Sarah Palin Totally Explained

Everything about Sarah Palin totally explained

In 1984, Palin competed in the Miss Alaska contest after being chosen Miss Wasilla that year. In the Wasilla contest, she played the flute and also won the title of Miss Congeniality.
   Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She eats moose burgers and rides snowmobiles. She admits that, when marijuana was legal in the state, she used it; however, she didn't like it.
   Palin's education includes a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho. She briefly worked in the media and utility industry. Palin was named one of Alaska's "Top 40 Under 40," Alaska's Public Works "Person of the Year," and was recently inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society at Alaska Pacific University. She is also a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
   Palin's husband, Todd, works on the North Slope and is a commercial fisherman. On September 11 2007, Palin's son Track joined the Army. Age 18 at the time, he's the eldest of her five children. On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin. The boy has Down syndrome. The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage.

Political experience

Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and became a two-term mayor and manager of Wasilla, one of Alaska's fastest-growing communities. She was also elected President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.
In 2002, Palin made a failed bid to become the state's lieutenant governor, coming in second place behind Loren Leman in a four-way race, some say due to her inability to raise campaign contributions equal to that of her opponents. After Frank Murkowski became governor, resigning from his long-time U.S. Senate seat, Palin was considered by some to be a candidate for that job; however, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then State Representative Lisa Murkowski.
Governor Frank Murkowski appointed Palin to serve as ethics commissioner on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

which she served on during 2003–2004, but later resigned, in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. This included the state party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, a fellow commissioner, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time and providing a sensitive email to a lobbyist.

She filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former state Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who was eventually found not guilty.
She also served an elected term on the Valley Hospital board.

Governorship

In 2006, Palin won the Republican primary for Governor, defeating then-Gov. Frank Murkowski; she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles. Palin has said that education, public safety, and transportation will be three focuses of her administration. An August 2007 poll had her approval rating at 84%, with 5% disapproving.
A May 2008 poll showed her continuing to maintain her approval ratings in the mid 80s, the highest of any elected official in American politics.

Energy policies

Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded the appointment of former chief of staff Jim Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, reversing an appointment made in the closing days or hours of the prior Administration.
   He has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy. In April 2007, Palin announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska. Recently, she joined efforts to promote an "all-Alaska" natural gas pipeline, which would have been built by a political subdivision of the State. Palin describes an all-Alaska pipeline as the only proposal which brings the maximum benefit to the people, and later softened her stand by claiming she isn't opposed to the alternative of running the pipeline through Canada, to the Lower 48, if doing so represents the best deal for Alaska.
   In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), legislation crafted as the new legal vehicle to the building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. Only one legislator (Representative Ralph Samuels) voted against the measure, and in June Palin signed it into law.
   On January 5 2008, Gov. Palin announced that a Canadian Company, Transcanda Corp, was the sole AGIA compliant applicant. Despite the fact Transcanada's applications includes the suggestion the U.S. Government can act as a "backstop" in the event the gas producers don't commit to shipping gas, Alaska still chose to announce the Transcanada Corp proposal as AGIA compliant(External Link

). (External Link

) Gov. Palin steadfastly refuses to talk to the large producers, instead taking the strategy of using Transcanada as a 3rd party negotiator.(External Link

)

Polar Bear Controversy

Governor Palin's administration is currently in the process of suing the US Department of the Interior over the recent listing of the Alaskan polar bear as a "threatened" species, due to the recent and continuing decline of the animal's natural habitat, the arctic ice shelf. Palin objects to the listing, pointing out that the population of polar bears has increased over the last thirty years, and that Alaska already has protections for the polar bear under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. She also fears that the new regulation could potentially stifle the economic development of Alaska's vast oil and gas resources, which is a priority in her administration.

Gay rights and abortion

Palin is strongly pro-life and belongs to Feminists for Life. While the previous administration didn't implement same-sex benefits, Palin followed an Alaska Supreme Court order and signed them into law. She supported a democratic advisory vote from the public on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter. Alaska was one of the first states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.
Palin's first veto was used on legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In effect, her veto granted State benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with her attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.

Matanuska Maid Dairy controversy

Gov. Palin received widespread criticism for her handling of Matanuska Maid Dairy, a state owned business. When the State Dairy Board recommended closing the unprofitable business, Palin fired the board and appointed long-time Mat-Su Borough associates to run the board, including influential real estate businesswoman Kristan Cole. The new board quickly approved raising the price of milk offered by the dairy in a vain attempt to control hemorrhaging fiscal losses, despite the fact that milk from the state of Washington was already offered in Alaska stores for much less than Mat Maid milk. In the end the dairy was forced to close and the state tried to sell the assets to pay off its debts, but no bids were received.

Budget

In the first days of her administration, Palin tried to follow through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased by the past administration, on state credit. Since the election the state has put up the jet on eBay three times. In August 2007, the jet was sold.
Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled an eleven-mile gravel road outside of Juneau to a mine, reversing a decision made in the closing days or hours of the prior Administration.
In June 2007, Palin signed into law the largest operating budget in the state's history, $6.6 billion. At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second largest cuts of the construction budget in the state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects and reduced the construction budget to nearly $1.6 billion.

Political future

Governor Palin has been mentioned as a viable candidate for the Vice-Presidency for GOP candidate Senator John McCain in the 2008 election. She recently came in second to Mike Huckabee in the Congressional Weekly VP Madness Poll, beating out such big names as Tim Pawlenty, Charlie Crist, Mitt Romney, and Bobby Jindal.

"I can't imagine anyone that I can think of right now who would be more appealing as a vice presidential candidate," Longtime White House correspondent and Baltimore radio commentator Lester Kinsolving said.
"What helps her obviously is that she's a woman, she's attractive, she's a conservative, she's a strong record of integrity, she's a spending-cutter, she's not a tax-raiser, and those things obviously would help," Fred Barnes, a regular on Fox News and co-host of The Beltway Boys.

Electoral history

Election results

Further Information

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