The chameleon: who is the real Sarah Palin?

A report on the Troopergate affair to be published today is expected to throw light on to a politician known as a moral crusader but whose values are questioned from right and left
Ian Cobain in Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/10/uselections2008-sarahpalin1


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Many Alaskans have been greatly disappointed by Palin's behaviour during the Troopergate affair. Patrick Dougherty, editor of the Anchorage Daily News, the state's main newspaper, says the episode has "raised serious doubts about her honesty and integrity".

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Larry Persily, a senior civil servant who has worked for three Alaskan governors and is a former associate director of Palin's office in Washington, says: "She was just not interested. She had no interest in public policy beyond the populist drive to raise oil taxes and push through ethics reforms that the Democrats had already drafted."

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Persily and Chase, who do not know each other, use the same word to describe Palin: chameleon. Both also use similar language to explain how much she unnerves them.

Chase says: "I admire her, she has boundless energy and great determination. But the idea that she could be the leader of the free world scares the hell out of me."

Persily believes Palin is "immature, inexperienced, and has poor judgment", but acknowledges that she could still become president. "And that," he says, "should scare the hell out of everybody."