regulations. "I looked at it as we actually had an expert on the council sharing the information," recalls Laura Chase, a fellow councilwoman. "Not ... conspiring over a contract. There was no way that was happening."

So if it wasn't a sinister garbage conspiracy that put Carney in Palin's crosshairs, what was it? At first glance, the two would have appeared to be allies--both had spent most of their lives in Wasilla and had attended the same high school. But, beyond that, they were sociological opposites in almost every respect. Whereas Palin had bounced around several no-name colleges before graduating from the University of Idaho, Carney held a degree from Dartmouth. Palin seemed preoccupied with her family and church when she entered politics. Carney was preoccupied with histories of the Civil War and World War II (he later contributed a self-published book to the genre) and savored the New York Times crossword puzzle. By the time he joined the city council, Carney had traveled to Asia, Australia, and Central America. He'd run the Anchorage office of Alaska's economic development agency and had served as the state's agriculture director. "I'd dealt with larger budgets by far than the city of Wasilla," he recently told me.

Carney had a wry sense of humor. He was fond of joking that he'd graduated from Wasilla High School in the "top 20 percent"--by which he meant he was valedictorian of his five-person class. Sometimes Palin was the only colleague who didn't get his jokes. "I don't think he had too much patience for her lack of understanding," says John Stein, then the town's mayor. In internal discussions, Carney would be relentlessly logical while Palin was vague and intuitive. "Nick had a way of being direct and to the point, something that Sarah was uncomfortable with," recalls Chase. Which is to say, when it came to garbage removal, what Palin seemed to have chafed against was less the substance of Carney's position than what she felt was his elitist, Ivy League bearing. And, over the next few years, she found ways to get him back.

These days, Palin is engaged in this same fight against elites, though on a considerably larger stage. "I'm not one of those who maybe came from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents give them a passport and give them a backpack and say go off and travel the world," she recently told Katie Couric. "No, I've worked all my life." That hardly makes her the first politician to run on class resentments--nearly every conservative from George W. Bush to Mitt Romney has sought a bond with voters by attacking the over-educated and entitled. But more often than not these conservatives are elites themselves; hence the spectacle of Yale legacies and Harvard millionaires (and most of the Fox News executive suite) railing against wine-swilling sophisticates.

Palin, by contrast, may be the first conservative politician since Nixon to experience resentment so authentically. For her, it's not so much a political tool as a motivating principle. A trip through Palin's past reveals that almost every step of her career can be understood as a reaction to elitist condescension--much of it in her own mind.

Before he became her enemy, Nick Carney was actually Palin's mentor--though, like John McCain, his reasons for championing her had much to do with his own political agenda. In the early '90s, Carney and a group of local business leaders decided the city needed a sales tax to fund public services--such as a police force--it could no longer live without. To advance this position in an area not exactly teeming with Great Society liberals, they'd formed a group called "Watch on Wasilla" and persuaded John Stein, then the mayor, to embrace their cause. Carney won his seat on the city council in 1992 on the back of these efforts.

Heading into that election, Carney and Stein realized their program would go nowhere if they couldn't connect with what you might call Wal-Mart moms--that great mass of voters too busy earning a living and raising their families to follow local politics. "We were lacking lines of communication between the council as it existed and the younger bloc of voters in town," recalls Carney. "We didn't have anyone on there who worked [as a laborer] for a living or who was a housewife."

Carney's daughter had gone to high school with Palin; Stein and his wife knew her from an aerobics class they attended. She seemed bright and energetic and had a winning way about her--the same qualities McCain would notice 15 years later. They invited her to attend a "Watch on Wasilla" meeting and, after a brief interview, asked her to run on their moderate plank. Carney introduced her to local business leaders and campaigned alongside her. "I took her around . .. and said, 'This is a person who supports our points of view. She'll do what she can to make the police force run.' And she did it." It was a bit like Palin's convention rollout in miniature, and the initial effect was similar. Palin breezed into office with Carney that October.

Palin's first year or two on the council went smoothly by all accounts. "I was relatively pleased at the fact that she did communicate back and forth to that group," Carney says. "She would make good decisions." But, in retrospect, there were signs of tension. Though council members routinely bickered with one another, Palin became defensive when she was on the receiving end. "Sarah is intimidated, in my personal opinion, by people who are intelligent," Laura Chase says.

The city had traditionally put up part of the purse for the Iron Dog competition--the grueling, 2,000-mile snow machine race that usually starts in Wasilla--and one year the council considered upping its ante. (First prize could be tens of thousands of dollars.) When a colleague pointed out that Palin should recuse herself because her husband was a perennial Iron Dog contender, she protested, "I don't think I have a conflict of interest here because Todd won it last year. There's no guarantee that he's going to win it this year." As others chimed in to explain the problem, Palin dug in her heels. "Well, it could be perceived that way, but it isn't," she harrumphed.

As a rule, the city's department heads attended every city council meeting. One evening, as the session wound down, Palin mentioned to Mary Ellen Emmons, the library director, that something had been bothering her--a book she thought was overly indulgent of homosexuality. "She said there was no room in our library for that kind of stuff," recalls Chase. Emmons curtly disagreed, but Palin was adamant. She suggested the librarian could at least keep such books in the reference section, where visitors would have to request them. "We don't believe in censoring books," Emmons finally told her, at which point Palin trailed off muttering.

Palin also butted heads at times with Dick Deuser, the city attorney. Deuser was not your average small-town lawyer. He'd attended law school at the University of Minnesota and had worked for a prominent Anchorage firm. At one point, the council asked him about the legality of banning group homes--such as shelters for runaways--a position Palin championed. Deuser had an academic manner and was fond of citing Supreme Court precedent. When he explained that a ban would be unconstitutional, Palin appeared impatient with such legal niceties. "I would describe it this way: Sarah was not an in-depth person. Never has, never will be," Deuser says. "Her instincts are political as opposed to evaluative."

 

That Palin would feel threatened by the more urbane members of the community is no surprise given her upbringing. Late one September morning in Wasilla, I met a high school classmate of Palin's named Perry Cowles, a warm, scruffy- looking man with a soul patch and hipster glasses. Cowles overhauls hot rods for a living, and his shop sits at the front of a three-acre lot. A few hundred yards back is his residence, which he described to me as "a typical Alaska house: seven hundred feet of living space; five thousand feet of garage space."

For lunch, Cowles took me to a restaurant near the top of Hatcher Pass, a fearsome peak from which, on a clear day, you can see the Knik River off in the distance. He flipped through his high school yearbook while we ate. Almost every page reminded him of another classmate who'd passed away--one who died when his prop-jet crashed, another who drowned in a lake. I got the sense life in small-town Alaska was somehow more precarious than in the lower 48.

Or, for that matter, in Anchorage. Though it's only 45 miles away, Anchorage can feel like an alternate universe--a far more affluent and cosmopolitan one at that. In Wasilla, the resentment has sometimes been intense. Cowles had been a hockey player in high school. In those days, the town had a single outdoor rink, which he and his teammates would mop after games and practices. He jokingly recalled how the Anchorage teams would show up in their parents' new cars wearing $200 skates "while we had tennis shoes with butter knives." "I'll never forget--we had a game with a team we were outmatched against," Cowles told me. "Our coach said, 'We can't win. But you go out there and I want blood. I want you to teach these rich kids a lesson.' And we did."

Palin nursed a milder form of this grievance as a high school basketball player. When Palin's coach, Don Teeguarden, arrived at the school in 1976, there were only 300 students and the team was abysmal. To improve, Teeguarden scheduled the powerful Anchorage teams, which, he told me, "was a pretty easy sell" for a no-name like Wasilla. By the time Palin was playing for him a few years later, the Wasilla girls had improved significantly--becoming a state power in their own right--but they still sometimes struggled to be taken seriously. "It was easy to put that small school chip on our shoulder," says Teeguarden. "If an Anchorage school came to Wasilla and we won, it was like it didn't count because they had to travel forty miles. To really get much respect from the Anchorage press, we had to go into town and win."

Palin's church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, also marked her as an outsider. The modern Pentecostal tradition traces its roots to a grassroots religious fervor at the start of the twentieth century. In the ensuing decades, followers tended to be less educated and affluent than their Protestant brethren. The tradition is also more democratic, in that it emphasizes a direct connection with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Hence the Pentecostal practice of speaking in tongues (in which congregants are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak in unfamiliar languages) and the laying on of hands (in which congregants invoke the Holy Spirit and heal one another with their touch).

Paul Riley, the church's founding pastor, personally epitomized the overlay of religion and class in Wasilla. Since Riley's work as a minister wasn't lucrative enough to support his family, he spent years moonlighting as a school bus driver while his wife worked in the post office. He sometimes endured the sneering of local elites. In 1980, he decided to construct a building large enough to house a 1,000-member church--a far bigger flock than he had at the time. It was a massive undertaking that took four years to complete and required $1 million in capital, even with the help of dozens of volunteers from around the country. "I had one banker that was concerned about me," Riley told me. "He said, 'What'll happen if you can't pay back the loan?' I said, 'We'll be here when you're gone.' The honest truth: He was gone before the church was finished. The bank went belly-up. ... I just felt in my own heart that God was giving us direction."

Against this backdrop, Palin suffered her own petty slights and indignities. Growing up, she'd been pushed to great lengths by her hard-charging father, Chuck Heath. Heath had competed in the Boston Marathon and would lead his brood on grueling runs through the Mat-Su Valley. He had exacting standards for his children, sometimes higher than his daughter could deliver on. Palin was, according to classmates, an above-average basketball player, but hardly a star. Even as a junior, she found herself languishing on the JV team.

But Palin compensated for what she lacked in talent (and height) with a freakish intensity. When I asked Elwyn Fischer, another classmate, how Palin got the nickname "barracuda," he thought it had to do with "that little grin thing she does." "She sets her teeth, it looks like she's eating jerky," Fischer said. "Flashing some fang, you know." Teeguarden allowed that "as a young player--freshman, sophomore--she was a bit foul-prone. ... She wasn't about to back down. I'm guessing it was connected to those kinds of things."

Palin is often described in profiles as an academic standout. But, as on the basketball court, she was good but not great. Like most high schools, Wasilla had several distinct subcultures--among them, a religious/jock clique, of which Palin was a part, and a group of more bookish kids that took AP classes and studied theater. "We were considered the geekier, nerdy kids. We were smarter," recalls Elle Ede, another classmate. And yet Palin didn't lack for academic ambition. Rodger Foreman, one of her English teachers, would allow students to appeal their exam grades if they felt they'd been scored harshly. Foreman recalls that Palin regularly availed herself of the appeals process. "She was kind of like that. She thought she was right."

 

By 1996, a cultural shift in Alaska had emboldened Palin to take on Carney and Stein and enforce her own sense of right. Since it came online in the 1970s, Alaska's oil pipeline had attracted legions of Sunbelters--oil men from Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. They were largely right-wing evangelicals who preferred Wasilla--where land was cheap, zoning was minimal, and taxes were low--to the more uppity environs of Anchorage. Their presence led to a proliferation of conservative churches and anti-government attitudes. By 1994, the same Republican tide that swept the Democrats from Congress had reached the Mat-Su Valley as the conservative hordes came of age.

In 1996, Palin was also asserting herself more and more. For example, she'd demand to know why Stein, the mayor, had "raised the budget." Stein and Carney tried to explain that he'd done nothing of the kind--that, when a city grows, businesses collect more in tax revenue, but that new residents also increase demand for public services. Palin wasn't appeased. She'd say things like, "'Oh, okay. Well, that's the way you think about it,'" Stein recalls. "I was thinking--these are things she should know better. Why is she asking me these stupid questions?"

Carney saw ulterior motives. During a break one evening, he stopped Palin as she was heading to the restroom. "Sarah, it sounds like you're running for mayor," he said, half-joking. Palin turned red and became visibly upset. "What makes you say that? I never said I was running for mayor." "You never denied it, " Carney responded. Palin just repeated herself and stomped off.

Within a few months, Palin was officially challenging Stein and exploiting the cultural shift masterfully. She welcomed a national anti-abortion group in to carpet bomb Wasilla with pink postcards affirming her pro-life bona fides. She orchestrated an NRA endorsement and a mailing from the group falsely proclaiming Stein, a lifelong hunter, "anti-gun." (Stein complained to the local newspaper that Palin was telling voters he wanted to "melt down" all the firearms in the state.) And, in a move practically out of Karl Rove's playbook, she dwelled on how Stein's wife used her maiden name, going so far as to demand a marriage certificate as proof of their nuptials. Palin's campaign literature proclaimed her "deeply devoted to conservative family values"--all in the context of an ostensibly nonpartisan election. (Stein himself was a moderate Republican.)

Upon winning, Palin moved quickly to punish her snooty tormentors. Days after she was elected, the city council became deadlocked over how to fill two seats--Palin's and another that had opened up when its occupant won higher office. Palin insisted on making her own appointments, a move of dubious legality sure to irritate Carney. When he objected, she simply cut off discussion. She later accused him of sabotaging her proposed candidates. As she explained to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, the local paper: "'It was brilliant maneuvering I had to do to deal with the impasse.'" "And," the same article continued, "the look on Carney's face when she appointed Steve Stoll and Dianne Keller told her the strategy worked, she said."

Within a year, Palin had blown through her personal enemies list. She had demanded the resignation of Emmons, the librarian opposed to censorship (who successfully fought for her job), and Irl Stambaugh, the city's police chief. Among Stambaugh's crimes? Insufficient enthusiasm when Palin asked him to file a weekly report listing "at least two positive examples of work that was started, how we helped the public, how we saved the City money, how we helped the state, how we helped Uncle Sam," according to The Seattle Times.

Palin also persuaded allies on the city council to can Dick Deuser, the city attorney. "She wanted yes-or-no answers ... and he would give her more sophisticated answers," recalls Anne Kilkenny, the local gadfly and author of an anti-Palin e-mail that became nearly ubiquitous after Palin joined the GOP ticket. "She hated it. ... She'd get very irritated, really irritated."

And Palin took every opportunity to humiliate her former mentor. "She had people coming in, castigating me," Carney recalls. "Anything I proposed, even innocuous resolutions, went down to defeat." At city council meetings, Palin would sit and chitchat with allies at great length while Carney held his hand waiting to speak. Finally, toward the end of the meeting, Palin would turn and ask, "Oh, Nick, did you have something to say? Well, keep it brief."

To this day, Palin's most impressive achievement--the one that vaulted her to the governorship and made her a candidate for vice president--was partly an outgrowth of these same resentments. In 2003, thenGovernor Frank Murkowski appointed Palin to be the "public member" on the three-person Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC). She resigned from the position eleven months later and, not long after, helped bring to light the ethical problems of a fellow commissioner named Randy Ruedrich.

Ruedrich shared some of Nick Carney's qualities. He was well-educated (he'd come to the commission with a Ph.D. in engineering) and impatient with his intellectual inferiors. (As Palin crammed to get up to speed on energy issues, consuming several books recommended by her staff, Ruedrich seemed to scoff at her credentials.) But, unlike Carney, Ruedrich also violated ethics rules. After several months, it became obvious that Ruedrich was interacting privately with companies the aogcc regulated. Some of them, such as BP, owed him deferred compensation from earlier employment.

Ruedrich's hauteur created tension with Palin from the get-go. "I got the impression he was surprised he wasn't made chairman instead of her," says Linda Berg, then an AOGCC administrative staffer. (A Ruedrich spokesman denies this.) "He was just arrogant. That's the biggest thing I remember." This appears to have exacerbated some of Palin's own insecurities. "She would say she wasn't qualified for the job," her fellow commissioner, Dan Seamount, told me. "I differed with her. She brought a lot."

In addition to serving on the commission, Ruedrich headed the state Republican Party, and he would spend hours each day fielding calls on his cell phone. He also had a habit of bypassing Palin and speaking directly with contacts in Murkowski's orbit. Before long, Palin told Seamount that Ruedrich's private meetings really bothered her and reported them to her supervisors. Though Ruedrich eventually resigned, Palin worried about a possible cover-up. She quit the commission after urging the administration to come clean.

It was a classic even-paranoids-have-enemies case. "[Ruedrich] didn't think she was much of a threat, nothing to be dealt with," says Seamount. Had Palin been a more mellow and forgiving soul, Ruedrich might have been right. But he badly miscalculated.

 

Although Palin did Alaskans a service by blowing the whistle on Ruedrich, it's not exactly reassuring that a potential vice president is prone to vendettas that will on occasion be justified. One evening, I paid a visit to Anne Kilkenny, who had by this point ascended to local icon status. Kilkenny is a stout woman with a pretty face and a flair for the dramatic. Midway through our conversation, she turned to me and lowered her voice: "What happens to me if Sarah Palin wins?" Kilkenny believes she's on Palin's enemies list, though she concedes she doesn't know for sure what Palin thinks of her.

It's easy to see Kilkenny as Palin's culture-war antithesis. She grew up in San Francisco and holds a degree from Berkeley. She proudly calls herself a social liberal. But Kilkenny isn't so easy to stereotype. Her husband, Pat Johnson, hails from a conservative Wasilla family that's been close to Palin's for decades. Pat's mom Eileen once belonged to a Christian women's group that included Palin's mother--"I used to walk with a limp, but my leg grew two inches after the ladies laid their hands on me," Eileen told me.

Kilkenny initially supported Palin. But, once the mayor bludgeoned the town librarian about book-banning, Kilkenny and a group of concerned residents held a meeting to mull a possible recall. After much debate, they decided to help Palin become a better mayor instead.

The group's efforts reflected a kind of establishment delusion--the hope that if you just surround the rough-hewn outsider with the right advisers and submerge her in the proper environment, she'll eventually assimilate. It's a delusion that's playing out all over again on the McCain campaign, amid all the briefings with the likes of Henry Kissinger and Joe Lieberman. Give Palin a few months in the Old Executive Office Building, the thinking goes, and she'll become Adlai Stevenson. But it never quite works out that way. As Nixon demonstrated, the forces of class resentment can be allconsuming and elemental.

