Tea Party tour to kick off with Sarah Palin address
Ex-Alaskan governor to attend launch of bus tour across US, visiting areas movement has strong chance of election
Series: Inside the Tea PartyPrevious | Index Tea Party tour to kick off with Sarah Palin addressEx-Alaskan governor to attend launch of bus tour across US, visiting areas movement has strong chance of election
(6)
Comments (9) Ed Pilkington in Reno guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 October 2010 14.15 BST Article history
Sharron Angle and Harry Reid (r) speak after a TV debate during the Nevada Senate race. Photograph: Julie Jacobson/AP
Sarah Palin will be headlining at this morning's Tea Party rally in Reno, Nevada, that will kick off a 3,000-mile bus tour designed to stand the US political establishment on its head.
Palin will be appearing at a fairground near Reno airport to give a send-off to the Tea Party Express bus tour, the fourth that the group has staged in the past two years.
Billed as the "Liberty at the ballot box tour", it will pass from coast to coast and hit many of the most sensitive Tea Party races that aim to unseat moderate Republicans and replace them with slash-and-burn rightwingers.
The launch point has in itself been carefully chosen to reflect the bitter battle between Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, and the Tea Party Republican candidate, Sharron Angle.
The latest poll in the Las Vegas Review-Journal puts Angle just ahead of Reid at 47% to 45%, with Angle showing a strong lead among independent voters.
Reid would make a dramatic scalp for the Tea Party movement were he to fall to the former state assembly member.
"To take down the Senate majority leader, I mean who wouldn't, he's one of the worst offenders," said Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express.
From Nevada the tour passes to California on Wednesday, Arizona on Thursday and then New Mexico, Texas and Arizona again.
Next week, it will make stops in Kentucky, where Rand Paul is waging a for a Senate seat, before passing through the mid-west and then across to the north-east.
It will hit Delaware two days before the 2 November elections to lend its support to Christine O'Donnell, the controversial Tea Party-backed Republican candidate for the Senate. The last stop will be Concord in New Hampshire.
The Tea Party Express has been one of the largest funders of rightwing candidates in the midterm elections.
Under its tax status, it can only accept donations of up to $5,000 (£3,140), though it has received sufficient funds to be able to invest huge sums in key races. It has spent more than $1m trying to eject Reid from the Senate.
"If you thought we were just going to quietly go away, or that this Tea Party movement would be just a passing fad, you were mistaken," its campaign literature says. "We're taking our country back!"
Monday, October 18, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Yahoo News: Palin tells supporters 'soon we'll all be dancing'
Palin tells supporters 'soon we'll all be dancing'
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday urged a roaring crowd of Republicans to exhaust themselves over the next two weeks to take back California and the country for the "little guy."
The former vice presidential candidate addressed more than 2,000 supporters at a Republican National Committee rally in Orange County, a conservative stronghold in a state where Republicans hope to make gains this year.
"The momentum is with us but now is not the time to let up, now is not the time to celebrate — not quite yet," Palin told a crowd wearing T-shirts reading "Proud Conservative" and buttons reading "Is it 2012 yet?"
"We can't be thinking that it's over yet and we've got it in the bag. As Yogi would've said, 'It ain't over till it's over,'" she said, referring to New York Yankees great Yogi Berra.
"Soon we'll all be dancing," Palin added.
The event was the culmination of a three-day promotional and political swing for Palin through California — a state where she gets mixed reviews.
A Field Poll released last week found that 58 percent of the state's registered voters hold a negative view of Palin, although she remains quite popular among Republicans. In addition, two-thirds of independent voters would be less inclined to support a candidate endorsed by her.
The state's two most prominent Republican candidates this year — gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman and Senate candidate Carly Fiorina — were absent from the rally, citing scheduling conflicts. At a campaign stop in Chico, Whitman said she appreciated Palin's support, without embracing Palin's views.
"I want everyone on my side," including Republicans, Democrats and independents, Whitman said.
Palin isn't the only big name politician to visit California in the run-up to the election. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at rallies for gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez on Friday and will campaign in San Jose and Napa Sunday.
President Barack Obama will visit Los Angeles next week to support Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Ask America: Learn. Listen. Be heard.
Ask America
Election forum
The Fast Fix
Map snapshot
Invoking former President Ronald Reagan, Palin told the roaring crowd she wanted a return to principles he espoused: "lower taxes, smaller, smarter government, less overreach and intrusion, strong, unapologetic national defense."
Reagan, she said to a thunderous applause in a Marriott hotel ballroom in Anaheim, understood the little guy.
Palin railed against the federal stimulus package and tore into the recent health care reform law, which she said amounted to a takeover of private industry.
All reasons she urged Republicans to put in 20-hour days to help turn out the vote over the next two weeks.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said California was no longer just a donor state for Republicans and that the party was working closely with those affiliated with tea party groups that are furious at the government.
"There is no struggle, rift, fight between those who claim the banner of the tea party and those who are in the Republican Party. We work together," Steele said.
Steele urged the crowd to help out Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who attended the event and is challenging Sanchez for her seat in Orange County.
Wearing a red GOP baseball cap, 76-year old Erwin Vysma said he was thrilled Palin had helped the party swerve conservative after Republicans let spending spiral out of control under Bush.
"She's doing a whale of a job," Vysma said. "She fired up the base and hopefully we'll all come out voting 100 percent, the Republicans, because God knows we need it."
Palin will headline another Republican National Committee rally on Oct. 23 in Orlando, Fla
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday urged a roaring crowd of Republicans to exhaust themselves over the next two weeks to take back California and the country for the "little guy."
The former vice presidential candidate addressed more than 2,000 supporters at a Republican National Committee rally in Orange County, a conservative stronghold in a state where Republicans hope to make gains this year.
"The momentum is with us but now is not the time to let up, now is not the time to celebrate — not quite yet," Palin told a crowd wearing T-shirts reading "Proud Conservative" and buttons reading "Is it 2012 yet?"
"We can't be thinking that it's over yet and we've got it in the bag. As Yogi would've said, 'It ain't over till it's over,'" she said, referring to New York Yankees great Yogi Berra.
"Soon we'll all be dancing," Palin added.
The event was the culmination of a three-day promotional and political swing for Palin through California — a state where she gets mixed reviews.
A Field Poll released last week found that 58 percent of the state's registered voters hold a negative view of Palin, although she remains quite popular among Republicans. In addition, two-thirds of independent voters would be less inclined to support a candidate endorsed by her.
The state's two most prominent Republican candidates this year — gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman and Senate candidate Carly Fiorina — were absent from the rally, citing scheduling conflicts. At a campaign stop in Chico, Whitman said she appreciated Palin's support, without embracing Palin's views.
"I want everyone on my side," including Republicans, Democrats and independents, Whitman said.
Palin isn't the only big name politician to visit California in the run-up to the election. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at rallies for gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez on Friday and will campaign in San Jose and Napa Sunday.
President Barack Obama will visit Los Angeles next week to support Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Ask America: Learn. Listen. Be heard.
Ask America
Election forum
The Fast Fix
Map snapshot
Invoking former President Ronald Reagan, Palin told the roaring crowd she wanted a return to principles he espoused: "lower taxes, smaller, smarter government, less overreach and intrusion, strong, unapologetic national defense."
Reagan, she said to a thunderous applause in a Marriott hotel ballroom in Anaheim, understood the little guy.
