On Palin's Executive Skills

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 03:40:00 PM EST
Tags: Sarah Palin (all tags)

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Update: A long article today in the Seattle Times on the problems during Palin's first year as Mayor.

Via Mahablog, the Wall St. Journal reports on one of Gov. Sarah Palin's projects as Mayor of Wasilia, Alaska.

The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin’s legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla. (my emphasis.)

On a lighter note, check out the Facebook groups against Sarah Palin. The group called "I Have More Foreign Policy Experience Than Sarah Palin" has over 41,000 members. (You have to be a Facebook member to view it.)

Also check out Alaska Blogger Mudflats who is writing a lot on Palin.

< Newsweek's Profile of Sarah Palin | Two Criminal Cases to Watch This Week >

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On Palin's Executive Skills | 16 comments (16 topical)

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So all the stops are going to be pulled out ... (5.00 / 5) (#1)
by Salo on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 03:54:56 PM EST

...to make sure we are distracted by the second in command.

This is like Quayle getting hammered as No Kennedy. Fat lot of good it did the campaign.

Am I on another planet?

It's a little bit funny (5.00 / 8) (#5)
by Polkan on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:09:44 PM EST

that we keep bashing her for whatever she did/didn't do as a mayor ...

and then join Obama in noble outrage when he complains that Palin unfairly wacks him over the community organizer and ignores his Senate record.

I'm sorry but this is turning into a childish tit-for-tat.

And McCain started it (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by Jeralyn on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:16:59 PM EST

oh? (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by kredwyn on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:23:10 PM EST

How so?

(yup...I'm curious about this...)


: He invaded Poland! (5.00 / 3) (#11)
by Salo on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:34:13 PM EST

according to Basil Fawlty.

Now you really do sound like (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by athyrio on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:23:55 PM EST

my grandkids...Mac started it....No Molly did....nope Mac started it.....)stamps foot and storms off....


it was meant to! (none / 0) (#9)
by Jeralyn on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:28:54 PM EST

that was the point.


But Jeralyn (5.00 / 4) (#10)
by Polkan on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:33:31 PM EST

I'm sorry, it's simply untrue.

Bill Burton issued a statement minutes after the announcement where he said she was just a mayor of a tiny small town in Alaska.

Then Obama spoke to reporters a few days later and started comparing the mayoral budget in Wassila to the budget and headcount of his campaign.

Then Palin made her acceptance speech.


Well the poster you responed to (5.00 / 5) (#14)
by fercryinoutloud on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:59:55 PM EST

made a honest response to your post and an honest response to theirs was in order don't you think? If another poster had made your comment I'm not so sure it would not have been deleted.

Back to the subject to hand it is pretty obvious that Palin did some good things as mayor also or she never would have been elected statewide for governor. As such that does reflect well on her executive abilities as does her 80% approval ratings as governor.

You do realize that it was Obama/Biden who FIRST commented on her being a small town mayor in a sarcastic way upon her being named McCain' running mate don't you? And then it was reported that they quickly withdrew their comment after immediately receiving criticism for their comment.

So when the blogs twist things and say she was putting down community organizers in her speech they are lying. What she did was come straight back at what Obama/Biden said about her small town mayoral duties and told the truth - mayors have 'the buck stops here' responsibilities while community organizers don't.

And let's face it Jeralyn, no one goes through life batting .1000. There is not a mayor, a governor, a police chief or a librarian or even yes an attorney who has not made mistakes. Even Obama had admitted mistakes he has made. Which all makes all this nit-picking at Palin kind of silly.

Besides things are not so clear. As I read the article it seems that some real estate guy nosed in to take advantage of the future increased land values due to the complex and the new roads and when he found out that the documents for the city had not been signed he pulled the carpet out from underneath the city and offered a higher price to the conservatory in order to make a bigger buck from the city on a quick 'flip' as they say in the real estate community. As a former civil law attorney I saw plenty of such shenanigans go on with real estate deals. And it was the city finance manager and the city attorneys job to make sure the docs were signed. And who is to say that they didn't drag their feet for a quick buck paid by the developer who stood to profit. We could go around and around on this because I have seen about all of it take place over the years including in the very city I live in where our Representative, Ken Calvert, a real estate investor, profited from the purchase of land adjacent to a new off-ramp on the interstate that he was instrumental in approving the off-ramps re-location next to his land.

I could go on. The story you reference is void of a lot of underlying facts.


