Anchorage Daily News

Palin Troopergate discrepancies surface in interviews. Mother Jones blog compares Gov. Sarah Palin’s response to Troopergate in August when she spoke with The New Yorker, and statements made by McCain campaign aides Tuesday.

For The New Yorker:

[Palin] said that one of her goals had been to combat alcohol abuse in rural Alaska, and she blamed Commissioner Monegan for failing to address the problem. That, she said, was a big reason that she'd let him go--only, by her account, she didn't fire him, exactly. Rather, she asked him to drop everything else and single-mindedly take on the state's drinking problem, as the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. “It was a job that was open, commensurate in salary pretty much--ten thousand dollars less”--but, she added, Monegan hadn't wanted the job, so he left state service; he quit.

However, as of Tuesday, Monegan was fired for “an escalating pattern of insubordination on budget and other key policy issues."

There are other discrepancies as well.

More Palin news below.

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Other Palin headlines of interest:

> Palin humor round-up (About.com)

"I like Sarah Palin. She looks like the dip sample lady at Safeway. She looks like the nurse who weighs you and then makes you sit alone in your underwear for 20 minutes. She looks like the Olive Garden hostess who says, 'I'm sorry, your table isn't ready yet." She looks like infomercial lady who says she made $64,000 a month flipping condos."

--David Letterman

> Katie Couric’s interview is Sept. 29-30, CBS (Los Angeles Times)

> Let’s play the Sarah Palin Drinking Game (San Francisco Chronicle)

Throw back a shot of your favorite beverage every time she says "Sean" during the interview. Keep in mind that she said "Charlie" 18 times during her interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson last week.

> Portrait of a Palin Patriot (Kansas City Star)

But decades ago, the do-it-all disciples of Gloria Steinem and their lefty politics disrespected stay-at-home moms, Doris Riley said.

“And now we (conservatives) have Sarah Palin who is a women and has a family and has done it all. And she has a husband that is doing all the things the feminists have wanted men to do for years.

“Because if you want to get on the playing field with the men, you hold up your end or they send you home. That’s what Sarah Palin has done,” Riley said.

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Law.com takes a careful look at Sen. Ted Stevens' defense strategy in his corruption trial due to start Sept. 22.

The Stevens defense, as gleaned from pre-trial motions and hearings, is rooted in the argument that Stevens did not knowingly and willfully file false financial disclosure statements. Stevens' lawyers -- who, in addition to Sullivan, include partners Robert Cary and Alex Romain -- must show Stevens did not believe the items he received were gifts that required reporting. Stevens can argue that any appearance of omission or concealment was a mistake and not intentional.

To win, Stevens will have to take the stand, legal anaylists say. But that's fraught with trouble.

But testifying poses two risks, says Stephen Braga, a partner in Ropes & Gray's Washington office who represents Michael Scanlon, a former business associate of Jack Abramoff. "The first is that the jury doesn't believe him and he loses the case," Braga says. "The second is that the judge doesn't believe him and the judge can then increase his sentence if he thinks that perjury was committed." And Braga notes ominously: "D.C. juries over the years have not been kind to elected officials."

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Can he shut down Troopergate? Newsweek asks that question in a story responding to Tuesday's press conference in which Edward O'Callaghan, a former top Justice Department prosecutor and current McCain campaign adviser, argued to close a pre-election ethics investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin. Who is he?

The growing role of Edward O'Callaghan, who until six weeks ago served as co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney's office in New York, illustrates just how seriously the McCain campaign is taking the so-called "troopergate" inquiry into Palin's firing last summer of Walt Monegan, Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner.

O'Callaghan emerged publicly for the first time this week when he told reporters at a McCain campaign press conference in Anchorage that Palin is "unlikely to cooperate" with an Alaskan legislative inquiry into Monegan's firing because it had been "tainted" by politics. That new stand appeared to directly contradict a previous vow, expressed by her official gubernatorial spokesman on July 28, that Palin "will fully cooperate" with an investigation into the matter.

The Associated Press has a version of the O'Callaghan story that also sheds light on how involved the McCain campaign is in this state ethics issue:

O'Callaghan, who helped prosecute terrorism and national security cases for the Justice Department until a few weeks ago, was sent to Alaska to handle "legal issues that are affecting the political dynamic of the campaign," said Taylor Griffin, a former Treasury Department spokesman in the Bush administration. O'Callaghan is expected to leave after this week.

McCain's campaign has sent at least one dozen researchers and lawyers to Alaska to pore over Palin's background, ready to respond to questions about her tenure as governor and mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. Griffin has been leading the team in Alaska, which includes operatives of the Republican National Committee.

Other Troopergate headlines today:

> State employees will not honor subpoenas (Associated Press)

> They're reading about Troopergate in Paris (International Herald Tribune)

Keep up with this story at the Anchorage Daily News' Troopergate section.

