Anchorage Daily News

LEGISLATORS DEFEND PALIN ON PIPELINE BIDS: A national Associated Press article last week blaming Gov. Palin for a flawed bid process in developing an Alaska gas pipeline has been criticized by lawmakers from both parties, the Juneau Empire reports. "I thought it was a pretty shoddy reporting job, honestly," Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, told the Empire. Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton questioned why the AP blamed Palin for actions that he and the majority of legislators supported. The original AP story is here.

PALIN AND THE FUTURE OF THE GOP: Whether the McCain/Palin ticket wins or loses Tuesday, Gov. Sarah Palin's viability on the national stage will be a hot topic when prominent Republicans meet to plot the party’s way forward, The New York Times reports.

The presidential campaign has allowed Palin to develop as a candidate, and to make many useful connections as she travels the country. On the campaign, she has become close to people with extensive experience in Republican politics, including Steve Biegun and Randy Scheunemann, two foreign policy conservatives.

She has received extensive policy tutorials and been briefed on foreign policy almost daily. Aides say she has taken particular interest in Pakistan and Israel and in causes of Islamic extremism, which she has related to the economic despair that plagues parts of Alaska.

People loyal to her say Palin is well aware of the political job in front of her. One aide said she had “gotten on the offensive,” pushing to include more policy in her speeches. “It’s important for her personally, for how she’s perceived, to ensure that she gets to show her depth.”

Also:

Cracks in McCain's GOP support may portend a civil war within the party after election (Associated Press)

PALIN DELIVERS ENERGY POLICY SPEECH: Gov. Sarah Palin repeated her “Drill, baby, drill” line this morning in a solar energy plant in her first Republican campaign policy speech on energy. The Associated Press wrap-up is here. After that, Palin traveled to Bowling Green State University in Ohio for a more traditional campaign appearance. Joe the plumber joined her onstage but did not speak, reports the Washington Post.

Palin fails to mention global warming (Daily Green)

Palin’s plan: Energy independence, you betcha (Environmental Capital blog, Wall Street Journal)

OBAMA CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO SNOWMOBILE ADS FEATURING FIRST DUDE: In Maine, the McCain campaign is using direct mail with Todd Palin’s photo to imply that an Obama administration would keep snowmachines out of national parks. The Obama campaign responded by touting his proposed energy rebate as a help with fuel expenses, reports Maine Today. See the McCain mailer here.

‘GOOFING’ ON PALIN: Tina Fey, appearing Tuesday on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” said her 3-year-old daughter, Alice, has been confused trying to tell her mother and Sarah Palin apart. When Palin and Fey met backstage at “Saturday Night Live,” Fey said, Palin offered to have daughter Bristol baby-sit Alice. “I was like yeah, that's exactly what 17-year-old Bristol Palin wants to do at ‘SNL’ is baby-sit the toddler of the lady that goofs on her mom,” Fey told O’Brien. Fey called Sarah Palin a good sport.

REPUBLICANS TO DONATE STEVENS MONEY TO CHARITY: The National Republican Senatorial Committee said today it would donate to charity cash it received from Ted Stevens’ political action committee, reports The Hill.

STEVENS’ 40-YEAR ITCH: Former Daily News editorial page editor Michael Carey, who has been repeatedly sought out by national media for comment on Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska affairs, writes in a Los Angeles Times column this morning that after so long in the Senate, Stevens had lost his ability to separate his personal and professional lives.

It was as "senator for life" that Stevens ran afoul of the law. After decades in Congress, Stevens answered to no one -- not his constituents, not the media, not his critics in Alaska and Congress. To those who disagreed with his policies and politics, his answer was more or less, "What are you going to do about it?" The answer usually was nothing.

In a democracy, no one should have the power Stevens accumulated. The best word to describe it is imperial.

Also by Carey: Don Young still has a certain charm (Anchorage Daily News)

DON’T RESIGN JUST YET, TED: Michigan State University law professor Brian Kalt, writing for Canada’s National Post, has joined other Republicans in suggesting a scenario by which Ted Stevens can ensure his Senate seat will stay in the Republican ranks.

Stevens, realizing that there is no way for him to win, can say, "While I maintain my innocence and will appeal this decision, I know that the people of Alaska don't deserve to have one of their two Senate seats weighed down by all of this. I also think, however, that Mark Begich is the wrong choice, and that we need to keep the Democrats from getting a 60-seat majority. Therefore, if I win the election next week, I will resign, effective immediately, and allow Gov. Sarah Palin to exercise her authority to choose a Republican to fill the seat."