Palin railed against the federal stimulus package and tore into the recent health care reform law, which she said amounted to a takeover of private industry.
All reasons she urged Republicans to put in 20-hour days to help turn out the vote over the next two weeks.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said California was no longer just a donor state for Republicans and that the party was working closely with those affiliated with tea party groups that are furious at the government.
"There is no struggle, rift, fight between those who claim the banner of the tea party and those who are in the Republican Party. We work together," Steele said.
Steele urged the crowd to help out Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who attended the event and is challenging Sanchez for her seat in Orange County.
Wearing a red GOP baseball cap, 76-year old Erwin Vysma said he was thrilled Palin had helped the party swerve conservative after Republicans let spending spiral out of control under Bush.
"She's doing a whale of a job," Vysma said. "She fired up the base and hopefully we'll all come out voting 100 percent, the Republicans, because God knows we need it."
Palin will headline another Republican National Committee rally on Oct. 23 in Orlando, Fla
Friday, October 15, 2010
15 Oct, Friday, CNN Politics: Political Ticker: Palin to once again help kick off Tea Party Express tour
Palin to once again help kick off Tea Party Express tour
By:
CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser
(CNN) - She headlined the kickoff event at the Tea Party Express's last cross-country caravan, and now Sarah Palin is going to help kick off the group's new bus tour.
The organization announced Thursday that the former Alaska governor and the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee will join the launch of tour, which they call the "Tea Party Express: Liberty At The Ballot Box" national tour, which starts Monday at a rally in Reno, Nevada.
The first two days of the tour are in Nevada, home state to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's fighting for his political life this year as he bids for a fifth term. Tea Party Express targeted Reid in its previous tours.
In March, Palin was the keynote speaker at a rally in Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, that kicked off the Tea Party Express' third cross-country tour.
Sharron Angle, who the Tea Party Express is supporting and assisting in her race against Reid, will not be at the kickoff event in Reno. The reason: The Tea Party Express bus tour is being funded by the organization's independent expenditure wing, and federal candidates are prevented by law from coordinating with independent expenditure groups.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is considering a bid for 2012, will speak at a rally on October 21 when the Tea Party Express tour rolls through San Diego. The cross-country caravan is scheduled to end in New Hampshire on November 1, the day before the midterm elections.
The Tea Party Express launched its first tour in late August of last year. That trip ended in nation's capital as part of a large anti-tax "March on D.C." event that attracted Tea Party activists from across the country. The group staged a second bus tour last autumn.
Earlier this year, Tea Party Express, which is based in Sacramento, California, also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads to help Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown in Massachusetts, who upset Democrat Martha Coakley in a January special election to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat.
This spring, the organization helped then little-known Angle win the Republican primary in Nevada, endorsing her and spending about a half-million dollars on ads. The Tea Party Express also successfully backed other Senate candidates, including Mike Lee in Utah, Joe Miller in Alaska, and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.
But not all the news for the Tea Party Express has been positive. This summer, the National Tea Party Federation, which seeks to represent the Tea Party political movement around the country, expelled the Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post one of its leaders, Mark Williams, wrote responding to criticism of the Tea Party movement from the NAACP. The story made national headlines and Williams later stepped down as spokesman for Tea Party Express.
By:
CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser
(CNN) - She headlined the kickoff event at the Tea Party Express's last cross-country caravan, and now Sarah Palin is going to help kick off the group's new bus tour.
The organization announced Thursday that the former Alaska governor and the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee will join the launch of tour, which they call the "Tea Party Express: Liberty At The Ballot Box" national tour, which starts Monday at a rally in Reno, Nevada.
The first two days of the tour are in Nevada, home state to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's fighting for his political life this year as he bids for a fifth term. Tea Party Express targeted Reid in its previous tours.
In March, Palin was the keynote speaker at a rally in Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, that kicked off the Tea Party Express' third cross-country tour.
Sharron Angle, who the Tea Party Express is supporting and assisting in her race against Reid, will not be at the kickoff event in Reno. The reason: The Tea Party Express bus tour is being funded by the organization's independent expenditure wing, and federal candidates are prevented by law from coordinating with independent expenditure groups.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is considering a bid for 2012, will speak at a rally on October 21 when the Tea Party Express tour rolls through San Diego. The cross-country caravan is scheduled to end in New Hampshire on November 1, the day before the midterm elections.
The Tea Party Express launched its first tour in late August of last year. That trip ended in nation's capital as part of a large anti-tax "March on D.C." event that attracted Tea Party activists from across the country. The group staged a second bus tour last autumn.
Earlier this year, Tea Party Express, which is based in Sacramento, California, also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads to help Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown in Massachusetts, who upset Democrat Martha Coakley in a January special election to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat.
This spring, the organization helped then little-known Angle win the Republican primary in Nevada, endorsing her and spending about a half-million dollars on ads. The Tea Party Express also successfully backed other Senate candidates, including Mike Lee in Utah, Joe Miller in Alaska, and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.
But not all the news for the Tea Party Express has been positive. This summer, the National Tea Party Federation, which seeks to represent the Tea Party political movement around the country, expelled the Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post one of its leaders, Mark Williams, wrote responding to criticism of the Tea Party movement from the NAACP. The story made national headlines and Williams later stepped down as spokesman for Tea Party Express.
People: TV Watch: Sarah Palin Has 'Flippin' Fun' on TLC Reality Show
Sarah Palin Has 'Flippin' Fun' on TLC Reality Show
Will America's best-known hockey mom hike up a snowy mountain, go bear-watching and let reality-show cameras into her home? You betcha!
In a trailer for Sarah Palin's Alaska, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and governor of the Last Frontier State is seen doing all that and much more.
"Oh gosh," she says as she hikes up a snow-blanketed trail. "We are somewhere that people dream about."
The show follows Palin, 46, on "flippin' fun" Alaskan adventures – with no shortage of wildlife – for an eight-week run, beginning Nov. 14 on TLC.
"I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy, old political office," she says. "I'd rather be out here being free."
Will America's best-known hockey mom hike up a snowy mountain, go bear-watching and let reality-show cameras into her home? You betcha!
In a trailer for Sarah Palin's Alaska, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and governor of the Last Frontier State is seen doing all that and much more.
"Oh gosh," she says as she hikes up a snow-blanketed trail. "We are somewhere that people dream about."
The show follows Palin, 46, on "flippin' fun" Alaskan adventures – with no shortage of wildlife – for an eight-week run, beginning Nov. 14 on TLC.
"I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy, old political office," she says. "I'd rather be out here being free."
Thursday, October 14, 2010
KULR8.com: Sarah Palin speech raises $130K for shelter
Sarah Palin speech raises $130K for shelter
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A speech by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helped raise $130,000 for a Missoula shelter for young mothers with addictions to alcohol or drugs.
Palin spoke in Missoula last month, calling Teen Challenge Montana an example of God's work in action. She said the 24-bed home was "part church, part school and part hard work."
Teen Challenge Montana is trying to raise $450,000 to fix its kitchen and dining room.
Director Jan Henderson tells KECI-TV they hope to build a commercial kitchen.
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A speech by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helped raise $130,000 for a Missoula shelter for young mothers with addictions to alcohol or drugs.
Palin spoke in Missoula last month, calling Teen Challenge Montana an example of God's work in action. She said the 24-bed home was "part church, part school and part hard work."