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Sen. Ted Stevens: Guilty or not, only the Senate can send him home. The Associated Press looks into the future, past Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial, to point out that regardless of the outcome, the senator can serve unless his colleagues decide to unseat him.

If Ted Stevens is convicted in his federal trial next month, his name will still appear as the Republican candidate for Senate on Alaska's November election ballot.

And if the 84-year-old Stevens then wins his seventh full term and refuses to resign, it could fall to his colleagues to decide whether he should be expelled.

"Once the jury has rendered a verdict, the Senate has a constitutional right to consider the qualifications of the member," said Don Ritchie, an associate Senate historian. It would take a two-thirds vote of the Senate to expel Stevens.

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How Palin's success could help Stevens....Young....Begich.....and Berkowitz. The Hill notes that Palin's ascendancy has overshadowed two big battles going on in the state right now, obviously the Begich/Stevens U.S. Senate race and the Young/Berkowitz U.S. House race. All four campaigns now emphasize their ties to Palin, recognizing her popularity in the state. Which can be awkward, to say the least.

For one, Berkowitz and Begich are Democrats. But in this political climate, no problem.

"If you listen to what McCain says on the campaign trail, he always goes back to her having fought corruption in the Alaska Republican Party," Berkowitz spokesman David Shurtleff said. "That's talking about Ted Stevens and Don Young."

The Berkowitz campaign suggests a Palin endorsement for Ethan would solidify her maverick credentials. The Begich campaign emphasizes their mutual youthfulness.

Palin has been careful about criticizing Sen. Ted Stevens. "We expect Gov. Palin to create a significant turnout among Alaskans and her base, which are the Republicans," Stevens spokesman Aaron Saunders said.

And as for Young?

"They both have a deep love for the state of Alaska," said Young spokesman Michael Anderson. "They do sometimes see things a bit differently."

TRM Muckraker wonders, will Palin actually out the Earmark King, Sen. Ted, while she's campaigning?

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Tina Fey, you gotta love her. Before we get into the serious Sarah Palin coverage, let's take a look at the fun Palin coverage. The Chicago Tribune's Washington blog, The Swamp, reports that the vice presidential entourage was quiet behind the blue curtain aboard the campaign jet Saturday night during Fey's Palin imitation. But she was watching, and she laughed. If you missed it (what planet were you on), here's the link already.

Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt told CBS News: "She thought it was quite funny, particularly because she once dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween."

So Palin was once Fey. Huh.

Anyway, You Tube is exploding with video and written commentary on Palin, reports the Associated Press.

"There isn't enough lipstick on the planet to cover up Palin's lack of experience and knowledge," a YouTube member with the online name Surfinhard4u wrote in a comment posted Tuesday in a forum linked to the transvestite Palin video.

Carly Fiorina declared that the SNL Tina Fey video was sexist:

"They were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive and Sarah Palin as totally superficial," Fiorina said. "I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme and, I would say, sexist."

That prompted the Young Turk channel on You Tube to produce a video "calling Fiorina's accusation of sexism "absurd" since Clinton was portrayed as capable while Palin was harpooned."

If I get time today, I'll come back and add links to these.

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Palin takes first questions from the public tonight in Michigan. MSNBC's First Read blog reports that Palin will answer voter questions at a town hall meeting. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that the buzz over her arrival is palpable. Tim Rutten at the Los Angeles Times does an excellent job of explaining Palin's pull.

In electoral terms, Palin is McCain's meal ticket.

Perhaps more important, the vice presidential nominee is outstripping McCain in media coverage. Last week, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center's weekly analysis of campaign journalism, Palin figured in 53 percent of all stories concerning the presidential race. McCain was mentioned in 49 percent. By way of comparison, Barack Obama came up in 61 percent of all the campaign coverage last week, while his running mate, Joe Biden, was mentioned just 5 percent of the time, despite a packed calendar of public appearances.

His analysis: Three reasons for her success. The first is a "culture of celebrity" that emphasizes the personal story over the record. The second is her appeal to Main Street as someone who lives "out there" because Americans still romanticize small towns. And the clincher with the religious right was her strong opposition to abortion.

The Christian Science Monitor takes a stab at understanding her popularity. It has an interesting perspective on this election. It divided the country into 11 types of communities, called "Patchwork Nation," based on demographics, economics and education.

These prototypical communities range from "Boom Towns" to "Service Centers" to "Monied Burbs" among others. The paper has community bloggers describing the mood in their communities. Palin is polarizing a Boom Town (Eagle, Colo.) and playing strong in a Service Center (Lincoln City, Ore.)

If there is a swing community type where Sen. McCain could score points because of Palin, it is most likely the "Service Worker Centers." The people who live in these places ­ lower-income individuals and families ­ might see a lot to like in Palin's regular-gal appeal. Indeed, that's something we've heard from a few people in Lincoln City.

