Palin accused of using 'Bridge to Nowhere' issue to gain stature
Published Saturday, August 30, 2008
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Sarah Palin
Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was his choice as vice presidential running mate on Friday, Aug. 29, 2008.
ANCHORAGE -- Before Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was tapped by Sen. John McCain to be his presidential running mate, she made a shrewd political move, using the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" issue to catapult herself onto the national political stage, critics say.
In her acceptance speech Friday, Palin described herself as a champion reformer who put a stop to the $400 million bridge project in Alaska in her effort to "end the abuses" of earmark spending in Congress.
With McCain at her side, Palin received thunderous applause when she mentioned the bridge during her acceptance speech in Dayton, Ohio.
"I have championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress," Palin said. "In fact, I told Congress, I told Congress 'thanks but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere.
"If our state wanted a bridge, I said we'd build it ourselves," she said.
Palin pulled the plug on the project last fall. The bridge would have connected the city of Ketchikan to its airport on a nearby island in southeast Alaska. The only way to the airport now is by water taxis.
McCain, Washington's most outspoken critic of pork barrel spending, frequently uses the Alaska bridge project to illustrate what's wrong with out-of-control special interest spending in Washington.
Andrew Halcro, who ran as an independent and came in third to Palin in the 2006 gubernatorial election, said Palin sang a different tune on the campaign trail, an accusation backed up by news stories.
According to the Ketchikan Daily News, the bridge issue came up on Sept. 20, 2006, during an appearance the gubernatorial candidates made in Ketchikan.
"The money that's been appropriated for the project, it should remain available for a link, an access process as we continue to evaluate the scope and just how best to just get this done," Palin is quoted as saying in the paper's edition on Sept. 21, 2006. "This link is a commitment to help Ketchikan expand its access, to help this community prosper."
The newspaper quotes Palin as saying, "I think we're going to make a good team as we progress that bridge project."
Not only did she express support for the bridge but seemed less concerned than himself and Democrat Tony Knowles, who finished second, over the cost, Halcro said Saturday.
Halcro, who has a Web site and blog that frequently takes shots at Palin, said it took bloggers hardly any time at all to zero in on her comments about the bridge in Friday's speech.
"It took bloggers less than two or three hours to pick up on her comments in her speech yesterday in Dayton and say, 'Wait a second, this is not what she said,'" Halcro said. "She has obviously changed her position for political purposes."
Halcro said Palin used the bridge project for political purposes. She timed the release of the news to make a big splash on the East Coast, he said.
"This was a shrewd political move. The thought was that she would establish a name for herself," he said.
The history of the bridge goes back several years. Former Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski, who had served as an Alaska senator for 22 years, wanted the bridge. Murkowski's longtime colleagues, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, pushed the project through Congress. They secured $452 million in a federal transportation bill for two bridges, the one in Ketchikan and the other in Anchorage.
With pressure mounting over pork projects, Congress stripped the earmark, requiring instead that some of the money be used for an airport. Alaska eventually received about half the money. Palin last fall directed that money to transportation projects statewide instead of for Ketchikan's bridge.
Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, who campaigned for Knowles, said he was there in September 2006 when Palin visited Ketchikan with the other candidates and the bridge issue came up.
"She was asked about the bridge and she supported it," he said.
Then, last year she pulled the project without telling anyone in Ketchikan first, Weinstein said.
Palin "absolutely" used the issue for political purposes, Weinstein said, accusing the governor of playing to media outlets on the East Coast when she killed it.
"Look at how she communicated the decision to the community. It went east at 5 a.m. (Alaska time). That was the beginning of her effort to promote herself as a candidate for national office," he said.
Weinstein said at the time there was talk that Palin would challenge Stevens in this year's GOP primary.
Bill McAllister, Palin's press secretary, asked how could Palin have used the Bridge to Nowhere issue to propel herself into national politics when the overriding response to Friday's announcement was surprise?