Teen Challenge Montana is trying to raise $450,000 to fix its kitchen and dining room.
Director Jan Henderson tells KECI-TV they hope to build a commercial kitchen.
CBS News: Political Hotsheet: "Sarah Palin's Alaska" Trailer Released
"Sarah Palin's Alaska" Trailer Released
TLC has released a trailer for "Sarah Palin's Alaska," the former governor and vice presidential candidate's reality-style television show. In it, Palin and her family are shown spending time together in their home state.
The trailer shows Palin cross-country skiing, kayaking, mushing behind sled dogs and driving an off-road vehicle, among other activities. (There are also bears.) It shows the family together, and at one point showing Palin saying to one of her daughters, "no boys, go upstairs!"
Says Palin in the trailer: "This is flippin' fun...How come we can't ever just be satisfied with tranquility?"
Later, she adds: "I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office. I'd rather be out here being free."
The show seems to focus to a significant degree on Palin's relationship with her family, and the trailer includes Palin saying, "family comes first, it's just gotta be that way."
"Sarah Palin's Alaska" debuts on November 14th.
TLC has released a trailer for "Sarah Palin's Alaska," the former governor and vice presidential candidate's reality-style television show. In it, Palin and her family are shown spending time together in their home state.
The trailer shows Palin cross-country skiing, kayaking, mushing behind sled dogs and driving an off-road vehicle, among other activities. (There are also bears.) It shows the family together, and at one point showing Palin saying to one of her daughters, "no boys, go upstairs!"
Says Palin in the trailer: "This is flippin' fun...How come we can't ever just be satisfied with tranquility?"
Later, she adds: "I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office. I'd rather be out here being free."
The show seems to focus to a significant degree on Palin's relationship with her family, and the trailer includes Palin saying, "family comes first, it's just gotta be that way."
"Sarah Palin's Alaska" debuts on November 14th.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Guardian: Sarah Palin refuses to close door on run for White House in 2012
Sarah Palin refuses to close door on run for White House in 2012
Former Alaska governor admits America may want 'someone a little more more conventional' as president
Sarah Palin has confirmed that she is not "closing the door" to a presidential run in 2012, promising that if she does run she would "take on the establishment on both sides of the aisle".
In an interview with the rightwing website Newsmax, Palin gives the clearest indication yet that she has her eyes set on a run for the White House in 2012. She says: "I just think that anyone is foolish to prematurely close any door that perhaps will be open for them."
But she adds that it is for the American people to decide, and gives a self-deprecating description of the kind of president she would make, were she to get to the Oval Office.
She describes herself as "a bit unconventional, out of the box, taking on the establishment on both sides of the aisle".
Palin even acknowledges her difficulties as a potential candidate in terms of her electability.
She says they may want "someone a little more conventional".
The electability question is likely to dog any Palin run on the White House. The point was underlined again today with a Bloomberg poll which suggested Palin would be trounced by 16 points were she to face Barack Obama in 2012.
Palin gives few interviews these days, and when she does she increasingly stresses foreign policy points, perhaps in an attempt to overcome the criticisms she faced when she ran as vice-presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2008. She talked to Newsmax about Iran, warning of the consequences if that country obtained a nuclear weapon.
"A nuclear weapon in that country's hands is not just Israel's problem or America's problem – it is the world's problem. It could lead to Armageddon. It could lead to World War III that could decimate so much of this planet."
Former Alaska governor admits America may want 'someone a little more more conventional' as president
Sarah Palin has confirmed that she is not "closing the door" to a presidential run in 2012, promising that if she does run she would "take on the establishment on both sides of the aisle".
In an interview with the rightwing website Newsmax, Palin gives the clearest indication yet that she has her eyes set on a run for the White House in 2012. She says: "I just think that anyone is foolish to prematurely close any door that perhaps will be open for them."
But she adds that it is for the American people to decide, and gives a self-deprecating description of the kind of president she would make, were she to get to the Oval Office.
She describes herself as "a bit unconventional, out of the box, taking on the establishment on both sides of the aisle".
Palin even acknowledges her difficulties as a potential candidate in terms of her electability.
She says they may want "someone a little more conventional".
The electability question is likely to dog any Palin run on the White House. The point was underlined again today with a Bloomberg poll which suggested Palin would be trounced by 16 points were she to face Barack Obama in 2012.
Palin gives few interviews these days, and when she does she increasingly stresses foreign policy points, perhaps in an attempt to overcome the criticisms she faced when she ran as vice-presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2008. She talked to Newsmax about Iran, warning of the consequences if that country obtained a nuclear weapon.
"A nuclear weapon in that country's hands is not just Israel's problem or America's problem – it is the world's problem. It could lead to Armageddon. It could lead to World War III that could decimate so much of this planet."
Thursday, October 7, 2010
7 Oct, Thursday, WAPI: Two Republican Candidates Won't Join Palin in California Rally
Two Republican Candidates Won't Join Palin in California Rally
CALIFORNIA) -- Though Sarah Palin might be heading to Delaware to show support for Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, some Republicans are wary of appearing with her.
Two of California’s marquee Republican candidates, Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina and gubernatorial contender Meg Whitman, will not be sharing a stage with Palin when she rallies voters in Anaheim, California later this month. The event is also expected to include Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
In response to their absence, The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney says, “The fact that these two Republican candidates would find someplace else to be on a Saturday afternoon less than a month before Election Day is not exactly a surprise, considering the political dynamics of this state. There are not enough Republican base voters out there to carry anyone to victory anymore in California. And independent voters -- who have been the main target of Ms. Whitman in recent days -- have a decidedly unfriendly view of Ms. Palin, here and across the country.”
CALIFORNIA) -- Though Sarah Palin might be heading to Delaware to show support for Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, some Republicans are wary of appearing with her.
Two of California’s marquee Republican candidates, Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina and gubernatorial contender Meg Whitman, will not be sharing a stage with Palin when she rallies voters in Anaheim, California later this month. The event is also expected to include Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
In response to their absence, The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney says, “The fact that these two Republican candidates would find someplace else to be on a Saturday afternoon less than a month before Election Day is not exactly a surprise, considering the political dynamics of this state. There are not enough Republican base voters out there to carry anyone to victory anymore in California. And independent voters -- who have been the main target of Ms. Whitman in recent days -- have a decidedly unfriendly view of Ms. Palin, here and across the country.”
7 Oct, 2010, Thursday, AP: 2 former presidents, Palin will be in Ala.
2 former presidents, Palin will be in Ala.
MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama will host three political heavyweights on the same day with former presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, as well as former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, at separate events.
Bush will speak Thursday evening at the University of Mobile's annual leadership banquet at the Mobile Convention Center.
On the same day, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are being honored by Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, where he will join workers at a home-building and repair project.
Palin is visiting Montgomery to speak at a fundraiser for Faulkner University.
MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama will host three political heavyweights on the same day with former presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, as well as former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, at separate events.
Bush will speak Thursday evening at the University of Mobile's annual leadership banquet at the Mobile Convention Center.
On the same day, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are being honored by Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, where he will join workers at a home-building and repair project.
Palin is visiting Montgomery to speak at a fundraiser for Faulkner University.
6 Oct, 1010, NYDailyNews: Sarah Palin would not be an effective President, 39% in Tea Party say, according to a new poll
Sarah Palin would not be an effective President, 39% in Tea Party say, according to a new poll
BY Sean Alfano
Is Sarah Palin selling weak tea?
