Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin
11th Governor of Alaska
Incumbent
Assumed office December 4, 2006
Lieutenant	Sean Parnell
Preceded by	Frank Murkowski
Chairperson, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
In office 2003–2004
Preceded by	Camille Oechsli Taylor
Succeeded by	John K. Norman
Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
In office 1996–2002
Preceded by	John Stein
Succeeded by	Dianne M. Keller
City Council Member, Wasilla, Alaska
In office 1992–1996
Personal details
Born	(1964-02-11) February 11, 1964 Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.
Political party	Republican (1982 - Present)
Spouse	Todd Palin (since 1988)
Children	Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, Trig
Residence(s)	Wasilla, Alaska
Alma mater	University of Idaho
Profession	Politician, Journalist
Signature
Website	Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
More detailed articles about Sarah Palin: Political positions  · Electoral history McCain–Palin campaign, 2008 Governorship of Alaska, 2006–present Mayoralty of Wasilla, 1996–2002 Public image

Sarah Louise Heath Palin (Template:Pron-en; born February 11, 1964) is the governor of Alaska and the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election.

She was on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected governor of Alaska in November 2006, becoming the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position in Alaska.

On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain announced that he had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate. She was nominated at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Palin is the first woman and the first Alaskan to run on the Republican party's presidential ticket.

Early life and education

Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, the third of four children of Sarah Heath (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach. Palin has English, German, and Irish ancestry. Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. As a child, she would sometimes go moose hunting with her father before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.

Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, a city located 29 miles (47 km) north of the port of Anchorage. She was the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of the school's girls' basketball team. She helped the team win the Alaska small-school basketball championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds of the game, despite having an ankle stress fracture. She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play; she was the leader of the team prayer before games.

In 1982, Palin enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College but left after her first semester, transferring in 1983 to North Idaho College and then to the University of Idaho. She attended Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska for one term, returning to the University of Idaho to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987.

In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant beauty contest, then finished third (second runner-up) in the Miss Alaska pageant, at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.

In 1988, she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska, and for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as a sports reporter. She also helped in her husband’s commercial fishing family business.

City council of Wasilla

See also: Electoral history of Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin was elected twice (1992 and 1995) to the city council of Wasilla. Palin says she entered politics because she was concerned that revenue from a new Wasilla sales tax would not be spent wisely.

She ran for Wasilla city council in 1992, at age 28, against John Hartrick, a local telephone company worker, on a promise to bring "my progressive, competitive attitude" to government. She won 530 votes to John Hartrick’s 310. On the council, she successfully opposed a measure to curtail the hours at Wasilla's bars by two hours, which surprised Hartrick because she was then a member of a church that advocated abstinence from alcohol.

After serving on the city council for three years, she ran for reelection against R’nita Rogers in 1995, winning 413 votes to 185 for Rogers. According to Laura Chase of Wasilla, Palin as city councilwoman mentioned to her colleagues in 1995 that she saw the book Daddy's Roommate in the library and did not think it belonged there. According to the City of Wasilla Library records, there was never a request for the library to remove the book.

Palin did not complete her second term on the city council because she ran for mayor in 1996. Throughout her tenure on the city council and the rest of her career, Palin has been a registered Republican.

Mayor of Wasilla

Main article: Mayoralty of Sarah Palin

Palin served two terms (1996–2002) as mayor of Wasilla. At the conclusion of Palin's tenure as mayor in 2002, the town had about 6,300 residents, and it is now the fifth largest population center in the state.

In 1996, Palin defeated three-term incumbent mayor John Stein, on a platform targeting wasteful spending and high taxes and introducing abortion, gun rights, and term limits as campaign issues. Although the election was a nonpartisan blanket primary, the state Republican Party ran advertisements on her behalf.

First term

Shortly after taking office in October 1996, Palin eliminated the position of museum director and asked for updated resumes and resignation letters from top officials, including the police chief, public works director, finance director and librarian. Palin stated this request was to find out their intentions and whether they supported her. She temporarily required department heads to get her approval before talking to reporters, saying that they first needed to become acquainted with her administration's policies. She hired a city administrator and reduced her own salary from $68,000 to $64,000.

