I'm writing this in advance of Sarah Palin's convention speech tonight, but based on the excerpts already leaked it looks like she's going to cast herself as a an outside reformer who took on the GOP establishment in Alaska, principally indicted Senator Ted Stevens
I don't think so. She didn't "take on" Stevens. She's vying to replace him...
In her speech in Dayton, Palin said this:
Along with fellow reformers in the great state of Alaska, as governor, I've stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-old- boy network.
She also took credit for opposing the Bridge to Nowhere
Her claim, of course, has since been debunked.
The debunking is not my focus here. Though unnamed, it's fair to presume that Palin considers Sen. Stevens to be part of the "good-old-boy network." And, indeed, Sen. Stevens is the godfather of the Alaskan Republican good-old-boy network. He's been Alaska's senator for 40 years. He was the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for many years, resigning that post only following his indictment this summer. As Appropriations Chair, he brought the bacon home to Alaska with unparalleled success. Indeed, he was the most senior member of an Alaskan Washington racket that included him, Rep. Young and lobbyists hired by, among others,Mayor Sarah Palin of Wasilla, AK . Post indictment, Stevens survived a primary challenge and is standing for reelection this fall.
Stevens was the heavy back home, too. An aspiring pol could do worse than to be taken under his wing. This Ms. Palin did, obtaining his endorsement of her gubenatorial bid in which he cut an TV ad in which he touted her as "new management" and the "kind of people that should come long and take our places."
Once the "Bridge to Nowhere" became a national issue, Palin played Sir Robin and bravely ran away from it. Now that she's been charged with rejuvenating an ailing national ticket for GOP that is, to be charitable, suffering some brand issues right now, she's totally thrown Stevens under the snowmobile. Now he's the "good old boy network" whom she fought tooth and nail.
Yeah, right. Does anyone doubt that Alaska's federal money spigot would keep flowing under a McCain/Palin administration? She has celebrated earmarks in the past. She was proud to take credit for the Bridge to Nowhere before it became a laughingstock. Does anyone think that Alaska would do worse with her as VP? Please. She doesn't want to stop Stevens' earmarks and pork-barreling. Before "reform" became the message of the evening, she wanted to take credit for bringing earmarks to Alaska as Stevens heads out to (minimum security?) retirement.
Put another way, if Ted Stevens is the Al Capone of Alaska, Sarah Palin isn't the Elliot Ness. She's the loyal capo who had her arm around the boss right up to the moment she knifed him in the back*
She's no reformer. She's next in line at the pork buffet.
* (may not have actually happened to Al Capone)