The ex-Alaska governor may be a Tea Party star, but a new poll suggests she might not have much support if she runs for President, even among the fledgling movement's base.
Just 47% of people who say they support the Tea Party think Palin can be an effective President, 39% disagree, according to a CBS News Poll.
Among overall voters, 64% say she couldn't hack it in the White House and 48% hold an unfavorable view of the 2008 GOP Vice Presidential candidate.
However, Palin's pull has been on display during the run-up to the midterm elections as she's been credited as helping at least 25 candidates win primary races with her endorsement.
The budding kingmaker, though, encountered some controversy with one of the politicians she has backed.
This week, e-mails surfaced between Palin's husband, Todd, and Alaskan Senate contender Joe Miller that suggest a rift between the Tea Party politicians.
On Wednesday, the Palins and Miller tried to defuse talk of any tensions.
The controversy stems from Miller's appearance last month on Fox News Sunday when he declined to say if he thought Palin was qualified to be President.
Hours later, Todd Palin fired off an irate e-mail to Miller, as well as the treasurer for Palin's fundraising committee.
"Sarah put her a-- on the line for Joe and yet he can't answer a simple question," the angry wannabe First Dude wrote.
"Sarah spent all morning working on a Face book [sic] post for Joe, she won't use it, not now," he added.
Todd Palin downplayed the incident in a statement to The Weekly Standard Wednesday, saying, "we'd gotten our wires crossed."
"Joe hadn't said anything like what I'd been told," he said.
While Miller told Fox News Palin was qualified to be commander in chief, he again declined to give his endorsement.
"There are a number of others that are there as well -- any one of which would make a far better presidential candidate
than what we got right now in the Oval Office," Miller said. "But her decision to run is hers, hers alone.
For her part, Sarah Palin added her two cents on the matter via Twitter.
"There's no 'there, there' but the lamestream media will keep on tryin."
BY Sean Alfano
Is Sarah Palin selling weak tea?
The ex-Alaska governor may be a Tea Party star, but a new poll suggests she might not have much support if she runs for President, even among the fledgling movement's base.
Just 47% of people who say they support the Tea Party think Palin can be an effective President, 39% disagree, according to a CBS News Poll.
Among overall voters, 64% say she couldn't hack it in the White House and 48% hold an unfavorable view of the 2008 GOP Vice Presidential candidate.
However, Palin's pull has been on display during the run-up to the midterm elections as she's been credited as helping at least 25 candidates win primary races with her endorsement.
The budding kingmaker, though, encountered some controversy with one of the politicians she has backed.
This week, e-mails surfaced between Palin's husband, Todd, and Alaskan Senate contender Joe Miller that suggest a rift between the Tea Party politicians.
On Wednesday, the Palins and Miller tried to defuse talk of any tensions.
The controversy stems from Miller's appearance last month on Fox News Sunday when he declined to say if he thought Palin was qualified to be President.
Hours later, Todd Palin fired off an irate e-mail to Miller, as well as the treasurer for Palin's fundraising committee.
"Sarah put her a-- on the line for Joe and yet he can't answer a simple question," the angry wannabe First Dude wrote.
"Sarah spent all morning working on a Face book [sic] post for Joe, she won't use it, not now," he added.
Todd Palin downplayed the incident in a statement to The Weekly Standard Wednesday, saying, "we'd gotten our wires crossed."
"Joe hadn't said anything like what I'd been told," he said.
While Miller told Fox News Palin was qualified to be commander in chief, he again declined to give his endorsement.
"There are a number of others that are there as well -- any one of which would make a far better presidential candidate
than what we got right now in the Oval Office," Miller said. "But her decision to run is hers, hers alone.
For her part, Sarah Palin added her two cents on the matter via Twitter.
"There's no 'there, there' but the lamestream media will keep on tryin."
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
5 Oct, 2010, Politics Daily: Matt Lewis & the News: Aaron Sorkin Calls Sarah Palin 'Jaw-Droppingly Incompetent'
Aaron Sorkin Calls Sarah Palin 'Jaw-Droppingly Incompetent'
To promote his new movie, "The Social Network," screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin appeared on the first episode of CNN's "Parker Spitzer" Monday night. In the process, he made some pretty harsh political statements, including calling Sarah Palin an "idiot."
Sorkin went on to say that the former Alaska governor is a "remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."
(Hmm. Is this the way to promote a movie?)
Sorkin seemed to realize that his comments were probably not prudent as marketing strategy. He joked that he "actually went on TV and lost ticket buyers."
You can watch the video here: (Go to the link above, via your computer, to check it out)
To promote his new movie, "The Social Network," screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin appeared on the first episode of CNN's "Parker Spitzer" Monday night. In the process, he made some pretty harsh political statements, including calling Sarah Palin an "idiot."
Sorkin went on to say that the former Alaska governor is a "remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."
(Hmm. Is this the way to promote a movie?)
Sorkin seemed to realize that his comments were probably not prudent as marketing strategy. He joked that he "actually went on TV and lost ticket buyers."
You can watch the video here: (Go to the link above, via your computer, to check it out)
5 Oct, 2010, Gawker.com: Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Some testy emails between the camps of Sarah Palin and Alaskan Senate candidate Joe Miller, whom she endorsed, have leaked, and yikes! Basically, when Miller refused to directly answer a televised question regarding Palin's presidential qualifications, Todd Palin was... unhappy.
The Alaskan politics blog Mudlfats obtained these suckers. The first message shows Miller's surprise upon finding Todd Palin's nasty message in his inbox. The second is Todd Palin's original email, addressed to both Miller and SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford. He instructs Crawford to withhold further support for Miller in the wake of his ambiguous response to a Fox News question about Sarah Palin's qualifications for president. Then he turns to Miller and writes, "Joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one sided." (That's a question.)
Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Todd Palin probably would have preferred for these emails to stay private, obviously, but he's not breaking new, cynical ground here. Sarah Palin doesn't give out endorsements for fun. She's trying to build a power base in the next Congress should she decide to run for president — something she's clearly thinking about, and building the structure for, but not necessarily decided on.
But it's not surprising that Sarah Palin hasn't said much about Joe Miller in public recently. And so far, they're not challenging the veracity of this exchange.
Some testy emails between the camps of Sarah Palin and Alaskan Senate candidate Joe Miller, whom she endorsed, have leaked, and yikes! Basically, when Miller refused to directly answer a televised question regarding Palin's presidential qualifications, Todd Palin was... unhappy.
The Alaskan politics blog Mudlfats obtained these suckers. The first message shows Miller's surprise upon finding Todd Palin's nasty message in his inbox. The second is Todd Palin's original email, addressed to both Miller and SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford. He instructs Crawford to withhold further support for Miller in the wake of his ambiguous response to a Fox News question about Sarah Palin's qualifications for president. Then he turns to Miller and writes, "Joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one sided." (That's a question.)
Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn't Give Out Endorsements for Nothing
Todd Palin probably would have preferred for these emails to stay private, obviously, but he's not breaking new, cynical ground here. Sarah Palin doesn't give out endorsements for fun. She's trying to build a power base in the next Congress should she decide to run for president — something she's clearly thinking about, and building the structure for, but not necessarily decided on.