"I remember after the recall meeting how I was going to help her," Kilkenny told me. Palin had a habit of smacking gum during city council meetings. Kilkenny thought more people would take her seriously if she knocked it off. "So at the next council meeting, I sat next to her mom. I said, 'Tell Sarah to ditch the gum.'" And the response? "She didn't take it too well."

Could Sarah Palin despise Anne Kilkenny because Kilkenny once suggested she refrain from chewing gum? I'd like to believe it's not true. But I'm honestly not so sure.

Noam Scheiber is a senior editor of The New Republic. This article originally ran in the October 22, 2008, issue of the magazine.

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272 comments

So........Sarah Palin chewed gum at Council meetings?This is the best you could come up with? Your editors should ask that you return your expense money.

- Jim Wilke

October 5, 2008 at 3:36pm

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I think that Brian Williams of NBC put it best while speaking to David Letterman. " It is September 11 and the President of the United States is flying above the country unable to land because we do not know who, or how, our country is being attacked. The Vice President is on the ground attempting to lead the country through the most horrific attack on our soil by terrorist. Who do you want on the ground handling the fate of Americans? Now Dog Gone It...think about that for a minute.......

- Deanna

October 5, 2008 at 4:05pm

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I love reading all this stuff. The more I learn about McCain and Palin, they more I dislike them. If you take a deep look into their pasts and records, you may be shocked. They have smears, Obama has issues and the ear of the country. The GOP has offered us little to nothing for 8 years. This campaign is no different. Go big O!

- Joshua Posner

October 5, 2008 at 6:29pm

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This is the most devastating piece on Palin I have yet read. This woman has no place on the national political scene and it is time for all self-respecting conservative intellectuals to say as much. John McCain ought to be ashamed of himself for pandering to the fundamentalist forces in this country in such a manner. Romney would have been the ethical pander; he at least could reasonably claim to bring expertise to the ticket.

- Deborah

October 5, 2008 at 6:44pm

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So what are we all to do? All aspire to be ignorant, unsophisticated, backward, clueless, and speak using idiotic syntax and grammar, be inarticulate so as not to offend the uneducated? This is a choice people make...to improve themselves...to be a person of the world, not just small town. America need not be a nation of hicks and clowns...do you want your children to turn out like Palin, or almost flunk out of college like Bush and McCain? Palin is mean spirited, ignoble, vindictive and supremely ignorant as well as close-minded. Most world leaders, especially in the Western World, are educated, sophisticated and open minded, mostly...imagine her chewing gum at some Summit Meeting and saying "you betcha" and "doggone it." Where is Jack Kennedy when we need him? The closest we have to that is Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, secondly. No! America needs the best and the brightest! Especially right now. "Wink"

- Carlvm

October 5, 2008 at 8:02pm

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I think the writer should look into the reasons behind the popularity of Sarah Palin as Governor. Couldn't the people in Alaska see through her?

- Chris

October 5, 2008 at 8:45pm

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I lived in Wasilla while Sarah Palin was Mayor and still own a home there. Her style has always reminded me of George Bush--surround yourself with a bunch of people who agree, don't ask too many questions and know that you are always right.

- Gregg

October 5, 2008 at 9:00pm

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There is much more here than chewing gum. The Alaskan press has been tearing Gov. Palin up for these sorts of vendetta's and Cheneyesque power grabs and secrecy. Sen. McCain should watch out; she's already starting her next power grab by questioning his handling of Michigan. Good investigation.

- Michael Brown

October 5, 2008 at 9:04pm

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No, Jim, what they came up with is a pattern of stupidity, arrogance and vindictiveness. That's not a good combination in a person, in a vice president it's Dick Cheney.

- KA

October 5, 2008 at 9:08pm

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This is not about chewing gum. It's about the difficulty of proving yourself, especially when you are a woman and have no credentials or interest in obtaining them. If instead of seeking the education and training you need, you make friends in high places, use them, and turn on them, convincing yourself that you are right because God loves you...then you might rise beyond your level of competence. That's Sarah Barracuda

- maria

October 5, 2008 at 9:19pm

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Don't be disingenuous, Jim, this article is obviously not about gum chewing. Palin is a frightening, vindictive woman with a limited intellect and apparently no thirst for knowledge. For her to end up as president of the U.S. would be a disaster, not only for this country but for the entire world. I and many others are literally terrified of her making it to the oval office.

- Melissa Jones

October 5, 2008 at 10:00pm

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Note to self: do *not* piss off Sarah Palin...or Noam Scheiber, for that matter.

- emigdio

October 6, 2008 at 2:06am

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This is a well-written article. I appreciate this insightful look at our vice presidential candidate -- and a look at her issues. It describes how a person develops a "chip on the shoulder." And it portrays Gov. Palin as a scrapper. I would enjoy getting to know her personnally. I would definitely not vote for her.

- Ash

October 6, 2008 at 2:32am

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"Thank God for" Sarah Palin. . . . “It's unlikely the name Sarah Palin would mean much to anyone if not for a man named Nick Carney. . . Carney had the gall to propose an ordinance giving his own company the city contract for garbage removal.” ----Thanks for the ‘expose’ and for clearing up the confusion over the (until now never heard of) one-time Carney Garbage Contract Sandal of Wasilla, Alaska. How much time had to be spent “researching” this “issue?” ----Left-wing “intellectual prostitutes” like Scheibner are actually accomplishing something that I never would have believed possible: ALMOST making it tempting to look back sentimentally upon the absurdities of 1976 and 1992: Plains, Georgia, and the Carter Clan of 1976 and Hope, Arkansas, and the Clinton Clan of 1992! The Clintons at least had both more substantial, and more sinister sounding, scandals. This type of ‘expose’ makes Perot’s 1992 characterization of the Clinton Arkansas Administration as a “mom and pop” operation seem scandalous! Plains and Hope were at least real small towns, now ceasing to exist all across America, post-1971ish, rather than the greater-metropolitan suburban “bedroom community” that Wasilla has been being developed as, post-1991. ----One problem with this psychotic focus upon Palin, the VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, by left-wing writers, such as Scheiber, is that no matter how pathetically trivial (“small-bore,” as Scheiber phrases it) most of the examples of her “executive experience” are, or how much the left-wing loves to either denigrate them, or blow them out of proportion (such as here), then, at least, as she loves to repeat, ad nauseum, she has some “executive experience.” What bedroom community did Obama have responsibility in actually taking part in the development of? What Carney-like issue did Obama ever have to deal with? None. He has no such experience, whatsoever. There is not even the ability to compare and contrast the actual administrative actions of the DEMOCRATIC candidate for PRESIDENT with the Republican candidate for Vice President! “Small-bore” for Palin would be gigantic for Obama. ----But it’s in the tradeoff, no? The main problem is that if there is no psychotic focus upon Palin, the VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, by left-wing writers, such as Scheiber, then there would be no Palin-focused distractions from viewing the hollow, empty, mass-communications media ‘creation,’ of Barack Obama (and the other five 'major' candidates). No distraction from the mockery of us American "Human Resources" that the nomination elections were, and this election is. Keep up the good work Noam (the distracting nonsense essays, like this one, of course).

- p.

October 6, 2008 at 2:36am

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So. Are the comments treating this essay, and it supposed insights to Palin, seriously written by employees, or are there really people who are this easily over-excited by the “vitriol and instruction” work of an “intellectual prostitute” like Scheibner?

- p.

October 6, 2008 at 2:40am

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Y'know, in the cut and thrust of local politics, personalities will clash. It is not this story alone that makes me scared of Sarah. No, it is the ungracious enthusiasm, the lack of humility, and the frightening meanness she displayed in her original Convention speech, in the debate after Joe Biden's reference to his very ill son, and in her stump speeches since then, where with transparent glee, she exhibits a sly vindictive tone and a gigantic chip on her shoulder. It's all too scary for words.

- PLB

October 6, 2008 at 3:38am

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Very well put, Melissa. This was an excellent piece, but I think I'm going to have to refrain from reading much more on the topic - I'm starting to lose sleep. Utterly terrifying.

- Rosie

October 6, 2008 at 4:22am

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Ah yes, the facist sex kitten sociopath strikes again - All About Eve, anyone? John McCain looks like a guy who knows he's Betty Davis, and at least he's right about one thing: he is.

- WandreyCer

October 6, 2008 at 5:15am

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Good reporting. I especially like the sense I got that Palin came in to the profession of politics almost by accident, but these inner forces going on within her drove her to challenge Stein and later play all these vindictive games. Here's hoping we don't have to hear more about her past over the next 4 years..

- Matt

October 6, 2008 at 6:26am

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Three comments: 1. Palin is by no means "middle class". Her tax returns were supposed to be released last Friday ... seems "joe six-pack" American from Alaska is worth approx. 1.5 million. 2. If you have happened to watch any of the dozen or so videos circulating the web from Palin's campaign for governor, you will notice something remarkable ... Her "folksiness" is gone. Palin is a complete fraud and a horribly self-centered and vindictive one at that. 3. I was appalled at her astoundingly transparent political abuse of "her" baby after the debate ... but I have to ask ... if the downs baby is actually hers ... and it is only a month old ... does it not strike anyone as obvious that she has had the most incredibly remarkable recovery from pregnancy of any woman in history? She would have started campaigning the day after the child was born. [cough] Bull...

- Paul

October 6, 2008 at 6:52am

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This is risible compared to Obama: How could you associate with and be a friend of somebody who speaks ill of your mother, your country, like Rev. Wright? How could you associate with and be a friend of somebody who wants to bomb your house, your country like Bill Ayers? How could you associate with somebody like Tony Rezco and claim you are honest? How could you say you want to seat with dictators like Ahmadinejad who wants to destroy Israel? Only if you want to rape your mother, you want to bomb your house, you are a crook and you hate Israel. Obama is the wrong choice.

- Juan

October 6, 2008 at 6:54am

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why does palin always seem to think she has middle class cornered? I was thinking about palin and mccain....the palin/mccain slip....the comment about michigan...it seems like she just waiting for him to croak. mccain should watch his back.

- mik

October 6, 2008 at 7:17am

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Thanks for this article. Great reporting and really well-written. Then again, I'm one of those over-educated people that has no place in Sarah Palin's America. I think we should split the country. Educated elites move into one half and the Palin/Bush crowd move into the other. And when the Palin crowd want medical help or need a lawyer or really require any kind of professional expertise, we'll just say "sorry! Elites only." (Oh and we're taking all the Starbucks too).

- snarkyspice

October 6, 2008 at 8:06am

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So much about her has been bogus I'm skeptical. Still she does seem to be vindictive. What I've read of her history I think her judgments of people are more often right than this article gives them credit, but they are judgments and she has done vendettas. However there's a clear element of saying that people who did not go to the Ivy Leagues really should defer to "their betters" who did. The one PhD guy mentioned who she opposed, who actually did turn out to be crooked, is mentioned almost grudgingly. Kind of "okay on occasion 'your betters' can even be not that good." This is also more education-resentment than class-resentment. It's not clear any of these people were from a different economic class. However Obama went to private schools where they were of a different class than him. Class resentment is what Obama is about in spades. The whole "middle class" refrain and taxing the wealthy to the hilt is all about class war. He's just more impersonal about it.

- Thomas R

October 6, 2008 at 8:11am

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Jim's first comment above is a perfection demonstration of the Palin method. Bravo!

- Mark McEahern

October 6, 2008 at 8:16am

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I fully agree with Melissa. The current witch hunt she's on against Sen. Obama is a clue that she hasn't moved from the vendetta stage. When other politicians are worried about her winning and what she will do to them, it's time for the public to sit up and take notice. This woman will destroy America.

- sue

October 6, 2008 at 8:28am

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Don't worry folks; Sarah Palin is well into self-destruct mode. Was it P.T.Barnum or H.L.Menken who said no-one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public? The one area where the American public is undoubtedly smart is in its strong desire not to have political leaders who are as ignorant as it is. In their guts they want to be led by intelligent and accomplished people. They may have an aversion to elites who are a constant reminder of their ignorance and inferiority but they have an even greater aversion to fools. Sarah Palin is a fully paid up member of this American public. An average member with much to be average about.

- Eric Yendall

October 6, 2008 at 8:28am

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Fascinating piece...and while I despise Palin and just about everything she stands for, let us not forget that class resentment applies to the left as well as the right. Unfortunately, our political system is such that it's difficult for a progressive to reach a position of prominence without a hallowed Ivy connection -- and if you're black, it's virtually impossible. (One doubts Obama, Patrick or any other black politician of note today would be taken seriously without an Ivy imprimatur.) There are plenty of intelligent, effective people in America who don't have ties to elite schools, but as we devolve into a mere meritocracy, they are gradually being shut out of the power process.

- Vincent

October 6, 2008 at 8:52am

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The article isn't altogether unsympathetic, a reason to take it more seriously than if it were a mere hit-piece. What it does show is Palin's inability to acknowledge conflict of interest when applied to herself, while at the same time she eagerly uses it to bring down opponents.

- Kathy

October 6, 2008 at 9:06am

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C'mon people, Sarah seems to a paranoid-type personality, but she's not the only one in politics who does, by a long shot; and she is definitely not evil. But, the case could be made, with her proneness to pursuing vendettas against people she feels threatened by - another characteristic of the paranoid political m.o. - could really be destructive, that she would be irrationally destructive in office.

- tomeg

October 6, 2008 at 9:16am

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What will really seal it for you is reading the McCain story in Rollingstone, dated October 16, 2008.

- RJ Kruger

October 6, 2008 at 9:28am

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She has a lot in common with her running mate. I first met John McCain in Florida in 1958. I was one of his instructors. He was a brash inexperienced cocky young man. Now he is a brash arrogant cocky old man with someone just like him but is also an absolute know nothing half a heart beat away. If that doesn't scare hell out of you nothing will.

- old salt

October 6, 2008 at 9:49am

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Highly-educated social liberals (like myself) should take to heart that the resentments that Palin is moved by and shares with many others start with attitudes of superiority and entitlement. The article does a nice job in conveying that the people Palin vindictively goes after were in fact too quick to look down their noses at her. She was recruited to the City Council because unlike the other members she represented a major base of political power in Wasilla. And then when she expresses viewpoints representative of that base, she is dealt with "impatiently". You reap what you sow. Intellectual effort and achievement, by itself, is not a moral virtue, no more than working hard to make a lot of money, by itself, is not a moral virtue. Lots of comments here about what a third-rate intellect Palin is. Ok, so why'd she come out on top in Alaska? Do you expect the world to bow to your authority because you got good grades in school? Who's being dim-witted here?

- DKE

October 6, 2008 at 9:51am

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Great article. I wish someone would write about why it took Ms. Palin six years and five colleges to obtain her undergraduate degree.

- Texas Mom

October 6, 2008 at 10:09am

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the article was pretty light on facts and heavy on hearsay. personally i think palin could be a contemporary fascist and we need more than innuendo to bury her. the type of people that support her don't care what some berkeley liberal thinks - we need the real skeletons in her closet in order to stop her.

- joe

October 6, 2008 at 10:13am

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My God in heaven, she sounds as wacky as some of the patients I helped treat as a therapist! The primary difference, it seems, is they were institutionalized. An apparent incipient paranoia and a blooming persecution complex, mixed with her obvious sense of inferiority, makes for a truly scary scenario for us all should she actually be elected along with Johm McCain. What a country!

- Erudite Soul

October 6, 2008 at 10:13am

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Sarah Palin is attempting to begin an age of “Palinism”- similar to McCarthyism. Her goal is to incite Americans towards a fanatical level of hate, fear, and suspicion in order to persecute those who do not share her extreme right wing views. She is the epitome of a radical. I truly believe McCain regrets choosing her as a VP.

- wealwaysknow

October 6, 2008 at 10:15am

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Jim Wilke wrote: "So........Sarah Palin chewed gum at Council meetings?This is the best you could come up with? Your editors should ask that you return your expense money." Only proves that you, and anyone who would vote for Palin, has their "amp set on eleven". (I hope that Pop culture reference is not to intellectual for you, Jim. I do want you to get my point.)

- Jose Figueroa

October 6, 2008 at 10:25am

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It's no secret why the people in the McCain campaign chose Sarah. She's happy to lie about an opponent in order to get ahead. She did it on the Council, she did it as Mayor, she did it as Governor & now she's more than happy to do it as candidate for Vice President. WWJD? Lie? I think not.

- kindness

October 6, 2008 at 10:26am

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It is exciting that you took the time to travel to Alaska to dig up dirt. Now why not go to Columbia University and find spmething/ anything about obama , Why won't he release his transcripts? Why does no one there remember anything about him. Why won't his roomate even give an interview? His time at Columbia and before are a dead zone that no one seem to notice.

- Kaye

October 6, 2008 at 10:26am

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Their is, of course, a significant conservative politician whose class resentments were honestly won more recently than Richard Nixon. Dick Cheney (though he was accepted to Yale).

- Brad Johnson

October 6, 2008 at 10:35am

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Nice piece of journalism. The analogy to Nixon is insightful. It was probably unncessary to point out that Nixon, however, had brains.

- parnest

October 6, 2008 at 10:45am

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Jim, I guess you only read the last sentence?

- JC

October 6, 2008 at 10:46am

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"Deuser was not your average small-town lawyer. He'd attended law school at the University of Minnesota and had worked for a prominent Anchorage firm." Ummm, how many small town lawyers do you know? This sounds EXACTLY like a typical small-town lawyer to me. At least until Podunk Community College puts in a law school or they start selling JDs at the feed store.

- texd

October 6, 2008 at 10:48am

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Substantive article. Sadly, it is partly typical of the self-satisfied progressive insofar as it casts the unintellectual Sarah Palin in contrast to supposedly educated superiors. The one aspect of brand-consciousness liberals can't seem to overcome is education. Elite school = educated. What silly nonsense. The fool who equates schooling and learning should be pitied. Alleged educational bona fides are often used as bludgeons by the so-called liberals of our distant isles of comfort and complacency. It is sad, really, since many who attend Ivy institutions have never and will never have the faintest notion of intellectualism or thirst for truth of any kind accepting that which can be displayed on a resume in the form of a certificate with vague implications. I find Sarah Palin detestable as well. But one does not need to be a prig to find her that way.