"How could she have foreseen that she would be at this point now? Everybody is surprised by this development," McAllister said.
McAllister, who was a reporter for Anchorage television station KTUU during the 2006 campaign, said he remembers well Palin's position on the bridge project. She was lukewarm as a candidate and cooled to it as governor, he said.
"Of course when you become governor things come into much sharper focus than when you are a candidate," he said. "Then she is forced to pay very close attention to the fiscal realities of it."
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www.andrewhalcro.com
Community Discussion
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I can see a certain ex-candidate stomping his foot at the news of Sarah Palin being chosen as McCain's running mate. "It's not fair! Why does SHE get to be VP? I'm smarter!! I should have been the governor anyway! Wah!"
Alaskans! This is the reason you can not trust people in Washington. They will use everything even our own legitimate governor. At this moment the GOP are praising Sarah on their own account but once they get what they want they will spit her out like Ted, Don and almost Lisa. Fact: GOP is scared of Obama because he is neutral to Iraq and Washington. We must bring back our constitution above the American people.
The News-Miner's editorial was just on Meet the Press. And Polenty, the gov of Minn, looks very disappointed in her nomination. Sarah supported the Bridge to Nowhere during her 2006 campaign. There are a lot of people who think there's very little governing going on in Juneau. Ketchikan and the Mat Valley (i.e. Wasilla) had few projects vetoed by Palin while the rest of the state had massive vetoes. Can anybody say "pork?" I talked to a retired naval officer yesterday who said McCain reminds him of his former commander who was a 6yr POW and who would do irrational things in his tenure as an aircraft carrier commander (they were clear and intelligent comments he made, more extensive than there's room for here). McCain is a man in his 70s with recurring cancers. I like Sarah Palin. I like a lot of people. I don't think any of these are qualified to be president. I was as excited as anyone at Palin's nomination, but I'm not willing to be a hypocrite and pretend she (or McCain) would make any kind of adequate president. Economy! Iraq! Confirms McCain is as addled as I thought he was.
Palin not qualified to be vice-president? Then tell me: what qualifications has Obama to be president? Look at each other's resumes, and you will notice that Obama has done nothing of significance, but he still can be president if he wins the elections.
Yesterday the Anchorage Daily News reporter Tom Kizzia refered to Sarah Palin as "the Joan of Arc of Alaska". How appropriate! From the time she was appointed to the Oil and Gas Commission her moves have been too prescient to be calculated. I was not a supporter of Palin in the primary, I supported John Binkley, but as a long time observer of the Alaska political scene I have been amazed by the astuteness of Palin's moves. I have pondered who advises her and haven't been able to perceived a dominant presence behind her. I can't find fault with her decisions. They were absolutely right moves at precisely the right moments. Lets just hope, in this time of Alaska's ascendancy to the national stage that her leadership continues to be as inspired as it has been in the last few years. A true leader, not a flash as was Joan of Arc. God go with her.
Warning: anybody says "God go with her" : run far away as fast as you can.
The selection of Sarah Palin by the National Republican Party for Vice President is an insult to the Institution of the Presidency.
The hall mark of Rove and Cheney. They will go to any lengths to preserve their ability to control the taxation of their pals and enrich themselves at the expense of the National Debt and our Children.
They are pandering to their low opinion of women to discern by appointing a hockeymom for VP. The appointment is not an insult to Gov. Palin. She is their victim.
She might be a great jurist in distinguishing right, from obvious wrong. However, other than sending us $1200.00 to get through the winter, I haven't heard an original thought come out of her head.
Come to think of it even that idea originated with the Legislator from Haines.
Maybe the ABC network will revive the Geena Davis series "Commander In Chief" from '05 and add some new storylines. LOL
How pathetic we have those who run for political office that use their platforms to be untruthful! Hypocrsy at it's best!
Tell me, even though she didn't build the bridge, she took the money! Where is it?
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