Also:

End of the road for Stevens (N.Y. Times editorial): “He would do everyone a favor by resigning his seat and ending his campaign. … If Stevens won’t do the right thing — or if Alaska’s voters won’t do the right thing — the Senate must act as quickly as it can.”

Growing calls for Stevens to step down (ADN Alaska Politics blog)

Eskimo whalers for Stevens (Washington Post “Sleuth” blog)

DEMOCRATS CALL FOR OPEN RECORDS: A Juneau Empire story today says Democratic lawmakers are worried the Palin administration is threatening fundamental rights by making it too difficult for the public to access state records. Private e-mail accounts and heavy fees for access to records are among the concerns. The governor’s office and legislative Republicans say the Demos are exaggerating but agreed that a review of some issues would be fine.

The Wasilla Project, a new group of “friends who work together on film projects,” has posted a slick video slamming Palin’s use of Yahoo e-mail accounts. The group has produced a series of videos about Palin and Wasilla “that can be a valuable addition to the prevailing impressions of her,” it says. The intended audience is “people who want to believe in an inspiring narrative while voting in the best interests of themselves and the country.”

EARLY VOTING POPULAR IN ALASKA: Division of Elections director Gail Fenumiai told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that 5,500 people cast votes statewide in the first four days of early voting.

PALIN ON CAMPUS: McCain/Palin campaign signs are outnumbered by Obama/Biden signs in university dorms across the country, but there are pockets of student support for the Republicans, the New York Times reports in two pieces today.

Young, Republican and inspired by Palin

On campuses, McCain supporters run on a shoestring and conviction

THE TRANSFORMATION OF SEAN PARNELL: In covering state business for Gov. Sarah Palin while she is off campaigning, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell has been transformed from mild-mannered to “hard-edged political fighter,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

Also:

Palin manages to govern Alaska from afar (The Associated Press)

FINGER-POINTING OVER WARDROBE FIASCO: Republicans are arguing over who’s to blame for the uproar over the Palin family’s $150,000 campaign wardrobe bill, reports the L.A. Times’ “Top of the Ticket” blog.

GOP WAR ON SCIENCE: Well-known author, columnist and atheist Christopher Hitchens, writing for Slate, decries Sarah Palin and John McCain’s “xenophobic” attacks on science. Last week, Palin ridiculed government funding of fruit-fly research, and McCain has repeatedly targeted a study of grizzlies in Montana. Hitchens wonders if Palin’s stand on science is dictated by her religious faith.

RED ON WOMEN DRIVES MEN WILD: Maybe that’s why so many men find Sarah Palin irresistible at campaign rallies. Live Science reports on five experiments that tested how different colors affected men’s attitudes toward women.

FORMER FAIRBANKS MAYOR SEEKS NEW TRIAL: Another disgraced politician wants to blame his wife, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports. An attorney for Jim Hayes says the judge in his trial for theft of almost a half-million dollars from social service grants should have rescheduled the trial so his wife could testify she did most of the stealing.

DUMPSTERS AREN’T BEAR-PROOF WHEN THE LIDS ARE OPEN: A Kodiak Daily Mirror editorial calls on ignorant and/or lazy residents and visitors to stop leaving trash bags beside and on top of the bear-proof bins at the Sargent Creek dump site. They’re also leaving the lids open, the Mirror says. Bears are tearing bags apart and strewing trash far and wide. “This causes a dangerous situation for both people and bears, makes our neighborhood look like a landfill and pollutes our streams.” Perhaps the site should be fenced to contain the mess, the editorial suggests. “Out-of-town fishermen … spent a lot of money in Kodiak. They will not come back if they must drop their lure between an empty six-pack carton and a used diaper.”

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:

Sarah the Diva, looking past John the Runner-Up (Washington Post)

Palin spends $50G on remodel jobs (Boston Herald)

Tragic flaw: John McCain, man (Washington Post Writers Group)

A makeover with an ugly gloss (N.Y. Times)

Alaska on “The Electoral Map” (N.Y. Times cartoon)

Palin favors friends and donors (L.A. Times)

Palin’s path to the nomination (The New Yorker)

Find previous Newsreader columns here.

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