- N

October 6, 2008 at 11:05am

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Palin's brand of anti-education thinking makes the movie "Idiocracy" look frighteningly like a documentary.

- Alvin

October 6, 2008 at 11:10am

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If you think that this 4 page article was about chewing gum, it should be no surprise that you might just be the same kind of person who doesn't understand why Sarah Palin is unqualified for the highest or even second-highest office in the United States of America. Just like Sarah, you skip the hard parts of the reading, ignore the facts of the matter, and focus on the tiny things you actually can comprehend.

-

October 6, 2008 at 11:12am

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There have been many popular politicians, that proved later to be devastating to their country. Look in the history of the first half of the 20th century. (Written from Germany)

- Mike

October 6, 2008 at 11:19am

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So Jim...you read the entire article and all you could glean from it was chewing gum? Or did you just glance at the last few paragraphs and post a comment based on that glance? Yes, her chewing gum is a trivial issue...and that's exactly the point that is made in the closing paragraphs: that someone might feel their career threatened because at some point they suggested to Governor (at that time, Mayor) Palin that she not chew gum during a city council meeting. Given the various vendettas Palin has undertaken, as described in the article, such fears may not be unfounded. That's the point of the chewing gum reference.

- Rich

October 6, 2008 at 11:19am

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It's a shame Ms. Kilkenny didn't go on to support a recall of Gov. Palin when Palin was mayor; it would have saved us all from the petty, small-mindedness and ignorance that now threaten our entire nation. Are you imagining a VP with the power of Cheney, the morals of Kissinger, the vengefulness of Nixon and the intelligence of a slug? Can the Governor be recalled in Alaska? I think you Alaskans should get started on that, now you know more about the woman you're dealing with.

- dezoars

October 6, 2008 at 11:38am

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"This is risible compared to Obama: How could you associate with and be a friend of somebody who speaks ill of your mother, your country, like Rev. Wright? How could you associate with and be a friend of somebody who wants to bomb your house, your country like Bill Ayers? How could you associate with somebody like Tony Rezco and claim you are honest? How could you say you want to seat with dictators like Ahmadinejad who wants to destroy Israel? Only if you want to rape your mother, you want to bomb your house, you are a crook and you hate Israel. Obama is the wrong choice. " Juan, you obviously dont know that Sarah Palin sleeps with a man who hates AMERICA! Yes, Juan, her HUSBAND, TODD, is/was a member of the AIP. "The Alaskan Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Alaska that advocates a state vote which includes several options, including increased state autonomy, territorial status, becoming a separate nation or commonwealth state" Wikipedia The FOUNDER OF the Alaska Independence Party, Joe Vogler had this to Say about America: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Don't even get me started on the MCCAIN contacts with right-wing home grown terrorists and criminals - one G. Gordon Liddy comes to mind...and as for Tony Rezko, remember the Charles Keating of the KEATING 5 Savings and Loan bust? Not a good thing to remember at this time....for obvious reasons. "

- Faith

October 6, 2008 at 11:39am

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I enjoyed the article. It gave me a better picture of Sarah Palin and what makes her tick. I've known people like her. Their ambition far exceeds their ability. They sense it on a deeper level but are afraid to admit it so they are in perpetual battle with anyone who disagrees with them. And don't you dare suggest for a moment that they hold the position that they hold because they don't really understand an issue. Will they listen to an explanation to clear what you believe to be their misunderstanding? Never. They'll accuse you of condescending to them and insist that they understand perfectly well. Not a good recipe for learning. She would be an absolute disaster if she were to become president.

- Taylor

October 6, 2008 at 11:46am

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The more I read about Sarah Palin the more Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazard comes to mind! -Great article!

- Cathy

October 6, 2008 at 11:53am

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The craziest part of this article, and the hilarious reaction in the comments, is how all you lefties actually believe this nonsense, hook line and sinker. Seriously, you find disparaging quotes and reaction from a bunch of people she completely outwitted to beat in office and then even sink to old high school enemies?! Forget the Dems who were praising her non-stop for the last two years as Governor - someone who picked battles and focused on the people and didn't waste time on divise issues. Forget the "woman of accomplishment" stories that ran all last year in the MSM before Palin was a threat. Forget the 80% approval ratings and dramatic unseating of Republicans. All those experts had been fooled I guess. Clearly, it's a few old yokels from Wasilla who got their feelings hurt 10 years ago that know the real Palin. Yeah right! Imagine the (correct) outrage if you ran an article with a bunch of quotes from Obama's old high school buddies who knew him from his drug user days, or some of the self described "small c communists" in the South Side of Chicago political machine. Come on, can you not even see the depths of your depravity here? This article is the same kind of smear you detest when applied to Obama. Only your prejudice allows you to sleep at night.

- Vern

October 6, 2008 at 12:03pm

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Juan, Obama has disassociated himself from Wright and was 8 years old when the Weather Underground incidents occurred. Your other statements are knee-jerk, fear-mongering, out-of-context distortions.

- ps

October 6, 2008 at 12:04pm

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My parents didn't hand me a passport either. I have been working since I was fifteen. I managed to put myself through college as a single mother and worked full time. I am furious over her statements. Some people...ALL people work for their education. And it's not about being "elite" it's about feeding your family. Here in the lower 48 we don't consider middle class to be owners of several homes and vacation homes valued over 500k. Down here we are lucky to get gas and feed our families. She needs to quite that Joe Six Pack stuff..she's about as far away from that as her running mate.

- Michelle

October 6, 2008 at 12:05pm

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You are not so bright eh...you did not even read the article.

- NoImposterRepubs

October 6, 2008 at 12:09pm

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Is that all you got from reading that article? Really, that's it?

- kat

October 6, 2008 at 12:25pm

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It is frightening to think if this country's youths were like Sarah Palin, "I am ignorant and I am proud of it"!

- ChuChu Rocket

October 6, 2008 at 12:33pm

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It's hard for me to imagine someone could read this article and only get out of it that Sarah chewed gum at the council meetings. However, I guess, these are the very voters McCain and Palin depend on...

- margaret

October 6, 2008 at 12:43pm

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As a Born-Again Christian-I will leave all judgements of Ms Palin to God! She does strike me as a person with a "some-what shaddy agenda." It is also my strong opinion that her comment at vp debates about the next vp having a greater role in Congress (other than tie-breaker) also reminds and scares me of the role the current veep gave himself! Remember she is on his side politically!? Who is Ms Palin getting her briefings from other than former "Bushite-Karl Rove???" Last but not least, why is this woman so "hell bent" on trying to declare Sen. Obama as a "present day terrorist-or at least having ties with one?" If she is a "woman of God" why does she appear to be so "angry and vindictive?" I only ask this as when you are saved by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ-no matter what party affiliation you have-you just don't cross lines as with me and every other born-again Christian knows-it's not at all what others, including voters-in this case-think of what you and say-but what God thinks-period. What would Jesus do and say-Ms Palin-would He agree with your current tactics and strategies???? Compromise is NEVER-ever an option for a "true Born-Again Christian" no mater the reason!

- concerned woman of color!

October 6, 2008 at 12:46pm

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Ummm. Jim W. Time to enroll in a critical thinking class. There is quite a bit of substance in the article...if you read all four pages. Way to focus on the salient points!

- shiningwater

October 6, 2008 at 12:53pm

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Juan, your comments are mean spirited and nasty. You should be ashamed of yourself.

- Regina

October 6, 2008 at 12:55pm

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John McCain has said that his campaign would put his country first and that he would find the most qualified person to run for vice-president. This article simply reinforces what has been clear for the past six weeks. John McCain failed miserably on both those tests. Instead, he kow-towed to the extreme right wing of his party. As a cancer-survivor, he has placed his country in great peril.

- Evert Fowle

October 6, 2008 at 1:06pm

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Palin wants to be the American Hugo Chavez. But we're better than that. I'm not just saying that out of hope, I know it.

- Joel Rosenbaum

October 6, 2008 at 1:07pm

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Couldn't the people of the United States see through George W. Bush, not once, but twice?

- newmark401

October 6, 2008 at 1:09pm

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Palin would have been the perfect right-hand gal for Pol Pot.

- BOKE

October 6, 2008 at 1:10pm

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She "demanded a marriage certificate as proof of their nuptials." Any proof of this, Noam? Oh . . . JUST MAKING IT up. Thought so.

- The Raving Atheist

October 6, 2008 at 1:16pm

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I think chewing gum in public says alot about a person. Just like picking you teeth with a toothpick in public.

- H1022

October 6, 2008 at 1:37pm

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Goodness gracious, Juan, you certainly seem to have a problem, I reckon.

- Ricardo

October 6, 2008 at 1:47pm

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Kaye, did you realize that Obama's college roommate was interviewed by the AP in May of this year? The information is out there if you actually look, instead of accusing the Obama campaign of hiding it. Headline is "Old friends recall Obama's college years". You can hate him for whatever reason, and accuse him of whatever hidden motives you want, but don't accuse him of hiding information that's actually public.

- Nathan Warrens

October 6, 2008 at 1:48pm

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I am a member of small town government. Guess what, this is how it works. Where you went to school doesn't make you a good public servant. If that was the case then I guess Bush would be your hero. I hope this article goes far and wide and is picked up by the MSM. It is the kind of elitism one gleans from this article ie. If you don't grace the doors of Harvard etc. then you are somehow inferior to the ones who did that turn us regular folks against "the one" and toward Sarah.

- city council

October 6, 2008 at 1:51pm

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Great article! Clearly exposes Palin for what she is - a mediocre, small-minded, nonentity who will fade into deserved obscurity once we vote on NOV 4. Obama/Biden in a landslide!

- mikeh

October 6, 2008 at 2:04pm

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Because there isn't anything to dig up. If there was, the Republican hit squads would already have blathered it to the whole world.

- Mikeh

October 6, 2008 at 2:05pm

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Juan, you haven't done your research on Obama. Next time you make a comment make sure your info is true. Go to Snopes to do some fact checking!

- helga

October 6, 2008 at 2:07pm

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Thank you for this fascinating and well-researched article. That someone could exploit anti-intellectualism and class resentments as effectively as Gov. Palin has is scary. I only hope we can confine her to Alaska.

- Lynn

October 6, 2008 at 2:11pm

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Sarah Palin is truly a horrible human being. That makes her an excellent figurehead for the Republican Party, of course, since they are dedicated to destroying America.

- Nate

October 6, 2008 at 2:16pm

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Thomas R You are a bit confused.......... "The whole "middle class" refrain and taxing the wealthy to the hilt is all about class war." The wealthy USED to pay THEIR FAIR SHARE of taxes. That changed, over 28 years of Republican Admnistration, ( - 8 years of Clinton) GW Bush's tax cuts of 2001.............have been devastating to this country leading us to this financial crisis! I KNOW! Some of my former Home design clients are on the Forbes 400 list. They are in their 70's. They are NOT taking their tax cuts and starting new businesses to create jobs! Because they have risen to the status of FOrbes 400; their, intellectual stimulation, their hobby, their challenge.....is making more money...by playing the stock market, speculating, etc. ( which they can do sitting in a chair in their den.) THERE IS NO TRICKLE DOWN! Class warfare is really disconcerting. As an artist I have attended the most elite blueblood affairs and been graciously accepted, and I have sat on a stoop in North Philly and talked with some of the neighbors. I got along with everyone, old and young. In today's class society I am admitted nowhere, because I don't fit a preconceived notion, by someone of who I should be, and how I should behave. It's bizarre and I guess it is only possible because close to 50%of the population isn't old enough to remember how life used to be!

- rucognizant

October 6, 2008 at 2:29pm

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the problem is Sarah Palin can't think and chew gum at the same time. As she has so clearly demonstrated.

- johndtuttle

October 6, 2008 at 2:32pm

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Your right about everything except the baby which I believe I heard was born in April. BUT aside from that small issue with your post, like I said your right...and this article didn't surprise me the least. I've read so much more about her that's awful. She REALLY didn't do a good job either. And I saw those debates too, I've been telling people on other threads to look them up, it is all an ACT! GOD help us if she gets elected. If not, I urge Alaska to impeach her and purge their government of this nut forever!

- trish

October 6, 2008 at 3:06pm

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N's contention that schooling and learning are separate and distinct concepts is well-taken. Our current president (Yale, Harvard), little-known for intellectual curiosity, is but one example.

- RRB52

October 6, 2008 at 3:08pm

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“…it is partly typical of the self-satisfied progressive” I am becoming increasingly aware of and disturbed by this undercurrent of smugness within my party. It flies in the face of much that drew me to the Democratic Party so many years ago. But I didn’t get any sense of that in this article. While it will surely reinforce some of the misguided notions of some, I can’t see how that could have been avoided.

- Kelly Scott

October 6, 2008 at 3:21pm

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Palin isn't simply uneducated, she's proudly ignorant, apparently. She is, however, ambitious, vicious without any checks or balances on the means she'll use to get her way. Everyone should hope that once this election is over, her career will be over with it.

- Raoul Duke

October 6, 2008 at 3:24pm

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To Eric Yendall who says "The one area where the American public is undoubtedly smart is in its strong desire not to have political leaders who are as ignorant as it is." Unfortunately, that's not true. Otherwise, how do you explain George Bush and some of our members of Congress? A good number of Americans seem to be bamboozled by Palin's gleaming smile and folksy manner, and put off by Obama's "elitist" education and "uppity" manner. It's a sad commentary on America. If McC-P win, it's the end of America as we know it. And that's not just political histrionics. That's fact.

- Adrienne

October 6, 2008 at 3:33pm

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Should McCain-Palin win, Americans will have only themselves to blame for unleashing this idiotic pair on themselves and the rest of the world. Pathetic in the extreme.

- PC

October 6, 2008 at 4:12pm

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This is most certainly a petty, narrow, elitist type remark/question, but when one talks of "speaking in tongues" is it right to say the church member is speaking in an "unfamiliar" language? (As in, "Swahili is unfamiliar to me.") Is it really a language at all, meaning a system of words, or is it simply sounds? Truly, like many somewhat educated people, I am really only curious and seeking the truth, as I've never attended such a service (please, Sarah...don't judge against me!).

- Diderot

October 6, 2008 at 4:50pm

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Obama has shown no evidence of the dangerous vindictiveness, little depth of knowledge and nuance and lack of curiosity that Palin demonstrates. All of these qualities are ones the position of POTUS demands. Obama is highly intelligent (magna cum laude grad, pres. of Harvard Law Review!) and calm under pressure. He has coordinated a very well-run campaign and he, Biden and staff have put together a six-page economic plan. McCain-Palin has two pages. Not impressive. Why can't we have the best and brightest we once had under a Kennedy administration, instead of Joe Six-Packs who do NOT KNOW HOW TO GOVERN?

- Anais

October 6, 2008 at 4:58pm

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I rather read the comments of articles in TNR than the articles themselves. Why the fear? Why the hatred? Why the condescension? Why is GPA in college so important to you people? Whay are liberals such a bunch of pricks? Why do you consider all conservatives to be all evil? Why do you consider peoiple that are not "like" you to be ignorant, neanderthals that are incapable of being successful? Whay are you so narrow minded and simple in your vitrol? Liar,ignorant, unsophisticated, backward, clueless, the facist sex kitten sociopath, the unintellectual,McCarthyism,wacky as some of the patients I helped treat as a therapist(interesting term coming from a therapist),and detestable..come on people you are the smart people, be more thoughtful in your coments you intelectually lazy peices of excrement!

- twilliam

October 6, 2008 at 5:16pm

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Funny, I grew up working-class, too, and sometimes I resent elites, especially guys like Bush and Cheney who pretend to be regular folk but were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and always take more than they give. The gap between the rich and everyone else is GROWING, and it's not the Democrats who are doing this to America. Some pundits think the economy's destroying the McCain campaign but I don't think they understand how he much his campaign has been damaged by his choice of Palin VP. Her stupidity, arrogance, pettiness, and narcissism are real turn-offs to many the McCain campaign wanted to court, including moderate Republicans, Independents, Dems, Hillary fans, and actual real regular plain old working mothers like me.

- Another Mother

October 6, 2008 at 5:25pm

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Jim Wilke: The only thing you got from this article is that Sarah Palin chews gum at meetings? Maybe your lack of insight and short attention span explain what it takes to become a Palin fan.

- Alex

October 6, 2008 at 5:36pm

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She was just so focused on chewing that gum, absolutely, that she never could refer to silly little things like the US Constitution, you betcha. (small town values)

- Pat

October 6, 2008 at 5:38pm

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One does not have to stoop to Sarah Palin's pigsty level, brains do trump brawn especially when advancing good over evil. Sarah may lie and dissemble, cry wolf and use her folksy accent, all of which made her victorious in Alaska. Palin is no longer in Alaska. She is going to fail, fer sure.

- M. Stratas

October 6, 2008 at 5:39pm

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Hates intellectuals, huh? Well, it's perversely comforting that our tax funded concentration camps will finally get some use. GO SARAH... straight to Hell.

- Tom

October 6, 2008 at 5:46pm

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Can we please just acknowledge that John McCain is a placeholder, and the woman who is the frightening subject of the article is actually running for president? My guess is McCain will be out of office in two years for "health concerns", and this vendetta prone harridan with daddy issues will be in high office.

- Alan

October 6, 2008 at 5:56pm

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Perhaps the reason the article has to focus on her time as a smal town mayor is because that's all the history she has to run on. I find it ridiculous that she should be compared to Jimmy Carter, nuclear physicist and submarine captain before becoming governor of Georgia; or to Bill Clinton, Rhodes Scholar and chairman of the govenors' conference. And didn't both Clinton and Obama make speeches to the Democratic convention long before being nominated? What else has Sarah done? Gum chewing seems to be her only claim to fame!

