No one denies Sarah Palin’s magnetism is not only due to her physical beauty but also to her energetic and outgoing personality. She is a great networker, as her professional record as a joint-owner of the oil business she owns with her husband, Todd Palin, proves and she has that charismatic quality one cannot acquire but must be born with that attracts people of all venues. She is a born communicator. So, yes, Sarah Palin has a polarizing effect.

However, when it comes to know who the real Sarah Palin is, that is another story altogether. It is not surprising that she is nicknamed the “barracuda.” She will stop at nothing to get her own way. She is rigid and fanatical about her beliefs and definitely lacks compassion – as shown during her debate with Joe Biden, when the latter choke while relating his personal agony over the fate of his son who was hanging between life and death as the result of the accident that killed his wife and daughter. Sarah Palin kept going on what she learned by heart and was prepped for without any stop, or any allusion or any humane remark to Joe Biden’s tragedy.

Sarah Palin is good at projecting her goals and planning every step to achieve it. Alas, she has no scruples when it comes to lying, abusing her powers, using her children - especially her newborn, Trig, who has Down syndrome – and omitting part of the truth, embellishing it or simply fictionalizing it.

Or the record, Sarah Palin did not sell the state jet on EBay; the company that purchased it sold it on EBay. And, indeed she flies local airlines, but the state pays for airplane tickets for her whole family, another omission. She refused to live in the governor mansion and preferred to stay in her own home, but she forgot to mention that she is paid a per diem for living at her home. Has she paid taxes on her per-diem? She did fire her cook, but promptly rehired him in January 2008. Is it a true hunting sport to shoot a moose from a helicopter? I don’t think so. Where is the spirit of sportsmanship if man (or woman in this case) and beast are not on equal terms? She obviously enjoy the kill for the pure joy of killing not for the challenge since there is none from up there in the safety of a helicopter.

Her interviews on the network were a debacle proving her limited knowledge and her inability to give specific answers instead of generalities. Does she have an attention deficit problem? Is this one of the reasons she attended five colleges in five years to graduate? She was a freshman in 1982 at the Hawaii Pacific University. She attended two semesters in 1983 at the North Idaho College, then two semesters in the fall of 1984 and spring of 1985 at the University of Idaho, then one semester (fall) in 1985 at the Matanusha-Susitna College and finally the last required semesters in 1986 and 1987 at the University of Idaho where she finally graduated. Is being erratic one of the requirement of being a maverick?

As for her foreign policy knowledge, her schedule as a governor proved that she only spent 12 hours on that issue preparing for an Ice art/sculpture event where she escorted ONLY ONCE the foreign dignitaries – and that was on her first year in office – but didn’t see the use for a repeat performance the second year. And talk about uncalled federal spending, she requested and got money to study bears’ DNA. And that is only on e example.

Palin relished her role as an attack dog, with or without lipstick, as proved when she attacked Obama of being “pals around with terrorists,” in reference to his alleged association with Bill Ayers, a former radical anti-war advocate, who was active when Obama was eight years old. Ayers was a reformed man when Obama met him and they worked together with others in funding of education. Ayers was awarded Citizen of the Year in 1997 for his work on an education project. Furthermore, Obama was already questioned on his relation with Ayers during the primaries, so this is old news. I would be careful though in keeping attacking Obama with Ayers, because truth be known, Obama and Ayers worked with the Annenberg Foundation, the same Annenberg (Lenore) who funded McCain’s campaign. So by simple deduction, if Obama is befriending a terrorist (Ayers), so is Annenberg and so is McCain who accepted money from Annenberg.

What worries me more than anything else is the obvious pleasure Sarah Palin has in inciting hatred, violence and possible murderous consequences at all her rallies. Because she couldn’t careless about people’s opinion of her, she doesn’t care that she is being used the mouth-piece for vile attacks by the McCain campaign. She seems to thrive in doing all the dirty work.

