July 17, 1999: AP reports on Pat Buchanan visit to Wasilla, AK. The reporter notes that "among those sporting Buchanan buttons were Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and state Sen. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage."
July 26, 1999, letter to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News by Sarah Palin:
As mayor of Wasilla, I am proud to welcome all presidential candidates to our city. This is true regardless of their party, or the latest odds of their winning. When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I'll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect.
Though no reporter interviewed me for the Associated Press article on the recent visit by a presidential candidate (Metro, July 17), the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla.
August 7, 1999: AP reports on Steve Forbes' campaign in Alaska. "Joining the Fairbanks Republican on the leadership committee will be Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, and former state GOP chairman Pete Hallgren, who will serve as co-chairs."
This information is all available on Lexis. Anyone who continues to push the "Sarah Palin supported Pat Buchanan in 2000" line is either willfully ignorant or lying. And there is no evidence thus far except a recollection from Pat Buchanan, contradicted by his sister and campaign manager (see previous post), that she supported him in 1995.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Obama Campaign Spokesman Repeats Lie About Palin and Buchanan:
- Palin and Buchanan, II ("Timeline"):
- Palin and Pat Buchanan:
Remember 2004? The Left spent a tremendous amount of energy defending the obviously forged Killian documents -- and ended up bolstering Bush's election.
This time, the underlying offense (supporting that nut Buchanan) is much less serious, barely rising to faux pas, and the evidence is even thinner (one ambiguous photo and a self-serving statement from the nut himself).
A better avenue (I know, ssshhh) would be to focus on TrooperGate II -- someone in Palin's office called up the Alaska Department of Public Safety and tried to get Palin's sister's ex-husband kicked out of the state police.
Palin's only answer is the Henry II Defense: that an overzealous underlying exceeded his instructions. That didn't work for King Henry, it probably won't work for her, making her look dishonest or weak or both.
It's still the wildcard, but I don't think that the whole state trooper issue is going to really change anyone's opinion of Gov. Palin. Who wants to side with a trooper who drinks on the job, tasered his 11 year old stepson, and threatened to put a "f---ing" bullet into Palin's father???
"Progressives," apparently. The reality of Sarah Palin is so far from the outrageous attacks excitable hacks have made up that as the public continues to get to know her, her detractors will lose substantial credibility. The Left has by and large grossly mishandled their response to her candidacy, much as I suspect the McCain campaign expected it to, and their patent overreaction is going to mitigate future attacks on the McCain-Palin ticket.
Well, jukebox on this blog, for one, said that the whole taser-thing was overblown. See, the biy *asked* to be tasered.
And a responsible dad does what his kids want. Even if it could harm them, it would appear.
This is just priceless. Trying to tie McCain's ticket to Pat Buchanan. The sound I hear is wheels spinning, with no hope of gaining traction.
Do you consider Pat Buchanan a credible source?
Everyone cares about her hard-Right positions on the issues and her complete lack of qualifications.
The End.
Bay Buchanan denies it. The FCC records contradict Buchanan's assertions. Palin's immediate letter to the editor and later membership on a Forbes' steering committee would contradict it.
Oh, and an earlier commenter on the other thread said (probably snarkily) that Buchanan would remember even a $50 contribution because he got so few of them. The FCC reports that in the 1999-2000 cycle, Buchanan raised $44,000,000. So yes, I find it highly improbable that Buchanan would actually remember Sarah Palin at all.
(as a side note, how many posters in the last few days are new to the VC? I am seeing quite a bit of spin from people whose nom de blog are unfamiliar)
Have you ever tried a one-witness case? :P
Not exactly. One might just interpret the evidence differently: maybe Palin was lying in her letter to the editor. Maybe she didn't support Buchanan in 1999 when she wrote the letter, but supported him in 2000 (although I'm aware of no evidence of a change of heart).
I don't think she was lying, and I think the whole charge that she supported Buchanan is a red herring. I'm just saying there are alternatives to accusing someone who believes otherwise of simply "lying" or being "willfully ignorant."
I've also noticed a lot of "new friends". Friends who seem to post only on presidential-election matters.
Hmm.
But then, to be fair, I tend to bail out on the Sunday Song Lyric, since we never get the Ramones or Hole. So perhaps I'm some sort of troll?
Yes, it would be much more interesting to discuss Governor Palin's ties to Dominionism and Joel's Army.
Beyond that, as a Jew, I think that Palin's religious right / teach creationism in the public schools stuff ain't gonna play well with Jewish voters who are on the fence and care what VPs think.
Last time I checked, Genesis was in your Bible too.
True enough, but my co-religionists ain't the ones trying to mandate teaching Geneis in science classes.
As for Palin's views on creationism, she soon after "clarified" her statement, which politicians seem to be allowed to do.