- MTB

October 6, 2008 at 6:19pm

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I'm a maverick, myself, and a woman and a mom and am in favor of a woman in the Whitehouse. Not just any woman, however--which is what the Republicans seem to think is all we "Hillary supporters" care about. As a maverick, I find Sarah's claim to that title absurd. She had her hands in the pork barrel long before she got to the governor's office. As a woman, I find her posturing and winking and "gosh, golly" hijinks in front of the camera both an embarrassment for my sex and an insult to my intelligence, and as a mother I consider her treatment of her children appalling. People keep talking about her being back to work three days after giving birth as if this is a virtue. I consider it an indictment of her character. The McCain/Palin ticket makes me seriously question the viability of my country and its government. Is this really the best the GOP can come up with? THe only thing that gives me hope is the fact that,for the first time in years, we have someone running who is a politician, yes, but also a proven public servant. Obama is at least making an effort to address the serious issues of the times and can talk intelligently about them without cue cards. He has also been smart enough to choose a running mate who is an expert in the area that Obama knows himself to be weakest--foreign affairs. Whether they win or lose, they are at least a ticket with substance. That doesn't mean we won't elect a man who not only has a bad heart but, in my opinion is showing worrying and increasing signs of senility, including but not limited to choosing a hypocritical "hockey-mom" for a running mate. I read somewhere that you get the governance you deserve. Certainly we--the American electorate--got what we deserved this last eight years by letting the Republicans and their corporate cronies take over the country without a protest. I pray that the lessons of the recent past will not have to be repeated because I don't think that this country can survive any more mismanagement.

- ps

October 6, 2008 at 6:34pm

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1. In the same interview with Katie Couric voiced her deep objections to Roe v. Wade and stated that she sees a right to privacy in the Constitution. Since both the religious and the secular right rely on the assertion of the absence of the latter to oppose the former (and all other "liberal perversions', you would think most of them would be having second (maybe "first") thoughts. 2. Scary scenario: Pres. McCain has a major stroke; the presidential succession amendment puts V.P. Palin ihn the presidency. She begins her first address to the nation, "I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

- abrew

October 6, 2008 at 6:48pm

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Somebody finally went to Alaska and wrote a piece on the Woman who Would be King? Thanks for the additional information. I read a blogger up there, on a daily basis. This particular blogger writes out of a place called Mudflats. What puzzles me more than anything is this: This woman gives no interviews to the press. She answers no questions from the press. Why is it that the Mainstream Media cover her every campaign event? Anybody can read a speech. Why not ignore her? Why make her more than she is?

- YouBetcha

October 6, 2008 at 7:13pm

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Did you not read the artilce?

- K Maley

October 6, 2008 at 7:19pm

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to the troll twilliam: Are you serious? I should leave it with that but just can't. We are not talking about picking someone to be responsible for teaching a sport like basketball to a small group of kids. We are talking about voting for a pair of individuals who are suppose to lead 300,000,000 (Yes 300 million) people. You asking why we would want someone who is intelligent, or why that matters really gives insight to your own abilities or lack there of. The ability to think on your feet or make good choices that are positive for the masses requires an insight she does not have. Weighing out multiple scenario's and having true understanding of the topic on hand requires intelligence. With the evidence she has provided from her own mouth and actions I would not be surprised if she had a hard time picking her nose.

- TimL

October 6, 2008 at 7:21pm

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Sarah Palin is using this small-town gal fiction to escape small towns, and anyone who believes otherwise is an idiot. Her goal is twofold and she can't lose either way: she wants the Oval Office and she'll walk over McCain's warm body to get it; failing that, she wants a ten-figure contract with Fox, and to become the conservative's Oprah. I much prefer the latter. If she talks for a living she can spend the next four years making a fool of herself. If she gets into power, though, this nation is in serious trouble.

- DFC

October 6, 2008 at 7:24pm

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We hated the old governor so much we would have elected Miss Piggy if she had run.

- keithborg

October 6, 2008 at 7:40pm

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Posted by Kaye 40 of 94 | warn tnr | respond It is exciting that you took the time to travel to Alaska to dig up dirt. Now why not go to Columbia University and find spmething/ anything about obama , Why won't he release his transcripts? Why does no one there remember anything about him. Why won't his roomate even give an interview? His time at Columbia and before are a dead zone that no one seem to notice. --------------------------------------------- And I'd like to add to that his state senatorial records (gosh...never kept any!), minutes from the boards on which he sat, medical records, Occidental records, his work at Allison Davis's law firm (they defended slumlords like Rezko! Yay!). Etc.

- susan k. (NYC)

October 6, 2008 at 7:55pm

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P.S. And rock on Vern!

- susan k. (NYC)

October 6, 2008 at 7:59pm

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And the CEO's of Lehman, Goldman, AIG have much more than "some" executive experience. Do you want them in the oval office? Gotta move beyond who has "executive" experience or not and look to what they have done and how they did it. I don't recall executive experience ever being a criteria - it certainly didn't do Ross Perot any good

- Andy

October 6, 2008 at 7:59pm

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I think you missed the point about vendettas, John.

- Janet Montgomery

October 6, 2008 at 7:59pm

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This snarky woman has quite possibly set all women back 15 years. Hillary must be beside herself! As someone already posted - a must read along with this is the Make-Believe Maverick article in the Rollingstone (October 16). These two self-absorbed idiots really are quite the pair..... Is it any wonder grampy kept her hidden away for so long? The more she talks, the bigger the landslide gets for Obama. I can't stand to hear a word out of her mouth, but I'm willing to tough it out for a few more weeks if afterwards she just shuts up and disappears.

- ch

October 6, 2008 at 8:05pm

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Paranoid personality disorder, borderline, psychotic, sociopath, psychopath -- take your pick -- I can't decide.

- Mary

October 6, 2008 at 8:09pm

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That's the worst stuff you can find on this woman? Pretty petty stuff. Sounds like the writer is whistling in the dark. If she had a degree from Harvard or some similarly liberal college the take on her would be completely different. I guess Abe Linclon reading law at home is equally deserving of this writer's scorn. And he was Republican too so that's another mark against him. The arrogant one here is the reporter, not Sarah Palin.

- e pluribus unum

October 6, 2008 at 8:11pm

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Dear God, please bless this country....And let the recent polls be right. No McShame, No Failin' 08'...You betcha! Wink, wink...

- cglrcng

October 6, 2008 at 8:14pm

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The entire article is superficial and petty, designed to somehow prove that Sarah Palin was a Mean Girl who - gasp! - pushed to get ahead. A politician who advanced her career! The dreaded B word! Yawn.

- Jim Wilke

October 6, 2008 at 8:14pm

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You read that entire article and the only insight you gleaned was that she chewed gum? Check your meds.

- LEON

October 6, 2008 at 8:14pm

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I don't ever recall anyone in politics using the simplistic, barbaric tactics of a school yard bully to win a national office. She is certainly lacking in substance. By the way, there are certainly women capable of being president but apparently, most are democrats.

- Steve

October 6, 2008 at 8:18pm

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Reading this from the U.K., I have been following the U.S. General Election campaign and have been wondering just how long it would be before someone attempted a serious study of Gov. Palin, what makes her tick and what skill sets she has to qualify her to be a heart-beat away from the Presidency. After her flesh-creepingly embarrassing VP debate performance (wink!) when the strings of her puppet masters were almost visible (you betcha!), it became evident that her knowledge of the wider world extends as far as a 4"x5" prompt card. For all of the neo-con red-neck GOPhers reading this, the rest of the world cannot wait to see Palin kicked back to Alaska and McBush's political career finally interred 6' under.

- Anthony Dunn

October 6, 2008 at 8:19pm

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No the people of Alaska can't see through Palin, because like her, they are not educated enough to know all the nuances of governing. Alaska is large in teritory, but the total population is that of a mid size city in the lower 48. And being isolated from that makes a world of difference.

- Marie

October 6, 2008 at 8:21pm

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How anyone could even begin to support McCain and Palin is beyond me, Talk about missguided, damn! I keep hearing mccain say Obama is a Muslem. OKAY, BUT...What are you going to do about the economy john mccain? OH, THAT'S RIGHT--The American economy is fundamentally strong so lets just give those big ol corporations some MORE LOVE with BIGGER TAX BREAKS!!! BUT john mccain I don't make 5 million a year, I don't even make 1/4 million a year and what are you going to do for ME? OH, TAX MY HEALTH CARE!!! How about everybody that makes MORE than 5 million a year vote for john mccain and everybody that makes LESS than 5 million a year vote for Barack Obama? SEEMS FAIR TO ME?

- average american worker

October 6, 2008 at 8:24pm

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I'M SO EMBARRASSED FOR SARAH PALIN. THE RNC JUST USED HER TO EXCITE THIER PARTY. AS A WOMAN I'M ANGRY SHE ALLOWED THEM TO PUT HER OUT THERE TO LOOK LIKE A FOOL. SHE THINKS WE AMERICANS ARE SO STUPID WE CAN'T SEE THROUGH HER NON-SENSICAL NON-ANSWERS. NOW SHE'S USING DIRTY TACTICS AGAINST OBAMA. WELL MRS. PALIN WE ARE NOT STUPID AND MAYBE WHAT YOU SHOULD START WORRYING ABOUT IS THE INVESTIGATION THAT IS CURRENTLY GOING ON AGAINST YOU FOR MISUSING YOUR POWER IN OFFICE. MAYBE THAT IS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME IF YOU WERE TO WIN VP?!? SCARY........

- PatDem

October 6, 2008 at 8:25pm

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I'll never understand this kind of ambition, the kind that burns away everything in its path. What can you possibly get in return to do so much damage on your way there? I know she considers herself a Christian, but she doesn't seem very Christian to me. Sorry.

- seeby

October 6, 2008 at 8:33pm

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Before the 2000 election I did not believe Bush could win. He was obviously not too bright or either a super-manipulative genius that just wants everyone to think he is an idiot. Then in 2004, after all the BS from the previous four years, I couldn't imagine that he'd win again. Both elections I was terrified that he would win. Earlier this year, when I found out McCain was the Rep. Nominee, I was relieved. I didn't know much about Mccain, except that he wasn't an idiot and was known for being a rather moderate Republican. Then came the Republican National Convention. Every minute of it made me sick. Rudy G, that man that talked about Mccain's stripper girlfriend, and then Palin. The vitriol that poured from that convention was disturbing. I was seriously glad that my daughter was in bed and not watching it. Everything has gone downhill since. Each new day brings some tidbit of information and another article that adds to my deep fear that somehow, someway this strange person will end up as the President. I know a few people like her, they suffer from narcissism. They exist in a universe that has two sets of rules; one for them and another for the rest of humanity. Ridicule comes natural to them. They often suffer from alternating inferiority/superiority complexes. They feel uncomfortable with anyone perceived as superior to them and prefer the company of inferiors. Most narcissists do not take criticisms very well. I am suspicious at this time that Sarah Palin does indeed have a narcissistic personality or possibly the disorder. Narcissistic people do not get along well with others, unless they are submissive. I am actually more worried now than I was in 2000 or 2004. Really scary.

- ML

October 6, 2008 at 8:42pm

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Does anyone not see that Palin doesn't KNOW things - she's merely been TOLD things, and there is a HUGE difference there. McCain is a hotheaded warmonger who served in a war that most of this country wanted no part of - and he let that define him. When McCain and Palin speak of how important an issue protecting Israel is to them, what they are saying is that the Jewish American vote is important to them.

- Christopher O'Hare

October 6, 2008 at 8:46pm

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I have been voting for the last 40+ years. Somehow I have a gut feel about the candidates before casting my vote and I've been dead on every time. Nixon, for example, scared the hell out of me. Didn't vote for him. Sarah Palin gives me the same rotten feeling. Her perception of America. vs. Obama's, as she has been espousing lately seems awfully similar to the one espoused about 70 years ago by a guy named Hitler. God help us if Mc/P get elected. But as my 40 yr old daughter said recently, "Mom, this is the beginning of the end of the United States of America." Perhaps it's time for another "Boston Tea Party". WAKE UP, AMERICA, and educate yourself on the FACTS about our candidates. Or you will get what you deserve....Cheney in a skirt. Dangerous.

- Ann

October 6, 2008 at 8:51pm

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hey juan...forgive me if i sound 'eliteist',but you're as ignorant as Sarah Palin proudly proclaims to be,especially when it comes to politics in America,among other things.I won't get into details but I think you should do you're homework before you post you're thoughts.But that's the great thing about this country,you can express your point of veiw over the internet and open up a debate.Thats the sad thing about this country,most people don't take the oppurtunity to do so.That being said,if you're canidates win...well,so be it.However,if they lose I,ll remember what my grandmother told me 'Stupidity should be painful'.

- todd

October 6, 2008 at 9:00pm

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All through this election I keep feeling like I'm a weird cross-section of things. I grew up in small towns, and lived for about 1/3 of my life in urban environs... now I live in a rural town in Missouri with "population 103" on the town sign. I'm white and female (and I keep reading fascinating polls about "my group"-- none of which ring particularly true with me.) I shouldn't, by most accounts, be voting for Obama... but then there's that college degree... but from a state school, and, oh, I also have undergrad college credits from 4 different places... does that make me like Palin or not? I grew up on snowmobiles... behind my PhD dad... ya know?? One of the things I like about this article is that it makes it clear that there are people of different political stripes in small town America... even... gasp... in Alaska. I feel like making a Rodney King-ish plea: "Can't we all just stop labeling each other!?!"

- madame M

October 6, 2008 at 9:01pm

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Juan's real name is Harrison and he is just trying to sway someone named Jose.

- John

October 6, 2008 at 9:07pm

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Re: Jim Wilke's comment about 'gum chewing being the best the editors could come up with' - Perhaps Jim suffers from long term memory loss and recalled only the last few sentences, or he was expressing his solidarity with Palin and her anti-intellectualism.

- AB

October 6, 2008 at 9:11pm

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There is little that's more dangerous to a democracy (or a nation) than someone who has the mind to understand people and how to manipulate them, the desire and single-minded ambition to pursue power, and the complete and total lack of understanding of how things work, why things work, and how they should be improved for people's benefit. This is Dick Cheney without the intelligence - and that is a very, very scary prospect.

- Andrew

October 6, 2008 at 9:19pm

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Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air! Barack Obama is frightening. In fact, downright scary. Here's a pointed middle finger to all of you pointy-headed pseudo intellectuals

- kimo

October 6, 2008 at 9:21pm

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You spent all this time and money to search out acquaintances of Mrs. Palin who personally dislike her, and chose to publish the results?!? I suppose that after a manner of speaking this may be a slight improvement in quality compared to you "Scott Thomas" offerings. At least many of the people in this story probably actually exist.

- Bart

October 6, 2008 at 9:23pm

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Don't forget that Bush/Shrub fooled enough to be elected and reelected. Most people are unwilling to dig beneath the surface to what attracts them. It's a responsibility in politics to do your own research about the candidates to find as much as you can about them before casting your vote. Otherwise, when a bad choice is made, you have no one to blame but yourself. Don't expect the media to provide all the info. you'll need to make an intelligent decision in one neat package. There is no such thing. Practicing democracy, it seems to me, means to make reasoned decisions w/ the best information you can find.

- RobS

October 6, 2008 at 9:27pm

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Check your spelling twilliam!!!!

- Islg

October 6, 2008 at 9:37pm

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We honestly didn't know all of this stuff. While we are the largest state, we are the second smallest in population. Unfortunate, but true, the biggest upside to having her on the national ticket is getting the chance to leard about the real Gov. Palin. I won't be voting for her again, that's for sure.

- Ronnie

October 6, 2008 at 9:38pm

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It was a revealing article and although the matter of "her" baby wasn't brought up until now, I have to agree something is strange about her actions before "delivery". Any woman who has had 3 or more children can never take a chance on not getting immediate medical attention once contracts start or water breaks. She took an awesome 10 to 13 hours after signs of impending birth - climbing stairs, standing at podium, flying across the country and riding in a car for another 45 minutes. She and her doctor should have been cited for medical neglect and knowing she had a special needs child. But women (mothers) you know where i am coming from. If it had been one of us who had had prior pregnancies, our baby would have dropped on the floor somewhere between climbing steps and standing to deliver a speech.Truly an amazing accomplishment.

- Vern

October 6, 2008 at 9:59pm

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I think Sarah Palin deserves alot of credit... Saturday Night Live has a million new weekly viewers... Jay Leno is funny again... and most importantly Americans can once again unite behind the fact that WE DON'T LIKE HOCKEY! John McCain is an erratic skirt-chasing bombastic idiot who should've been forced to retire at age 65. I'm voting for Obama... Two times!!!

- Rob from Ohio

October 6, 2008 at 10:03pm

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An article about Sarah Palin's extended adolescence and still, some idiot commenters think this has something to do with Obama. McCain/Palin have nothing to offer us so they have to tear down the opposition. Pathetic!

- 2Funny

October 6, 2008 at 10:11pm

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This was simply a smear article--you like to read it, but the presumtion is that it gives meaningful information about Sarah Palin. Her detractors do NYT crosswords and travel abroad, so she is unfit for VP? There is plenty of hate for Sarah, but as in this article, the haters got nuthin'. She has a lifetime record of being a gifted administrator--anyone interested can verify that. She would be a darling of the left if it weren't that pesky 'R' by her name. A self-made woman--the Left's gotta hate that.

- Jim Shaw

October 6, 2008 at 10:14pm

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The first comment Jim says "that's the best you can come up with"? Huh Jim did you not read the article? If the other stuff doesn't scare you about Hanna Montana Palin, then you are scarier than she is. I suppose Dick Cheney is your hero?

- Ed Turner

October 6, 2008 at 10:15pm

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There was an interview done with Obama's collage roommate. Try reading more and google some keywords if you really want to know instead of stating that no one knows Obama...who the heck is Palin? from what I can see she's not anyone I want near the white house!

