Anchorage Daily News

After 90 minutes in St. Louis, how'd they do? Here's a morning-after debate wrap-up, including commentary from Alaskans. Below that, find links to Troopergate and the Stevens trial as well as other news from around Alaska, including a look at three running to be mayor of the North Slope Borough.

> No gaffes, and no game-changer. (Financial Times)

McCain-Palin ticket needs a game changer. This was not it.

Both candidates acquitted themselves well. Mr. Biden looked credible as a potential future president. And Ms. Palin once again proved her most trenchant critics wrong. But ultimately an honorable draw is better news for the Obama camp. If events continue on their present course - a big "if" given the volatility of this campaign and real world events that have shaped it - the McCain-Palin ticket will need to engineer a game-changing event in the very near future. It can safely be assumed that will not involve a Palin interview on network television.

> A rebound yes, but too late? (Christian Science Monitor)

But there's bad news for Palin: Her better-than-expected performance probably won't do much for a McCain campaign that is on the ropes. Just before the debate, news broke that McCain was ending his effort to win Michigan - a key Midwestern battleground state the campaign had long held in its sights.

At the very least, though, Palin's confident performance should quiet critics who had found her interviews with Ms. Couric embarrassing. "I think she reassured some conservatives," says Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas Austin.

> The tie goes to the moose hunter (National Review)

Did she pass the could-she-lead-in-a-time-of-crisis test? Let me put it this way. I could picture the woman onstage tonight leading in a crisis. I couldn't picture the woman interviewed by Gibson and Couric doing that.

She's a natural saleswoman. She certainly saved her prospects for national office in 2012, if she so chooses. She certainly, my guess is, re-energized the GOP base, and independents, centrists and undecided, if they're honest with themselves, will conclude that they witnessed an impressive woman tonight. Many Democrats will continue to loathe her.

> Can she debate? You betcha. (Politico.com)

True, a lot of her statements were of the fortune cookie variety. "At end of the day," she said, "if we are all working together for the greater good, it is going to be OK."

But a lot of people like fortune cookies.

But if people thought she was going to look like a dumb bunny for 90 minutes, they were disappointed. She said what she wanted to say, and she was so relaxed she even winked at one point. Really! An actual wink during a national debate, when she said she was going to try to get John McCain to change his mind.

> A bounce back (David Brooks, The New York Times)

When nervous, Palin has a tendency to overenunciate her words like a graduate of the George W. Bush School of Oratory, but Thursday night she spoke like a normal person. It took her about 15 seconds to define her persona - the straight-talking mom from regular America - and it was immediately clear that the night would be filled with tales of soccer moms, hockey moms, Joe Six-Packs, Main-Streeters, "you betchas" and "darn rights." Somewhere in heaven, Norman Rockwell is smiling.

With a bemused smile and a never-ending flow of words, she laid out her place on the ticket as the fearless neighbor for the heartland bemused by the idiocies of Washington. Her perpetual smile served as foil to Biden's senatorial seriousness.

> In a gay bar in Cleveland, she loses (The Star)

But there were no converts to the Republican ticket last night in the large, dimly lit bar surrounded by screens that multiplied Palin's image dizzyingly across the room.

"To me, a world view is a package deal," said Fran Friedman, a psychologist. "Human rights, the war in Iraq, gay rights, they're all part of the package. I don't want to vote for somebody who keeps this nation so far behind every other evolved Western country."

> How veeps were chosen is the telling detail (E.J. Dionne, Washington Post)

The core issue, of course, is the contrast between how Obama and McCain chose their running mates. Say what you will about Joe Biden -- and last night, he was far from being either the gaffe machine or the windbag so many predicted would appear onstage -- no one loses sleep at the idea of his being in the Oval Office. Obama picked a vice president more likely to help him govern the country than win the chance to do so.

As for McCain, he found himself in a political hole and threw the dice with Palin. At the time of her selection, voters were often compared to "American Idol" watchers who put personality and stage presence above everything else. But it turns out that Americans take the presidency very seriously. And surviving 90 minutes on a stage with Biden did not transform Palin into a plausible president.

> Joe Six-Pack and third-graders were onstage (Chicago Tribune)

Joe Six-Pack was in the house, doggone it. So were the hockey moms and the third-graders. And the mavericks. And the straight talkers. And they all lived on Main Street, even though, in reality, Wal-Mart closed that thoroughfare in most towns long ago. It's just that the exurbs don't summon up the kind of Capraesque charm that comes so naturally to the governor of Alaska, whose remarkable (and bizarrely underestimated) political skills were in full flourish.

Joe Biden, whose key pre-debate instructions from his boss surely were akin to the Hippocratic Oath, took about half an hour to consistently lift his eyes from the moderator and into the camera. Biden is simultaneously blessed and cursed with a charming smile that arrives at lightning speed and utterly transforms his visage. But you get the sense he knows the dangers of that smile. And thus he tends to wipe it away as fast as it arrives.

> No more VP side show (Dan Balz, Washington Post)

"The VP is no longer an issue," said Democrat Tad Devine. "Joe did well too, especially at the end. I think there will no longer be a sideshow for the VP."

