2008 emails show Palin angling for VP slot
JUNEAU, Alaska — Much of the country was taken by surprise when Sarah Palin became the Republican vice presidential candidate in August 2008, but newly-released emails make it clear that the little-known Alaska governor was angling for the slot months before Sen. John McCain asked her to join him on the GOP ticket.
Earlier that summer, Palin and her staff began pushing to find a larger audience for the governor, wedging her into national conversations and nudging the McCain campaign to notice her.
Palin and her staff talked excitedly on June 19 about plans to repeal Alaska's fuel tax. Ivy Frye, a longtime Palin aide and friend, said she would send details to McCain staffers when they became available.
"They're going to love it!" Frye wrote. "More vp talk is never a bad thing, whether you're considering vp or not. I still say President Palin sounds better tho..."
Sarah Palin emails: The highlights
Palin emails released from time as governor; many withheld, redacted
Palin emails: Work, disdain for the press - and a haircut
The glimpse into Palin came in more than 24,000 pages of emails released Friday from her first 21 months as governor. They showed a Palin involved closely in the day-to-day business of the state while trying to cope with the increasing pressures that came with her rise from small-town mayor to governor to national prominence.
They also revealed that Palin, as the newly-minted Republican vice presidential nominee, was dismayed by the sudden onslaught of questions from reporters, especially one about whether she believed dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time. She also dealt with death threats, and at least once, she prayed for strength.
The emails cover the period from the time she took office in December 2006 to her ascension to GOP vice presidential candidate in August and September 2008. They were first requested during the 2008 White House race by citizens and news organizations, including The Associated Press, as they vetted a nominee whose political experience included less than one term as governor and a term as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The emails provided details about how Palin was involved in various gubernatorial duties, including priorities like a natural gas pipeline from far northern Alaska to ship natural gas to the Lower 48. They also show that she was incredibly sensitive about her portrayal in the local media, with Palin often taking issue with blog posts or articles that she found unfavorable.
Some of the more intriguing details centered on her rise to the national stage.
Random supporters around the country began suggesting Palin as a potential vice presidential candidate as early as April. Then, after she appeared on Glenn Beck's program in early June, she received a string of flattering emails from conservatives looking for a fresh face to run alongside McCain.
"You would make an excellent president (forget being VP!!!)," a Virginia woman wrote that same day. "It is so refreshing to hear someone speak in a common sense manner."
Letters congratulating her on the birth of her son Trig poured in at that time from across the nation, bolstering her image and getting her name out in the Lower 48. One writer even foreshadowed what would come.
"We have heard your name, along with our own Governor, mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate," wrote a person who identified himself as Ron Peters of Shreveport, La. "I think you could do a lot for the Republican Party and would be an outstanding choice. Is this within the realm of possibility?"
In June, Palin and her team were making final preparations on a letter about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She told one aide to make sure the letter was sent to newspapers across the country. Then she added in a follow-up email: "Pls also send to McCain and Obama's camps. Thanks."
Also in June, spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton sent Palin a draft of an op-ed piece carrying the governor's name that would be pitched to national publications "beginning with the New York Times." Palin responded the following day, writing: "Pls print."
But many reporters were already paying attention. A deputy press secretary told Palin in early June that she was fielding interview requests "on everything from polar bears to the VP buzz" from national media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal.
Three years later, Palin is among the top tier of potential 2012 presidential candidates in polls of Republican voters. Her recent bus tour of the Northeast fueled speculation about her national ambitions. She has said she has not yet decided whether she will run.
Within minutes of the emails' release on Friday, Palin tweeted a link to the website for "The Undefeated," a documentary about her time as governor and her arrival on the national political stage.
Her supporters, meanwhile, encouraged everyone to read the messages. "The emails detail a Governor hard at work," said Tim Crawford, the treasurer of her political action committee, Sarah PAC, in a prepared statement.
The nearly three-year delay in releasing the material has been attributed largely to the sheer volume. The emails were packed into six boxes, weighing 250 pounds in all, stacked in a small office in a complex of buildings near the state capitol in Juneau.
Database of Sarah Palin emails (Crivella West)
Lawyers went through every page to redact sensitive government information. Emails that remained portrayed her as most fierce when the subject was defending her record or her family.
"Will ktuu (an Anchorage TV station) and adn (Anchorage Daily News) be corrected re: the "internal investigation"? I did not request it, as they are both reporting," she wrote to an aide in Aug. 13, 2008.
As news organizations began vetting her record, Palin was accused of essentially turning over questions about her gubernatorial record to McCain's campaign managers, part of an ambitious GOP strategy to limit any embarrassing disclosures and carefully shape her image for voters in the rest of the country.
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OBAMA THIN SKINNED ABOUT HIS BIG EARS
"..New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd was 'chided' by Obama's when she wrote 'his ears stick out.' During the exchange, Obama said: "I just want to put you on notice. I'm very sensitive," adding, "I was teased relentlessly when I was a kid about my big ears."
What a "little man". Can't take a joke? From a Liberal Democrat, none then less. Mickey Mouse didn't mind but Obama can't take "teasing".
Obama is a WUSS.
===========================
And, ladies and gentlemen, Founders1791 has the audacity to accuse others of "insults and shallow, unreasoned comments." How shallow and juvenile are the "big ears" comments.....pathetic.
Guess it wouldn't be like barry wanting to be potus way, way back in the day he started his political career in the living room of ayers & dorn. Heck, barry has been campaigning for re-election since his coronation.
Palin had just been chosen the VP candidate and there was very little information available for the press to assimilate and offer the public. The job of the press is to gather information and in that, inform the public.
It took three years for the request -- by now, requests -- to be granted.
Former Governor Palin's own team says nothing will be found that denigrates her. While that remains to be seen entirely, it does look like these communications are not that revealing.
It is true that the opinions Americans have of Mrs. Palin come from her own actions and words. The majority of Americans -- if you accept opinion polling -- may (or may not) like her personally, but do not think she is presidential material. A small group of very dedicated followers are not doing their "Sarah" a good service by propping up aspirations that could in the end, destroy any credibility she could have.
The Democrats and liberals want Mrs. Palin to run for the presidency. That is why she should not. I can only speak for myself -- but if Mr. Romney is the candidate, I will vote Republican, if Mrs. Palin is the candidate, I will not. I simply do not think she has the temperament needed to lead ALL Americans.
If I am now going to be insulted by the rabid supporters, that is your right as an American. I spoke my mind, which is my right. Either we all have this liberty or none of us do.
Good day.
Please support him with your time and donations.
It's a witch-hunt.
That is just pathetic.
Obviously, the more the left go after Palin, the more powerful she becomes.
The left have made her into a martyr for strong independent women everywhere.
Who needs emails to show us how incompetent and untrustworthy Palin is? She has done nothing but that for the last three years ... and a pretty good job of it I must say.
"Pathetic "conspiracy" theorist who "invents" a boogie man for salvation of stupidity."
===========================
You have so accurately described the "birthers" ...haven't you heard...they are extinct now.
But I am curious - why does Sarah Palin so terrify you folks in BBM (Big Broadcast Meda) that you are compelled to reflexively demonize her at every opportunity?