According to city librarian Mary Ellen Emmons, Palin inquired in October 1996 as to whether Emmons would object to library censorship. Palin later spoke publicly about the issue, saying she had no particular books or other material in mind for removal. No books were removed from the library. Emmons recalls Palin raising the possibility of people circling the library in protest, to which Emmons replied that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would get involved.

Palin fired Emmons on January 30, 1997. This was the same day that Palin gave a similar letter to Police Chief Stambaugh; Emmons as well as Stambaugh had publicly supported Palin's defeated mayoral opponent, John Stein. Palin rescinded the firing of Emmons the next day after meeting with her and after expressions of public support for Emmons. Palin stated that her concerns had been alleviated when Emmons agreed to support Palin's plan to merge the town's library and museum operations.

Palin's January 30, 1997 letter to Police Chief Stambaugh stated: "I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla..." Stambaugh claimed that his firing was retaliation for his opposition to letting residents carry concealed weapons and his opposition to letting bars stay open late at night, citing Palin's statement that the National Rifle Association did not like him. Stambaugh filed a lawsuit, but the case was dismissed; the court concluded the mayor had the right to fire city employees for nearly any reason, including a political one.

Despite a turbulent first year, by the end the term Palin had gained broad favor with Wasilla voters. She kept a jar with the names of Wasilla residents on her desk, and once a week she pulled a name from it and picked up the phone; she would ask: "How's the city doing?" Using income generated by a 2% sales tax that was enacted while she was on the city council, Palin cut property taxes by 75% and eliminated personal property and business inventory taxes. Tapping municipal bonds, she made improvements to the roads and sewers and increased funding to the Police Department. She also oversaw new bike paths and procured funding for storm-water treatment to protect freshwater resources. At the same time she reduced spending on the town museum and blocked construction of a new library and city hall. Palin ran for re-election against Stein in 1999 and won; with a majority of 74%. Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

Second term

During her second term as mayor, Palin introduced a ballot measure proposing the construction of a municipal sports center to be financed by a 0.5% sales tax increase. The $14.7 million Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex was built on time and under budget, but the city spent an additional $1.3 million because of an eminent domain lawsuit caused by the failure to obtain clear title to the property before beginning construction. Primarily as a result of the sports complex, $5.5 million for street projects, and $3 million for water improvement projects, the city's debt grew from an approximate $1 million to about $25 million, though voters approved both the sales tax increase and bond for street improvements. A city council member defended the spending increases as being caused by the city's growth during that time.

She also hired the Anchorage-based lobbying firm of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh to lobby for earmarks for Wasilla. The effort was led by Steven Silver, a former chief of staff for Senator Ted Stevens, and it secured nearly $27 million in funds. The earmarks included $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project linking Wasilla and the ski resort community of Girdwood. Term limits prevented Palin from running for a third term as mayor in 2002.

Post-mayoral years

In 2002, Palin ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a five-way Republican primary. The Republican ticket of U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski and Leman won the November 2002 election. When Murkowski resigned from his long-held U.S. Senate seat in December 2002 to become governor, he considered appointing Palin to replace him in the Senate, but instead chose his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, who was then an Alaska state representative.

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She chaired the Commission beginning in 2003, and served as Ethics Supervisor. Palin resigned in January 2004, protesting what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members.

After resigning, Palin filed a formal complaint against Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner Randy Ruedrich, also the chair of the state Republican Party, accusing him of doing work for the party on public time and of working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. She also filed a complaint against Gregg Renkes, a former Alaska Attorney General, accusing him of having a financial conflict of interest in negotiating a coal exporting trade agreement, while Renkes was the subject of investigation and after records suggesting a possible conflict of interest had been released to the public. Ruedrich and Renkes both resigned and Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.

From 2003 to June 2005, Palin served as one of three directors of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that was designed to provide political training for Republican women in Alaska. In 2004, Palin told the Anchorage Daily News that she had decided not to run for the U.S. Senate that year, against the Republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski, because her teenage son opposed it. Palin said "How could I be the team mom if I was a U.S. Senator?"

Governor of Alaska

Main article: Governorship of Sarah Palin

Palin in Kuwait visiting soldiers of the Alaska National Guard, July 24, 2007.

In 2006, running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens gave a late endorsement to Palin and filmed a television commercial with her during the gubernatorial campaign.

