“The frontier mentality, whether myth or not, is still alive,” said Donald Linky, director of the Program on the Governor, at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.
Political organizations and the careful grooming of rising stars have long been part of the political culture in creating governors-to-be in many other states, Mr. Linky said. Not so in Alaska, and elsewhere in the West.
In places where politics is closer to the ground, an insurgent like Ms. Palin, who challenged a governor from her own party in 2006 and won, has an easier road, Mr. Linky said. Ms. Palin’s storming of the gates was helped by the taint of the Alaskan money culture gone awry, as federal authorities investigated oil-cash corruption in the State Legislature in 2006, an inquiry which has since expanded to include Mr. Stevens and others.
“It was a situation that was absolutely ripe for somebody to come in and say, ”˜Hey, the emperor has no clothes,’ ” said Mr. Haycox of the University of Alaska. “To give her her due, she had the morals and intellectual acumen to do that, but the situation was just waiting for someone to take advantage.”
She ran against probably the most unpopular and arrogant incumbent governor in the short history of Alaska. I think anyone would have beat him. No great accomplishment there.
A just a touch of condescension, eh? Moving through the political process from councilwoman, to mayor, to governor IS quite an accomplishment, given the pre-existing political machinery in place.
OK, from what I’ve read today, she’s managing a $5 Billion surplus in her budget while having requested $750 Million from Washington in special spending in her almost 2 years as governor.
Meanwhile, she has been distributing $1,200-per-resident oil-bounty bonus checks to the 680,000 residents of Alaska.
No wonder they love her in Alaska.
Leighton you obviously know nothing about Alaska politics. The incumbent she beat would have lost if the dog catcher ran against him.
John316,
In most oil or gas rich states the politicians make sure that money gets controlled by the legislature, with lots of pork barrel for those in power. As the oil or gas is regulated by said legislature it is one of the great boondoggles around. At least the residents of Alaska get to spend some of it on things they want, not some legislatures pet pork. Good for her.
episcopalpadre–then why didn’t someone else with more “experience” win the election, if that’s the ruling criterion?
Baruch,
She called a special legislative session last year to rewrite the Petroleum Profits Tax in Alaska. It’s outrageously high, up to 70%. That’s what she means by “stood up to Big Oil”. She’s redistributing wealth. Taking it from the people who created it, and giving it to the poor. I just don’t see anything Conservative about that, and I think she is being disengenuous about it.
Another thing, requesting $750 Million from Washington, and then giving it to Alaskans is redistribution of wealth. It just doesn’t sound Conservative. Admittedly, Alaska’s economy depends on Washington earmarks, but it isn’t something to be proud of, and isn’t the Washington money yours and mine that she is redistributing to Alaskans?
I admire her for cleaning up the corruption in the party, but I just don’t see what she has done as being all that impressive from a Conservative standpoint. If Obama had done something like that, we would all be howling.