Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin defended her record as governor of Alaska on Friday in the face of fierce Democratic attacks, while a state ethics panel subpoenaed her husband. In the last installment of an exclusive interview with ABC News, Palin rejected her critics' insistence that she had initially been in favour of building an Alaska bridge project held up as a symbol of wasteful government spending.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has denounced Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" as a place where government fat needed to be cut. The $398 million bridge would have been built to a small island with only about 50 residents, and has since been shut down. Palin insists she helped kill the project but Democrats emphasise that she was in favour of the bridge when she was a candidate for governor.
It is an assault on her attempts to present herself as a reformer. Palin, who was mayor of tiny Wasilla before becoming governor less than two years ago, told ABC News she did seek money for infrastructure in the state," saying it was "not inappropriate for a mayor or a governor" to seek such funding. But ultimately, she said, "I said, 'Thanks, but no thanks.
We're not going to spend it on the bridge.'" She also defended, as Wasilla's mayor, seeking and obtaining $27 million in federal funding in the form of individual spending items that US lawmakers called "earmarks." McCain has made cutting "earmark" projects a pillar of his campaign. "We have drastically, drastically reduced our earmark request since I came into office," she said.
Palin, 44, has emerged as a surprise star in the Republican Party two weeks after McCain plucked her out of relative obscurity to be his running mate. Her impact on the race to the November 4 election has helped McCain take a slight lead in public opinion polls over Democrat Barack Obama, and Democrats are raising questions about her record to try to damage her credibility with voters.
Palin's decision to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan has led to an investigation by the Alaska state Legislature to determine if she abused her power. Critics charge she fired Monegan because he would not fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a bitter divorce from Palin's sister. The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 on Friday to subpoena 13 people in the case, including Palin's husband, Todd Palin.
The McCain camp accused Democrats of pushing the probe. It issued a statement from Alaska's lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, charging there had been a "complete hijacking of what should be a fair and objective process." "It is troubling to see partisan Democrats and Obama supporters abuse their power, the legal system and trust of Alaskans to smear Governor Palin to score political points," the statement said.
Comments
Comments are closed.