But it's not surprising that Sarah Palin hasn't said much about Joe Miller in public recently. And so far, they're not challenging the veracity of this exchange.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
3 Oct, 2010: Toronto Star: Sarah Palin's defence of Alaskan mine threatens Canadian fish
Sarah Palin's defence of Alaskan mine threatens Canadian fish
The Dolly Varden carp isn't much of a looker except, perhaps, to the opposite sex of the same scaly species. What is exceptional (other than a name from Dickens) is how the impending death of about a thousand of these duller members of the salmon family changed Sarah Palin's life and influenced the fate of fish across Canada.
Of course, they're not the only factor. Still, their role is impressive, considering these particular fish in southeastern Alaska's Lower Slate Lake are, in all likelihood, quite dead.
It's a sprawling story that begins with fish and grows to include mining conglomerates, politicians, lobbyists, promoters, environmental activists and, in Canada, lakes with names like Bucko, Bamoos, Fish (Teztan Biny to the Tsilhqot'in people), Sandy Pond and Ruby Creek.
Already, there are winners and losers; there will undoubtedly be more.
Let me explain.
In June, 2007, Palin was governor of Alaska with political ambitions as vast as the northern sky. She'd already hired a savvy East Coast PR firm to promote Alaska (and herself) but she needed serendipity. And that's exactly what pulled into Juneau in the form of a luxury cruise, sponsored by the conservative magazines The Weekly Standard and National Review. On board were elite American journalists, including William Kristol, Fred Barnes and Michael Gerson.
Palin hosted a lunch at the governor's mansion and, when her guests wanted to do something “touristy,” according to a 2008 story in The New Yorker, she had them ferried by helicopter some 70 kilometres to the proposed site of the Kensington gold mine. She gave a barnburner speech about the benefits of the mine — owned by Coeur Alaska, itself part the Coeur D'Alene empire — and the folly of environmentalists, who opposed dumping millions of tons of mining waste into the Lower Slate. Apparently, she knocked everybody's socks off.
Barnes was “dazzled” by Palin's handling of the mineworkers who met the group, wrote the magazine's Jane Mayer, quoting him as saying: “She's got real star quality.” Long before John McCain announced Palin as his GOP running mate in August 2008, Kristol predicted it on Fox News Sunday.
Alaska mine promoter Randy Wanamaker, a Tlingit tribal elder and consultant for Kensington deeply involved in the regulatory process to launch the project, wasn't surprised. As one of those who briefed Palin on the importance of the Kensington mine during her successful run for governor in 2006, he knew she had the gumption to sell it. As he explained from Juneau: “She got it. She got it right away.”
Before long, Alaska's doomed carp were before the U.S. Supreme Court, after a lower court ruled that dumping mine waste in the lake violated the Clean Water Act.
The stakes couldn't have been higher. Regulatory changes to the Fisheries Act in Canada in 2002 already allowed such dumping in Canada, but this was the American test case, the first since regulatory changes in that country opened the way to depositing toxic waste in pristine waters.
Coeur hired Ted Olson, who made history by winning the Bush v Gore case before the Supreme Court, which ended the vote count in Florida after the 2000 election (remember hanging chads?), and put George W. Bush in the White House. Olson was Bush's first solicitor-general. With Palin as governor, Alaska intervened in support of the mine, and Wanamaker is proud to have contributed to the environmental case for Kensington.
“This is a muskeg lake, very sterile,” he said. “The fish don't live in it, they just pass through it.”
Environmentalists urged the Supreme Court not to follow Canada's example. “Canada is a cautionary tale,” Catherine Coumans, of MiningWatch Canada and a contributor to a court brief by Canadian and U.S. scientists, told Canadian Press in 2009. “What I'm hoping is that the Americans won't make the same mistake we've made.”
In June 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Kensington in a 6-3 decision, and soon thereafter, the mine opened. Tom Waldo, the Earthjustice lawyer who represented the environmental coalition that won the lower court decision, told the Star: “Look, it's not like they are destroying an incredibly productive lake.
“But it's the precedent it sets. If they can destroy Lower Slate Lake, they can do it do it to any lake, stream or river in the country . . . We fear it's just the beginning.”
While disappointed to lose in the Supreme Court, he's “cautiously optimistic” the Obama administration will reverse the regulation.
The ruling has no legal clout in Canada. But activists here are worried. Says Ramsey Hart, an environmental scientist with MiningWatch in Ottawa: “It gives the industry more backing for its claim this is an acceptable practice. It's the ability of the government to make regulatory change and have it justified. It means Canada doesn't stand alone in dumping mine waste into lakes.”
It's been a long struggle. While both countries amended regulations in 2002 after intense lobbying efforts, the U.S. did so by changing the definition of “fill” under the Clean Water Act to include waste, and Canada rewrote the Fisheries Act to, in essence, allow lakes to be reclassified as “tailings impoundment areas.”
The list of threatened Canadian lakes appears fluid. By MiningWatch Canada's count, there are 13 lakes potentially on the chopping block, with another six grandfathered in under the 2002 regulations.
To date, the most contentious cases are Vale Inco's iron ore project at Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Fish Lake in B.C. A Sandy Pond environmental coalition has challenged the legality of the Fisheries Act “loophole” in federal court, and awaits a verdict. B.C.'s Tsilhqot'in First Nation, at the forefront of the fight against the plan to dump gold and copper tailings in Fish Lake by Taseko Mines of Vancouver, expects a final decision by the federal cabinet.
Gordon Peeling, chief executive of the Mining Association of Canada, says his association has sought intervenor status in the Sandy Pond case because there are potentially “serious implications” for his membership. (Officials with the Canadian organization and its sister in the U.S., the National Mining Association, claim their lobbying campaigns were spontaneous and independent, with no consultation.)
“You do realize that . . . (waste dumping) permits were allowed prior to 2002?” Peeling asked in a telephone interview from Ottawa. “The change was made to bring clarity to the process and provide more public input.” He calls it “the rare and exceptional circumstance” that a company opts to deposit waste in freshwater.
Hart disagrees: “Before, there had to be a ministerial order. You had to go to the minister to overwrite the existing provisions of the Fisheries Act.” Although cabinet approval is ultimately required on any project, he argues, “the process has been normalized. There are formal steps to take, a way to reclassify lakes and, for the most part, they go ahead and do it. . . . It's hardly a robust consultation process.
“It's the taking of a public trust — a lake — and handing it over to a company to use for its private benefit.”
Environmentalists say they don't indiscriminately oppose mining, but insist companies should handle the cost of environmentally sound waste disposal. Still, he believes the government has already made up its mind - and he may be right.
“Natural lakes can provide a long-term, stable environment for storing mine waste,” says the Fisheries Act website. “They have a small risk of failure when compared to artificial impoundment areas if no dams are required.”
Pushed at a public forum to close the loophole in 2008, then environment minister John Baird replied: “I'm not going to propose to change something I know we're not going to change.”
There's a similar sense of foreboding in B.C. Taseko recently appointed a director for its “Prosperity” project at Fish Lake. “What still has us puzzled is what the company thinks it has over the federal government that would allow it to act as if approval from Prime Minister Harper's cabinet is a foregone conclusion,” said Chief Marilyn Baptiste, of the Tsilhqot'in government, in a recent press release.