The question now is whether the net positive for Palin in those places will outweigh the impression she's left in other battleground community types: "Boom Towns" and "Monied 'Burbs." Those community types also have a large presence in a host of key states.

Palin gets a close look from the Chicago Tribune's DC blog, The Swamp. Its analysis: She's got "folksy nailed."

At the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, inside a barnlike structure for showing horses, the floor is deep with dirt. Palin addresses the several thousand voters who have come to see her as "guys and gals." She tells them there needs to be some "shakin' and fixin' " when it comes to Washington and the financial markets. And when she refers to Sen. John McCain, she says, "I'm going to brag him up a little bit."

On the campaign trail this week for the first time without McCain, Palin's down-to-earth persona has generated wild enthusiasm and boosted McCain in the polls. But it remains to be seen whether swing voters will interpret that persona as showing a lack of sophistication and seasoning at a time when Wall Street is in crisis and the nation is at war.

She's also unveiling a new stump speech in which there is nary a word about lipstick, Todd is "blue-collar," her sister runs a gas station and she and Todd commercial fish.

Despite criticism as to their accuracy, she is still telling the Bridge to Nowhere story and that she oversees 20 percent of domestic oil and gas production.

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About that 20 percent: Four Pinocchios for Palin. The Washington Post says that the vice presidential nominee continues to use bogus statistics three days after an independent fact checker sorted truth from exaggeration.

Last week, Sarah Palin told Charles Gibson of ABC News that her state produced "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." On Monday, she told a campaign rally in Golden, Colo., that she had been responsible for overseeing "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of oil and gas." Both claims are way off.

The Associated Press and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner cover the same turf, explaining how that 20 percent is an exaggeration.

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On Palin: Enough already! That's what Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby had to say today. He says cheap shots and invective are par for the course in politics. Still, he thinks Palin's getting more than her fair share.

But the left's onslaught against Palin has been of a different order of magnitude.

"Ideologically, she is their hard-core pornographic centerfold spread," columnist Cintra Wilson wrote in Salon. "She's such a power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty, it's easy to write her off and make fun of her. But in reality I feel as horrified as a ghetto Jew watching the rise of National Socialism."

On the Web site of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., commentator Heather Mallick was even cruder. Palin appeals to "the white trash vote" with her "toned-down version of the porn actress look," she wrote. "Husband Todd looks like a roughneck. . . What normal father would want Levi 'I'm a (bleeping) redneck' Johnson prodding his daughter?"

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Palin has no head for business. So said McCain adviser and former Hewlitt Packard head, Carly Fiorina, reports the Los Angeles Times. It was Palin’s answer to a radio host’s question as to whether Palin had the economic background to run a corporation like Hewlitt Packard.

“No I don’t,” Fiorina replied bluntly. But followed up with the fact that neither did McCain, Obama or Biden.

"A major corporation is not the same as being president or vice president of the United States," Fiorina said on MSNBC. Apparently, it’s much harder….

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Deliciously Dowd. Who knew New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd was standing on the Loussac Library grass last Saturday. We knew the universe was upside down when she filed last week’s column datelined Wasilla. This week, there were still remnants of Wasilla:

I sauteed myself in Sarahville last week.

I wandered through the Wal-Mart, which seemed almost as large as Wasilla, a town that is a soulless strip mall without sidewalks set beside a soulful mountain and lake.

Wal-Mart has all the doodads that Sarah must need in her career as a sportsman — Remingtons and “torture tested” riflescopes, game bags for caribou, machines that imitate rabbits and young deer and coyotes to draw your quarry in so you can shoot it, and machines to squish cows into beef jerky.

In Anchorage, she met a breathless Eddie Burke and quoted lots of the handmade signage in the library crowd. She ended her column quoting an Alaskan who’d flown in for the rally from Fairbanks.

“She’s a child, inexperienced and simplistic,” she said of Sarah. “It’s taking us back to junior high school. She’s one of the popular girls, but one of the mean girls. She is seductive, but she is invented.”

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Lance Mackey gets his due. Finally, they voted him toughest, reports the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. It took the Internet to do it. He prevailed in the “CamPain ‘08” contest conducted by cable TV channel Versus against big names like Evel Knievel, Brett Favre, Muhammad Ali and Lance Armstrong.

In his victory interview with the newspaper (he hadn’t yet heard from Versus), details about his current health condition came out.

Side effects from the earlier cancer treatment include a circulatory condition that plagues his hands and feet, nerve damage that caused him to get his left index finger amputated in 2005 and muscle deterioration issues. Also, because his salivary glands were removed, Mackey almost always has a water bottle handy and now is experiencing problems with his teeth.

“The (side effects are) continuing to get worse and worse,” Mackey said. “(Doctors have) got me on a new program of experimental drugs for circulation. I’m trying to prolong the inevitable, that I won’t be able to do this for the rest of my life.”

He says he probably has three to five more good years of racing left.

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