Anchorage Daily News

This may seem like the Palin debate/Stevens trial newsletter, but both have tremendous news momentum at the moment. First, a brief visit to the trial and what it means to Alaskans at home. Next up, Sarah Palin's big moment Thursday night, with attention to debate advice she's getting, analysis of her 2006 debate performances, the McCain/Palin interview with Katie Couric, Palin's looming trouble with conservatives and, lastly, the juggernaut that Troopergate has become.

Lastly, find Palin/Stevens-free, Alaska-only news at the bottom of Newsreader. Let's begin.

Update: Ongoing additions throughout the day, marked with UPDATE.

***

Alaskans on Stevens: "Who doesn't like Robin Hood?" As the senator's Washington, D.C., corruption trial resumes this morning with ex-Veco chief Bill Allen detailing the remodel on Stevens' Girdwood chalet, the Washington Post reports that in Alaska, the corruption headlines may not matter.

"I've lived here seven years," said Bill Stanfill, 57, a retired insurance broker who moved from Florida. "Had I been here 37 years and I'd seen him bring all these goodies for all these years, I'd see him the way everybody else does. Who doesn't like Robin Hood?"

"I think he's electable," said Florence Hall, 77, picking stray spuds from a potato field before the coming frost. "I have my doubts about a trial outcome in Washington, D.C. I really do. I've heard reminders that Washington, D.C., is full of politicians, and it's Democratic territory, and they're going to focus on hanging a Republican.

Other coverage of Stevens trial:

> Ex-friend, oilman testifies against Alaska's Stevens (Associated Press)

They were friends once, the oilman and the senator. Over 26 years, they shared a fondness for cigars and wine, for salmon fishing and Alaska politics.

At the apex of their careers, the two held nearly unrivaled power. Stevens was a beloved figure in Alaska who steered billions of dollars to his home state. Allen, a self-made millionaire, could summon state lawmakers to his hotel room for drinks and tell them how to vote.

> Ted Stevens got special deals, Bill Allen tells court (Los Angeles Times)

Jerie Best, a volunteer who has helped organize the Kenai River Classic, a sport- fishing derby, described a statue and guns given to Stevens.

Prosecutors contend that none of those gifts was properly accounted for and that the artwork ended up on the porch of Stevens' home in Girdwood. Stevens' lawyers contend the bronze was intended for a charitable foundation and library being set up to mark his years in government service.

"Is Sen. Stevens a charity?" prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.

"Not that I know of," Best answered.

> Former CEO tells of gifts to Stevens (Washington Post)

Stevens' attorneys have asserted that the senator paid $160,000 in renovation costs and felt that was a fair market price. They have said that Stevens' wife handled most of the bills and have blamed Allen for hiding other expenses. One of the lawyers, Brendan Sullivan, has accused Allen of "deviousness."

> View all the Department of Justice documents in this case (U.S. DOJ, US Govt)

> Sen. Ted Stevens quotes on his indictment, over time (Google News)

***

Now, looking ahead to the Palin/Biden debate Thursday night:

> UPDATE: Debate could be almost as good as SNL (Hollywood Reporter)

Talk about Must-See TV.

"A lot of people are anticipating this to be almost a 'Saturday Night Live' live," said Tammy Vigil, an assistant professor of communications at Boston University and a co-author of the upcoming book, "The Third Agenda in U.S. Presidential Debates." "The entertainment value on this debate is going to be huge."

> UPDATE: The New Yorker cover has fun with seeing Russia from Alaska (Globe and Mail)

Check out the cover.

> UPDATE: Shooting from the hip, with a smile to boot (Washington Post)

Next time you see a clip of the Republican vice presidential nominee, try this exercise. Mute your TV and just watch that face. How often do you see someone in political life so extravagantly expressive? The eyebrows go up, the shoulder leans in, the thumb jauntily gestures backward, the tongue actually fixes in the cheek. To mock Barack Obama, she licks her finger and holds it to the imaginary wind! And that smile, that nearly ever-present smile, which either indicates -- oh, dear, here we go again -- that she's sarcastic and dismissive or that she's letting you in on a very clever joke.

