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Sarah Palin
11th Governor of Alaska
From: December 4, 2006 - July 26, 2009
Predecessor
Frank Murkowski
Successor
Sean Parnell
Former Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
From: 1996–2002
Predecessor
John Stein
Successor
Diane Keller
Information
Party
Republican
Spouse(s)
Todd Palin
Religion
Christian
Sarah Louise Heath Palin (pronounced pay'-lynn) (born February 11, 1964) is a conservativeRepublican who served as the 11th governor of Alaska from 2006 through 2009. She was both the first woman and the youngest person to hold this office in the state's history. On July 3, 2009 Palin announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska.[1] Executive power was transferred to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell.
Palin is an advocate for the socially conservative base of the Republican Party, and an effective critic of RINO Karl Rove as well as liberal Barack Obama. In her speech to CPAC in 2013, Palin mocked Obama:[2]
“
More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President — should have started with yours.
”
Palin came to the nation's attention as Senator John McCain's vice presidential running mate in the 2008 Presidential Election.[3] She is the first woman to appear on a Republican presidential ticket. In an appearance on August 30, 2008 in Washington, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by a surprisingly large crowd as she promoted the new McCain-Palin ticket. She brought a populist image and a record of cutting wasteful spending and reforming government to McCain's ticket. In the summer of 2007, she was the most popular governor in America, having cut 13% of Alaska's budget.[4]
She is strongly pro-life, and a prominent spokesperson for special needs children. She favors more competition in health care, and pushed for abolishing the certificate of need regulations that interfere with opening new medical clinics.[5]
Her memoir Going Rogue was published in November 2009, with Palin drawing large crowds to book signings around the country. She comments regularly on public affairs via her Facebookpage, having criticized the "death panels" of the health care reform program, and praised President Obama's pro-war speech upon his receiving the Nobel Peace prize in December 2009. She appears regularly on Fox News Channel.[6]
Since her rise to prominence in 2008, Palin has been the subject of demonization by the left-wing mainstream media, including insults to her intellect and various sexist comments.
Contents
[hide]
1 Personal Background
2 Early political career
2.1 City Councilwoman
2.2 Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
2.3 Other political experience
3 Governor of Alaska
3.1 Energy and Oil
3.2 State Economy
3.3 Foreign Policy
3.4 Legislature Investigation
3.5 Resignation
4 Vice Presidential Candidate
4.1 Democrat Responses
4.2 Impact on Ticket
5 Palin in 2012
5.1 Relaunching of Media Attacks
6 SarahPAC
7 Beliefs
8 Church Life
9 Popularity
10 Media Disdain
11 The Undefeated movie
12 Publications
13 References
14 External Links
Personal Background
In this April 23, 2008 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, left, and her husband, Todd Palin, hold their baby boy Trig in Anchorage, Alaska.
Photo courtesy of Newsmax.com
Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho. Her family moved to Alaska in 1964, when her parents came to teach school in Skagway. Palin attended Wasilla High School where her extracurricular activities included captaining the basketball team which went on to win the state championship.[7] She has lived in Skagway, Eagle River and Wasilla in Alaska.
After graduating in 1982, she went on to college, attending several institutions before earning a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. To earn money for college, Palin entered beauty pageants.
She worked in the media and the utility industry before beginning her career in public service in 1992.
Sarah married Todd Palin, a part Yupik Eskimo and lifelong Alaskan, on August 29, 1988. Todd formerly worked at a non-management union job in the oil industry, and also as a commercial salmon fisherman. He is a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, the world's longest snowmobile race. Todd was a member of the United Steelworkers Union, and their eldest son Track served in Iraq while in the United States Army. The Palins have five children: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig.
Sarah Palin is a union member, a moose hunter and holds a NRA Benefactor Life membership.[8] She stays active as a marathon runner, sports team mom, hockey manager and school volunteer. Palin enjoys hunting, fishing and Alaskan history.
Palin has been widely praised among conservatives for acting on her pro-life beliefs in the case of her youngest son, Trig, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome in the fourth month of her pregnancy. After researching the condition, she and her husband agreed to continue to pregnancy. "[My husband Todd said,] we shouldn't be asking 'Why us?' We should be saying 'Well, why not us?' We've both been very vocal about being pro life. We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential. I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection. Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"[9][10]
Trig was born on April 18, 2008, four months before his mother was announced as the vice-presidential candidate. Palin wrote:
"This new person in your life can help everyone put things in perspective and bind us together, and get everyone focused on what really matters ... Those who love him will think less about self and focus less on what the world tells [us] is 'normal' or 'perfect.'"[11]
"It's a sign of the times to be able to do this," she said. "I can think of so many male candidates who watched a families grow while they were in office. There is no reason to believe a woman can't do it with a growing family. My baby will not be at all or in any sense neglected."[12]
In September of 2008, Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant.[13] After having been given the choice, Bristol bravely chose to keep the child. Palin stated "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents."[14]Bristol has since gone on to promote abstinence as a realistic choice for teenagers, stating, "[A]bstinence is the only way you can effectively, 100% foolproof way you can prevent pregnancy."[15]
Early political career
City Councilwoman
Palin served two two-year terms on the Wasilla City Council, being first elected in 1992 when she was 28 years old.
Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
In 1996, Palin ran for mayor of Wasilla against 9-year incumbent John Stien in a non-partisan race. She won the race 58% to 42%.[16] Her first months as mayor were rocky, and there was even talk of a recall, but things eventually smoothed out and she was re-elected in 1999. Palin said later of the experience, "I grew tremendously in my early months as mayor."[16]
During her time as mayor, Palin hired a Washington lobbying firm to help secure $8 million in congressionally directed spending projects, otherwise known as earmarks.[17] Ms. Palin's leadership qualities were recognized when she was elected as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.
Other political experience
In 2002, she ran for Lieutenant Governor, but came in second in a four-way race. Later that year, when Frank Murkowski resigned his Senateseat to become governor, she interviewed for the opening. Instead, Murkowski appointed his daughter Lisa Murkowski to the seat.
In 2003, Governor Mukowski appointed Palin to serve as Panel Ethics Commissioner of Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska's non-renewable resources of oil and gas. She resigned in 2004 as a protest over the "lack of ethics" of fellow panelists who had ignored her complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest. Palin took a great political risk by revealing that Randy Reudrich, chairman of the state Republican Party, was doing political business on state time, fulfilling a conflict of interest statement that required her to report such things. This action endeared her to the people of Alaska.
To help cultivate influence and political clout in the state, Palin served from 2003 until June 2005 as one of three directors of the Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc., a 527 group that raised funds from corporate donors.[18] The stated purpose of the group is, "To increase the number of Republican women in elected offices and in appointed governmental and political positions, including advisory and regulatory commissions through training and education."[19]
She has also served on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. She was named one of Alaska's "Top 40 Under 40", Alaska's Public Works "Person of the Year", and was inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society at Alaska Pacific University. Palin has served on numerous boards and commissions throughout the state.
Governor of Alaska
Palin ran for governor in 2006 on a clean government platform, and accomplished a political rarity in defeating the incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary. Palin went on to defeat former Governor Tony Knowles in the general election. Some of the highlights of her governorship include: cutting expenses of Alaska's government, freezing government hiring, reducing earmarks by 86%, and championing the private sector.
Energy and Oil
Palin spoke a great deal about harnessing oil and natural gas resources, and in March 2007, presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), a bill promoting the construction of a gas pipeline.[20] The bill received bipartisan support, and was signed into law by Governor Palin in June. In August of 2008 she signed legislation giving state authority to award TransCanada Corp a license to build and operate a multibillion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope.[21] Intended to improve Alaska's economy, it instead became a vehicle to pay $37 million to Transcanada, with potential liabilities for the state of up to half a billion dollars.[22] The pipeline will not be profitable for 20 years based on natural gas forecasts.[23] As of February 2011, Alaska's lawmakers were looking for exit strategies from the plan.[24]
As governor, Palin created a new subcabinet that develops policies to reduce greenhouse gases and help the state adapt to climate change. She supports oil production in ANWR, connecting it with national security.[25]
Alaska was not significantly affected by the 2007 housing bubble crash, however, the dollar did soften, which raised the price of oil in the global market without raising the costs of production. This led to windfall profits for Alaska. Despite oil companies' objections, Palin worked with theDemocrats in the Alaska state legislature to approve a major increase in taxes on the oil industry.[26] This bill, known as "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share" (ACES), was lampooned by the conservative talk radio media as Alaskans Clearly Entering Socialism.[27].) The state sent Alaskans a $1200 check to help pay for increased gas prices, using the increased revenues from the tax.[28] Palin's successor, Governor Sean Parnell, and Republican Alaska legislatures have criticized ACES, stating the taxes have prevented further oil and gas development in the state.[29]
Palin also announced on May 21, 2008 that the state would challenge a recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species as she and other Alaska elected officials feared such a listing would cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts. Palin's belief is that there is not enough evidence to support a listing, asserting that polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation.
As governor of Alaska in Jan. 2009, Palin announced support for Alternative energy<