Anchorage Daily News

OK, we're in for another day of all Palin, all the time. Our governor gives her convention address tonight even while the McCain campaign struggles with all the media attention Palin has generated.

We'll look at local reaction as reported by national media and Alaska bloggers, offer what's out there on Palin's speech tonight as well as a look at the scrutiny her interest in the Alaskan Independence Party is creating as well as the spotlight her daughter Bristol and husband Todd are under.

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"She's more woman than Hillary, and she's more man than Hillary." The Boston Globe, like so many national media, is asking Alaskans what they think of Sarah Palin as VP. This quote is from Cheryl Metiva, who attends Wasilla Bible Church with Palin, in a story headlined that Palin's hometown is "proud, wary."

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Palin's past associations with the Alaskan Independence Party draw attention. TPM Muckraker and the Los Angeles Times discuss Todd Palin's seven-year-membership and Sarah Palin's attention to this secessionist group. A video address she gave to the 2008 convention in Fairbanks is here.

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McCain scrambles to take back control of the convention. The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times describe the scene in St. Paul, Minn., where Palin has been sequestered and access to the media cut off as teams of experts prep her for her big speech tonight. The Washington Post reports that aides say Palin was interviewed for the job of VP "late in the process."

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Alaska governor has not visited her home-state delegation, nor did she make a much-anticipated appearance Tuesday before the friendliest of audiences, an anti-abortion women's group that intended to give her an award in the form of a porcelain baby.

Officials from John McCain's campaign said Tuesday that they had formed a team to ready his new running mate for prime time -- literally -- as she prepares for a nationally televised speech tonight or Thursday and a rollout of her candidacy to be the first woman elected on a national ticket.

"There's no middle ground on this for John McCain," said Dan Bartlett, a former counselor to President Bush. "She is either going to be a wild success or a spectacular failure." (Los Angeles Times)

And this from the Wall Street Journal story:

The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the public debate over vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, canceling her public appearances and teaming her with high-powered Republican operatives as she prepared for a speech Wednesday night that will be her first, and perhaps most important, chance to define herself to the American public.

The adviser said he would be shocked if she spoke about her daughter's pregnancy, noting that the campaign considers that issue off limits. Her whole family is expected to attend, including Bristol and her boyfriend, Levi Johnston.

Palin flew to Minnesota Sunday night with former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. She made minimal small talk, sitting behind the prominent pair of former fellow Republican governors and opting to study her notes, read her BlackBerry and whisper with her staff.

Before her speech, the convention will be shown a video about her made by McCain's creative director, Fred Davis, narrated by actor Jon Voight.

Wednesday's speech is being written by Matthew Scully, a former George W. Bush speechwriter. He first met Palin Thursday night at a hotel in Middleton, Ohio, where she was in seclusion since last Friday's announcement. The pair spent several hours working on her remarks for that day, an adviser said, and they hit it off. As soon as that was done, Scully turned his attention to the convention address.

In Alaska, the McCain campaign has tried to control the flow of information as liberal bloggers and the media mine her past. A team of public relations aides has settled into the state and asked Palin's friends and family to avoid speaking to the media. In a conference call with friends and local activists Monday, the campaign suggested that media requests be funneled through the campaign to make sure "we said supportive things," according to one participant.

And this from the Washington Post:

Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

USA Today says Palin's speech will be all about reform.

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Palin's history with earmarks is checkered. The Seattle Times has a story today looking at the Alaska governor's changing attitudes over earmarks, claiming she's made more requests per person than any other state.

But earmarks have never been a dirty word in Alaska, a huge state dotted with small communities that have enormous dollar needs for sewers, roads and other projects.

Instead, earmarks - pet projects that members of Congress fund but that no federal agency has requested - have become a mainstay of political life here and one that Palin embraced from early on in her career as a mayor of Wasilla to the governor's mansion in Juneau.

Just this year, she sent to Sen. Ted. Stevens, R-Alaska, a proposal for 31 earmarks totaling $197 million - more, per person, than any other state.

She was hungry for earmarks just like everybody else," said Larry Persily, who worked at the Alaska state office in Washington, D.C., until this year. "Everyone was feeding at the trough."

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What exactly is Todd's role? The Wall Street Journal profiles the "First Dude."

In Alaska, Gov. Palin, 44 years old, jokingly refers to the 43-year-old Mr. Palin as the "first dude." But his role is anything but frivolous. Around the statehouse in Juneau, some critics dub him the "shadow governor." He is copied on some of Gov. Palin's official correspondence and allegedly was involved in an effort to get a state trooper fired after the trooper reportedly threatened Gov. Palin's family.

And:

Frequently, Mr. Palin appears at public events with his wife. On June 18, the couple drove from Wasilla to Kenai, about 200 miles away, so the governor could sign a tourism bill. After a brief ceremony in a converted fish cannery, Ms. Palin met with a local resident, Taryn Armstrong, who told her about the problem of contractors having to import labor from the Lower 48 states. The governor pointed toward her husband, who was holding Trig, and said, "Talk to Todd about that," a nod to his interest in getting more Native Alaskans trained for that work.

Palin's candidacy pulls back the curtain on divisions among women. The Wall Street Journal reports that women are clearly divided over McCain's choice.

"I have been hearing from women, especially women who didn't go to Harvard or Yale Law School, saying, 'Hold on, this is a woman we can actually relate to,'" says Susan Estrich, a Democratic strategist. "The very fact that she could go from the PTA to the vice presidency is the story they connect to without regard to her position on abortion."

And:

"As a full-time working mother of four, a Republican and a feminist, I am incensed at the failure of female Republicans to admit that Palin is a poor choice at this juncture in her life," says Hillary Weiss, a Philadelphia accountant. "It might be politically incorrect on my part, but I question her ability to take on the VP role while managing a large family with young children. Or is it that she is willing to sacrifice her family's well-being for the good of the country and personal ambition?"

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Other Alaska reactions at this point:

> Palin is not a supporter of Alaska Natives (Alaska Real)

With nearly 20 percent of the population in Alaska being Alaska Native -- and more than a few communities being almost entirely Alaska Native -- this attention to the issues is more than just a small section of people you should look at. It's a large and necessary section of people that are your constituents.

THERE IS NOT ONE MENTION OF THE PHRASE "ALASKA NATIVE" IN PALIN'S OFFICIAL ISSUE STATEMENTS. Not one.

Despite the fact that we are here in great numbers, despite the fact that these issues are important, despite the fact that Palin's own children and husband are Alaska Native people themselves, Palin has completely ignored these issues. In all the research I've been doing, the only things I can find are convenient photo-ops and superficial appearances.

Alaska Dispatch hosts commentary from writers Rosanne Pagano, John Creed and Susan Andrews, Dan O'Neill and from a "Valley Christian" named Dena Fox. The Kodiak Daily Mirror interviews locals on both sides of the Palin question.

Also:

> A photo safari of Wasilla, Alaska (Mudflats)

> Video: Palin's former pastor preaches (Alaska Dispatch)

> Palin's preacher problem (Mudflats)

> Debunking the Palin myths (Own the Sidewalk)

> Sexy librarian glasses: Be Palin for Halloween (Own the Sidewalk)

> Song: I've Got a Crush ... on Sarah Palin (Kodiak Konfidential)

> Satire video: "McCain" asking "Palin" to be his running mate (Kodiak Konfidential)

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