People love her so. People hate her so. At the heart of it is the delivery, a style of speaking we'll see again in tomorrow night's debate, a style that reaches past folksy and veers into the territory of -- to hell with it, cue the charges of sexism -- cute.

Follow a live chat with the author of this article here:

Re: Winfield, Pa.: Her looks certainly have a lot to do with her popularity! If she looked like, say, a moose, I don't think she would have been picked in the first place -- but even if she was, I don't think her supporters would be quite so supportive. And if she were a man, she'd be getting hammered seven days to Sunday.

Libby Copeland: Yeah, it's part of the appeal, as I point out in my story. Her supporters have worn buttons called her "hottest." It's not the entire package, though--far from it.

> McCain aides put pressure on organizers (London Telegraph)

John McCain's aides have put pressure on the organizers of the upcoming vice presidential debate by voicing concerns that Sarah Palin will be challenged by an unusually large number of foreign policy questions following her recent poor interview performances.

Nancy Pfotenhauer, a senior campaign manager for Mr. McCain, said the clash should at least be evenly balanced with domestic concerns. "The moderators will have some questions to answer themselves if they do go so heavy (on) foreign policy," she said.

> Palin reaches out to Joe Six-pack (Skynews.com)

In an interveiw with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, she said that if she and McCain win next month's election, they would "put government back on the side of the people of Joe Six-packs like me."

Palin said she and her husband, Todd, have been affected by the economic downturn with her husband's 401(k) retirement account probably losing $20,000 in the last week as the market dropped.

> In veep debate, they're on equal footing (USA Today blog)

A male pol treating a female opponent condescendingly as a rich uncle tutoring a niece in manners will wind up with a bloody nose. Palin needs no buffer or extreme courtesy because of her gender.

Above all, Biden doesn't have to show deference to Palin because - gasp - she's female. She's running for vice president, not Miss America.

> How Biden could win in the first two minutes (Forbes.com)

But it's really just a matter of using Biden's opening answer to address the elephant -or in this case, the lipsticked pig -- in the room: sexism. The logical place to start is simply to acknowledge -- and thus legitimize -- the perception of sexism and the sense of indignation that women from across the political spectrum felt after hard-line Democratic partisans accused Palin of faking her recent pregnancy, questioned her commitment as a mother and generally treated her like a freak.

It's doubtful that those personal attacks were motivated primarily by actual gender bias. I suspect they were largely driven by partisan venom and cultural condescension. But that is a meaningless distinction in the course of a high-stakes campaign, where inference is king. And in this case, the belittling swipes and wild conspiracy theories about the Palin family helped transform a likable, albeit grossly underqualified, candidate into a folk-hero martyr for Wal-Mart and Neiman Marcus moms alike.

> The audition for second-fiddle (Associated Press)

For once, the whole world may be watching. Already, 3,100 media credentials have been issued, the most the Commission on Presidential Debates ever needed in seven vice presidential debates it's hosted.

> You can't trust Gwen Ifill (New York Post)

In an imaginary world where liberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else, Ifill would be required to make a full disclosure at the start of the debate. She would be required to turn to the cameras and tell the national audience that she has a book coming out Jan. 20, a date that just happens to coincide with the inauguration of the next president of the United States.

The title of Ifill's book? "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." Nonpartisan, my foot.

Yeah, I just registered 6.4 on the Snicker Richter Scale too.

> UPDATE: The awful Ifill debate (Huffington Post)

There is no way in the world she could be anything but fair in the debate. she doesn't have it in her. It's understandable in this world of media blowhards that so many would be conditioned to doubt anyone could be an honest broker, but if anyone can, it's Gwen Ifill.

So just let her do her damned job. Then let the politicians do theirs. We might actually learn something.

> UPDATE: Unshackle Sarah. (Dallas Morning News)

Ms. Palin should wrap this credit mess right around Joe Biden's neck. ... Ms. Palin can stand alone as the candidate who looks into the camera and say: "America has spoken. No government bailouts. We hear you."

