"For every piece of the portrait of Palin that the McCain campaign sketches, a far more complicated picture of the Alaska governor is drawn," Peter Wallsten writes in the Los Angeles Times. "The woman introduced to America as a reform-minded Washington outsider who opposed the infamous 'bridge to nowhere' -- the symbol of McCain's hatred of wasteful spending -- originally supported its construction. The governor who in her introductory speech decried the practice of budgetary 'earmarks' sought, as the state's chief executive and as mayor of Wasilla, hundreds of millions of dollars in such federal funding for local projects." Speaking of -- it's not just a bridge: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor," The Washington Post's Paul Kane reports. "There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage."
"In fiscal year 2002, Wasilla took in $6.1 million in earmarks -- about $1,000 in federal money for every resident. By contrast, Boise, Idaho -- which has more than 190,000 residents -- received $6.9 million in earmarks in fiscal 2008," Kane adds. "All told, Wasilla benefited from $26.9 million in earmarks in Palin's final four years in office. . . . In February, Palin's [governor's] office sent Sen. Stevens a 70-page memo outlining almost $200 million worth of new funding requests for Alaska."
Plus: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens," Matthew Mosk reports in The Washington Post. "Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the 'Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.,' a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors."
This would make it harder to get earmarks: "Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States," ABC's Jake Tapper reports. "And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is 'Country First,' the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- 'Alaska First -- Alaska Always.' "