- Starr

October 6, 2008 at 10:27pm

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Has anyone else thought of Our Sarah as Willie Stark with lipstick?

- Dave

October 6, 2008 at 10:29pm

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Very well put and Amen.

- Ed Turner

October 6, 2008 at 10:36pm

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Anyone who slams this author for allegedly holding educational levels and institutions as the gauge for a candidate's worthiness is missing the point. Palin has cemented her lack of intelligence, education and reverence to law (critical in a public officeholder) by acting stupid. Period. I mean, WHO says they don't have to recuse themselves from a vote that could possibly pad their spouse's pocket? WHAT THE HELL? As a reporter, I covered a City Council in a town the size of Wasilla, and let me assure you: If ANY of them pulled that crap, it'd be on page A1 the next day. Put simply, she's out of her league, out of her element and out of her mind.

- tera

October 6, 2008 at 10:39pm

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you sure smug about how smart you are. sure you aren't some wanna-be redneck?

- ginny

October 6, 2008 at 10:48pm

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Though this article is critical of Palin, it made me feel more sympathetic towards her. She is an ambitious woman who cannot become the best. That's why she uses anger, aggression, and agitation to get what she wants. In political terms, I don't think Palin is fit to be our president. Personally, however, she is simply another someone trying to go up to a certain place.

- Hanson

October 6, 2008 at 10:54pm

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@Jim Wilke ...gum? That's the best YOU could come up with? Did you even read the rest of the article?

- Fred

October 6, 2008 at 10:55pm

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How did we get here? Have the past 8 years really lowered the threshold on honesty and integrity THAT MUCH?

- jamie sellers

October 6, 2008 at 10:59pm

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I knew when I first saw heard her speak at the Republican Convention that she had a mean spirit about her. I didn't know exactly what, but it seemed to be there. If indeed she has a loathing for educated people, she will not fare well in D.C. or in many urbanized areas for that matter.... as there are many of us who are educated out there. I guess the one thing that prompted me to investigate her was her attempt at banning books.... closed books.... closed minds! Just read Fahrenheit 451. John McCain really shot himself in the foot partnering with her. sorry John! OBAMA 08!!!

- Denise Jenkens

October 6, 2008 at 11:06pm

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To John Wilke... did you only read the end? Seems so. I don't believe that gum chewing was much of an issue compared to the others issues raised.

- Louise Evans

October 6, 2008 at 11:09pm

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Plagerism is not cute. make your point without the copy/paste next time.

- RDZ

October 6, 2008 at 11:19pm

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Posted by wealwaysknow "Sarah Palin is attempting to begin an age of "Palinism"- similar to McCarthyism. Her goal is to incite Americans towards a fanatical level of hate, fear, and suspicion . . ." WAK, I appreciate the way your mind works. Even as it scares me some! The giddy gamblers of Wall Street, you know: double down, roll it all--may give way to the giddy voters on Election Day. The worst President possible? We can do it? Hell, yeah! Let's try having the

-

October 6, 2008 at 11:23pm

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"So........Sarah Palin chewed gum at Council meetings?This is the best you could come up with? Your editors should ask that you return your expense money. Jim Wilke" You know, Jim, your response is typically political, particularly right-wing political, in the "post-Rove" age. You address only the last point in the article, one thrown in only for final emphasis, really sort of an add-on. You ignore that this point is deliberately petty, being inteded to illustrate that Palin is a petty person. You then falsely state that "this is the best they could come up with", blithely ignoring all the other, more substantial, points. This is subject to 3 possible explanations that I can think of: 1) You didn't read the article 2) Your attention span is so short you had forgotten 99% of what you read by the time you got ready to post 3) You knew you couldn't legitimately attack the article, so you followed the Rove-ian dictum of "create a strawman or tell a lie, and then attack that". Whatever the case, it doesn't reflect well on you. I would say "nice try", but it wasn't.

- John Twomey

October 6, 2008 at 11:26pm

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You all just don't get it! The GOP like Sarah Palin because she is a "normal" human being. The elite are meaningless to her, as they are to the vast majority of ordinary American's that are paying to keep this country afloat and will pay more under Obama rule! America was built on the backs of "normal" Americans. Over the past 2 decades we haven't even had the chance to see a "normal" Ameircan anywhere near the White House! What a welcome relief! Instead the elite are trying to convince the "normal" American that Obama is better because he has a Harvard education. Only elites deserve the status spots! Yet, they ignore the how and why he got that education. You need to be looking into where his bank roll is coming! You are casting America right into the hands of the very people who have purposed to destroy it! Obama is commited to that destruction! Listen, listen to what he says. He certainly plans to change the place! When he's done with American it will never look anything like it has ever looked in the past. Palin may not possess the poise with which the establishment has become so used to, but she does possess the "get the job done" effectiveness that is now needed in Washington and throughout this country. That's why the elite left is so frightened! GO SARAH GO!!!

- Freedom Momma

October 6, 2008 at 11:27pm

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To "twilliam": ...and we can even spell words correctly, and with appropriate syntax and structure! Plus we have actually grown up emotionally and do manage to avoid useless ad hominem attacks in engaging in discourse on these postings.

- careful now

October 6, 2008 at 11:28pm

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I enjoyed reading this article. This is a classic example of what happened when people use the lame for their own political gain. It ended up with the saying, do not bite the hand that feed you. Garnes wanted Palin in the council for his own interest. She learn quickly and go against her him. Now in McCains case he did exactly the same. She's already voice her dislike of him pulling out of Michigan so he should watch out. She will work out a plan to turn their position. He already said in one of his interview may be they should trade position. And therefore he should watch out.

- Faranisis L Iosefa

October 6, 2008 at 11:32pm

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And one more thing, a small one but irritating: Despite the incorrect way in which more and more people are using the word, members of the elite are not "elites". A person can be "elite" (adjective) or "a member of the elite" (noun) but "the elite" is/are a collective noun. The individual is not the elite; the group is. Furthermore, being "elite" actually just means being selected or separate by virtue of superiority. "The elite" are not snotty rich kids; they are people of superior ability of one sort or another. It's actually a complement to say someone is one of the elite. If we are going to imply that Palin is stupid (which she pretty clearly is) we should be correct in the way in which we do it. Otherwise, we just look less intelligent ourselves. Sorry to be pedantic, but it bothers me when people mangle the language. English is a wonderful, subtly expressive language which deserves to be used properly.

- John Twomey

October 6, 2008 at 11:33pm

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MaCain and the Republican party hand picked Palin as they saw a real 'connection' with their constituents. Has American really become an uneducated nation - does the Republican party know something we don't, do they have statistics about our nation and chose Palin to mirror us? Do they not see that knowledge/education is power and during these times our nation needs bright, well-rounded people to represent us? As an educated woman/Republican I was offended by Palin's nomination. But all in all, I have a lot of confidence in my fellow Americans than the Republican party has proven lack of. My vote is with Obama this year.

- PSMH

October 6, 2008 at 11:34pm

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"I rather read the comments of articles in TNR than the articles themselves. Why the fear? Why the hatred? Why the condescension? Why is GPA in college so important to you people? Whay are liberals such a bunch of pricks? Why do you consider all conservatives to be all evil? Why do you consider peoiple that are not "like" you to be ignorant, neanderthals that are incapable of being successful? Whay are you so narrow minded and simple in your vitrol? Liar,ignorant, unsophisticated, backward, clueless, the facist sex kitten sociopath, the unintellectual,McCarthyism,wacky as some of the patients I helped treat as a therapist(interesting term coming from a therapist),and detestable..come on people you are the smart people, be more thoughtful in your coments you intelectually lazy peices of excrement!" Why is everthing you say a lie? Why do you just make stuff up, and then attack that? Why can't you actually address what people do, say or are, rather than what you insist they are so that you can attack them? Why can't you spell? Why is your grammar so awful? Why didn't your mother swallow you?

- John Twomey

October 6, 2008 at 11:42pm

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I might add, without defensiveness, I've worked extremely hard for my education - not just to have a better job, but to make better decisions and sound choices such as to be able to elect the person who'll lead me and the rest of this nation. Perhaps the perks of an education is what scares the Republican party...as it is easier to lead people who cannot make decisions based on logic, deduction and reason.

- PSMH

October 6, 2008 at 11:44pm

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since when did witches and withcraft become part of being a Christian?

- p t malone

October 6, 2008 at 11:45pm

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Chewing gum is not the act of doing so. It is her total disregard for protocal. Also, she mentioned domestic terroism. Ha, her and her hubby were part of a separatist group who vowed to make Alaska its own country, oh by the way gave a speech to the organziation a year ago, led by an extremist who might as well have burned our American flag. (And it is on video.) Also, the pastor who laid hands on her at a church function, to cast down 'witches' had a woman in his village removed by the police and 200 towns people because 'he said' she was witch. HMMMM, the old saying 'living in glass houses and throwing stones.' Does that ring a bell Palin supporter.

- Lee

October 6, 2008 at 11:46pm

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And last thing (I promise): Surely I'm not the only one to notice that Palin was only named as VP candidate after Obama didn't choose Clinton? Very obviously (and cynically) the McCain campaign said, "OK - if Obama picks Hillary as his running mate, we'll name (Lieberman, Gulliani, Romney or other qualified male). If he picks a man, we'll trot out Palin. She's totally unqualified. petty, mean-spirited and borderline retarded, but so's Bush, and he won twice! And more importantly, since she has a vagina, women will vote for her! That's all they care about, and the only reason they backed Hillary. Issues and ability mean nothing to them, bless 'em; the gals just want one of their own sex to win!" Do you women reading this find the assumption that gender alone dictates your voting choice offensive? I do, and I think if I were female, I'd be offended to the point of voting for anyone but McCain/Palin.

- John Twomey

October 6, 2008 at 11:49pm

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It's a very interesting article and it's not about Plain chewing gum. She came out of nowhere wanted to be a weak heartbeat from the precidency. We need to know more about her from the people who knows her best. It's very obvious that Palin can be very vicious to anyone. She should be able to take some of it.

- Thinh Nguyen

October 7, 2008 at 12:04am

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Interesting reading. Interesting observations. Bottom line, in case you Americans have yet to know, its the well exposed and genuine leadership quality the rest of the world expects of you all. Not a "prisoner of war" you claim to be a "war hero?". A cancer survivor and his ignorant vp candidate who does not even know much about the surroundings of the state she's supposed to be governing. God help America avoid such shameful pitfall. Obama and Biden offer hope, vision and understanding. Not low down vindictiveness for political survival, nor gutter politics lost in desperate fault-finding crusade against your likely next President of the most powerful nation on earth, USA. C'mon McCain/Palin backers, you can fool some people most of the time, but you can't fool most people some of the time. Please vote for a refreshing new leadership of not only the USA, but also of the community of mankind around the whole world. That's what outsiders like us expect of you USA voters. Vote Obama/Biden. God bless all you Americans in this period of economic turmoil -- felt by all ordinary folks who want bread on the table for their kids in USA and in all affected economies of the world.

- Pablo from PNG

October 7, 2008 at 12:34am

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In response to Kaye (40 of 94): I don't know what particular rock you've been under, but in case you haven't been paying attention, the McCain campaign is doing all it can to smear Obama by dredging up his past associations, no matter how tenuous. So I think you can rest assured that if there WAS anything the Karl Rovian trash-hounds would have discovered it long before now. I went to law school with Barack, and clearly remember the first time I met him when we were both first-year students: Open, friendly, with a calm confident manner without any trace of the class resentment displayed by Palin. Even though, like myself, he came from humble beginnings, much more humble, frankly, than Palin. You don't hear her talking about having to live on food stamps or experiencing any significant financial struggles at all while growing up. The only candidate who really understands the meaning of struggle and what the working class is going through is Obama. Thank g-d he is ahead in the polls - the more I read about Palin, the more convinced I am that if McCain is elected, this country is absolutely doomed.

- Anthony

October 7, 2008 at 1:17am

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To twilliam - Your comment strikes me as some of what liberals and apparently pricks feel when we look at conservatives. You ask why the fear. Well let's see. We are in the midst of one of the worst economic crisis of our time. We are in the middle of a war we will never win and we are facing so many fronts of struggle from the mortgage crisis to the cost of gas that even leaving your house seems to cost $20 for no explainable reason. Who is responsible for this? Hmmm, could it be the republican based congresss? Could it be the republican president? Could it be all those who whenever concern was raised and people asked questions waved them away as if we were fools. 'Of course we'll win the war' 'Of course the economy isn't in crisis' 'Of course this is nothing but a temporary bump' Why do we fear? Because you people put the fear of God in us. You did things we didn't even think could happen in our time and even as you stand in the charred ashes of your idiocy and our ruined economy demand to know why we're so hateful. Why are we so hateful? Because your president had the nerve to declare 'mission accomplished' even as news of the turmoil in Iraq reached his desk and was shuffled under some comic books. Because every speech, every statement, every excuse. Seemingly EVERYTHING has been a lie. Still somehow you have the nerve to be offended. Why is a college GPA so important? A question only an idiot would ask. Because a GPA speaks to SOME intelligence. You all cheered 'the president I'd want to have a beer with' 'Sarah Palin! She's just like my (insert female hick relative of your choosing)!'. With so much emphasis placed on how friendly/charming/attractive any candidate was you blatantly ignored intelligence and then have the nerve to act baffled once the person makes idiotic and uninformed decisions. Unless you are impressed by the intelligence she has displayed. By her lack of information on Supreme Court Rulings, on the very man she is runing alongside of. That she somehow manages to read 'all' newspapers but can name none and misquotes even 3 line Starbuck's cofee cup quotes about the women's movement. I know you're happy for the little winks she sends your ways between her gosh's and betcha's but I don't care for ignorance polished up, given a bad haircut, and slopped with lipstick. Pitbulls have more intelligence than this woman, atleast they bark on command. Are all conservatives evil? Certainly not. But by your very chosen name you cling to forcing your opinions on others as law. What does the term liberal mean? Let everyone live their own damn life. There I ust saved you searching for a dictionary. "Why do you consider peoiple that are not "like" you to be ignorant, neanderthals that are incapable of being successful" Unfortuately the last 4 years have tempered my views on conservatives. You mention ignorant, neanderthal, incappable of being successful and I see Bush chuckling like an idiot even as he drives our country into the ground. Then my mind skips to Clinton and how far into the black we were, how many jobs were created, how well our economy was doing...but some conservatives would prefer to see their narrow-minded values upheld than a country prosper. "Whay are you so narrow minded and simple in your vitrol? Liar,ignorant, unsophisticated, backward, clueless, the facist sex kitten sociopath, the unintellectual,McCarthyism,wacky as some of the patients I helped treat as a therapist(interesting term coming from a therapist),and detestable..come on people you are the smart people, be more thoughtful in your coments you intelectually lazy peices of excrement!" Actually regardless of your views you should be able to admit many of those nicknames are quite witty, but if you support Palin...I could imagine how a few of those would fly over your head.

-

October 7, 2008 at 1:41am

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Today the head of the Los Angeles Chapter of NOW endorsed Sarah Palin. Perestroika is breaking out in the strangest places. Because Sarah is not anti-male, anti-family, and anti-American, because Sarah is the real thing, a woman who has done it all and made it on her own, the left hates her guts. Envy and spite are the chief emotions among the Sarah haters. What a contrast there is between Sarah and the spoiled trust fund Stalinists of the American feminist establishment.

- bulbman1066

October 7, 2008 at 2:08am

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I really wish you'd have positioned this sentence on the first page... "Although Palin did Alaskans a service by blowing the whistle on Ruedrich, it's not exactly reassuring that a potential vice president is prone to vendettas that will on occasion be justified" I'd have saved myself 5 minutes.

- palinbot

October 7, 2008 at 2:38am

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Twilliam, 1) In your last sentence, you misspelled "comments," "intellectually," and "pieces." Might want to watch who you're calling "intellectually lazy" in the future. 2) A little insight into why us lefties are such "pricks." Yes, Reps and Dems have always fought like cats and dog, and there's always a certain needless ugliness on both sides. However, there was a moment in recent history when all that was put aside. In the months after 9/11, we stood united as a country. We put our differences aside, we closed ranks behind our President, and we readied ourselves to face the enormous challenges that lay ahead. This is not a matter of spin or propaganda; this is fact. Bush's approval ratings were in the high 80s at the time. We made the choice to follow his lead. He responded by stabbing us in the back. Karl Rove's vaunted plan for the 2002 Congressional campaign was to secure a Republican majority for the next thirty years. Not to find bin Laden, not to make America safer, not to punish those responsible for 9/11: to increase his party's hold on power. He did this by using 9/11 as a wedge issue. He did this by throwing the people who had stood by his president under a bus. In the past, no one would have dreamed of smearing political opponents with foreign enemies--we would have squabbled about our differences, but God help any foreign entity which tried to divide us. Not so with Bush in charge and Rove at his right hand. 9/11 was his ticket and he exploited it to the fullest extent. "Vote Democrat and the terrorists win." The disgraceful assault on Max Cleland. The willingness to smear anyone and everyone who disagreed with Bush's plans. This during a time of national crisis, while our troops were on the ground in a foreign land. It worked... in the short term. So it was trundled out again in 2004, with the swift-boating of Kerry's campaign, and again in 2006 when Republican incompetence had grown so large that not even such hateful mudslinging could prevent a Dem resurgence. Again, all of this started in a moment where we were supposed to stand as one and which the political left had agreed to support George Bush. "Stabbed in the back" is not an inaccurate term to describe the situation. The irony is that John McCain was unfairly victimized by these same tactics, first in 2000 by the South Carolina whisper campaign which doomed his presidential hopes, and then later when he dared to take the administration to task on their abuses of power. It's sad that such a man would resort to the same tactics in order to bolster his swooning campaign. So when Sarah Palin steps forward and pulls out the same tired routine--when she introduces herself to America with a speech of unprecedented vitriol and starts likening Obama to terrorists--you'll forgive us if we choose to give as good as we take. You started this particular donnybrook. With luck, we're going to finish it in November.

