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Is Sarah Palin ready to be governor?
The former Wasilla mayor says yes. But with three weeks until the Nov. 7 election, her opponents are increasingly questioning how well she knows her stuff and how prepared she is for the job. A string of new commercials from Democrat Tony Knowles call Palin "the untested mayor of a small town." Knowles, a former two-term governor, says it's too chancy for her to lead negotiations to build the proposed natural gas pipeline.The Knowles campaign and independent candidate Andrew Halcro both criticized Palin in recent days for not appearing at some candidate forums. When she is there, they say, she's often vague on the issues.One of the sharper exchanges of the campaign happened last week in a debate on health care at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Halcro, a former state representative from Anchorage, told Palin her response to a question about the state budget was "gibberish."Palin is fighting back, saying she's not ducking or dodging anything. She called Halcro's barbs "rhetoric." On the gas line, she said Knowles had eight years of chances to build a natural gas pipeline."I get to learn from his mistakes," she said.Just as the Knowles camp is trying to narrow Palin's lead in the polls by turning her newcomer status into a liability, the Palin campaign hopes to fend off Knowles by making his eight years as governor work against him."I will take new energy and the right intentions that I am able to offer over Tony Knowles' experience every day," she said. She said as governor Knowles lodged the state in legislative gridlock with countless vetoes and veto overrides.Halcro and Knowles had planned to hold a double-barrel press conference Monday morning, criticizing Palin for not attending a candidate forum in front of a group of school principals in Anchorage. But instead, Palin showed up for what turned out to be a low-key question-and-answer session, and the joint press conference was canceled.Also Monday, Palin's campaign put out a schedule showing when and were she will appear alongside her opponents -- including 10 head-to-head meetings between today and the election. Palin spokesman Curtis Smith said the list underscores "how many times Sarah has opened her schedule to meet her opponents head on."The candidates have met face to face repeatedly in recent weeks, appearing before a wide range of community and business organizations, mostly in Southcentral Alaska, where the candidates live. Under the current schedule, the candidates will appear jointly 20 times by election day, the Palin campaign said.For all the candidates, time is short. Palin's opponents are looking to gain ground and want to debate her as often as possible. Jerry McBeath, a University of Alaska Fairbanks political science professor, said frontrunners have little to gain and much to lose from debates, which can reveal a candidate's weaknesses.Palin led Knowles by 11 percentage points in a poll conducted Oct. 3 through Oct. 6 by Ivan Moore for the Alaska Correctional Officers Association.The Knowles camp, which disputes there was gridlock during Knowles tenure as governor or that he made mistakes in pursuit of a gas pipeline, concedes Palin is in the lead but said the gap is shrinking. The campaign won't release its poll results. Palin, in an interview Friday, said she's not avoiding anything. "There has never been purposely any kind of ducking and running," she said. "Ever."As proof, she pointed to her appearances over the past two weeks at several forums and debates, including one in front of the Alaska Conservation Voters, a group that has endorsed Knowles.Halcro, who has fired pointed criticism at both his opponents throughout the race, looked to hammer Palin on her answers at the UAA health care debate. There, he asked Palin what her long-term plan is for paying for state-funded health care services when oil prices drop. As governor, Palin responded, "I will make sure that we are fulfilling our constitutional, mandated provisions there, that are laid out for us. Again, (those are) education, basic solid infrastructure, public safety -- in public safety is health care -- so it's a matter of priorities."Halcro told the crowd: "Well, again, I mean, this is political gibberish. ... To hear candidates talk about, 'Well, we're going to prioritize,' that's like saying, 'Oh, we're going to embrace efficiencies.' I mean, it means absolutely nothing ..."The remark drew applause.Halcro said Monday that Palin appears to read her comments from notes at the almost daily debates and forums the candidates attend. Halcro, in comparison, often tells the crowd that he never relies on notes. "Good for Andrew," said Smith, the Palin spokesman. "And if he thinks he's always the smartest person in the room, maybe he should make that his campaign slogan." Halcro's campaign slogan is "Think."At the Knowles campaign, the heaviest public criticism of Palin has come from Knowles' staff, not the candidate himself, but Knowles is starting to directly question Palin's know-how when the three candidates get together. At a debate Thursday at East High School, Knowles said three times that Palin didn't understand the issues she was being asked about.Last week, the Knowles campaign also pointed out Palin's cancellation of a meeting with Alaska Native corporation chief executives Oct. 3, asking if she's only attending events she's comfortable with.Palin said Friday it wouldn't have been appropriate to attend the meeting out of respect for the audience. "I didn't know enough about tribal government and we did not have time to do all the research to give the subject its due," she said.Asked about the cancellation at the time, her campaign spokesman, Smith, talked about Palin's hectic schedule. "There's always competing obligations," Palin said Friday.Knowles' campaign manager, Leslie Ridle, said not being ready isn't a good excuse. "The real world of governing is 10 times as fast and 10 times as hard as running a campaign is," she said.As for a "Get Out the Native Vote" candidate forum in Fairbanks last Monday, Palin said she never intended to visit Fairbanks that day, though her running mate, Sean Parnell, was there.As a candidate, Palin's heard the criticism about experience before. Her Republican opponents, Murkowski and John Binkley, questioned her readiness during the primary. Binkley ran an ad featuring musher DeeDee Jonrowe, with a message that successful mushers need a few trial runs before the big race. Palin won more than 50 percent of the vote in that three-way contest.Before that, Palin said opponents questioned her experience in a 1992 bid for Wasilla City Council and again, four years later, when she won the mayor's job. She plans to return to Wasilla today for a candidate forum with Halcro and Knowles at the city's Chamber of Commerce. Palin is the guest on the "Talk of Alaska" call-in program on Alaska Public Radio Network at 10 a.m. today.Contact Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins at khopkins@adn.com. Read his campaign blog at adn.com/thetrail.