Palin's Reformer Image Tainted by History of Ethical Lapses

Palin's Reformer Image Tainted by History of Ethical Lapses

When John McCain trotted out Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, his campaign and much of the U.S. news media depicted the Alaska governor as an ethics “reformer” whose meteoric political rise came from her confronting corruption within her own state Republican Party.

But a closer look at Palin's short political career reveals that she committed some of the same ethical lapses that she has attacked, especially during her unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2002. She also has shown herself to be a thin-skinned politician quick to see herself as the target of conspiracies.

In 2002, Palin – still mayor of Wasilla with a population of about 6,700 – ran much of her campaign for lieutenant governor out of Wasilla City Hall on city time, according to documents first obtained in July 2006 by an editor for Voice of the Times newspaper in Anchorage. (I obtained some of those documents from former Wasilla city officials this week.)

The documents show that Palin used city computers to manage her campaign and billed taxpayers for mailings, phone calls and literature. Palin also had her city secretary, Mary Bixby, print 75 thank-you notes to campaign donors and book a campaign related trip Ketchikan in May 2002 while on city time.

Former city officials said Palin and her campaign staff worked upwards of 10 hours a day using Wasilla City Hall as her campaign headquarters where campaign faxes were sent and received, and campaign staffers used city phones to solicit donations.

On Palin’s lieutenant governor candidate registration form with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, she used the e-mail the city gave her — — for “campaign chairperson” contact information and the Wasilla City Hall fax telephone number for "candidate information.”

Palin’s mayoral schedule for June 12, 2002 showed that she met with Herold Advertising Products in her office at City Hall. Soon after, the company faxed the city’s deputy administrator, John Cramer, "Sarah Palin Lieutenant Governor" artwork and an invoice for the work.

Former city officials said they were unaware whether Palin reimbursed the city for funds she used to promote her campaign. Neither spokesmen at the governor’s office in Alaska nor McCain-Palin campaign representatives returned telephone calls and e-mails for comment.

Building the Myth

Working at her city computer, Palin also sent three e-mails to Randy Ruedrich, the state’s Republican Party chairman, complaining about several endorsements she did not receive.

Ironically, as chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Palin reported Ruedrich, a fellow commissioner, to Gov. Frank Murkowski’s administration, accusing him of an ethics breach for conducting work for the state GOP on government time.

To obtain evidence of Ruedrich’s alleged malfeasance, Palin hacked into his computer, an ethical lapse in its own right. In January 2004, she resigned from the commission in protest over what she billed as corrupt practices.

Palin’s ethics complaint against Ruedrich gave her a reputation as an anti-establishment reformer at a time when the Alaskan Republican hierarchy was coming under scrutiny for corruption. Reudrich paid a $12,000 fine after an investigation revealed he had violated state ethics rules.

But in July 2006, Paul Jenkins, an editor for the conservative Voice of the Times, confronted Palin about her own apparent ethical breaches four years earlier. Her response was to insist, without explanation, that her situation was different than Reudrich's.
“I asked how her using a city computer for her campaign business was any different than Ruedrich's use of a state computer at the AOGCC to do Republican Party business,” Jenkins wrote in a column on July 7, 2006. “Not the same, she said, simply not the same.

“Then, she shifted gears and asked, ‘Is this what they've got to destroy my campaign? E-mails from 4 1/2 years ago?’ We had barely hung up — and I was wondering if there was any story in all this — when her campaign fired off a ‘news’ release headlined: ‘Palin Campaign Sees First Signs of Rumored Smear Campaign.’ Good grief. Frankly...I've never seen a politician come unhinged so quickly as Palin when asked a few straightforward questions.”

Jenkins excoriated his Alaska media colleagues for lapping up Palin’s “reformer” talking points. He said her “campaign [was] rooted in one thing: the perception that Palin somehow wears a halo and is not your average, run-of-the-mill politician.”

This editor for Voice of the Times, which bills itself as “A Conservative Voice for Alaska,” concluded with a reality check that could very well apply to the GOP talking points being used today to sell Palin to the American electorate.

“When her goody-two-shoes act starts to crumble — and going nuts because of a few obvious questions seems a first crack — folks may see her for the rank politician she is, and not necessarily a good one at that,” Jenkins wrote. source: The Public Record

 

If this is true, it takes one of the very few things I thought good about her away.

 

The people in Alaska obviously love her for her for the stance she has taken against the corruption. Also, according to most reports, she has been very open and willing for people to any and all investigations. In my opinion, with that alone, she is showing that she has nothing to hide. I don't think we'll find anything serious except for left-winged allegations trying to stop the overflow of support she's been getting from conservatives.

 

Who cares if they love her if she did what is reported? To me you're pulling nothing more than 'hell lets put the blinders on as it's our guy/gal!'

 

This is from an extremely dubious "news source."

 

Ewww, a Jason Leopold oped?

I've seen his name out there on the far left loony sites. Isn't he a convicted felon, former drug/alcohol abuser, troofer and the guy that broke the mythical Karl Rove indictment non-story?

 

Uhhh, no, I didn't say that at all. I was simply making the comment that up until this point most reports show that she has been very open to any investigations. That gives me the idea that they will find nothing and that this is just speculation, not that it isn't serious if they do find these allegations to be true.

 

Anchorage daily news is 'dubious' or not?

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003845449

 

Anchorage daily news wasn't sourced above.

 

I just want to make note that the source of this article that is copy and pasted is a very liberal site. It is quite likely that portions are misconstrued to make it sound like something that really never happened. They knew other liberals would fall for it though. Just be careful about which sites you visit to get your news.

 

Looks like greg mitchell's hit piece on huffpo (no surprise someone would be over there ) is just starting to make it's rounds.

 

hmmm yet I have found some info to back it up from a different source.

I love how people have no problem dismissing a source simply because it's 'liberal' but have no problem using 'conservative' sources all the time, without doing any research to see if the item in question exists outside of the 'liberal source'

Shows who truly wants to know what is actually going on, and who only cares when it supports their agendas.

 

Good point. The additional link was also provided through a story that's just coming out of huffpo, yet another liberal site. In the latter source, it's no surprise that it was derived from huffpo. He'll quickly dismiss anything from a perceived "Christian" site, but has a record of posting stories from liberal sites like huffpo.

 

Why are the non-bias sources not quoted? btw, I rarely, if ever, use bias related websites.

In fact, I don't start many threads. I respond to a lot of other peoples posts and just point out holes in their side of the fence, even if I agree with them on their point.

 

My point behind 'liberal' V 'conservative' was not pointed directly at you

Non biased, I did post a link where it states where some of the info comes from.

See above.

 

Someone's peeking

 

I think so, yes, no, yes.

He also has broken many stories about Enron and the White House and California's energy crisis. I find much of his independent reporting very accurate and on the money. I see nothing about this piece that casts any doubt on it. If you are familiar with his work in California, he has equally exposed the left and democrats, especially relating to our former governor Davis - so I do not think he is just some left leaning ideologue. But everyone can make up their own minds.

 

one thing is for sure
the old man did not researched her enough as in a few days so many things are comming out.
that shows a lot about his judgment, and he wants to be the president
maverick or reckless that is the question that comes up

 

We agree, Palin is by far the best person of the final four. No question about it.

 

the sad thing is that you are right. the rest of the republican are really horrifying. so the choice was between a liberal independent democrat or palim. good thing that he don't have to fill all those post in an administration. that would create a big problem and he might even have to look outside the country to find qualified people loooooooooool