We’ll know soon enough – like today when the “Troopergate” report will be posted online _ whether it is nothing new for Sarah Palin to lie, abuse her powers, refuse a subpoena, after promising to answer any and all questions on that issue, and manipulate anyone and anything, whether true or not, to achieve her goals.

Yet, despite all her downfalls, she is extremely likeable and it is ashamed that she is being used that way, but she doesn’t care; after all, she is in the limelight and no one else. One fact for sure, she is invigorating McCain’s campaign like no one ever did in the history of presidential campaign. Regardless of my own feelings for her, we should keep an eye on her because, knowledge or not, she has what it takes to get to the top.

LOVE HER OR HATE HER, SARAH PALIN MAKES NEWS.
By Johana Nadler

NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Friday
she thinks Barack Obama regrets not making Hillary Rodham Clinton his
running mate.

Palin praised Clinton’s “determination, and grit and even grace” during the
Democratic primaries, sounding an altogether different note than when she
suggested earlier this year that the New York senator was whining about
negative press coverage and campaigning in a way that was not advancing the
cause of women in politics.

“I think he’s regretting not picking her now,” Palin told ABC News.

Her comment brought a sharp rejoinder from Democratic Rep. Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz, on behalf of the Obama campaign: “Sarah Palin should
spare us the phony sentiment and respect. Governor Palin accused Senator
Clinton of whining.”

Palin, in the second part of her first major interview since she joined the
GOP ticket, also defended the nearly $200 million in federal pet projects
she sought as Alaska governor this year even as John McCain told a
television audience she had never requested them.

Palin was confronted in the interview with two claims that have been a
staple of her reputation since joining McCain: that she was opposed to
federal earmarks, even though her request for such special spending projects
for 2009 was the highest per capita figure in the nation; and that she
opposed the $398 million Bridge to Nowhere linking Ketchikan to an island
with 50 residents and an airport.

Palin actually turned against the bridge project only after it became a
national symbol of wasteful spending and Congress had pulled money for it.

Palin told ABC’s Charles Gibson that since she took office, the state had
“drastically” reduced its efforts to secure earmarks and would continue to
do so while she was governor.

“What I’ve been telling Alaskans for these years that I’ve been in office,
is, no more,” Palin said.

When Gibson noted she had requested money to study the mating habits of
crabs and harbor-seal genetic research - the kind of small-bore projects
that draw McCain’s ire - Palin said the specific requests had come through
universities and other public entities and weren’t worked out by lobbyists
behind closed doors.

On the Bridge to Nowhere, Palin said she had supported a link from the
mainland to the airport but not necessarily the costly bridge project.

“We killed the Bridge to Nowhere,” Palin said flatly, despite evidence she
had supported the project in its early stages.

On social issues, Palin reiterated her opposition to abortion rights -
parting with McCain, who supports legal abortion in cases of rape or incest.
Palin opposes those exceptions. Like McCain, she supports overturning the
Roe vs. Wade guarantee of abortion rights.

However, she came down against a constitutional ban on abortion, which many
social conservatives want. She said of abortion, “I think the states should
be able to decide that issue,” a position incompatible with a constitutional
ban. In that respect, her position is the same as McCain’s.

Palin refused to say whether she believed homosexuality was an orientation
or a choice. “I’m not one to judge,” Palin said.

Palin’s comments came after McCain sat for a feisty grilling on ABC’s “The
View,” where he claimed erroneously that his running mate hadn’t sought
money for federal pet projects.

“Not as governor she didn’t,” McCain said, ignoring the record.

Palin’s entry in the race has drawn support from many white women, and the
McCain campaign hopes in particular that she can pull Clinton’s supporters
away from Obama. It was in that spirit that she heaped praise on Obama’s
defeated rival in the face of her earlier criticisms.

“What determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that
were fired her way - she handled those well,” Palin said.

