http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_PalinFD: I am going to put some the highlights below. Wiki text content changes as different authors and groups struggle with the text.
Time's Take on the Selection:
Why McCain Picked Palin
Friday, Aug. 29, 2008 By MICHAEL GRUNWALD AND JAY NEWTON-SMALL
Brian Wallace / Juneau Empire / AP
John McCain needs to persuade swing voters that he's willing to take on the Republican establishment. He needs to persuade conservatives that he isn't squishy about social issues. And he needs to close the gender gap. When you think about it, the real surprise about Sarah Palin's selection as his running mate is that it's such a
Palin may be an obscure 44-year-old first-term governor and mother of five from Wasilla, Alaska, but in many ways she reinforces John McCain's narrative. She's risen to power by battling corruption in her own state's Republican establishment, exposing misconduct by the state GOP chairman and challenging the incumbent GOP governor.
She's pro-life in practice as well as in theory; she recently gave birth to a son that she knew would have Down Syndrome. She'll be the first woman on a Republican ticket, which could appeal to Hillary Clinton voters and help reduce Barack Obama's advantage among women.
Her son is about to deploy to Iraq. She's an ice fisherman, a moose hunter and a lifetime NRA member. She killed her state's pork-laden Bridge to Nowhere that McCain has ridiculed on the trail. She's a fresh face to counteract Obama's message of change.
One more point in her favor: In the topsy-turvy election of 2008, the Last Frontier is actually a battleground state—and Palin is Alaska's most popular politician.
There are, of course, real risks to the choice. Palin's presence will make it awkward for McCain to harp on Obama's inexperience, much less play that attack-dog role herself.She's only served as governor one month longer than Obama's been running for president, and she's argued that her youth helped her clean out corruption in Juneau, echoing an Obama talking point.
"The age issue, I think, was more significant in my career than the gender issue; your resume isn't as fat as your opponent's, that kind of thing," Palin told TIME last month. "I don't have 30 years of political experience under my belt but that's a good thing. I've never been part of a good-ol'-boys club."
Still, it's a long leap from the Wasilla city council to the White House, and the top consideration for any candidate for the number-two job is readiness for the number-one job, an issue that may weigh more on voters' minds when the potential number one is 72 years old.
And Palin has not always seen eye to eye with McCain. Her strong support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will contrast with McCain's muted opposition, and though she has no foreign policy experience, she has criticized the lack of a long-term plan for Iraq. She also surprised her state's conservatives by vetoing a bill that would have denied state benefits to same-sex couples.
Her profile as a good government crusader may not be such an easy sell, either. She was endorsed in an ad by Senator Ted Stevens, who is now under indictment, and she faces an investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner; there have been allegations that she sacked him because he refused to fire a state trooper who's involved in a custody battle with her sister.
Palin certainly does have an unconventional profile for a national politician. She won Miss Wasilla in 1984 and competed in the Miss Alaska contest. She's worked as a TV sports announcer.Her husband, Todd Palin, is part native Eskimo and a champion snowmobiler; he's known in Alaska as the First Dude.
But politically, in a year where the Republican brand is so tarnished, Palin will help McCain make the case that he's a different kind of Republican. It might be his best shot to be America's First Dude.
FD: I attempted to put some more family photos up, but you might want to visit the blogg below for more candids of the candidate and her family, including The Dude.
http://camp2008victorya.blogspot.com/2008/03/hillary-clintons-evisceration-of-obama.html
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FD: I noticed this on Alaska bloggs....
Alaska Politics
This is the place to talk about Alaska politics -- state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier may never have been more interesting than right now -- the broad and still-evolving corruption investigation, a big election, a popular governor, powerful members of Congress under scrutiny, and the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.
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Sarah Louise Palin (IPA: /peɪlɪn/; born February 11, 1964) is the governor of Alaska, and the presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee for the November 2008 election.
Palin was elected governor in 2006 after defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election. She was the youngest person, and the first woman, to be elected governor of Alaska. She gained attention for publicizing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders. Before becoming governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996. She also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002.
Palin holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Idaho.
On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain made the historic[2][3] [4]choice of picking Palin to serve as his running mate. She will be the first female vice presidential candidate of the Republican Party and the second female vice presidential candidate representing a major political party. She will also be the first politician from Alaska to run on a national ticket in a campaign for president or vice president.
Early life
Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Sarah (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach.[5][6] She has English, Irish, and German ancestry.[5] Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.[6] The Heaths were avid outdoors enthusiasts; Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.[6]
At Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was the head of the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes.[6] She was the point guard and captain for the basketball team. She helped the team win the Alaska small-school championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds, despite a stress fracture in her ankle.[6] She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play,[6] and was the leader of team prayer before games.[6]
In 1984, after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year, Palin finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant[7] which won her a scholarship to help pay her way through college.[6] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.[8][9]
Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics. She married Todd Palin, who had been her boyfriend from high school onward, on August 29, 1988, and briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband.[6]
Family and personal life
Palin's husband, Todd,[66] works for BP energy corporation at an oil field on Alaska's North Slope[67] and works as a fisherman in his hometown in the summers. Todd is a champion snowmobiler, winning the 2,000-mile (3,200 km) "Iron Dog" race four times.[6] Todd is one-eighth Yup'ik. The two eloped shortly after Palin graduated from college; when they learned they needed witnesses for the civil ceremony, they recruited two residents from the old-age home down the street.[6] The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.
On September 11, 2007, the Palins' then eighteen-year-old son Track, eldest of five, joined the Army.[68] He now serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq on September 11, 2008.[69] She also has three daughters: Bristol, Willow and Piper.[11]
On April 18, 2008, while in office as governor, Palin gave birth to her second son and fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.[70] She returned to the office three days after giving birth.[16] Her decision to have the baby after prenatal genetic testing revealed he had the disorder was applauded by the pro-life community.[71]
Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.[18][72] Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. In December 2007, Palin posed for a photo spread in the fashion magazine Vogue.[73]
Conservation policies
In May 2008, Palin objected to the decision of Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican Secretary of the Interior for the United States, to list polar bears as an endangered species.[35]
Social issues
Palin is pro-life.[36] While running for Governor of Alaska, Palin supported the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in schools;[37] however, she noted she would not use "religion as a litmus test, or anybody's personal opinion on evolution or creationism" as criteria for selection to the school board.[37]
She opposes same-sex marriage, but she has stated that she has gay friends and is receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination.[15]
Palin complied with an Alaskan state Supreme Court order and signed an implementation of same-sex benefits into law under protest, stating that legal options to avoid doing so had run out.[38] [39] She supported a non-binding referendum on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter.[40] Alaska was one of the first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.[41] Palin has stated that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment.[15]
Palin's first veto was used to block legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska's attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.[39]
Ok.. someone needs to tell me why McCain is on this ticket.
She is "man-enough" for both of them. I think she is just using him to as a stepping stone to become President of the USa.
Happy Birthday, McCain!
You really did surprise USa with her...
Does she capture Osama bin Laden in October?
Is going to be the October Surprise this year?
You know what they say: if you need a job done, give it to a woman.
Does he look like a moose?
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