> In Fairbanks, pride (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

"She was feisty, energetic, down to earth, and she connected with people," said Jerry McBeath, University of Alaska Fairbanks political science professor.

Alaskans can be proud of Palin's performance, McBeath said, noting he probably won't vote for her but is himself proud. She represented the state's issues, highlighting energy needs and didn't embarrass the state like some thought she might.

> In Juneau, Republicans didn't cringe (Juneau Empire)

"She showed she's just fine being a candidate for vice president," said Ben Brown, chairman of the Juneau Republican Party and a personal friend of Palin.

If you missed the debate, or simply like reliving some of those gosh-darn moments, here are a few tools:

> Context for the facts (USA Today)

Fact-check the candidate's statements on taxes, energy, troop levels, health care and the economy here.

> Download the debate (NPR)

This link includes Mara Liasson's Morning Edition analysis as well.

> Live-blogging the debate for an Alaska perspective (Mudflats)

No train wreck, but I'm calling it pretty convincingly for Biden. Palin started strong, but started to falter as soon as it went to foreign policy. Biden hit his stride halfway through and finished strong.

And of course, she didn't answer questions and basically admitted she wouldn't at one point. She was "folksy" to the point of pain. She was a talking-point machine and a "drill, baby, drill" one-trick pony. She had nothing to say in the face of actual experience. I don't know if she hurt John McCain, but she surely didn't help. And the "I agree with the Cheney philosophy of governing" was downright scary.

Absolutely no gaffes or bloviating from Biden.

Official Mudflats take: Biden by a landslide.

> Palin on Darfur (Own the Sidewalk)

Get the background on HB 287, Palin's initial stance and her later decision to support.

> The annotated Palin interview (Anchorage Press)

Tuesday, the Frontiersman published an e-mail interview with Palin. Thursday, Brendan Joel Kelly, who contributed questions to the Palin interview, produced her answers and his commentary to them. He expressed concern over who was answering the questions, a Truth Squad member or Palin herself.

Some selections are below, unedited, as the Frontiersman received them. Whether ghostwritten, edited by handlers or really from the fingertips of the most famous woman in America (I personally don't believe it), these answers are a good example of the spin that the McCain-Palin campaign is offering to Alaskans.

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Stevens trial and Troopergate developments. Two other big stories vied for Alaskans' attention this week, the near-derailment of Ted Stevens' corruption trial in Washington, D.C., and the Troopergate hearing in Anchorage in which Judge Peter Michalski refused to halt the legislative investigation.

See The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and APRN versions on the volatile developments Thursday in Washington. Alaska's Troopergate story was noted on the BBC, the Associated Press, ABC News.

***

News from around the state:

Wreckage of the USS Grunion identified off the Aleutians. The Associated Press reports that, through the efforts of the commanding officer's sons, the U.S. Navy was able to confirm that the wreckage is indeed that of the WWII submarine.

The Grunion was last heard from July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy anti-submarine activity at the entrance to Kiska and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, the Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. The submarine was reported lost Aug. 16, 1942.

Seventy people were aboard. Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele's three sons began working on a plan to find the sub after finding information on the Internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location.

***

North Slope mayoral race attracts three contenders and lots of attention. The Arctic Sounder introduces readers to all three candidates who responded to questions: Why are you running, what are your views on development, how do you want Barrow to benefit? Residents vote Tuesday.

A sample of views:

George N. Ahmaogak: Many village issues aren’t being taken care of. A mayor needs to make his rounds to the villages constantly. Things in the villages are beginning to fall apart and services are deteriorating. The villages are economically depressed – medication isn’t delivered to health clinics, maintenance shops are missing tools, there is chronic unemployment and lack of housing and maintenance on houses. Barrow is well served and taken care of but when you go out to the villages they are complaining about lack of jobs, poor services and lack of training and opportunity. Stores have no funds to restock their shelves. There is desperation in the villages.

Edward S. Itta: I want to continue building on the momentum that I feel has made a positive difference to a whole lot of people here on the North Slope. I have made progress toward a stronger economy through responsible spending. This is the first time we have a fully staffed and community-oriented Department of Public Safety.

Roy M. Nageak Sr.: Already we are hearing from the other candidates, “I will,” “I am,” “I have,” “I promise” but this is not an “I” decision. These are “we” decisions our people need to make collectively with the other organizations that protect the subsistence rights and provide services for our people: our federally recognized regional and village tribal organizations, whaling captains’ associations and the Arctic Slope Native Associatio, which provides for the social need of our people.

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Village health aides lose a benefit; some quit over it. Bristol Bay Times carries the news that the Bristol Bay Area Health Corp. has eliminated a popular benefit. The new employment terms eliminate a paid week off in between two weeks of work.

The benefit was a way for health aides to "de-stress," according to Sue Anelon, a health aide who resigned Sept. 5 after working 23 years. Robert Clark, CEO of BBAHC, said the week off applied only to village health aides and wasn't fair to health aides who didn't work in villages and didn't get the benefit.

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