Her goal is to protect a lake long nurtured by her people and known for a unique species of rainbow trout, just as Sandy Pond activists hope to hold onto their own prize-winning catches. Meanwhile, these fish still swim, oblivious to the sad fate of their brethren, the Dolly Vardens, north in Alaska.
The Dolly Varden carp isn't much of a looker except, perhaps, to the opposite sex of the same scaly species. What is exceptional (other than a name from Dickens) is how the impending death of about a thousand of these duller members of the salmon family changed Sarah Palin's life and influenced the fate of fish across Canada.
Of course, they're not the only factor. Still, their role is impressive, considering these particular fish in southeastern Alaska's Lower Slate Lake are, in all likelihood, quite dead.
It's a sprawling story that begins with fish and grows to include mining conglomerates, politicians, lobbyists, promoters, environmental activists and, in Canada, lakes with names like Bucko, Bamoos, Fish (Teztan Biny to the Tsilhqot'in people), Sandy Pond and Ruby Creek.
Already, there are winners and losers; there will undoubtedly be more.
Let me explain.
In June, 2007, Palin was governor of Alaska with political ambitions as vast as the northern sky. She'd already hired a savvy East Coast PR firm to promote Alaska (and herself) but she needed serendipity. And that's exactly what pulled into Juneau in the form of a luxury cruise, sponsored by the conservative magazines The Weekly Standard and National Review. On board were elite American journalists, including William Kristol, Fred Barnes and Michael Gerson.
Palin hosted a lunch at the governor's mansion and, when her guests wanted to do something “touristy,” according to a 2008 story in The New Yorker, she had them ferried by helicopter some 70 kilometres to the proposed site of the Kensington gold mine. She gave a barnburner speech about the benefits of the mine — owned by Coeur Alaska, itself part the Coeur D'Alene empire — and the folly of environmentalists, who opposed dumping millions of tons of mining waste into the Lower Slate. Apparently, she knocked everybody's socks off.
Barnes was “dazzled” by Palin's handling of the mineworkers who met the group, wrote the magazine's Jane Mayer, quoting him as saying: “She's got real star quality.” Long before John McCain announced Palin as his GOP running mate in August 2008, Kristol predicted it on Fox News Sunday.
Alaska mine promoter Randy Wanamaker, a Tlingit tribal elder and consultant for Kensington deeply involved in the regulatory process to launch the project, wasn't surprised. As one of those who briefed Palin on the importance of the Kensington mine during her successful run for governor in 2006, he knew she had the gumption to sell it. As he explained from Juneau: “She got it. She got it right away.”
Before long, Alaska's doomed carp were before the U.S. Supreme Court, after a lower court ruled that dumping mine waste in the lake violated the Clean Water Act.
The stakes couldn't have been higher. Regulatory changes to the Fisheries Act in Canada in 2002 already allowed such dumping in Canada, but this was the American test case, the first since regulatory changes in that country opened the way to depositing toxic waste in pristine waters.
Coeur hired Ted Olson, who made history by winning the Bush v Gore case before the Supreme Court, which ended the vote count in Florida after the 2000 election (remember hanging chads?), and put George W. Bush in the White House. Olson was Bush's first solicitor-general. With Palin as governor, Alaska intervened in support of the mine, and Wanamaker is proud to have contributed to the environmental case for Kensington.
“This is a muskeg lake, very sterile,” he said. “The fish don't live in it, they just pass through it.”
Environmentalists urged the Supreme Court not to follow Canada's example. “Canada is a cautionary tale,” Catherine Coumans, of MiningWatch Canada and a contributor to a court brief by Canadian and U.S. scientists, told Canadian Press in 2009. “What I'm hoping is that the Americans won't make the same mistake we've made.”
In June 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Kensington in a 6-3 decision, and soon thereafter, the mine opened. Tom Waldo, the Earthjustice lawyer who represented the environmental coalition that won the lower court decision, told the Star: “Look, it's not like they are destroying an incredibly productive lake.
“But it's the precedent it sets. If they can destroy Lower Slate Lake, they can do it do it to any lake, stream or river in the country . . . We fear it's just the beginning.”
While disappointed to lose in the Supreme Court, he's “cautiously optimistic” the Obama administration will reverse the regulation.
The ruling has no legal clout in Canada. But activists here are worried. Says Ramsey Hart, an environmental scientist with MiningWatch in Ottawa: “It gives the industry more backing for its claim this is an acceptable practice. It's the ability of the government to make regulatory change and have it justified. It means Canada doesn't stand alone in dumping mine waste into lakes.”
It's been a long struggle. While both countries amended regulations in 2002 after intense lobbying efforts, the U.S. did so by changing the definition of “fill” under the Clean Water Act to include waste, and Canada rewrote the Fisheries Act to, in essence, allow lakes to be reclassified as “tailings impoundment areas.”
The list of threatened Canadian lakes appears fluid. By MiningWatch Canada's count, there are 13 lakes potentially on the chopping block, with another six grandfathered in under the 2002 regulations.
To date, the most contentious cases are Vale Inco's iron ore project at Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Fish Lake in B.C. A Sandy Pond environmental coalition has challenged the legality of the Fisheries Act “loophole” in federal court, and awaits a verdict. B.C.'s Tsilhqot'in First Nation, at the forefront of the fight against the plan to dump gold and copper tailings in Fish Lake by Taseko Mines of Vancouver, expects a final decision by the federal cabinet.
Gordon Peeling, chief executive of the Mining Association of Canada, says his association has sought intervenor status in the Sandy Pond case because there are potentially “serious implications” for his membership. (Officials with the Canadian organization and its sister in the U.S., the National Mining Association, claim their lobbying campaigns were spontaneous and independent, with no consultation.)
“You do realize that . . . (waste dumping) permits were allowed prior to 2002?” Peeling asked in a telephone interview from Ottawa. “The change was made to bring clarity to the process and provide more public input.” He calls it “the rare and exceptional circumstance” that a company opts to deposit waste in freshwater.
Hart disagrees: “Before, there had to be a ministerial order. You had to go to the minister to overwrite the existing provisions of the Fisheries Act.” Although cabinet approval is ultimately required on any project, he argues, “the process has been normalized. There are formal steps to take, a way to reclassify lakes and, for the most part, they go ahead and do it. . . . It's hardly a robust consultation process.
“It's the taking of a public trust — a lake — and handing it over to a company to use for its private benefit.”
Environmentalists say they don't indiscriminately oppose mining, but insist companies should handle the cost of environmentally sound waste disposal. Still, he believes the government has already made up its mind - and he may be right.
“Natural lakes can provide a long-term, stable environment for storing mine waste,” says the Fisheries Act website. “They have a small risk of failure when compared to artificial impoundment areas if no dams are required.”
Pushed at a public forum to close the loophole in 2008, then environment minister John Baird replied: “I'm not going to propose to change something I know we're not going to change.”
There's a similar sense of foreboding in B.C. Taseko recently appointed a director for its “Prosperity” project at Fish Lake. “What still has us puzzled is what the company thinks it has over the federal government that would allow it to act as if approval from Prime Minister Harper's cabinet is a foregone conclusion,” said Chief Marilyn Baptiste, of the Tsilhqot'in government, in a recent press release.
Her goal is to protect a lake long nurtured by her people and known for a unique species of rainbow trout, just as Sandy Pond activists hope to hold onto their own prize-winning catches. Meanwhile, these fish still swim, oblivious to the sad fate of their brethren, the Dolly Vardens, north in Alaska.
