"Candidate Palin has character problem." - This is a very good piece.

[Blue_In_AK]

SP's true nature is clearly laid out in this opinion piece by well respected Alaskan economist Gregg Erickson. I love it when influential people tell the truth.

http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/erickson/story/845981.html?qwxq=930350&pageNum=1&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

Juneau economic consultant Gregg Erickson is editor-at-large of the Alaska Budget Report newsletter. He and his wife received the Alaska Press Club's 2009 First Amendment Award. Erickson can be contacted at [e-mail].

Candidate Palin has character problem.

Could my governor, the charismatic Sarah Palin, be the leader Republicans are desperately looking for to lead their party out of the wilderness in 2010?

Unlike Fox News commentator and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Palin attracts adulatory crowds wherever she ventures beyond her home state. On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center reported that 73 percent of Republican respondents rate her favorably, way ahead of Mitt Romney, her nearest competitor.

<snip>

That's why it was so refreshing when Sarah Palin, a woman who had stood up against corruption in the Murkowski administration, made openness and transparency in state government a central theme in her 2006 campaign for governor. In November 2006 Palin defeated Murkowski.

As Palin's first Juneau press conference as governor was breaking up, she called my wife and me aside. With apparent sincerity she asked us why we had had so much trouble getting public records from previous governors: "Why wouldn't they want you to have the full story about what they were doing?" It struck me at the time as both naive and refreshing.

Two weeks later I discovered a memorandum from a senior state attorney revealing that a top Palin aide had instructed him to keep documents secret from our newsletter even if the legal basis for doing so was weak or problematic. A few weeks after that, Meghan Stapleton, Palin's then-press secretary, told me they were keeping the documents secret because the public might misunderstand them.

Since then Palin has become the most secretive governor in Alaska's history. This month she refused to release even her official schedule or reveal when she is leaving the state. Questions from reporters are often simply ignored, or she answers a different question than the one asked. All the while she continues to mouth the claim that her administration is "open and transparent."

When it comes to letting the public know what her government is doing, Sarah Palin is either a cynical hypocrite or delusional. Either way, it reveals something important about her character.

[depakid]

1. My vote is that she's both a cynical hypocrite AND delusional

[Blue_In_AK]

2. I agree with you there.

I thought that was a very powerful closing sentence to that opinion piece.

It'll be interesting to see if and how Sarah will respond. Gregg Erickson is not just some anonymous blogger that she can beat up on like she's been trying to do to Celtic Diva. What can she have Meg Stapleton say about someone who is so highly regarded in the state by both Republicans and Democrats? I just LOVE this.

[justgamma]

3. They really do take pride in stupidity, don't they.

"73 percent of Republican respondents rate her favorably"

I'm still looking for something that says that woman has a brain. Has she said one intelligent thing, ever?

[opihimoimoi]

4. We tried STUPID for 8 YEARS under BUSH.....why would America want to chance it again??..

Stick with Competence....

[lapfog_1]

5. The only reason that Sarah is popular with the base...

is that they know she drives the left crazy... and she drives us crazy because she is Bush on steroids. More Fundy and much stupider (and we didn't think that was possible).

Oh, and the guys drool about her... hunting and fishing and raising kids while wearing a beauty contest bathing suit.

If we ignore her, she will go away.

[bulloney]

8. Palin's "base" is religious fundies and men who fantasize having sex with her.

[snake in the grass]

6. saved for later n/t

[southernyankeebelle]

7. Am sure she is consulting her witch doctor

[dgibby]

9. The problem with Sarah Palin's character:

She has none.