Newsweek: What Sarah Palin Really Believes

An Apostle of Alaska
We know the outlines—the moose-hunting mom who juggles BlackBerrys and kids. But what does she believe? The real Sarah Palin.

John McCain was not her dream pick. Only a year ago, when the Republican primaries were just beginning, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told NEWSWEEK that she wasn't enthusiastic about anyone in the GOP field. McCain was languishing at 7 percent in the polls. Mike Huckabee was reduced to playing his electric bass to get attention. Palin, driving with a NEWSWEEK reporter along the highway from Anchorage to Wasilla, said she could understand why the country was enthralled by the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "When you talk about the Republican Party needing appealing candidates, darn right they do!" she said. "The Democrats, whether you like them or not … there is some dynamic there, and it's something that the Republicans I think have lacked for some time."

Palin had a lot on her mind in summer, with the kids out of school and a state to run, and didn't think she'd have time to focus on the race for a while. "I'm not overly excited yet," she said. "I will probably do what every American does and that's really get plugged in, tuned in to what's going on, when the field is set and that means there will be someone who stands out."

When the GOP held its Alaska caucus on Feb. 5, Palin didn't bother to endorse a candidate, despite personal appeals from Huckabee and Mitt Romney, her fellow social conservatives. She had never met or spoken to John McCain. But she indignantly dismissed his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as the politically correct—yet wrong—position of "Eastern politicians." Palin finally got the chance to meet McCain at a gathering of Republican governors in Washington, D.C., in mid-February. Weeks later, even after the other Republican contenders had dropped out of the race, Palin still had not endorsed McCain. Preparing to go onstage March 3 in Los Angeles, at NEWSWEEK's Women's Leadership Forum, Palin was eager to quiz another governor, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, on her impressions of her state's senior senator. Palin said she still had "a lot of questions" to get answered about her party's presumptive nominee before she could back him.

Palin presumably got any lingering questions answered during her secret meeting with McCain at his Sedona ranch, the day he offered her the job as running mate. And McCain, in turn, got at least some of his questions answered, too. He learned days or weeks earlier that Palin's 17-year old daughter was five months pregnant, and that the governor's husband was arrested when he was 22 for drunken driving. <snip>

Much more -- good article! >>>> http://www.newsweek.com/id/157696

to read a wee bit later.

Palin didn't always regard Wooten as a bad guy. NEWSWEEK has obtained a reference letter she wrote for Wooten in January 2000. She described his good works as a volunteer in local police and youth auxiliary programs, including a stint as a football coach for 7- to 9-year-olds: "I have witnessed Mike's gift of calm and kindness toward many young kids here in Wasilla. I have never seen him raise his voice, nor lose patience, nor become aggitated in the presence of any child." She called him a "fine role model."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8twqZpUT2NQ

This is also what Sarah Palin believes... and it needs to go VIRAL.

Thanks for posting that article!

Is any of this millenial insanity, or the AIP connection in the article?

I'm guessing no

hope I'm wrong, but I've already said the media will ignore/downplay this, in contrast to Rev. Wright. they did it with Falwell/Hagee/Parsley, and what reason is there to think they won't continue?

If this were Obama, ALL the networks would be playing the incriminating videos on a loop, 24/7 until the election. You even have Sarah Palin there NODDING her head in agreement with this nutcase and somehow it doesn't qualify to be shown on the air. I hope, I REALLY hope Keith Olbermann can break it on television. A lot of people are seeing it online, but it needs to be shown to a wider audience. This sort of "Jesus' return is imminent and let's help that along" apocalyptic worship crap should REALLY disqualify her from being VP material.

Great article.

"To a church gathering, she described a $30 billion natural-gas pipeline project, backed by state tax money, as "God's will.""

As always, it amazes me how often God's will exactly matches the wishes of his Republican constituents worshippers. (added: and how he always chooses to reveal his most deeply felt wishes for humanity (Bomb Iraq!, Build a Pipeline!) to politicians, rather than to innocent children or long faithful nuns, or ...... but, it's politicians, all the way)

Truly, God MUST be a hard-core, right-wing Republican.

:eyes:

state that she urged the flock to "pray for the pipeline" when it's almost in the same sentence on the video above

why did they neglect that? didn't want to convey just HOW crazy she is for the lord's ministrations?

:kick:

they also ignored the fact that she was a terrible, browbeating, martinet of a mayor

that she left a town of 5000, which had zero debt when she took office, about 20 MILLION in debt when she left

did they mention the fiasco that the hockey rink became, costing at least 1.2 million more than it should have?

did they mention the plane sale at all....I skimmed...or that it involved kickbacks, and lost money, despite the lies from both her and McCain that they made money on it?

it's a decent primer, but they left out a lot, at the expense of concentrating on troopergate, most of which, in turn centered on the family aspect...again, I skimmed. how much did they talk about the firing of Monegan, which is the crux of the issue?