: Not to mention... (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by NYShooter on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 06:07:57 PM EST

....that the early "growing pains" seem to have been resolved, and the facility is getting usage far beyond what the original intent was.
****************
"It's on its way to paying for itself. I don't think I can say we have met our goals until there's no longer a subsidy," Keller said. "But I never dreamed we'd have weddings there or that Anchorage attorneys would be coming out and taking depositions in our meeting rooms."
Keller and Urban said the accessory uses of the facility are growing. Turf court use is up 25 percent, Urban said. Large events are up about 40 percent. More people are using the running track around the ice rink, and use of the facility's three conference rooms is up more than 50 percent, he said.
It's the turf court, the only indoor court of its kind in the Valley, that Urban said he believes will help carry the facility.
An adult soccer league that started with six teams last year has grown to nearly 35 teams and around 300 members. An indoor youth recreational soccer league started too, with about 20 teams and 180 members, Urban said. Football and baseball teams also practice there, he said. Home schooling groups use it for physical education classes. Moms stop by with toddlers between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for the Turf Time for Tots program, an open playtime for children.
"I really think it's going to be that the turf court is busier than the ice rink," Urban said. "Last Friday the turf court went straight from 5 p.m. to midnight, and the ice was done at 5 p.m."
Keller said a kitchen facility is on schedule for installation next year. Paid for by more than $850,000 in state grants, a kitchen and emergency generators will allow the facility to be used as an emergency shelter. But it will also bring more conferences, Keller said."
*****************
You see, that's the problem. one by one, the current rage against Gov. Palin will turn to sympathy or empathy and The leftists will be left with egg (or something worse) on their faces.

This has to stop. (5.00 / 6) (#13)
by withoutparty on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 04:37:57 PM EST

The focus on Sarah Palin is the sure way to lose. It distracts from McCain and gives him a free ride. It seems to have become an obsession by some on this blog to attack her. Big mistake.


Piling on is a penalty... (none / 0) (#15)
by SomewhatChunky on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 05:18:39 PM EST

At this point, anyone paying attention with the intelligence of a turnip knows Palin was a mayor and is a short-term governor. They also know Obama was was a community organizer, state legislator and a junior senator with relatively insignificant track record (say compared to a McCain, Biden, Kennedy etc...).

For many reasons, Obama got where he is in spite of his experience, not because of it. He's certainly not running on his track record. . He has other qualities people find attractive. Because of these qualities, many Americans discount his relative lack of experience.

The same appears to have happened with Palin. I think the experience argument might have been used against her, but that went away when she was so viciously attacked by the left before even speaking. Not a good strategy, because when she spoke well, to many, it discredited all of her attackers. The personal attacks were over the top - so much so that they were banned for a while on this site. But the legitimate attacks got grouped in with the more vicious ones which discounted them as well. Once she gave her speech, many seemed to have discounted her lack of experience just like they did Obama. Her attacks on Obama were effective AND justifiable because she herself had been so unfairly attacked. In an "us vs them" campaign, whether the attacks came from Obama himself or not (they didn't) was irrelevant. The "she's not qualified" horse has left the barn. She's now a star.

IMHO, fair-minded undecided people react negatively to the stuff Jeralyn keeps doing - when she was mayor she did this. She did that. When kids whine in general I think adults get frustrated with the whiner, not the target of the whines. The same holds true in politics. Especially on "old" news.

I find it ironic that the actions of Obama's strongest supporters have hurt his campaign the most since the Palin announcement.

I also think arguing the fact that she isn't doing media interviews is another not so bright tack. Build that up into a crescendo and in two weeks Palin hits the conservative media circuit and hits another home run. Opps.

We are where we are. The next big impact events will be the debates. If the smartest best prepared people always won debates this election would be Hillary vs Romney. It's not. So I wouldn't assume that Obama/Biden will "win" the debates either. Maybe they do - but I wouldn't bet the election on it.

In football, piling on is a penalty. It is a penalty in campaigns as well. Get off this negative stuff on Palin and focus on issues. Give it a few weeks to take effect. The reason the Republicans are so unpopular right now is issue based, not personality based. Keep trying to win every day by scoring negative points and you lose. No matter what you think of Plain's tenure as mayor, she was then elected Governor. People in Alaska (who know her best) love her. That alone tells me attacked her for trivial things she did as mayor is a losing strategy.

Issues win. Attacks lose. The top of the Dem Ticket is vulnerable to attacks. The bottom of the Republican ticket is. Choose to fight that battle means you lose the war. My two cents.

: She is doing interviews (none / 0) (#17)
by JAB on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 05:22:00 PM EST

She's going to sit down with Charles Gibson of ABC over two days - Thursday and Friday. So we can stop this theme too.

: Bingo! (none / 0) (#20)
by NYShooter on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 06:23:24 PM EST

"I find it ironic that the actions of Obama's strongest supporters have hurt his campaign the most since the Palin announcement."
****************
And not just since Palin's announcement, but Obama's announcement as well.

Mudflats is Wonderful (none / 0) (#16)
by MTSINAIMAMA on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 05:18:50 PM EST

So is Andrew Halcro.

These are Alaskans. They know Palin.

I take what they say very seriously. They know her better than we do.

: Of course (5.00 / 2) (#18)
by Polkan on Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 05:41:09 PM EST

considering especially that Andrew Halcro lost to Palin in a race.
It's like taking Newt Gringrich's version of the Bill Clinton story.