- Knyght

October 7, 2008 at 2:54am

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I find it sad that the "so-called Christian" is content being referred to as a pitbull or baracuda. Looks more like "Christianism" than Christianity to me. She dishonestly calls Obama a friend to terrorists, and hints he's Muslim, (along with John "The Donkey" McCain, knowing Barack was only 8 when Ayers was doing his dirt???), when he and his family live more like true Christians than she and her family, evidently. He has his OWN house in order, and his children in subjection, before trying to lead a nation...that's from the Bible... Any sense of gentleness, refinement or lady-likeness is absent, and this "history of violence" attitude is disturbing. Meanwhile, Barack seems to have done well taking care of his family, and not abandoning them for his own ambitions, wheras the Palins seem to have lost control of everything except the people they use to further their careers, as their children fall apart. It seems to me that their parents never grew up to learn about true sacrifice, (for their kids), but instead, got caught up in "keep up with the Joneses" folly to the detriment of their own welfare. Sounds like Sarah Barracuda's been doing a little domestic terrorism of her own up there in Wasilla. Everybody's afraid of her! I see a J. Edgar Hoover in the making.

- Al

October 7, 2008 at 2:59am

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So she chews gum!!! My god!! what is this world coming to? Look up Barney Franks, study and examine his role in the Fanny Mae debacle and how it facilitate the need for this huge 700 Billion bailout. Another small detail, take note of his party affiliation. Study Barrack Hussein Obama's Fanny Mae contributions in his 2 years in congress. You night be shocked that, in those 2 short years, Fanny Mae contributed to Barrack more than what other congressmen had received in 20 years! McCain got a huge $900 from Fanny Mae. Hmmmm, interesting, isn't it? But like they say, there's no worse blind that he who refuese to see.

- Bend Overdems

October 7, 2008 at 3:32am

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What a hit job. Where are the pro Palin voices in this piece to make it balanced, since I doubt you will get an interview with a Republican VP, especially from a biased rag like the New Republic. I hope you don't consider yourself a real journalist. My socialist Journalism Professor would give you an 'F'.

- Liberty activist

October 7, 2008 at 3:44am

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Well, Jim, I believe the article more points out over the course of the rest of its prose that she is, to be blunt, a conniving and spiteful person. I could be wrong, but I think that's close.

- Max

October 7, 2008 at 8:20am

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My comment: What is wrong with America? How could you want someone in office who sat in the pew of a pastor who preached racist and anti-American sermons for 20 years? When questioned on his attendance of, his friend, Rev, Wright's sermons he says he didn't realize they were racist-??? How do you sit in a pew for 20 years and NOT hear something so clear??? Just how would he make a good president??? How convenient, he parted ways with Rev. Wright once he started campaigning. I want a president who has a history of patriotism...Obama does not offer that. If someone is fed racist comments for 20 years, by someone they love and respect, you can't possibly think it won't affect their thought process, morals, values and DECISIONS. He preaches about CHANGE with no great detail. Have we forgotten that Fidel Castro preached CHANGE to the Cuban people and they have now been under communism for 50 years??? I am certain this is NOT what they had in mind. As will be the case for Americans- the first 4 years will be fine- so you'll vote for him again. It's the second term I would worry about...then everything and everyone will be in place for his real agendas.

- Grace

October 7, 2008 at 8:29am

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This woman suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

- dsk

October 7, 2008 at 10:01am

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Dems are just so mean this year! They are not the party of tolerance at all!

- cg5570

October 7, 2008 at 10:12am

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I enjoyed the article and it explains her current troopergate.

- Nusholtz

October 7, 2008 at 10:23am

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Sarah Palin has all the signs of a demagogue whose 'red meat and potato' platitudes reflect a self-belief that "intellectuals" are not to be trusted because they don't "believe" enough. Her sense of duty stems not from inherent or learned beliefs balanced with logical, rational thought which comes from "thinking" through the issues at hand but instead her thinking stems purely from belief. There is an inherent difference between believing and thinking. Sarah Palin's actions readily exhibit a person who fundamentally does not think in a rational manner but "believes and feels". She doesn't think taxes serve a purpose good or bad, she believes they are bad. Therefore the discussion, debate or contradiction of those beliefs ends at her nose. This is why she feels personally attacked when anyone counters her beliefs with facts or differing opinions. She is a vengeful person and cannot be assuaged with counter facts or compromise. She reflects an even lesser level of intellectual curiosity than that of George W. Bush. With Bush, we know at least he reads My Pet Goat. We have no understanding of Palin's level of curiosity or intellectual capacity to engage in anyone. She feels that anyone who is smarter than her, which constitutes at least 75% of the population is intellectually denigrating her. This has less to do with class resentment and more to do with intellectual resentment. That every slight is an attack on her intellect. The slightest thought that contradicts her personal beliefs is a direct attack on the patriotism of her country and thus upon her. This is a person who will return again and again until she claims her belief in her God given right to be POTUS regardless of the damage she may inflict along the way matters not to her as long as she "feels and believes" her way through the world. "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right. " Thomas Paine

-

October 7, 2008 at 10:28am

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An overall snotty article written by an elitist - reads like a gossip piece and a fishing expedition where there was nothing to find - and guess what, this is the way people get ahead in politics, and if anything, she sounds like a formidable presence that has entered the republican stage, and will have to be dealt with in future - she's not going to disappear like Quayle

- ebl

October 7, 2008 at 11:02am

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Snotty? I found the article illuminating. I grew up lower middle class and can attest to the resentment that builds in an individual and, at least in my case, have to be checked. The world has changed and on-going resentment only serves to hold people back from honestly engaging in the intellectual dialogue. While her resentments certainly don't disqualify here from anything, they have to be taken into account. And the same thing goes for McCain and the Obama/Biden ticket. Everyone is captive, to some extent, of their personal experiencing of the world and how that has formed their biases and outlook. But the big story here is not Palin's worldview, it's more in her rise to a position of power. I have posted on several articles how Palin's rise mirrors that of Minnesota's 6th CD Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. These rises are not isolated and I expect we will see more like them in the future. My bigger problem with Palin (and others like her) lie with their views that somehow removing books on homosexuality in the public library is more important than providing honest opportunities for middle class families to get quality educations for their children and to have a tax structure that rewards the middle class and doesn't penalize them at the expense of the upper income classes.

- Lundell

October 7, 2008 at 12:24pm

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To make it fair, and I think you are a fair minded journalist, I expect in the near future a like detailed report on Obama. His school years and how he operated there, the colleges he went to, his possible stay in Kenya, Indonesia, Hawai what did he do in all those places? What or who made him go to Chicago from New York where he had a good paying job and to change that for a dingy $13000,- job in Chicago. One wonders about those things and I am sure so will you, once you put your mind to it. In spite of his 2 biograhpies, he is still a closed book. But the enlightend elitist loving jounalist you are, you will remedy this in short order. I expect you will tell us all about his executive experiences he accumulated, you will tell us all about what he did as community organizer. When he got up on a Monday morning, went out to organizing, what was it that he did. Than on Tuesday morning, he left his house and than did......what? And on and on the rest of the week. After 5 days of organizing, what had he produced? I am sitting on pins and needles to find out. After all, he is the one who wants to lead this country and the least we should know about him is who he is, what experience he has, what has he accomplished. What tough decisions has he made in his life and who was served, helped or hurt by his decisions? I am sure you come thru with this information and I am looking forward to read it.

- Ernst Berger

October 7, 2008 at 12:25pm

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Sarah Palin is a spokes model. Most college grads given a week to prepare could have done as well in the "debate" where she ignored questions and recited mini stump speeches. The truth becomes clear in one on one interviews where some depth of knowledge may be required. That"s why you won't see her in that format again. John McCain did not put America First when he selected Palin. Was there no republican woman qualified for the job? Can you really picture Palin as POTUS handling a news conference? For the far right the answer is probably you betcha but anyone with even a minimum amount of objectivity left must admit that she is not remotely prepared for the office.

- DSmith2

October 7, 2008 at 2:40pm

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Sarah Palin is a spokes model. Most college grads given a week to prepare could have done as well in the

- Doug

October 7, 2008 at 2:46pm

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She tried to put the gay books in the referance section. Oh the humanity! That's how Goebbels started. Get my placard it's a marchin' time. You betcha.

- Milhouse

October 7, 2008 at 3:30pm

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I think the aspect missing from the article--and the general perception about SP--is that her experience has anything in common with the rest of the nation. Nothing against her in particular, but why should she be any different than your average Alaskan? The populist themes of taxpayer and Main Street and big government don't have real-world equivalents in Alaska. There is no state income tax in AK. The tax payers are the oil companies. The state, through its oil revenue investment mechanism and a $1200 "resource rebate", paid out $3200 to every qualifying state resident this year. The debate over economy in Alaska is one of urban vs. rural. The subsistence economies of village and rural Alaska are being eclipsed by the commercial economies of greater Anchorage and out-of-state hunters and fishers. And big government--give me a break. Where else is government more accessible than Alaska? Ask anyone here. Literally, SP has minimal experience solving complex economic problems because they've always been reduced to the flow of money. She recognized the potential of the Wasilla city sales tax and has graduated to run one of the wealthiest states in the union. Is she prepared to run the nation? I guess so--as long as we're printing money like there's no tomorrow.

-

October 7, 2008 at 3:31pm

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To the person who posted this: "If you think that this 4 page article was about chewing gum, it should be no surprise that you might just be the same kind of person who doesn't understand why Sarah Palin is unqualified for the highest or even second-highest office in the United States of America. Just like Sarah, you skip the hard parts of the reading, ignore the facts of the matter, and focus on the tiny things you actually can comprehend." That really nails it. In my debates with my conservative, republican friends, this has been the thing that struck me over and over again. They latch on to some stupid, irrelevant thing and make a big deal out of it. They don't comprehend the big picture and don't try to analyze the details, which can be rather complex. What I have not figured out is whether they lack the intelligence to do analysis, or whether it is due to some sort of emotional disturbance or imbalance.

- kalyson

October 7, 2008 at 3:45pm

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I think the aspect missing from the article--and the general perception about SP--is that her experience has nothing in common with the rest of the nation. Nothing against her in particular, but why should she be any different than your average Alaskan? The populist themes of taxpayer and Main Street and big government don't have real-world equivalents in Alaska. There is no state income tax in AK. The tax payers are the oil companies. The state, through its oil revenue investment mechanism and a $1200 "resource rebate", paid out $3200 to every qualifying state resident this year. The debate over economy in Alaska is one of urban vs. rural. The subsistence economies of village and rural Alaska are being eclipsed by the commercial economies of greater Anchorage and out-of-state hunters and fishers. And big government--give me a break. Where else is government more accessible than Alaska? Ask anyone here. Literally, SP has minimal experience solving complex economic problems because they've always been reduced to the flow of money. She recognized the potential of the Wasilla city sales tax and has graduated to run one of the wealthiest states in the union. Is she prepared to run the nation? I guess so--as long as we're printing money like there's no tomorrow.

- RS

October 7, 2008 at 4:12pm

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Palin typifies what I encountered in school. A lot of endulged kids who expected the world to hand it to them. You were an elitist (they had worse terms) for working at school to improve yourself and your chances in life. You made it difficult for them to slack off because you raised the standards. Combine this attitude with good looks and the world really WAS a bowl of cherries. Well, no longer. Things have changed and they will change even more - for the worse - if my reading of the current situation is accurate. We can no longer support such attitudes or those who have them, no matter how much people like them, for how they look. In the future, we'll need all the "elitists" we can get. People who contribute and don't live off their connections and the fat of the land, like most Republicans.

- Steve

October 7, 2008 at 5:59pm

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I think the coverage of Palin needs to get more serious, and done with a style that's more "Frontline"-like: This is the first candidate on the national stage since George Wallace using nativist, populist rhetoric to incite a sense of "other" that is dangerous. The jokes should stop. The serious media needs to take a step back, rigorously examine what she's up to, and tell that story. The darkest impulses of Talk Radio are now in full spectacle. Time to address it.

- fougasseu

October 7, 2008 at 6:07pm

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At one point, the council asked him about the legality of banning group homes--such as shelters for runaways--a position Palin championed.......When he explained that a ban would be unconstitutional, Palin appeared impatient with such legal niceties......"Her instincts are political as opposed to evaluative." Actually, her instincts are typically right wing trash Republican. Everything to boost their property values and exclude those who might reduce it. Why most Americans support such scum is an enduring mystery. Look in the mirror before you vote!

-

October 7, 2008 at 6:19pm

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The opposite of elite is imbecile and Palin is definately not of the elite.

- Steve

October 7, 2008 at 6:30pm

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In other words, a white Obama.

- Sander Fredman

October 7, 2008 at 6:59pm

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did you even read the article?

- kar

October 7, 2008 at 7:01pm

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plain and simple-Sarah Palin is simply Dick Cheyney in drag! Don't take her "difference between a pitbull.......... lipstick analogy for granted. I think that one statement says a lot about this woman's agenda and her frame of mind-a bit narcissitic, to say the least. Lord help us! God forgive me, but I can almost imagining her doing almost anything to "get McCain out of the way if they (God forbid) make it to Washington!" Obama/Biden 2008! P.S.-I like Tina Fey's Sarah-much better-and trust more too.

- woman of color 2

October 7, 2008 at 7:02pm

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Anais, they used the same reasoning you did and said the same things to bring Hitler to power! Lets see by changing the names: Hitler has shown no evidence of the dangerous vindictiveness, little depth of knowledge and nuance and lack of curiosity that Churchill demonstrates. All of these qualities are ones the position of POTUS demands. Hitler is highly intelligent (He had an very high IQ and was highly self educated) and calm under pressure. He has coordinated a very well-run campaign and he, Strauss and staff have put together a complete economic plan. Churchill has nothing. Not impressive. Why can't we have the best and brightest we once had under a other earlier German administrations, instead of Joe Lager-Packs who do NOT KNOW HOW TO GOVERN? Hitler was a community organizer. The People loved him almost as hypnotically as the drones who worship Obama.

- Kirby Harris

October 7, 2008 at 7:07pm

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Chewing gum in a meeting is disgusting and disrespectful of others - and proof that Palin is ignorant, low-class scum.

- Words of Wisdom

October 7, 2008 at 7:33pm

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Steve the antonyms of elite are common, low class, ordinary and poor. To call someone an imbecile because they are not elite seems to be hubris. The simple fact that most people who think they are smarter than everyone else usually 'ain't'. Sarah Palin seems like most local politicians in America parochial. She has not had time to grow from local to national politician and to say she is incapable, just what some elitist might say, because of a class chip on her shoulder is simple, silly and petty.

- Randy

October 7, 2008 at 7:54pm

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Look, I have no problem with someone becoming president with minimal eductation, or a non-elite education. But I have a serious problem with electing someone who appears unintelligent, incurious, and ignorant. You fans of the common man have to realize that "gut instinct" just isn't enough for the most important job on the planet. Palin is a farce.

- Elite v. Smart

October 7, 2008 at 8:03pm

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Palin has emerged as one who does not inspire unity, rather division.

- Christine

October 7, 2008 at 8:03pm

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This article's length suggests that gum-chewing is not "all [the writer could] come up with."

- Ted

October 7, 2008 at 8:11pm

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I hope Americans of other religions do not for one minute believe that Palin is a Christian. True followers of Christ do not behave this way. She is an ignorant and highly ambitious woman that I do not trust and I pray the Mccain/Palin ticket does not win. It will be a sad day for our country indeed!

- Lucy

October 7, 2008 at 9:45pm

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Good article. G.W. Bush habitually ignores knowledgeable people, but he doesn't usually put them on an enemies' list. Will we look back on him with nostalgia? On a lighter note, I propose a naming contest for Ms. Palin. Two entries: "Saracuda" and "Wazilla" (as in "Godzilla").

- Hugo Cunningham

October 7, 2008 at 11:12pm

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I know - well, knew, Dick Deuser (it has been at least ten years since I talked to him) and I can understand why Palin fired him - Dick is a very reasonable guy who wants you to explain to him why he's wrong - and when you can't, well - too bad. So far as the resentment of Wasilla High School kids toward Anchorage - well, I expect it was there, but it was as lacking in substance as most of what Palin says. There are couple of high schools where the kids might be thought to be "rich" - though I doubt many played on the hockey or basketball teams. A few facts would be interesting - I don't have the research capacity to do a demographic/income study on the families of high school athletes in south central Alaska in the 1980s - but I suspect it would prove that the Wasilla coach was appealing to a feeling that Anchorage kids thought Wasilla kids were inferior (no doubt true - Ted Stevens' son referred to such people as "Valley trash") as opposed to any real difference in economic background or opportunity. Remember: Wasilla High OFFERED Advanced Placement courses when Sarah Palin attended it - she just didn't want to exert herself enough to take them.

- James Johnston

October 8, 2008 at 1:03am

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Paul, I'm really not sure why you would persist in thinking Palin's baby is only a month old or continue to question his parentage. SHE'S been on the national scene longer than that. Her baby is now going on 6 months old. He was born in April. The debate over whether or not he is hers was settled long ago when the women threw her own daughter under the bus--"Tryg can't be Bristol's because he's 4 months old and Bristol is 5 months pregnant." Of all the things to find appalling about this woman--and there's just so much fertile ground here (no pun intended)--this is not one of them. Please try to keep up. We're WAY past this.

- Janet

October 8, 2008 at 8:47am

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I will pray for you "kimo" that God will open your eyes to see beyond THE BULL SARAH P. IS SPEWING OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF HER MOUTH!" Can I ask you just what frightens you about Senator Obama?? I pray it isn't his skin tone or first, last or MIDDLE names???!!! Ms P. calls herself a woman of God-I question sometimes which God???

- woman of color2

October 8, 2008 at 10:30am

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Post 86; "why the fear and hatred"... Well, because this is what Karl Rove and the Bushies have used so successfully in the past 8 years to push the Neo CON agenda. And your Ad hominem comments speak for themselves...