Despite spending less than her Democratic opponent, she won the gubernatorial election in November, defeating former governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%. Palin became Alaska's first female governor and at age 42, the youngest governor in Alaskan history. She is the state's first governor to have been born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood, and the first not to be inaugurated in Juneau; she chose to have the ceremony held in Fairbanks instead. She took office on December 4, 2006 and has been very popular with Alaska voters. Polls taken in 2007 early in her term showed her with a 93% and 89% popularity among all voters. A poll taken in September 2008 shows her popularity at 82%. Palin declared that top priorities of her administration would be resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.

Palin had championed ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling it a "first step" declaring that she remains determined to clean up Alaska politics. In her State of the State speech on Jan 17, 2008, she declared that it was time for Alaska to "grow up" and not continue to rely on federal government earmarks (see Federal Funding section below).

Palin with Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell, December 4, 2006.

Palin promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), where such development has been the subject of a national debate. In March 2007, Palin put forward an Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) to encourage building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. In January 2008, Palin announced that TransCanada Corporation was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant. In August 2008, Palin signed a bill awarding TransCanada Pipelines $500 million in seed money and a license to build and operate the $26 billion pipeline to transport gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48 through Canada.

Palin has sometimes broken with the state Republican establishment. For example, she endorsed Sean Parnell's bid to unseat the state's longtime at-large U.S. Representative, Don Young. Palin also publicly challenged Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the ongoing federal investigation into his financial dealings. Shortly before his July 2008 indictment, she held a joint news conference with Stevens, described by The Washington Post as being "to make clear she had not abandoned him politically."

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport and in 2007 traveled for the first time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited the Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard at several bases. On her return trip to the U.S., she visited injured soldiers in Germany.

According to New York Times and USA Today news reports, Palin has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and blurred the line between government and personal grievance. Palin teamed with Democrats in the Legislature to raise taxes on the oil industry and to pursue a populist agenda that toughened ethics rules, while taking few steps to advance culturally conservative causes.

Budget and spending

Palin at the Alaska Airmen's Trade Show in Anchorage, Alaska in May 2008

In June 2007, Palin signed a $6.6 billion operating budget into law. At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to $1.6 billion. In 2008 Palin again wielded the veto pen, vetoing $286 million and cutting or reducing funding for 350 projects from the FY09 capital budget.

Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet, a purchase made by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005, on a state government credit account, against the wishes of the legislature. In August 2007, the jet was listed on eBay, but the sale fell through, and the plane was later sold for $2.1 million through a private brokerage firm. Palin lives in Juneau during the legislative session and lives in Wasilla and works out of offices in Anchorage the rest of the year. Since the office in Anchorage is far from Juneau, while she works there she is legally entitled to a $58 per diem travel allowance, which she has taken (a total of $16,951), and to reimbursement for hotels, which she has not, choosing instead to drive about 50 miles to her home in Wasilla. She also chose not to use the former governor's private chef. In response to criticism for taking the per diem, and for $43,490 in travel expenses for the the times her family accompanied her on state business, the governor's staffers said that these practices were in line with state policy, and that Palin's gubernatorial expenses are 80% below those of her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. The Alaska state finanace director said that "the governor is entitled to a per diem, and she claims it," though she questioned the use of state funds for Palin's children, as the funds are intended only for "conducting state business. "Leighow (Gubernatorial spokesperson) said many of the hundreds of invitations Palin receives include requests for her to bring her family, placing the definition of "state business" with the party extending the invitation."

"Bridge(s) to Nowhere"

See also: Gravina Island Bridge and Knik Arm Bridge (Don Young's Way)

Two Alaskan bridge construction proposals supported by Palin in her 2006 gubernatorial race have been derided as a symbol of pork barrel spending: a proposed bridge connecting Ketchikan to Gravina Island (population 50) where its airport lies; and "Don Young's Way" (named after Alaska's Congressman who strongly supported it), a proposed bridge crossing Knik Arm to spur development and provide an alternate route from Anchorage to Wasilla. The nickname "Bridge(s) to Nowhere" has been used for the Gravina Island Bridge alone or, more rarely, both bridges. In 2005, the $442 million earmark to build the two bridges was hidden within an omnibus 2006 budget bill passed by Congress, but was later stripped from the bill under strong criticism; Congress gave the transportation money to Alaska with no strings attached. In 2006, Palin ran for governor on a "build-the-bridge" platform, attacking "spinmeisters" for insulting local residents by calling them "nowhere" and urging speed "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