3 Oct: WSFA News: Tickets to see Sarah Palin at Faulkner selling fast
Tickets to see Sarah Palin at Faulkner selling fast
MONTGOMERY, AL - The Faulkner University Benefit Dinner featuring Sarah Palin is nearing capacity. Tickets are selling fast, and seats are running out.
"This is the biggest dinner in our history," said Ben Bruce, vice president for advancement at Faulkner. "We are so excited to bring Gov. Palin to Montgomery, and it's obvious that Montgomery is excited to see her!"
Tickets are still available, but very few. Call 334-386-7257 or order online at faulkner.edu.
The event is this Thurs., Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m., at the Renaissance Montgomery Convention Center.
MONTGOMERY, AL - The Faulkner University Benefit Dinner featuring Sarah Palin is nearing capacity. Tickets are selling fast, and seats are running out.
"This is the biggest dinner in our history," said Ben Bruce, vice president for advancement at Faulkner. "We are so excited to bring Gov. Palin to Montgomery, and it's obvious that Montgomery is excited to see her!"
Tickets are still available, but very few. Call 334-386-7257 or order online at faulkner.edu.
The event is this Thurs., Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m., at the Renaissance Montgomery Convention Center.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
1 Oct, 2010: ABC News: Political Punch: New Chief of Staff, With Alaskan Roots, Not Liked by Sarah Palin
New Chief of Staff, With Alaskan Roots, Not Liked by Sarah Palin
The low-key Pete Rouse, whom President Obama will name chief of staff on an interim basis later this morning, has at least one high-profile detractor: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Palin has suggested that Rouse was one of the driving forces behind attacks against her.
In Palin’s Going Rogue, she writes on a period when “a group from the Republican Governors Association traveled north to warn us that I was being 'Emanuelized' or 'Thumped.' As evidence, they pointed to a book called The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution. It's the story of how the Illinois congressman, now President Obama's chief of staff, had crafted and executed the ruthless 2006 campaign strategy that won back Congress for the Democrats. The RGA told us that Alaska was being given the 'Chicago treatment.'”
Continued Palin: "Their arguments fit the bill. Those who have seen this before traced the ethics attacks back to the period when I was being vetted for the vice presidential slot and also linked them to the partisan investigation known in the media as 'Troopergate.' Walt Monegan knew that I was well within my rights to remove him, and in normal times it would have been a nonissue, but a few days later, the troopers' union and a group of Democrats with close ties to a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, Pete Rouse, then Senator Obama's chief of staff, were demanding an investigation.”
Added the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, "Rouse had lived in Alaska many years before, returning only on a couple of occasions over the last decade. Yet, somehow, though he actually resides on the East Coast, and has for years, he still votes in Alaska through a voter registration address in Main Street in Juneau -- an address once shared by Alaska State Senator Kim Elton on voter rolls. Elton, who played a key role in advancing the Monegan issue as a ginned-up 'scandal,' has since moved to Washington and joined the Obama interior department as director of Alaska affairs.”
Palin also suggested that then-Sen. Obama lifted the incredibly common campaign theme of “change” from her gubernatorial campaign. “Every part of our campaign shouted 'Change!'” she wrote. “We were amused a couple of years later when Barack Obama, one of whose senior advisers (come to think of it) had roots in Alaska-- adopted the same theme.”
Rouse’s mother, the daughter of immigrants from Japan, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1978, Rouse flew to the 49th state in 1978 to visit a friend, Terry Miller, a Republican who had just been elected lieutenant governor. Rouse became his chief of staff, returning to Washington, DC, in 1983, and working on the Hill for Democrats. Rouse kept many ties to the Land of the Midnight Sun, including his voter registration. The Anchorage Daily News notes that in 2008 Rouse voted absentee from Juneau.
Writes the Daily News: “There's no record now that he's still registered in the state. In 2008, he could have legally remained on Alaska's voter roles as long as he didn't vote elsewhere and intended to return someday. Voters also are allowed to remain registered in Alaska if they are working somewhere in civil service of the United States — a description that pretty much encapsulates Rouse's career. (He does not show up on Alaska Permanent Fund dividend records.)”
After Rouse was mentioned as a potential replacement for Emanuel, Palin tweeted: “Alaska's Pete Rouse (@ least he claims to be ‘Alaska’)finally comes out of the shadows; Obama looks to appt him COS;strange doings in the WH.”
She added: “(Rahm's the smart one...bailing before Nov) Now, check out possible COS Pete Rouse. His background, voter reg in AK,etc. It's a small world.”
After Palin resigned her governorship, Palin adviser Meg Stapleton told TIME that attacks against the governor and her family were from the White House.
"A lot of this comes from Washington, D.C. The trail is pretty direct and pretty obvious to us," Stapleton told the magazine, alluding to The Thumpin'. "It's the Sarah Palin playbook. It's how they operate.” The magazine wrote that “Palin and her Alaska circle find evidence for their suspicions about the White House in the person of Pete Rouse, who lived in Juneau for a time before he became chief of staff to a young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. Rouse, they note, is a friend of former Alaska state senator Kim Elton, who pushed the first ethics investigation of Palin, examining her controversial firing of the state's public-safety commissioner. Both Rouse and Elton have joined the Obama Administration.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told TIME that “the charge is ridiculous. Obviously there is no effort ... From my vantage point, a lot of the criticism she is getting from others seems to be generated from self-inflicted wounds."
--Jake Tapper
The low-key Pete Rouse, whom President Obama will name chief of staff on an interim basis later this morning, has at least one high-profile detractor: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Palin has suggested that Rouse was one of the driving forces behind attacks against her.
In Palin’s Going Rogue, she writes on a period when “a group from the Republican Governors Association traveled north to warn us that I was being 'Emanuelized' or 'Thumped.' As evidence, they pointed to a book called The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution. It's the story of how the Illinois congressman, now President Obama's chief of staff, had crafted and executed the ruthless 2006 campaign strategy that won back Congress for the Democrats. The RGA told us that Alaska was being given the 'Chicago treatment.'”
Continued Palin: "Their arguments fit the bill. Those who have seen this before traced the ethics attacks back to the period when I was being vetted for the vice presidential slot and also linked them to the partisan investigation known in the media as 'Troopergate.' Walt Monegan knew that I was well within my rights to remove him, and in normal times it would have been a nonissue, but a few days later, the troopers' union and a group of Democrats with close ties to a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, Pete Rouse, then Senator Obama's chief of staff, were demanding an investigation.”
Added the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, "Rouse had lived in Alaska many years before, returning only on a couple of occasions over the last decade. Yet, somehow, though he actually resides on the East Coast, and has for years, he still votes in Alaska through a voter registration address in Main Street in Juneau -- an address once shared by Alaska State Senator Kim Elton on voter rolls. Elton, who played a key role in advancing the Monegan issue as a ginned-up 'scandal,' has since moved to Washington and joined the Obama interior department as director of Alaska affairs.”
Palin also suggested that then-Sen. Obama lifted the incredibly common campaign theme of “change” from her gubernatorial campaign. “Every part of our campaign shouted 'Change!'” she wrote. “We were amused a couple of years later when Barack Obama, one of whose senior advisers (come to think of it) had roots in Alaska-- adopted the same theme.”