That's actually a reasonably bold semi-retraction for her, since Intelligent Design is specifically part of the Republican party platform in Alaska and she wasn't running for national office, then. I certainly think students should have plenty of freedom to ask critical questions. I'm absolutely convinced by natural selection and somewhat convinced by Common Descent and mostly convinced by the Big Bang Theory, and I'm not really much of a Christian anymore. But I still think it's silly to paint all Christians who believe in creation as anti-science. I've been of the opinion for a long time that anything but hardcore literalist fundamentalist Christianity can believe in creation and in natural selection and the Big Bang and even Common Descent. Despite my going-on 10 years agnosticism I still dislike the arrogance of the atheist crowd who seem to think that science is game over for religion when religion, being separate from science, is clearly reconcilable with science.
I think it's pretty clear to any reasonable person, creationist or not, that Joshua's account of the sun standing still in the sky was written from the earth's perspective and that God did not, in fact, have the sun stand still in order to keep the day from changing to night.
As a Jew, I couldn't care less about it as long as she keeps quiet about it. I care a lot more that she's a decent conservative. Obama would be a disaster for this nation.
Which is why I specifically referred to "Jewish voters who are on the fence and care what VPs think." That is not the entire universe of Jews. Neither you nor I are in that category (McCain/Palin would be a disaster for this nation, IMHO).
But for the folks I was actually talking about, I think Palin hurts more than helps.
I agree. Sadly, many suffer from one of those two defects in the main stream media or the Obama camp, but I repeat myself.
Well, as a Jew I can second the creationism concern, but from what I have read she said she does not thing it should be part of a school curriculum, but that teachers should be able to answer questions about it if asked as part of the evolution curriculum, I'm not sure I disagree with that; I wonder what else they would do if asked a question about creationism? Would they otherwise stand mute or say they are prohibited by law from answering the question?
I am more worried about Obama's past associations with Wright and Farrakhan and his recent flirtations with Jimmy Carter, than I am about either the creationism thing or Palin once wearing a Buchanan button when he stopped by her town.
Lately Obama has been far more vocal about supporting Israel, but to the extent that support for Israel will play a part in my vote, the key for me is whether Obama will support Israel if they decide they have to take out Iran's nuclear equipment. That will be the acid test because it will be immensely unpopular in the Arab world and with Europe, and will complicate things further with Russia.
I don't have any doubt about where McCain stands on Israel. Biden also has a long record of supporting Israel.
You say that like it's a bad thing....
Get with the program - the "Politics of Change" TM has no problems with either one and it's racist to suggest otherwise.
Yeah. Let's stick with 'nom de blog.'
50% are upset by Palin
50% are not upset by Palin
(Survey sampled two Jewish men in their 40s by phone. One is my best friend from undergrad. The other is the partner of my best friend from grad school.)
Margin of error +/- 40%
Margin of error for the "Margin of error" +/- 20%
Talk to two other Jews tomorrow and update, please. All us internet poll-watchers know that the important thing is the way polls trend.
There are at least three Jews in Fairbanks alone.
The whole "teach the controversy" thing is the latest brainchild of the ID movement, despite there really not being a controversy.
... in response to the earlier "I am not allowed to discuss non-evolution questions" brainchild of the humanists.
Both are stupid. Neither are close to Palin's position.
I feel so much better knowing she didn't support Buchanan.
That's a trend, right there.
Has Mrs. Palin said whether she was a Buchanan supporter either way?
Beyond wearing a button for one day, is there anything reliable, or even half reliable to tell us either way?
It's tough to get reliable info on this sort of thing during an election. Whatever the true story is may be printed, but so much noise + spin (by all partisans) is thrown about it's tough to pull the actual picture out of all the garbage. Average folks without connections probably won't know the "real" picture of the major candidates until long after the election.
I'm not a regular member here, as my signon indicates. I figure there may be more info here than in a major newspaper, which aren't entirely reliable in any case.
Yes, it was overblown. A lot of people are being left to think that it was some kind of vicious assault, or an act of discipline, punishment or torture. But it was something materially different. The son asked for a demo. And then the kid immediately told his mom he was OK, and asked to be tasered again, and bragged about it to his friends.
It was still an act of very bad judgment on Wooten's part, but the facts should be described accurately.
Wooten used a demo cartridge, and followed demo procedures. In a short demo like this, "it would feel like your funny bone was hit."
While this was happening, mom was upstairs, and she knew what was happening, and she didn't go downstairs to intervene.
No one complained about this until 2005, when a messy divorce was happening. That's when the Palins finally decided to report this event to the police. A police investigator asked Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol why they were finally reporting it two years later, after being silent for so long. She said "because of the divorce."
If you're going to tell a story, please try to include all the relevant details.
Speaking of misinformation, are you having any luck finding that page number?