According to Mudflats, the best Alaska political blog, Brad Hansons’ request to have his divorce records sealed was DENIED!
http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/this-is-getting-ugly-new-palin-rumors-fly/
http://www.gambling911.com/politics/man-named-alleged-sarah-palin-affair-090508.html
Earlier this week it was revealed that the National Enquirer is investigating an alleged extra-marital affair between Sarah Palin and her husband’s former business partner.
The Enquirer issued the following statement to Huffington Post:
“The National Enquirer’s coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin’s extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor’s daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards’ exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign’s vetting process.”
The McCain campaign is worried enough about the the story to issue a sternly worded press release in an attempt to slap it down.
Andrew Sullivan has learned that the former business partner just filed a motion to have his divorce records sealed. This is about to get very interesting. Given the Enquirer’s recent boost in credibility following their scoop on the John Edwards affair, I think it’s worth paying attention to.
I predict that the McCain campaign will attack the media for “smearing” Palin while GOP pundits screech about sexism and double standards. “The left-wing media is out to get her” defense may satisfy rank-and-file conservatives who need an excuse not to pay attention to what’s going on, but middle-of-the road voters who are less susceptbile to the politics of resentment and outrage will sit up and take notice.
You already knew how the Republicans were going to attack Obama at their convention. The real lesson to be learned from the GOP is about Sarah Palin.
Yes, we all thought it was a stupid mistake but now their Palin strategy is clear. McCain is the maverick who can reach across the aisle. Sarah Palin is the ideological heir of George W. Bush. Besides picking apart Palin’s sorry record, you need to portray her as the second coming of Bush just a heartbeat away. Palin’s presence on the ticket is just what you need to cement the narrative McCain-Palin as four more years of Bush.
Go for the jugular!
I want to retract everything I may have said or implied about Sarah Palin being hot. The woman who stood on the national stage last night was a mean, smart-assed bitch.
I thought her speech was good in that it accomplished it’s mission. It was red meat night at the RNC and McCain’s speech writers gave Sarah some nice scraps to toss her rabid audience. If Palin had delivered her lines with half as much gusto as Giuliani I would say that she hit a home run. Instead she got a standing double. I was underwhelmed.
I understand that America doesn’t know her, but she lingered a little too long talking about her family. It seemed like she spent almost as much time on her family as she did attacking Obama. Palin’s main problem though was her sarcastic manner. All that mockery of Obama was just what the delegates wanted to hear, but it isn’t going to help McCain win. The Republicans have to resort to trash talk because that’s all they’ve got. I take that back, they’ve got a special needs child they can use as a prop too.
John McCain’s tepid appearance afterwards with the family did nothing to give Palin a boost. I thought it was funny when he shook hands with hockey-mullet baby daddy. It was as if McCain was reliving his glory days as a womanizer. As GeeDubya would say, “bring ‘em on!”
Update: The AP did a little fact checking on Palin’s speech. Ouch.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check
This letter from a Wasilla resident who has known Sarah Palin for years is making the rounds. It’s very enlightening. My apologies to the author, but It was already posted on several different sites.
http://www.washingtonindependent.com/3671/the-reform-candidate
Yes, she is a real person.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?hp
—————————————————–
Dear friends,
So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. 
You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
Thanks,
Anne
ABOUT SARAH PALIN
I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a “babe”.
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.
She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out
there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She’s smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