- Dubldoc

October 8, 2008 at 12:48pm

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I don't think she has a problem with educated or elite - I think she has a problem with anyone who doesn't agree with her 100%. All she seems to do is either nay-say at the top of her lungs, or else whine that she's being picked on. This is not suitable for the world stage - even for representing the US at state funerals. Some Alaskans have told me that the Barracuda nickname was a mean nickname given to her before she was playing basketball. Sort like how "in the tank" used to be negative but now described loyalty.

- Pup

October 8, 2008 at 1:18pm

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One minor point in the article needs clarification. When congregants at Palin's Pentecostal church "speak in tongues," they don't expound in Chinese or Urdu or any other real language. A good article in Wikipedia quotes linguist William J. Samarin that Pentecostalist "glossolalia" is "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead."

- Hugo Cunningham

October 8, 2008 at 1:26pm

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I did not put two and two together about Governor Palin until I read this article. Up until now, I simply believed she was just unqualified, and John McCain spent his decision on a running mate in order to appeal to the women's voting bloc and to the Christian Right. Everything makes more sense now when I consider her actions as driven by a strong sense of "anti-elitism" and resentment. I keep waiting for Hilary to show up someplace and take her on. If either Obama or Biden were to, they would be seen as petty and mean-spirited guys picking on the lady.

- John Bader

October 9, 2008 at 8:12am

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Noam Scheiber must have been one of the 1000's of "journalists" looking for trash on Palin. Gosh, Noam is that all you could dig up?

- Maria

October 9, 2008 at 3:21pm

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"A trip through Palin's past reveals that almost every step of her career can be understood as a reaction to elitist condescension--much of it in her own mind." --- Yet this article itself drips with sneering condescension. Can the author and applauding readers really be so blind as to miss what the rest of us have no difficulty spotting? They can. They are. There is no reason to doubt their bona fides or their sincerity. Such snobs really and truly do not get it. They do not recognize themselves as snobs. Therefore they are baffled and perhaps sometimes even hurt, though more often snidely amused, by the reactions others evince to their snobbery. The comical thing is that our snobbish friends actually have little to snob about except in their own minds. They belong to the most profoundly mis- and un- and de- educated generation in American history. Virtually everything they think they know about history, economics, politics, society and culture, philosophy &etc. is wrong. Victims of propaganda and ideologically-poisoned faux-education they are both ignorant and contemptuous of the Western Canon and Wisdom Literature in general. Pure Presentists and sentimentalists they operate from emotion, indoctrination, peer pressure, fantasy ideology, political naivete and personal malice including surreptitious envy and spite towards those who decline to share their puerile notions about themselves and the world. They are the ruined generation, the human detritus left in the wake of the intellectual meltdown called the Sixties. The culture is dead at the top but vigorous and resilient at the roots. The roots include people like Governor Palin. The top includes most of our pathetic bien pensant like those who write clueless and unintentionally funny snob-jobs like this article, which is actually nothing BUT one long sneering put-down of Sarah Palin, a put-down that somehow manages to put her down for daring to imagine that people have been putting her down! The truth of culture and the wisdom of the past reside in the roots. The topmost branches and their leaves are dead and bound to fall off. New growth is coming, nourished as always by the repositories of those the sickened elite love to make fun of.

- Teleologicus

October 9, 2008 at 7:16pm

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My Alaksa friend. The lower 48 desperately need you to expose the abosolute deciet in Sarah. How can this be done. FInd a picture of her from your town, neighbors, palin victums. Surely someone has to have something from March pref. April without her strap on...belly. Good point on the instant recovery. A good pic of Baracuda on April 19th thru May 5th would show no post pregnancy, no engorged breasts from breast feeding. What would really do it. (hare to say this) I pic of the real mom pregnant, real pregnant. The truth will come out sooner or later. We need it now to show the Nation how pathetic & devious she is. The public is buying what she is selling, but they ain't got the money. Thank YOu! Cathy We the People

- Help America PLEASE!

October 9, 2008 at 7:56pm

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Gee wiz, read your post twice. Went to college and was on the deans list. Bitch of a time trying to decipher what you were attempting to say. lol Perhaps in the next life when I intend to graduate cum laude.

- Paul

October 9, 2008 at 7:58pm

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I am begging you...please help stop this witch hunt and get some pictures, a video that alreaady exist to expose the worst lie of all. The week before Trig was born without the strap on belly or the week after Trig with no post pregnancy or big jacket. The truth will come out, but we need it now...before she is sworn in. A picture of the real expecting mom would be best. Help put an end to this carefully woven lie that's an ego race to the white house and hurting the heck out of her kids.

- Cathy

October 9, 2008 at 8:03pm

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I am no George W fan, but to compare Sarah to George W, is an even more sinister repudiation of the President (Can you hear him taking that one to the midsection - owwwwwwwwwwwww) Sarah Palin is as close to a moron as I've seen on the American political scene. Today's comment, "I'd love to meet Tammy Fay - I could give her more material for SNL", when the country is going down the drain in a handbasket, should wake up every (I said every) State leaning toward McCain/Palin and say, "I don't care how many times we've voted Republican - Texas - 28 times. I will not let this insanity be associated with my State again.

- Paul

October 9, 2008 at 8:10pm

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This is another way to take attention off of Palin not being the motehr. She put the contriversary on her daughter and tried to cover her a$$ at the same time. There are many reasons why this is being done. It goes back to John McCane wanting to win the white house. They are both lying in stratogy to clear up her mess until the vote. Baracuda could not have thought of all this herself. Look at the campaign. McCain has always said "Never tell the enemy what your up to and work behind the scenes" while smiling at them. That's what he has been doing for months. He has been in cahoots with Sarah since before February. Look back. YOu will see this insanity makes since...for the throne. Disquisting ha?

- Bristol is NOT Pregnant!

October 9, 2008 at 8:13pm

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Perhaps all and a few you innocently missed

- Paul

October 9, 2008 at 8:23pm

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You are most entitled to your opinion. At the same time, does it not bother you that the Democratic Party did not find it necessary to tell her that they were pulling out of Michigan? As they consider her irrelevant to have to learn of this on the radio? Today's comment about Ms Fay from Saturday Night Live, "I think it would be fun to meet her. I could give her more material to work with (paraphrased). This comment in the midst of seven days of disasterous losses in the stock market with no relief in sight short time. Is this what you would say in the face of such an onslaught? I doubt it. You would (and I don't know you, but assume you to be sane) would sloff off such trivial areas to make a real statement about your feelings about the bailout, the economy, the world situation. Well, maybe SNL will be more interesting thanks to Sarah

- Paul

October 9, 2008 at 8:38pm

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If the country was not is such dire shape, it might actually be worthy of laughter. Unfortunately what was amusing 4 weeks ago, is now requiring the utmost intellectualism and experience. (You may not like the way I answer your question, but I'm speaking to the American People) says Palin, who has to be taken out of the hotseat that she found herself in and reduced to what she really is, an embarrasment to return as governour of Alaska Have always been paranoid - don't send the CIA after me, Sarah And should I find myself missing, you all remember this post - lol

- Paul

October 9, 2008 at 8:52pm

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I grew up in McLean Virginia, attended east coast prep schools and an "Elite" college, majoring in Russian Studies and now currently reside in Alaska, and I am a "Hockey" mom, who became familiar with Governor Palin during her gubenatorial race. In the culture wars I can fairly say I have lived on both sides of the spectrum. While sipping a Latte at a bookstore in Wasilla, Alaska I can frequently hear reporters pumping Alaskans for gossip about Governor Palin. Some "news" organizations pay $3000 per interview. I believe Journalism is dead. This article did not reflect journalism but gossip. Let's talk about some real issues. As a Russian studies major I can assure you that Goeographic proximity to Russia does matter to National Security, whether governor Palin chews gum in public does not. As to the culture wars, I do believe this is an important discussion. It seems our nation is growing increasingly divided between urban and rural, liberal and conservative. We as a Nation, need a vehicle to enable our Democracy to be pluralistic and tolerant; and yet able to honor vast differences in definitions of morality, religion, economic differences etc. The media, literature and the arts, used to carry off this role. Publishing articles such as this is as intolerant and ugly as rascism was in the 1950's, because it is biased , blind, and largely slanderous.This is particularly ugly because this journal is supposed to bring analysis and insight, if we wanted to read gossip we could turn to the National Enquirer.

- Elite Alaskan

October 10, 2008 at 1:32am

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"20 years listening to racist sermons" Wow. Holy blame-the-victim. It's now "racist" to point out that we live in a racist country? Guess what? We live in a racist country! So does 99 percent of the planet! Ethnic groups fight each other! This place was founded on forcible displacement of somebody else. What, did you really think settlers came over here and began dancing dances of peace and harmony and equality with the Native Americans, and if so, why are most of their populations decimated and lost now? Wright was 14 when Emmett Till (also 14) was beaten and lynched for looking at a white woman -- this was a formative experience for you -- of COURSE he's pissed off? The word "racism" has too much bloody power in this country nowadays. Get over it. Stop denying the truth, and instead work to make it better. America is not perfect, it is not unassailable and its history is not pure as the driven snow. This is not a shocking statement!! Whose history is as pure as the driven snow? We don't HAVE to be number one, we don't HAVE to be "the best" all the time -- our responsibility is to max our abilities; we have to strive to be constantly better. In my humble opinion as an African American woman, the accusation of "racism" is not a death sentence, it's not a paintbrush over one's entire existence or a consignment to the everlasting pits of H*ll -- it's an error, and errors can be corrected. Now move the frak on.

- Galley

October 10, 2008 at 12:32pm

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Nixon, however, had brains!:)

- darwin

October 11, 2008 at 12:24am

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Please stop using Lincoln in your arguments. Lincoln did not have a traditional education but did read extensively and trained himself to be a lawyer. School may not make you smart but truly being intellectual does. None of our current candidates would likely match him for sheer brain power.

- Joe

October 11, 2008 at 1:26am

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Are you kidding me? what a bunch of left-wing propaganda. And there are a few people out there intelligent enough to see this article for what it is, an unjust fabricated McCain/Palin slamming. Just how stupid do you think the public actually is? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this story sounds after knowing what the world knows about Obama and his little "escapades"? She looks like a saint compared to him. If that's all you could dig up -- I doubt seriously the truth and veracity of any of the statements -- that is really sad. And could you please explain to me why her approval rating in Alaska is better than any other governor in the U.S.? That little ditty seems to always be forgotten. What a crock. Are you a real reporter?

- Brian Boles

October 11, 2008 at 2:05am

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When are white women going to truly open their eyes and realize that they are being used be "Angry White Men". Obama is not a threat. The real threat is to white men's ego. They don't want anyone, black, brown, yellow, red or white women, educated or with common sense in that position. Wake up, AMERICA! Together we stand, Divided we shall surely FALL.

- Amason

October 11, 2008 at 4:30am

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Just what I would expect from a partisan rag that claims to be non-biased yet only digs dirt on one side. Isure ther are probably coultless others who would refute mush of what has been written here in the name of journalism. Too bad this rag could not bring itself to give Obama the same quality of reporting. this country deserves what it gets in Nov. Namely highr taxes for all, bigger government, and a socialist as leader. "Long Live Obama, leader for life." Of course the only way this is happening is with the help of the Drive By Media, A congressional leadership that is all about party and not country, and Nancy's and Harry's October Suprise. Open your eyes people. they generated this whole financial crisis and triggered it because John McCain was getting to close. If Barack Hussein Obama was 10 points ahead in the polls, there would never have been a bail out and fannie and freddie would have been swept under the rug.

- Bill

October 11, 2008 at 8:04am

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Having grown up as a working class kid in a Midwest city and then dealing with some of the Ivy league social snobbery when working in NYC, I have some empathy for Palin. It's hard to take your coworkers/allies seriously -- even if they are on the same side of the issues as you -- when they no-so-secretly sneer at your state university education and your Eddie Bauer wardrobe. Regretfully, I see some of that same liberal elitist snobbery in the article and responses here. That said, the characterization of Palin' vindictiveness as a prime factor in her political career is convincing. At one level I understand her position and circumstances in the microcosm of Wasilla. Yet, there are a lot of Joe and Jan Six Packs out there who can converse with, cooperate with, and even hold their own against Ivy League types if necessary -- without being vindictive and by competing with them on their terms. She simply is not one of them. Individual responses to insecurity can manifest themselves in widely divergent ways, from humility and self-effacing humor to defensiveness and arrogance. In the venacular of the hood, her way ain't good for America. Here popularity is based on her brasness and in-your-face bravado, which is a satisfying counterpunch to snobbery when executes at the right moment and in right context. It can't, however, be the the basis for you entire political approach.

- BackOfTheYards

October 11, 2008 at 8:06am

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Yes, but what would you live in? Who would build Your house, your car. cour computer. Not us lowley republicans. Not without paying a high price, that your Govt would make higher with extra taxes. You need us so you can feel elite. Which makes you pathetic. So please, Split the country, you would starve in six months.

- Bill

October 11, 2008 at 8:09am

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At least he was willing to fight and die for his country. More than I can say about Obama/Biden. Sounds and looks like they want everyone to take the bullet for them because they are special.

- YOung Salt

October 11, 2008 at 8:13am

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You said it. Right on.

- Bill

October 11, 2008 at 8:19am

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Paul, your an Idiot or an Elitist. they are the same thing. The Democrats in congress created this disaster, It's their October suprise and I believe they have the mechinisms in place to fix it once O wins the white house and paints it black. Then he will be hailed as the Saviour of our country. All Hail Obama, Alla be Praised. Look at the way the Democrat party is acting. they certianly are not acting like they are confident for a win. If they were, Dirty Harry Reed and Corrupt Nancy Polosie would not be attacking John McCain in the news every day.

- Bill

October 11, 2008 at 8:25am

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lady, and I use the term loosly, your a nutjob waiting for a squirrel.

- Bill

October 11, 2008 at 8:27am

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How can you take anyone seriously as a source of info that believes her leg grew 2 inches after contact with hysterical ignorant superstitious people? Amazing.

- Rockey Mann

October 11, 2008 at 8:55am

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Thank you for bringing this up. I am an independent - I believe in people, not party - but I speak with Republican friends and I start bringing up things I've researched and they are astounded. One actually asked me how I had the time to know this much - I read, I research, because this is the future of our country and I don't think there is much more we can fall. I've spoken to about 20 Republicans in the last week and NONE of them have been able to cite a single source of why they would vote for this ticket, other than something the candidates have said that has been repeated in the media, and instantly vetted as untrue. They hear what they want to hear and ignore the rest.

- Brenda Whitfield

October 11, 2008 at 9:29am

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A better article would be "what makes the left hate and be so intolerant of those with other views".

- JohnB

October 11, 2008 at 9:38am

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At least his comments were accurate and truthful.

- Terry

October 11, 2008 at 9:54am

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there's to much to attack her on than her baby leave family out of it no one asking if obamas kids are his so like i said leave the woman's family out of it

- james

October 11, 2008 at 9:57am

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What a great article. It really gave me an incite as to who Sarah Palin is and where she came from. After the ruling of her abuse of power, all my suspicions have been confirmed. Thanks again.

- Carol Vanella

October 11, 2008 at 10:13am

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This story is very illuminating. I only wish John McCain could have read this before selecting Palin. He ego, not her intellect, grows by every election she wins. Reading this this article I can't help but think of Richard Nixon. Only Nixon was a little smarter. I started out wanting to vote for Mccain thinking I too would like to put the counrty first. But when he chose her I had a sinking feeling he was just trying to put his self first.

- mark

October 11, 2008 at 10:31am

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What the McCain campaign has done, including marching out Cindy McCain, and using Sarah Palin as a inciting "mouthpiece," is unconscionable to those of us who remember quite clearly what the country was like from 1959 through 1973. I for one do not want a candidate in office that is so driven by their own agenda they are willing to risk and divide the streets of America. We already have one of those as President and it's not worked out too well.

- Michele S.

October 11, 2008 at 11:50am

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Way too much credit to the person of Sarah Palin. She is a puppet and all one needs to do is to find the strings and then the puppeteir that is pulling them. Stay tuned while I finish my research. A little hint, it is OILY!!

- Bustin

October 11, 2008 at 12:33pm

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"Goeographic proximity to Russia does matter to National Security, whether governor Palin chews gum in public does not. (sic)" - Elite Alaskan. Oh, no doubt it does, but the question is whether PALIN's proximity to Russia gave her any insights into how our closest exposure to Russia affected national security. When pressed for examples, the campaign has only managed to provide misinformation about a governor's influence over the National Guard. She should understand Putin though; they both rode in on a wave of popularity because the last administration was so corrupt, then used petrodollars to buy popularity even as ugly facts about them bubbled to the surface. Mind you, Putin's murderous authoritarianism is worse than Palin's chirpy incompetence, but it's a closer relationship to Russia than Palin has ever had through geographic proximity.

- Pjsmmj

October 11, 2008 at 1:59pm

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Here's another bit of insight into Palin. When she ran for Miss Alaska in 1984 and came in only runner-up, she told friends that she hadn't won "because she had failed to create enough drama around herself". Clearly she has now remediated that lack. In the Episcopal church service there is a direction to the congregation that appears on the program: "All kneeling". My sense of Sarah Palin is that this is what she requires of those around her---that they be all kneeling. But her personality disorder concerns me less than her ability to turn a crowd into a rabid mob screaming for the death of her opponent---and her obvious sadistic pleasure in doing so.

- Jane

October 11, 2008 at 5:03pm

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Always Isreal. I thought this was the United States? Who ever worries about the United States?

- John Paul Telhomme

October 11, 2008 at 10:42pm

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You better grab the $3000 per interview stipend before the journalists all disappear, unless you are content with sipping you latte in elitist surroundings and waiting for your oil dividend.

- John Paul Telhomme

October 11, 2008 at 10:52pm

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Bristol had Tryg and two month later got pregnant again. She is now four and a half months pregnant.