Eight months after becoming Governor and a month after the bridge received sharp criticism from John McCain, Palin canceled the Gravina Bridge. She said "it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money" on it, given "the public’s attitude" based on "inaccurate portrayals of the projects." Palin directed Alaskan officials "to look for the most fiscally responsible alternative," rather than expending state resources to build the bridge or using the transportation funds Congress gave Alaska in place of the original bridge earmark. Alaska will not return any of the $442 million to the federal government and is spending a portion of the funding, $25 million, on a Gravina Island road to the place where the bridge would have gone, expressly so that none of the money will have to be returned. Palin continues to support funding the Knik Arm Bridge, estimated as more than twice as expensive as the Gravina Bridge would have been; in June 2008, she ordered a review of its costs and prospects.

In the 2008 presidential election, McCain and Palin have claimed in speeches and in advertising that Palin "stopped the bridge" and said "no thanks" to Congress on funds for the bridges without mentioning Palin's prior support for the first Bridge to Nowhere, her continued support for the second Bridge to Nowhere, or the fact that when she said "no thanks" to Congress, Palin determined that Alaska should keep the entire $442 million originally earmarked for both bridges. This discrepancy has caused a wide variety of media sources across the political spectrum to claim the McCain/Palin campaign is "lying" or "misleading" on this point. See above and sources and text of Sarah Palin#Vice-Presidential Campaign.

Gas pipeline

See also: Alaska Gas Pipeline

In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. This negated a deal by the previous governor to grant the contract to a coalition including BP. The bill was approved with only a single dissenting vote. and in June, Palin signed it into law. On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian company, TransCanada Corporation, was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant. In August 2008, Palin signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines $500 million in seed money and a license to build and operate the $26-billion pipeline to transport natural gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48 through Canada.

Public Safety Commissioner dismissal

Main article: Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal

On July 11, 2008, Sarah Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, citing performance-related issues, such as not being "a team player on budgeting issues." Monegan said that he had resisted pressure from the Governor, her husband, and her staff to fire Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a bitter child custody battle with Palin’s sister that included an alleged death threat against Palin's father. Monegan told both Palin and her husband that there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed. According to Monegan, he was unsure why he was dismissed, but not firing Wooten "could be part of it"; he later revised this to say it was a major reason for his firing. Palin stated on July 17 that Monegan was not pressured to fire Wooten, or dismissed for not doing so. Monegan's replacement resigned on July 25, amid accusations of sexual harassment in his previous job.

On August 1, the Alaska Legislature hired an investigator to review the situation. After ordering an internal investigation, Palin acknowledged on August 13 that "pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it." She also apologized to Alaskans for the distraction. Palin announced that officials had contacted Monegan or his staff about two dozen times regarding Wooten, that she had only known about some of those contacts, that many of those contacts were appropriate, and that she had not fired Monegan because of Wooten, who remained employed as a state trooper. She placed an aide on paid leave as a result of one tape-recorded contact.

On September 1, Palin's lawyer asked the legislature to drop its investigation, saying that the state Personnel Board had jurisdiction over ethics issues. Palin also asked the Board to review the matter. On September 5, legislators decided to expedite their investigation, setting an October 10 completion date. On September 12, the legislature decided to subpoena the Governor's husband. On September 15, Palin filed arguments before the Personnel Board. Meanwhile, Monegan accused the Governor of "not telling the truth" on national television about why he was fired. On September 16, State Attorney General Talis Colberg notified the Legislature that state employees would disobey subpoenas, unless the subpoenas are reconfirmed by a full vote of the legislature.

Federal Funding

Alaska's federal congressional representatives cut back on pork-barrel project requests during Palin's time as governor, however Alaska is still the largest per-capita recipient of federal earmarks, requesting nearly $750 million in special federal spending over two years and obtaining $295 per Alaska resident from the federal government.

