At the encouragement of a few posters here (tell us more about trade missions, please), I will try and flesh out the current outrageous assertion that Palin has made. This time she choose to assert that her foreign experience was, in part, based on ongoing trade missions between Russia and Alaska, which she was part of.
COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We -- we do -- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where -- where do they go?
When I first heard that comment during the Couric interview, it seemed plausible and I forgot about it. For me, Palin is way out of her league, however popular now, and destined to find herself hung out to dry soon.
But today, the Salon.com story on the subject was diaried and I began to reflect on Palin's latest tall tale.
We already know that there is no evidence of Palin going on a trade mission (at least not from the Salon story and we already knew she just got a passport and where she went) but that she would suggest she had gone on trade missions, reveals more about Palin if you know a little about these mysterious events.
I am going to comment on this with a certain reticence as discussions about trade missions are like talking about paint drying or whatever metaphor you wish. But as it would happen, I have spent the last seven years working as an editor in a news market, the Pacific Northwest, where trade is very important, and the publication I wrote for often covered trade mission minutia. During that time, Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American governor, led many trade missions to China. Now Christine Gregoire has actually surpassed his record for overseas visits and considered one of the top trade promoting state leaders in the U.S.
Trade missions are arguably a vital part of developing a state's economy, especially now in the global market. They require lots of planning, research, education, and buy-in from both public and the private sectors. Taxpayer money is used but also private funding from those who expect to profit and who may help finance these events, which can be a huge team or a few interested individuals. A trade mission is not planned overnight. Press releases set out the mission and then the parties may meet in advance (more press releases) to announce the agenda. Photo opps and interviews may even be part of the leave-taking or return depending on the publication or importance of the trade mission.
Trade missions have goals. They generate revenue, create (hopefully) new trading partners--like a furniture factory in China might strike up a relationship with a retailer in Seattle or the apple coalition in Washington might develop a place to ship its crop. You get the idea.
When I went to read the Salon.com story about Palin and her "secret trade missions", I discovered that Palin's spokesperson had told Salon that she couldn't divulge the information because it was privileged information in Alaska. Now I know that all the reporting I've done on trade missions has mostly gone to coat the local papers with editorial content, so the publishers could sell ads. People just don't read about this stuff unless they have to. Unless it is their job, or they are going or they know someone, etc. In this situation, Palin's political antenna must have told her to "insert lie" here as so few would take notice.
Just start pumping in trade mission california, trade mission kansas, trade mission ohio into google (use the boolean search '-palin' otherwise you will generate a lot of Palin) and you will quickly see that trade missions are parties, events, celebrations. Governors like to be in the picture, and if they are not, some local politician is. Often governors do this job. State trade missions are not secret, and you wouldn't want them to be--you need to keep track of public money and need to tout your product.
If it is true that Palin has been involved in ongoing secret trade missions with Russia, then Houston we have a problem. Secret trade missions with Russia would make dwarf Troopergate and bring a quick end to her candidacy. And if there were trade missions with Russia (it looks like former Alaska governors were involved in trade missions) then we could easily google the press generated online.
Palin doesn't even appear to know what a trade mission is, much less having gone on one. And, in our tech savvy world, the would-be vice-president doesn't even seem to understand her own electronic footprint. Like the rest of the McCain campaign, she is just rolling the dice and doesn't know how easily her lie can be discovered. Or maybe she just doesn't care and is betting on ignorance like Bush did.
Probably though, it is just another casual lie by a woman desperate to please her audience with a false equation. Got talking points, will travel. But not very far.