In March, Palin was asked about coverage of Clinton at a Newsweek forum, and
said: “Fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention
it, really. I mean, you gotta plow through that. You have to know what
you’re getting into … when I hear a statement like that coming from a
woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess
criticism, or you know maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, ‘That
doesn’t do us any good - women in politics.”

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the man Obama picked for his ticket, defended
Clinton this week when a voter told him it was best that he was chosen over
the New York senator. Biden said Clinton “might’ve been a better pick than
me.”

In Alaska, meanwhile, the investigator looking into whether Palin abused her
power as governor in trying to fire her former brother-in-law asked state
lawmakers for the power to subpoena Palin’s husband, Todd, a dozen others
and the phone records of a top aide. The state House and Senate judiciary
committees were expected to grant the request.

Palin told ABC she welcomed the investigation. “There’s nothing to hide in
this,” she said.

Palin was in Alaska on Friday and scheduled to attend a campaign rally in
Nevada on Saturday while McCain took the day off, a reflection of her
growing status as the GOP ticket’s celebrity draw.

On “The View,” McCain said that Palin had “ignited a spark” among voters but
acknowledged they parted ways on certain issues. The Arizona has said human
behavior is largely responsible for climate change and opposes drilling for
oil in a federally protected refuge, for example.

McCain appeared to back off a bit from his claim that Palin was the best
vice presidential pick in U.S. history when he joked, “We politicians are
never given to exaggeration or hyperbole.”

The GOP hopeful also stood by two debunked campaign commercials - one which
said Obama favored comprehensive sex education for kindergarten students and
another that suggested Obama had called Palin a pig. Both are factually
inaccurate.

Obama, as an Illinois state senator, voted for legislation that would teach
age-appropriate sex education to kindergartners, including information on
rejecting advances by sexual predators. And while Obama told a campaign
rally this week that McCain’s policies were like “putting lipstick on a
pig,” he never used the phrase in connection with Palin.

“Those ads aren’t true. They’re lies,” said “View” co-host Joy Behar.

“They’re not lies,” McCain said, insisting that Obama “chooses his words
very carefully” and should never had made the lipstick remark.

___

Associated Press writer Garance Burke in Wasilla, Alaska, contributed to
this report.

By BETH FOUHY , Associated Press

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CARSON CITY, Nev. - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made
her first solo campaign appearance outside her home state Saturday, sticking
largely to a speech that has boosted her popularity among Republican
faithful but drawn criticism for having misstatements.

The Alaska governor repeated her claim to have killed the now-famous “Bridge
to Nowhere,” which her running mate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has derided
as wasteful pork. Palin first approved of the project. She turned against it
only after it proved to be a political embarrassment.

“We’re going to take our case for reform, that needed reform in D.C., to
voters of every background, every party, no party,” she said. “We’re going
to shake things up.”

Palin spoke less than 20 minutes, using a teleprompter, at the late Saturday
event in a roller hockey rink. She drew a loud and boisterous crowd eager to
get their first look at the previously unknown candidate who’s brought a
fresh energy to the McCain bid. A group of roughly 5,000 broke into chants
of “Drill, baby, drill!” and “Sarah! Sarah!”

“We are going to drill now to make this nation energy efficient,” she said.
“You’re right, drill, baby, drill!”

Palin’s first steps alone on the trail without McCain have been cautious.
After a morning rally in Anchorage, the Alaska governor flew to Reno, Nev.
and drove 30 miles to the sleepy state capital, the sort of small community
she is expected to win over.

The rally was the only public event planned in Nevada before Palin headed to
Denver. She had no events scheduled Sunday, and is expected to rejoin McCain
on the campaign trail next week.

Palin’s bid to become the first female vice president and her appeal as
America’s latest “everywoman” have remained key elements of her stump
speech. She repeated her hopes “to break a glass ceiling once and for all”
and was introduced by Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki as a “hockey mom with
attitude.”

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press

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