Alaska State revenues doubled to $10 billion in 2008, there is no sales tax or income tax, yet for the 2009 budget Palin gave a list of 31 proposed federal earmarks, totaling $197 million, to Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. Many of the earmarks that Palin had requested were criticized by Senator McCain.

Predator Control

See also: Palin's Predator Control policy

In 2007, Palin supported the Alaska Department of Fish and Game policy allowing the hunting of wolves from helicopters as part of a predator control program intended to increase moose populations. In March 2007, Palin's office announced that a bounty of $150 per wolf would be paid to the 180 volunteer pilots and gunners, to offset fuel costs. Wildlife activists sued the state, and a state judge declared the bounty illegal on the basis that a bounty would have to be offered by the Board of Game and not by the Department of Fish and Game..[1]

2008 Vice-presidential campaign

Main article: John McCain presidential campaign, 2008; see also: 2008 Republican Vice Presidential Candidates

Palin addresses the 2008 Republican National Convention

On August 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio, Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate. McCain met Palin in a February National Governors Association, and it is reported that she made a favorable impression on McCain. He called Palin on August 24 to discuss the possibility of having her join him on the ticket. On August 27, Palin visited McCain's vacation home near Sedona, Arizona, where she was offered the position of vice-presidential candidate. Palin was the only prospective running mate who had a face-to-face interview with McCain to discuss joining the ticket that week. Nonetheless, Palin's selection was a surprise to many as speculation had centered on other candidates, such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, United States Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

Palin is the second woman to run on a major U.S. party ticket. The first was Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1984, who ran with former vice-president Walter Mondale. On September 3, 2008, Palin delivered a 40-minute acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention that was watched by more than 40 million viewers and was well-received by the crowd.

In her nomination acceptance speech and on the campaign trail, Palin has often said: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere." Although Palin was originally a main proponent of the bridge, McCain-Palin television advertisements claim Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere". These claims have been widely questioned or described as misleading in several newspapers across the political spectrum. Newsweek, commenting on Palin's "astonishing pivot," remarked: "Now she talks as if she always opposed the funding."

Palin is scheduled to participate in a vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden on October 2, 2008. The election is set for November 4, 2008.

Reception

See also: Reaction to 2008 Vice Presidential nomination of Sarah Palin and Public image of Sarah Palin

The Palins and McCains in Fairfax, Virginia, September 2008.

Sarah Palin signing an autograph at a John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign rally in O'Fallon, Missouri

A series of polls suggested that Palin gave a major boost to John McCain's campaign and excited the Republican base. The McCain campaign reversed its poll deficit, and Palin may have boosted support among white mothers. A WSJ/NBC News poll taken on September 9 indicated that 34% of respondents were more likely to vote for McCain as a result of the Palin pick, while 25% were less likely. McCain chose Palin in part due to her potential to rally Christian conservatives behind his campaign.

Since Palin was largely unknown outside of Alaska prior to her selection by McCain, her personal life, positions, and political record became the focus of intense media attention and scrutiny. Some Republicans felt that Palin was being subjected to unreasonable media coverage, as did an advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign. A poll found that slightly more than half of Americans believed that the press was "trying to hurt" Palin with negative coverage, a sentiment referenced by Palin in her acceptance speech.

Polls conducted immediately after the speech found that Palin was viewed favorably by a majority of respondents. Pollster John Zogby found that the effects of Palin's selection were helping the McCain ticket since "She has high favorability numbers, and has unified the Republican Party." Palin was also a draw with Catholic voters. Palin appeared on the covers of Newsweek and Time, which had been critical of the level of media access to Palin allowed by the McCain campaign. Her first interview with the press, with Charles Gibson of ABC News, aired on September 12. In the interview, Palin was asked about her experience, national security, Iraq and the Bush Doctrine.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Sarah Palin

See also: Palin's Endangered Species policy

Lt. Col. David Cogdall helps Governor Palin test out the Engagement Skills Trainer at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, July 24, 2007.

Palin has described the Republican Party platform as "the right agenda for America," because of its "respect for equality and respect for life and an acknowledgment that it is individual Americans and American families who can make better decisions for ourselves than government can ever make for us," adding that "individual freedom and independence is extremely important to me and that's why I'm a Republican."