- John Paul Telhomme

October 11, 2008 at 11:11pm

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I agree, journalism is dead. I understand that Sarah Palin has between a 70% and 85% approval rating in Alaska, which means that the news media has to find the other 15% to 30% to interview. I suppose the 70 to 80 percent are all ignorant church people anyway, as the media puts it. I am sure that Palin has made a few political enemies in the past, I wonder if the media has found every one of them yet. I know the facts are that she lowered taxes in her state, took a paycut as governor, sold a jet among other things.

- Ohio

October 12, 2008 at 6:26am

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"As a Russian studies major I can assure you that Geographic proximity to Russia does matter to National Security" The geographic proximity of Russia to Alaska matters TO national security, but it does not automatically lend Alaskan politicians knowledge OF national security. Katie Couric offered Palin the chance to explain what national security insight she's gained based on Russia's proximity to Alaska and Palin could only respond with incomprehensible gibberish.

- CalexanderJ

October 12, 2008 at 6:47am

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The bit about demanding to see the couple's wedding certificate has been reported in several places. You might even be able to google it. What proof were you expecting beyond the testimony of the people who were affected and the residents of the town? Sarah obviously does hark to the code of the vendetta. She has carried it out on many people. The most recent and widely publicized was her ex brother in law. Two and a half years after the last family contact with the man, the Palin family and administration were still trying to get him fired by exerting illegal pressure. What's more, they waited a number of months after the alleged incident and as soon as she was elected governor, they began a heavy campaign against the man. If they can do it to him, it can happen to any of us. That's why we have laws.

- karela

October 12, 2008 at 7:54am

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Out there in the crowd, or at home watching FOX, or at work cruising the internet, there's a Travis Bickle who's mad as hell. David Brooks and John Lewis are right, even though they come at it from very different perspectives: Class warfare is dangerous, and the language matters. We need to hear ideas on how to fix the economy, enough with pandering to angry white males with white trash populism. We can do better.

- fougasseu

October 12, 2008 at 9:31am

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Snarkyspice, you gave me such a good laugh. Thanks! That's how I feel too. I'm really glad you grabbed Starbucks for our team. I'll add the engineers who build bridges that actually stand up and college professors who help assure the validity and reliability of our scientific literature.

- enough

October 12, 2008 at 12:37pm

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This article kind of puts to rest the old saw- History is written by the victors. Seems like alot of superiors are really upset by beating by an "inferior". I think they are more driven by "resentments" than Palin.

- greg

October 12, 2008 at 4:26pm

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I don't understand how Elite Alaskan, or anyone else, can suggest that proxmity to Russia makes someone qualified to serve the country on international affairs, if that is what she is suggesting. Also, I would think that someone who finds Mr. Scheiber's work biased, blind and slanderous, would be appalled at the words coming out of Ms. Palin's mouth, which have, at best, a tenuous relationship with the truth, like "palling around with terrorists,' or, "I said thanks but no thanks to the bridge to nowhere." She may as well be saying, "Heck of a job Brownie" and "mission accomplished." If we have learned one thing over the past 7 years, it is that our country can be destroyed by distortions of the truth and when the time comes that public confidence and economic stability require credibility of the President, there isn't any.

-

October 12, 2008 at 6:12pm

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Juan - You don't think McCain, after 2+ decades in public life, has a few associates he'd like to keep in the closet? The man was censored by the Senate for Pete's sake!

- Mike

October 12, 2008 at 8:45pm

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An interesting read, but a hit-piece all the same, since we see no effort made to incorporate input from the Governor's friends or allies that might provide a broader contextual perspective to the incidents related. Even though it lacks the vitriolic tone of, say, the "Huffington Post," this article is propaganda nonetheless. Naturally, I see that many sympathetic readers have drawn herefrom the intended conclusions: that Sarah Palin is a dangerous psychopath for whom power is the only goal, and woe be unto any who stand in the way. To read some of these comments, we are supposed to be alarmed at this "Hitler in the making" -- no doubt the same people regard the present Administration as already so. When these people can tell truthful stories of midnight arrests and confinement to concentration camps or labor gulags for their opposition to Bush-Cheney, I'll believe them. Funny how we're not seeing gobs of YouTube videos of brainwashed kids singing the high praises of "our dear Sarah" the way some are being made to do for Obama - in blueshirt uniforms, no less! Funny how those who engage in truly hooliganistic behavior - voter intimidation, fraudulent registration, campaign-sign pilferage and burning - seem to be the exclusive province of radical leftists! It wasn't Palin's supporters who've threatened prosecution under libel laws in Missouri for criticisms of their candidate. And whose supporters mobilize a coordinated campaign of harassing radio talk show hosts who schedule interviews with those severely critical of their candidate, as has happened in Chicago twice recently? Not the Governor's. And yet these leftist partisans have the chutzpah to rail McCain's supporters as an "angry mob" on the flimsy pretext that a few people shout out things at a rally or ask heated questions in a town-hall meeting. I dare say I know who is much closer to degenerating into "brownshirt" street-thuggery here. The real narrative here is the war of extermination that Marxism has been waging against Christianity ever since the mid-19th century. I certainly can see the case made that Sarah Palin is far from an adequate standard-bearer for traditional American society, or even for Christianity for that matter. Yet, due to the century-long degradation of K-12 education under the influence of Dewey and his NEA socialist cabal, most people have been reduced to apprehending everything in a superficial, image-driven way, and Sarah Palin appeals at that level to those with some residual sense of traditional order. I am not comfortable with the idea of someone like her in high office - and yet, that prospect is mild compared to the provable determination of the neocommunist supporters of Obama to "finish the job" of wiping any meaningful expression of Christianity off of our social and political landscape, and even to criminalize the same under pretext of "hate" or "bias." That would be truly Stalinistic indeed. Herein lies the true importance of Obama's past and present associations. Ayers through his various phases has been and remains a committed Marxist. Rev. Wright & Fr. Pfleger - Marxists in clerical garb. ACORN - Marxism in "civil rights" garb. Columbia and Harvard ... longstanding hotbeds of Marxist pseudointellectualism. Marxism - fount from which sprung most of the last century's regime-perpetrated mass-murders and wholesale enslavements. Heaven help us, but Sarah Palin, whatever her troubles, might be the last thing standing in the way of all this....

- Somerset '76

October 12, 2008 at 10:08pm

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Yes, Palin is a nightmare... the following sentence in the opening does not sit well with me..."Whereas Palin had bounced around several no-name colleges before graduating from the University of Idaho, Carney held a degree from Dartmouth". Who's stoking class or intellectual resentment? If you didn't attend Harvard, Yale or Stanford you better not run for high public office - that's truly just elitist crap.

- Jeff

October 12, 2008 at 10:52pm

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Dear Elite Alaskan, Like you, I live in Wasilla, Alaska. Unlike you, I managed Sarah Palin's first mayoral campaign, sat next to her at city council meetings for a year, and had the opportunity to really get to know her, not just become "familiar with her." You stated: "While sipping a Latte at a bookstore in Wasilla, Alaska I can frequently hear reporters pumping Alaskans for gossip about Governor Palin. Some "news" organizations pay $3000 per interview. I believe Journalism is dead. This article did not reflect journalism but gossip." Let me set the record straight. First, NONE of the reporters I spoke with, including Noam Scheiber reporting for The New Republic, offered me money in exchange for an interview. I spoke with any reporter who contacted me because I believe it is important to get the truth out. Second, Mr. Scheiber's article did not report "gossip" as you so unkindly and inaccurately stated. Since you are a Virginia transplant to Alaska, it appears that you may not have been in Wasilla during the timeframe outlined in this article. If you were in Wasilla, and if you were involved in the community and local politics you would know that this article reflects a true and accurate account of what transpired. Third, I agree with you that Alaska's proximity to Russia, and diplomatic relations with Russia are an important and valid campaign issue. However, as Governor, Sarah Palin only experience is with the state National Guard, which she has ordered to parade and wildland fire support details. The Governor has no authority to scramble jets to chase Russians out of Alaskan airspace and only gets an annual briefing from the U.S. military. Has the governor actually been to Russia on a trade mission, as she implied during her interview with Katie Couric? No. Fourth, you state that "It seems like our nation is growing increasingly divided between urban and rural, liberal and conservative." I agree. Furthermore, if you listened to any of Sarah Palin's "whip 'em into a radical frenzy" campaign rallies last week you must have a better understanding of why that type of division is happening. Fifth, to draw a comparison between the truths contained in this article and the 1950's intolerance and ugliness of racism just because you WANT to believe that it is "biased, blind and largely slanderous" speaks to your own character and does not contribute a thing to the debate. Lastly, next time you're eavesdropping on reporters while "sipping your Latte at a bookstore in Wasilla, Alaska" you may do well to ask yourself if you're being played. The reporters I spoke with most certainly did not want people overhearing their comments, questions, or anything else. Reporters are almost always very proprietary when it comes to a story or source gathering. Regards, Laura Chase Wasilla, Alaska

- Laura Chase

October 13, 2008 at 3:22am

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GWBush : Either you are with us or with the terrorists. SPalin : Either you are with me or against me. Will there be a time when we`ll wish back to GWB?

- Terranean

October 13, 2008 at 6:12am

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You are far too charitable. To wit, "speaking in tongues (in which congregants are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak in unfamiliar languages) and the laying on of hands (in which congregants invoke the Holy Spirit and heal one another with their touch)." Has ANY such "speaking" EVER been recorded and analyzed for linguistic content. No. Here's why: it's all babble. I'll show you. Groota lupso prodankia hoonwa. There, I just spoke in tongues. Now find me someone who understands it. And as for "healing", while there may actually be examples of this in the literature, there are also many documented cases of FRAUD posing as "faith healing." Why not tell the truth? Go ahead, God won't smite you. I promise. (He/she/it might even thank you.)

- Fred

October 13, 2008 at 11:35am

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This article does NOT say that you have to attend an ivy league college to be intelligent and understanding of the workings of a governing body. My own state school background in no way proved an impediment to my participation as a board member of a non-profit. What is missing with Sarah Palin is the ability to get out of her own self interests and to explore other perspectives. She is self absorbed and she is stubborn about it. Her inability to understand conflict of interest is telling and scary. The public needs their government to serve the needs of the public NOT their own. Sarah Palin doesn't get it and she serves her own small circle.

- Melinda

October 14, 2008 at 6:49am

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I LOVE Sara Barracuda!!! That crinkly little thing she does with her nose .... those cool specs .... the whole Hockey Mom schtick .... why, she's even moved a notch above Britney Spears in my book. I don't CARE if she has to pause with the gum in order to process a thought. The gum is what keeps her teeth so white. Go Sarah!!! And I heard that the Library of Congress has a copy of "Catcher in the Rye". Betcha that won't last long when America's Sweetheart makes it to the Executive Office Building. You betcha! That old Librarian of Congress better start packing his bags right now! By gollykins!!!! (They might even have a book in there about terrorists ...... and I'll just bet it was put there by some latte-sipping liberal.) And I think the rumor that that old codger who's bringing her to D.C. is hiring a food taster is just that - a nasty rumor. Nasty. Nasty.

- JKL

October 16, 2008 at 3:49pm

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Let me get this straight, in an effort to find out "the truth" about Sarah Palin, a reporter attempted to seek out individuals that have personal vendettas against her and then use those stories to paint her has an idiot. Excellent job. Perhaps more research could have been done to see how reliable one of your major sources is. Nick Carney has had a personal dislike of Sarah Palin for many years, dating back to when she graduated high school and was named the Valedictorian over his own daughter. Seems petty, does it not? Perhaps ridiculous even. Yet true. He has been open about his dislike of her since that time, all stemming from his "protective father" mode. Of course he wants to continuously paint her in a negative light, he's still angry that his little star didn't shine the brightest. All of this disgusts me. One very accurate point that this article does make is how growing up in Wasilla is different than many other places in the world. You are closer to nature, and ask anyone down at the Mugshot Saloon-it's difficult to get out of there and make a name for yourself. As fellow Wasillians we should all hold respect for Sarah Palin, whether agreeing with her politics or not. It is people like those quoted in this article that make politics so nasty. Instead of arguing legitimate points as to why Sarah Palin might not make the best Vice President, they choose to bring up petty, personal problems with her. Grow up.

- Alaska23

October 19, 2008 at 8:45pm

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How dare this uppity woman, this woman who barely graduated University of Idaho, this provincial strumpet challenge her betters. How dare she go head to head with a Dartmouth educated world traveller -- with at least four visa stamps in her passport. These frost-bitten goyi ... I mean rednecks in Alaska, how dare they elect this woman.

- stari_momak

October 20, 2008 at 6:27pm

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For years leaders of the Elite Right have proclaimed stupid does as stupid is. She's their Frankenstein, animated by Kristol, and unleashed by Rove's henchmen. She'll turn on them, too.

- blader

October 22, 2008 at 2:14pm

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Seriously, has anyone ever heard a complete sentence from Gov. Palin? She's cute, seems friendly, would have a nice chat with her regarding bringing up kids and all that, but she is missing some marbles for sure. Good grief, no slam intended at all to those who support her, I'm a repub myself, but how could anyone consider voting for a ticket she's on?

- katie belle

October 22, 2008 at 2:47pm

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No--she actually used this cheap 'political' ploy. It's been documented all over the internet and in respected MSM. As well, she used the issue of abortion to politicize a tiny municipal election that had previously only been about paving streets and finding adequate garbage direction.

- lsoren

October 22, 2008 at 10:19pm

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Despite the fact that it was her nickname, I am still amused at the choice of theme song. The lyrics, "If the real thing don't do the trick/You better make up something quick."

- Barbara Saunders

October 24, 2008 at 6:18pm

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Nice reporting. It must have taken a while to round up all these people who had their feelings hurt when she didn't go along with their way. The quotes that I read sound like a bunch of bitter people hoping to hurt her with a thousand lashes. To bad you didn't try to find the people who do support her.

- mirgc

October 31, 2008 at 2:53pm

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To the person who asked about speaking in tongues: Some have been heard to speak in actual contemporary languages that others around them understood. For example, an Asian person, born & bred in Asia and never ventured far from her home town, was heard speaking in perfect English by a missionary. There have been other cases as well. I'm not sure that every single time a person "speaks in tongues" it is really a language, as it is actually pretty easy to fake. However, not all instances are either faked or the result of some kind of self-hypnosis - there is something there, in many cases. Hard to explain using scientific methods. Another thing to remember about it is that even if a person is not speaking in a currently recognized language or dialect, of which there are thousands by the way, there are languages that have already died out and no one now living would recognize them if they heard them. That said, there are recognizable patterns in real languages that are not always present in glossalalia, which leads to the conclusion that the person in question is not really speaking a "language." It's best to just keep an open mind. By the way, I was a Pentecostal Christian for many years, although from a different branch than SP espouses. I no longer identify myself as a Christian, but I have had experiences that stop me from altogether denying the Pentecostal experience. In many cases, I believe that people (perhaps not even consciously) manufacture the outward signs of speaking in tongues or whatever, to forward their own agendas. I guess what I'm trying to say is (or was) that there is something real there, but not *all* that glitters is gold.

- propitiousmoment

November 9, 2008 at 10:05pm

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I get it! Sarah Palin is not nearly as thoughtful and reflective as Noam Scheiber. Who am I to refute such erudition and flawless logic? But what is an undeniable fact is that Palin is running a state and the author is taking pot shots from his laptop. Like most liberals, that is as close as he will get to speaking truth to power! Good for you! I guess people like me and millions of other Americans will just have to wait breathlessly and learn how a real sophisticate--complete with furrowed brow and flawless syntax--will save the day!

- riddyd

January 1, 2009 at 10:45am

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Noam said: "Palin compensated for what she lacked in talent (and height) with a freakish intensity." That is a colorful phrase that says as much about the writer's intent than Sarah Palin. One would think tha

- Shash Nahalin

January 1, 2009 at 12:55pm

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What irony! The real bile spilled in the presidential campaign of 2008 was spilled in copious amounts by elitists against the upstart Palin. How dare she! But Carolyn Kennedy - now she is a class act. She is well bred and so much a part of the club. She is entitled. When you attend the Jefferson-Jackson dinner later this winter, you might want to consider how much Jackson was like Palin and how much he appealed to the same sensibilities. Do you really want to continue to spill elitist bile on part of the American electorate? That is both unseemly and unwise!

- Richard Winmnill

January 1, 2009 at 1:16pm

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So Sarah will not play ball with elitists. The political and business classes are running the country into the ground. The criticism of Sarah in this article is about petty, small potatoes stuff.

- althusius

January 1, 2009 at 5:42pm

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As a European who observed the US presidential election from afar, I took the trouble to examine carefully the lives and careers of the four candidates on the opposite tickets. While somewhat impressed with the profile of Obama presented in his two books, I was, frankly astonished by the sparseness of his career resume. It seemed to me me that he has carefully avoided all political and personal risk. Since he did little he could not be either blamed or praised. As for Joe Biden, the most charitable think I can say is, be very afraid that such an obvious buffoon is now 'within a heartbeat of the presidency'. There was much to admire about John McCain, but the economic meltdown brutally exposed his inadequacies. This brings me to Governor Sarah Palin. Frankly, I stood amazed at the level of vindictive bile directed against her. To the extent that it was possible to carefully examine the 60+ negative assertions made against her, I am satified that they are either, verifiably false, are based on half-truths/distortions, are trivial, are the product of sick minds (the maternity of Trigg issue), or if they were committed by Democrats would be overlooked or excused. The memes about 'ignorance', 'lack of curiosity', etc are too obviously orchestrated to be taken seriously. So why the hate/smear/snearfest? Her accomplishments as Governor belie accusation of lack of intelligence. Could it be that she has committed the ultimate offence against 'enlightened opinion'. She has refused to kill her Down Syndrome child, and by this very act inflicted an unbearable rebuke to whole generation.

- Eugene Car

January 1, 2009 at 7:33pm

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Has anyone looked into whether speaking in tongues is schizophasia?

- SWozniak

January 2, 2009 at 12:05am

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