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An Outsider Who Charms, Defies Odds

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The New York Times

Published: October 26, 2008

Her father shot the grizzly bear whose hide is draped over the sofa in her office. She, too, hunts and fishes. She runs marathons. She delivered her fifth child during her first term as governor. They call her husband, the reigning champion in the annual Iron Dog snowmobile race, First Dude.

Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's surprising selection to be his Republican vice presidential running mate, took Alaska by surprise, too, not long ago. Though indisputably Alaskan, she rose to prominence by bucking the state's Republican hierarchy, impressing voters more with gumption, warmth and charm than an established record in government.

It was a combination that dumbfounded her rivals.

"She wouldn't have articulated one coherent policy, and people would just be fawning all over her," said Andrew Halcro, a Republican turned independent, who along with Tony Knowles, a Democrat, ran against Palin for governor in 2006. "Tony and I looked at each other and it was, like, this isn't about policy or Alaska issues, this is about people's most basic instincts: 'I like you, and you make me feel good.'"

Now, after only 22 months in office in a state that has rarely played much of a role in national politics, Palin is again challenging expectations.

Vital Stats

Age: 44

Born: Sandpoint, Idaho

Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho
Of note:

•She met the man who would become her husband in high school.

•Was voted Miss Wasilla in a beauty contest

•She and Todd Palin eloped in 1988.

•The couple have five children - Track, 19; Bristol, 18; Willow, 14; Piper, 7; and Trig, 6 months. Track joined the Army last year. Trig, who was born in April, has Down syndrome.

Career Highlights

•Palin was elected to the city council of Wasilla, a suburb of Anchorage of about 7,000 people, in 1992. She ran for mayor in 1996 because, she has said, she was concerned that revenue from a new sales tax would not be spent wisely. She served two terms through 2002.

•As mayor, she oversaw the police department, which has 25 officers, and the city's public works projects.

•The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said that Palin had three major achievements there: She cut property taxes, increased the city sales tax by half a percent to support construction of an indoor ice rink and sports complex, and put more money into public safety, winning a grant to build a police dispatch center.

•Although she would later criticize congressional earmarks such as Alaska's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," proposed for the town of Ketchikan at a cost of about $400 million, as mayor she began the practice of making trips to Washington to press for them on behalf of her town.

•By summer 2006, Palin was taking on the governor, Frank H. Murkowski, a Republican lion of Alaska politics whose bluster had worn thin.

•Palin, youthful and sympathetic with voters but bluntly critical of her party's leadership, said state government was broken, that it needed to be transparent and responsive. She won in a landslide, trouncing Murkowski by more than 30 points in the Republican primary that summer and rolling through the general election that fall.

On Energy

Palin's intense pursuit of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to market in the Lower 48 led to what her administration has claimed as a major triumph: The Legislature this summer approved her plan to give a $500 million subsidy to TransCanada, a Canadian company, to help build the project.

The state Senate president, Lyda Green, a Republican who also is from Wasilla, has repeatedly sparred with Palin since she became governor. Green disagreed with the governor's decision to award a license and subsidies to the Canadian company, saying there was no guarantee that even with the subsidies a gas pipeline would be built.

Palin has cast the pipeline as a way for Alaska to "end our dependence on foreign oil." She has said she hopes the pipeline will show that Alaska can contribute to a new energy economy rather than be known as the state that receives more per capita federal spending than any other.

One of her most significant accomplishments as governor was passing a major tax increase on state oil production, angering oil companies but raising billions of dollars. She said the oil companies had previously bribed legislators to keep the taxes low. She championed legislation that would give some of that money to Alaskans: Every Alaskan will receive a $1,200 check.

Campaign Issues

Same-Sex Marriage: Palin said she supported Alaska's decision to amend its Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. But she used her first veto to block a bill that would have prohibited the state from granting health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees. Palin said she vetoed the bill because it was unconstitutional, but raised the possibility of amending the state Constitution so the ban could pass muster.

Oil Spill: Todd Palin, in addition to being a champion snowmobile racer, is an oil production operator on the North Slope, working for BP. The company has had to make major repairs since a spill on the slope temporarily shut down production there in 2006.

Troopergate: The Republican-controlled Legislature hired an independent investigator to determine whether the governor improperly pressured the former state public safety commissioner to resign this year.

•The former commissioner, Walt Monegan, has said he felt pressure from Palin's administration, and her husband, Todd, to fire a state trooper, Mike Wooten, who was going through a bitter divorce with the governor's sister. Todd Palin has said he feared for his wife's safety. The trooper was not fired.

•Earlier this month, the initial legislative investigation found Palin had the authority to remove the commissioner, but had breached the state's ethics code in seeking to fire an individual trooper.

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