Palin is a social conservative. A lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Palin believes the right to bear arms includes handgun possession, and has advocated gun safety education for youth. She supports capital punishment. Palin supports allowing the discussion of creationism in public schools, but says it does not have to be part of the curriculum. Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples. Palin has called herself "as pro-life as any candidate can be," has called abortion an "atrocity," and supports a constitutional amendment to make abortion illegal in all cases, including rape and incest" except when there's "a doctor's determination that the mother's life would end if the pregnancy continued." She is also a member of Feminists for Life. She supports comprehensive sex education in schools and supports birth control use.

Palin has promoted oil and natural gas resource exploration in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and initiated a lawsuit over the federal listing of the polar bear and Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species.

Regarding foreign policy, Palin supports preemptive military action in the face of an imminent threat, would not "second guess" a military strike by Israel against nuclear weapons facilities in Iran, supports US military operations in Pakistan. She declined to give a yes or no answer regarding whether U.S. military forces should make cross-border attacks into Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government. She supports NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and affirms that if Russia invaded a NATO treaty member the United States would meet its treaty obligations and go to war with Russia.

Personal life

See also: Public image of Sarah Palin

In 1988, Sarah Heath eloped to marry Todd Palin, her high-school boyfriend. Todd Palin works for the oil company BP as an oil-field production operator and owns a commercial fishing business. The family lives in Wasilla.

Palin family members at the announcement of Palin's vice-presidential selection, August 29, 2008. From left: Todd, Piper, Willow, Bristol, and Trig.

The Palins have five children: sons Track (b. 1989) and Trig (b. 2008), and daughters Bristol (b. 1990), Willow (b. 1995), and Piper (b. 2001). Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11, 2007, and subsequently was assigned to an infantry brigade. He and his unit deployed to Iraq in September 2008, for 12 months. On September 1, 2008, Palin announced that Bristol was five months pregnant and intends to keep the baby and marry the father of the child. Palin's youngest child, Trig, has Down syndrome, diagnosed prenatally.

Palin likes to hunt, ice fish, ride snowmobiles and eat moose burgers. In 2005, she completed a marathon in less than four hours, and is a self-described hockey mom.

Palin was born into a Catholic family. When she was 4 years old, her family joined the Wasilla Assembly of God, which belongs to a Pentecostal association of churches. Palin attended the Wasilla Assembly of God until age 38. When in Juneau, she attends the Juneau Christian Center. Her current home church is the Wasilla Bible Church, an independent congregation. Palin described herself in an interview as a "Bible-believing" Christian. After the Republican National Convention, the McCain campaign told CNN that Palin "doesn't consider herself Pentecostal."

Palin has stated that she would not allow her personal religious beliefs to dictate her political positions. She has encountered some criticism for her remarks during a commencement address to a class of graduating ministry students at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, and her religious views have come under scrutiny by the media. In October of 2007, she signed the "Christian Heritage Week" Proclamation which exalts the role that righteousness has played shaping the United States heritage. In a 2008 speech, Palin urged a group of graduating ministry students at her former church to pray for the military, saying "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan". Critics of Sarah Palin's campaign have argued that she called the Iraq war an act of God's will, while Palin and her campaign have argued that she was referring to Abraham Lincoln's statement that "let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side." In the same remarks, Palin stated “I can do my part in working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, about a $30 billion project that's going to create a lot of jobs for Alaska. … [but] I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that,” She further stated that the graduating ministry students should be prepared for the places God will send them from the church, the way "God has sent [her], from underneath the umbrella of this church, throughout the state."

References

• Johnson, Kaylene (2008), Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down, Epicenter Press, ISBN 0979047080.

External links

• Official Campaign Website for McCain/Palin 2008
• Alaska Office of Governor Sarah Palin
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Palin 2006 campaign contributions from Follow the Money
• Palin/Parnell 2006 campaign contributions from Follow the Money
• Ongoing news and commentary from The Anchorage Daily News
• Ongoing news and commentary from The New York Times
• Sarah Palin rumor control from Snopes
• Republican Convention Spin and Sliming Palin rumor control from FactCheck.org
• Sarah Palin at Curlie
• Video: Meet Sarah Palin - requires Flash Player and broadband connection
• Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin ABC News, September 2008
• First chapterSarah:How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down

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