I only hope the McCain handlers unshackle her and allow it.

> UPDATE: Compare your wallet under Palin or Biden (U.S. News & World Reports)

What do the veep candidates say about the Wall Street bailout, creating jobs, the housing crash, taxes and energy.

***

Running for governor in 2006, Sarah Palin unnerved her debate opponents:

> Is she a great debater? (BBC)

Opponent Andrew Halcro: "She has an amazing ability to turn a 45-second answer into a folksy story. ... She's never been forced to know the issues." "I don't think anyone could have beat her. It wasn't about how much she knew about the issues. People didn't care about her experience, they just thought, 'This is the drink of water we need.' "

Richard Parker, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government: "I think she plays to great advantage the small-town hockey mom persona. For Alaska that's terrific. But for states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, who are dealing with panic about the economy, who knows?"

> Take a look at one of the debates yourself (Alaska Politics)

> Knowles would make a good chef (The Weekly Standard)

Smiling at Halcro, who recited reams of statistics by rote, Palin observed that the businessman "would make the most awesome statistician the state could ever look for." As the debate audience laughed, Palin pivoted to Knowles, who had owned an Anchorage restaurant. "Do they need a chef down in Juneau?" Palin asked, smiling as she twisted the verbal knife. "I know Mr. Knowles is really good at that."

"When you try to prove she doesn't know anything, you lose because audiences are enraptured by her," Halcro said. "And her biting comments give you a sense of how competitive she is. Anybody who doesn't take her seriously does so at their peril."

> Political landscape "littered with people who underestimated her" (Los Angeles Times)

During Palin's brief exposure to the high-stakes environment of political debates, she has unnerved both her handlers and her opponents. At times she has been handicapped by her lax approach to learning the nuances of policy and state issues, but she has also projected a Reaganesque ability to offer up pithy answers and charm on camera.

Two aides say they struggled to get their candidate to focus for the gubernatorial debates:

Palin, the former aides said, had a sharply limited attention span for absorbing the facts and policy angles required for all-topics debate preparation. Staffers were rarely able to get her to sit for more than half an hour of background work at a time before her concentration waned, hindered by cell phone calls and family affairs. "We were always fighting for her attention," said one of the aides.

Her skill at the dodge was compared to Muhammad Ali's:

Larry Persily, a panelist questioner in the campaign's final televised debate, said Palin flummoxed her rivals "like Muhammad Ali dancing around the ring." She avoided statements and tough questions that could have impaled her and repeatedly stung her opponents. And Palin, a former sportscaster, was easily the most comfortable in front of the camera. "She knows television," said Persily, who participated in other debates and has watched Palin closely for years. "She knows how to look at her interviewer."

> Past debates show a confident but vague Palin (The New York Times)

Reporter Katharine Seelye looked at Biden and Palin and their debate styles. She drew heavily from Palin's 2006 gubernatorial displays.

But just as she does now, Ms. Palin often spoke in generalities and showed scant aptitude for developing arguments beyond a talking point or two. Her sentences were distinguished by their repetition of words, by the use of the phrase "here in Alaska" and for gaps. On paper, her sentences would have been difficult to diagram.

These tendencies could fuzz her meaning and lead her into linguistic cul-de-sacs. She often used less than her allotted time and ended her answers abruptly.

> Palin proved a formidable foe (Wall Street Journal)

In most encounters, her métier was projecting winsomeness -- making a virtue of not knowing as much about the minutiae of state government because, for most of her adulthood, she was immersed in small-town life and raising a family.

The candidates she squared off against, and the reporters who posed questions in several debates, recall that she related high gas prices to the difficulties her family had buying a car. She explained that she was in tune with environmentalists because she named a daughter, Bristol, for Alaska's Bristol Bay. She demonstrated her affinity for Native American culture by citing the teachings of her husband's Yu'pik Eskimo grandparent.

> What it's like to debate Sarah Palin, by Andrew Halcro (Christian Science Monitor)

I should know. I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do.

