The Myth of Sarah Palin the Reformer

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Last updated on August 11th, 2014 at 12:01 am

The presidential campaign of John McCain put out an ad today that sought to redefine his running mate Sarah Palin as more of a reformer than Barack Obama. The problem is that this so called reformer is governor of a state that depends on royalties from the oil and gas companies for 80% of its revenues.

Here is the ad:

My favorite part of the script is this, “She took on the oil producers. He gave big oil billions in subsidies and giveaways. She’s earned a reputation as a reformer. His reputation? Empty words.” While it is true, that she did drive a tough bargain over the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline, she was never opposed to the pipeline itself. She said that TransCanada could build the pipeline, and even got the company $500 million in taxpayer money to start the permit and design process.

She also supports the long standing dream of the oil companies to drill in ANWR. She is beholden to big oil in the same way as Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. Her record of “reform” consists of giving taxpayer money to companies that don’t need it. This will be the energy policy of a McCain/Palin administration. She doesn’t support ending our dependence on oil, because her political career in the petro state of Alaska depends on it.

This is the type of reform and change that John McCain is trying to pass off as superior to Barack Obama. If there wasn’t so much at stake in this election, this would be a sick joke. Palin is four more years of the Bush/Cheney energy policy. This is change that we can’t believe in. I am really surprised that they went after Obama on the reformer title, because Obama has that locked up.

It is still a mystery to me why the McCain campaign is avoiding using her as the fresh faced outsider. So far, the McCain campaign is making all of the same mistakes that Hillary Clinton did, and they are probably going to end up with the same result on election night.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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