Rouse’s mother, the daughter of immigrants from Japan, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1978, Rouse flew to the 49th state in 1978 to visit a friend, Terry Miller, a Republican who had just been elected lieutenant governor. Rouse became his chief of staff, returning to Washington, DC, in 1983, and working on the Hill for Democrats. Rouse kept many ties to the Land of the Midnight Sun, including his voter registration. The Anchorage Daily News notes that in 2008 Rouse voted absentee from Juneau.
Writes the Daily News: “There's no record now that he's still registered in the state. In 2008, he could have legally remained on Alaska's voter roles as long as he didn't vote elsewhere and intended to return someday. Voters also are allowed to remain registered in Alaska if they are working somewhere in civil service of the United States — a description that pretty much encapsulates Rouse's career. (He does not show up on Alaska Permanent Fund dividend records.)”
After Rouse was mentioned as a potential replacement for Emanuel, Palin tweeted: “Alaska's Pete Rouse (@ least he claims to be ‘Alaska’)finally comes out of the shadows; Obama looks to appt him COS;strange doings in the WH.”
She added: “(Rahm's the smart one...bailing before Nov) Now, check out possible COS Pete Rouse. His background, voter reg in AK,etc. It's a small world.”
After Palin resigned her governorship, Palin adviser Meg Stapleton told TIME that attacks against the governor and her family were from the White House.
"A lot of this comes from Washington, D.C. The trail is pretty direct and pretty obvious to us," Stapleton told the magazine, alluding to The Thumpin'. "It's the Sarah Palin playbook. It's how they operate.” The magazine wrote that “Palin and her Alaska circle find evidence for their suspicions about the White House in the person of Pete Rouse, who lived in Juneau for a time before he became chief of staff to a young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. Rouse, they note, is a friend of former Alaska state senator Kim Elton, who pushed the first ethics investigation of Palin, examining her controversial firing of the state's public-safety commissioner. Both Rouse and Elton have joined the Obama Administration.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told TIME that “the charge is ridiculous. Obviously there is no effort ... From my vantage point, a lot of the criticism she is getting from others seems to be generated from self-inflicted wounds."
--Jake Tapper
Was Sarah Palin booed on Dancing with the Stars?
Hannity mentioned this yesterday. Apparently the cameras focused on Sarah Palin while the boos were going on, but actually the booing was for a dancer whom the audience didn't think got high enough marks.
From MetrowNY
Fans Booing Palin or Judges?
Was the audience booing Sarah Palin on Dancing with the Stars or not?
During Monday nights performance on Dancing with the Stars dancers Derek Hough and his partner Jennifer Grey were in the process of being interview while they began to hear booing. When the host and dancing asked why there was such a reaction the camera cut to Sarah Palin and host Tom Bergeron. It would seem that we had our answer as to why the crowd was booing.
The following night during the results show co-host Brooke Burke stated that the reason there was booing in the audience was because of Hough’s and Grey’s scores. I find that hard to believe since the pair scored the highest out of all the contenders, receiving eights from all the judges.
Bergeron went on listing the same reason during his appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show Monday evening. To give an answer the controversy the show has even produced unedited footage showing that the crowd was in fact booing the judges.
The footage showed exchanges between themselves and members of the audience. There is also a few screams for “nines” that are heard, which weren’t audible during Monday nights viewing.
I have to admit when I first watched Monday night, I was almost positive they were booing Palin. Both Bergeron, Palin and her youngest daughter had awkward looks on their faces, which showed discomfort, and gave audiences a reason to assume the booing was intended for the previous vice presidential candidate.
I was quite upset Monday, I am by no means a fan of, or support Sarah Palin, but left me feeling bad for Palin’s youngest daughter.
While Dancing with the Stars has answered the questions as to why the fans were booing, I am sure there will still be some who are doubtful about the explanation.
From MetrowNY
Fans Booing Palin or Judges?
Was the audience booing Sarah Palin on Dancing with the Stars or not?
During Monday nights performance on Dancing with the Stars dancers Derek Hough and his partner Jennifer Grey were in the process of being interview while they began to hear booing. When the host and dancing asked why there was such a reaction the camera cut to Sarah Palin and host Tom Bergeron. It would seem that we had our answer as to why the crowd was booing.
The following night during the results show co-host Brooke Burke stated that the reason there was booing in the audience was because of Hough’s and Grey’s scores. I find that hard to believe since the pair scored the highest out of all the contenders, receiving eights from all the judges.
Bergeron went on listing the same reason during his appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show Monday evening. To give an answer the controversy the show has even produced unedited footage showing that the crowd was in fact booing the judges.
The footage showed exchanges between themselves and members of the audience. There is also a few screams for “nines” that are heard, which weren’t audible during Monday nights viewing.
I have to admit when I first watched Monday night, I was almost positive they were booing Palin. Both Bergeron, Palin and her youngest daughter had awkward looks on their faces, which showed discomfort, and gave audiences a reason to assume the booing was intended for the previous vice presidential candidate.
I was quite upset Monday, I am by no means a fan of, or support Sarah Palin, but left me feeling bad for Palin’s youngest daughter.
While Dancing with the Stars has answered the questions as to why the fans were booing, I am sure there will still be some who are doubtful about the explanation.
2 Oct, 2010 - Saturday: Bristol Palin in the news
Here's the headlines of what Google News' site has on Bristol Palin today.
Bristol Gets Political -- Daily Beast (blog) - Mike Rhodes - 9 hours ago
As she waltzes into American living rooms on Dancing With the Stars, Sarah Palin's oldest daughter is also ramping up her public speaking. ...
Bristol Palin's Dancing Dedication-- The Gossip Girls
Was the audience booing Sarah Palin on Dancing with the Stars or not? -- Metrowny.com (blog)
Bristol Palin speaks at Visalia fundraiser -- ABC30.com
Bristol Gets Political -- Daily Beast (blog) - Mike Rhodes - 9 hours ago
As she waltzes into American living rooms on Dancing With the Stars, Sarah Palin's oldest daughter is also ramping up her public speaking. ...
Bristol Palin's Dancing Dedication-- The Gossip Girls
Was the audience booing Sarah Palin on Dancing with the Stars or not? -- Metrowny.com (blog)
Bristol Palin speaks at Visalia fundraiser -- ABC30.com
2 Oct, 2010 - Articles covering Sarah Palin's stalker
There are a lot of articles today covering the news of the teenage kid who has been stalking Palin for a while.
Sarah Palin takes legal action against teen stalker -- Hindustan Times - 2 hours ago
Sarah Palin has taken out a protective order against a teenage stalker, who claims to have had an affair with her. Shawn Christy, 18, has allegedly been ...
Mama Grizzly Restrains Distraught Pennsylvania Man I -- nternetbits
Sarah Palin Gets A Restraining Order! -- PerezHilton.com
Sarah Palin in fear: Files for restraining order -- Examiner.com
I shared an article about this yesterday, so I won't post it again.
Sarah Palin takes legal action against teen stalker -- Hindustan Times - 2 hours ago
Sarah Palin has taken out a protective order against a teenage stalker, who claims to have had an affair with her. Shawn Christy, 18, has allegedly been ...
Mama Grizzly Restrains Distraught Pennsylvania Man I -- nternetbits
Sarah Palin Gets A Restraining Order! -- PerezHilton.com
Sarah Palin in fear: Files for restraining order -- Examiner.com
I shared an article about this yesterday, so I won't post it again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)