Palin: "Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' "

> "I'm the new Energy." (CNN.com, Political Ticker)

Palin is a master of the nonanswer. She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she's met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges. All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges.

On the other side of the stage, if Palin is to be successful, she needs to do what she does best: fill the room with her presence and stick to the scripted sound bites.

> Debate season: Palin down (Chicago Tribune, The Swamp blog)

"Opinions about Sarah Palin have become increasingly negative, with a majority of the public (51 percent) now

saying that the Alaska governor is not qualified to become president if necessary;'' Pew Research Center

President Andy Kohut reports."Just 37 percent say she is qualified to serve as president,'' Kohut reports

But Palin holds "a clear advantage in perceptions of which vice-presidential candidate is down-to-earth.'' Seven-in-ten voters view Palin as down-to-earth, compared, while 55 percent say that of Biden.

***

In the latest Couric interviews, Palin and McCain sat down together:

>

>UPDATE: Palin: Women shouldn't go to jail for getting an abortion (Scientific American)

Last night, Couric asked Palin why abortion should be illegal for a teen rape victim. Palin didn't directly address the legality of the procedure itself; rather, she said a woman shouldn't be punished for getting an abortion. "If you're asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an...abortion, absolutely not," Palin said. "That's nothing I would ever support."

"Life starts at the moment of conception," Palin added later. And while she said she's "all for contraception. And I'm all for any preventative measures that are legal and safe and should be taken," she also said that one of them, the morning-after pill, wasn't for her.

On that point, we may have gotten a little too much information: "Personally, I would not choose to participate in that kind of contraception," Palin said.

> Couric/Palin/McCain interview transcript (CBS News)

> Sarah discusses global warming, vaguely (Los Angeles Times, Top of the Ticket and Washington Post The Trail)

Couric: Is it man-made, though in your view?

Palin: You know there are -- there are man's activities that can be contributed to the issues that we're dealing with now, these impacts. I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate. Because the world's weather patterns are cyclical. And over history we have seen change there. But kind of doesn't matter at this point, as we debate what caused it. The point is: it's real; we need to do something about it.

> Palin on gays and contraception (Washington Post)

And asked about reports that one of the churches she attends has encouraged gays to become straight, Palin referred again to her own life. "I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my 'gay friend,' she is one o'gay friend,' she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made."

Asked about the morning-after pill, Palin appeared to argue that it is wrong because it takes effect after conception, while not stating that it should be banned as a matter of policy. "Well, I am all for contraception. And I am all for preventative measures that are legal and safe, and should be taken. But Katie, again, I am one to believe that life starts at the moment of conception," Palin said. She added that that "isn't a McCain-Palin policy."

***

Palin has a problem with conservatives:

> Concerns persist about Palin's readiness (The New York Times)

"I think she has pretty thoroughly - and probably irretrievably - proven that she is not up to the job of being president of the United States," David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush who is now a conservative columnist, said in an interview. "If she doesn't perform well, then people see it.

Mike Murphy, who used to work as a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, said Ms. Palin's performance in the campaign had underlined his argument that she was a bad choice for Mr. McCain. Mr. Murphy said he was skeptical that she could turn it around in one debate.

> Palin's "conservative" problem (Washington Post, The Fix)

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who many within the establishment of the GOP saw as the smartest choice as vice president, told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that: "Holding Sarah Palin to just three interviews and microscopically focusing on each interview I think has been a mistake, I think they'd be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin. Let her talk to the media, let her talk to people."

Bill Kristol, in his column for the New York Times echoed that sentiment. "McCain needs to liberate his running mate from the former Bush aides brought in to handle her -- aides who seem to have succeeded in importing to the Palin campaign the trademark defensive crouch of the Bush White House," wrote Kristol.

***

On the homefront, Troopergate as a giant juggernaut suggests a tough homecoming for Palin:

> Homecoming could be touchy (KTUU)

"I've been hurt by this," Gara said. "I have some very good friends the McCain campaign is attacking." Gara said in the end, people will get over any hurt feelings.

"It's going to be strained in certain cases," Harris said in a phone interview. "Anybody that may have said anything other than absolutely 100 percent glowing comments (she) might have some strong feelings against him."

> Natives question Palin support (Associated Press)

Palin's family ties would suggest she would be more sensitive to Native issues, said Stephen Haycox, a University of Alaska Anchorage history professor. But in her 21-month tenure, the governor has used those ties mostly to highlight her experiences in commercial fishing, moose hunting and general outdoorsmanship.

"She has not manifested, so far, any extraordinary measures on behalf of Alaska Natives," Haycox said.

> Go Sarah! We're Wooten for ya'back home (Alaska Dispatch)

Meghan, sweetie, please do keep scoffing at reporters, even as you unwittingly fuel much of Sarah's less-than-flattering press coverage. Just remember that lots of Alaskans hate the media. And many of us do love watching you stare so dreamily up at that tall McCain lawyer guy from back East who used to prosecute terrorists before he flew north to bear down on Alaska's most notorious of all terrorists, that rogue cop Walt Monegan.

> Palin Truth Files (johnmccain.com/palintruthfiles

It's a three-ring circus, as the Truth Squad tells it. Don't miss this Web site where they lay out their case against the Legislative investigation.

> McCain rewrites Alaska history, by Les Gara (Mudflats)

Over the past few weeks we Alaskans have been scratching our heads over the interesting claims the McCain campaign has made about our Governor. A lot of them have been news to us. Governor Palin's nomination to the McCain ticket has created unusual common ground for Alaskans. Whether we support her or not, we've been furrowing our eyebrows a lot lately as we watch the McCain campaign re-write Alaska history.

> Colberg stands in way of state investigation (Juneau Empire)

Gov. Sarah Palin's attorney general, Talis Colberg, appears to be blocking state employees from cooperating with a legislative investigation into his boss' administration.

Colberg's actions have left legislators unclear whether he's representing the state of Alaska, or acting as Palin's defense attorney, said Rep. Harry Crawford, D-Anchorage.

"He's not representing the state," Crawford said. "His clients, he thinks, are the Palin administration employees."

***

Other headlines of interest to Alaskans:

>UPDATE: Veterans of America: Alaska National Guard at crisis point (Marketplace.com)

VFA's National Guard Program just completed a week in the state reviewing the needs of Alaska's citizen-Soldiers and the resources in place to meet them. The needs of Alaska's Guard members and their families far outstrip the available help.

Many of the Alaska's Guard members have been deployed, and redeployed, despite the shortage of care and treatment available upon their return. With more than one-quarter of Alaska's Guard members living 60 miles or more from a Veterans Affairs facility, many rarely, if ever, get treatment they need. Travel to Anchorage alone can cost more than $1,500 for each Guard member -- an upfront cost too burdensome for many to shoulder, even if they are eventually reimbursed. With the economy worsening, the costs to Guard families for their own healthcare will mount and even fewer will receive treatment.

> Canada quietly opposes drilling in ANWR (National Post)

Canada has traditionally opposed drilling in the Alaskan refuge because it would affect the habitat of the porcupine caribou herd in the Yukon, which borders ANWR.

Peter Harder, Canada's recently retired deputy minister of Foreign Affairs under both Harper and the previous Liberal governments, said he hopes Canada does not back away from its opposition to drilling.

"I would certainly oppose that and would hope that we continue to oppose that," Harder said in a recent interview.

>Northern Air Cargo retires its last DC-6 (KTUU)

The DC-6 played a crucial role in building up rural Alaska. Since the 1950s, they flew building supplies for homes, schools, and clean water systems all over the state.

Not many DC-6s are left in the world, and most that still fly are operated in Alaska.

> Kodiak High grad, now researcher, discovers North America's smallest dinosaur (Kodiak Daily Mirror)

What Longrich discovered were the remains of a cretaceous anteater, an unusual breed of dinosaur about the size of a chicken. It ran on two legs and roamed forests in search of termites.

"These are bizarre animals. They have long and slender legs, stumpy arms with huge claws and tweezer-like jaws. They look like an animal created by Dr. Seuss," Longrich said.

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