Saturday, November 22, 2008

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson























Ashlee Nicole Wentz (born October 3, 1984 as Ashley Nicole Simpson), now professionally known as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is an American pop rock singer-songwriter, and occasional actress. Simpson-Wentz, who is the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson, rose to prominence in mid-2004 through the success of her number-one début album Autobiography and the accompanying reality series The Ashlee Simpson Show. Simpson received widespread criticism when she used a pre-recorded vocal track on Saturday Night Live in October 2004. Following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released a second number-one album, I Am Me, in October 2005. Her third album, Bittersweet World, was released in April 2008. The following month, she married fellow musician Pete Wentz and announced that they were expecting a child. On November 20, 2008, Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz.[2]


Early life

Simpson was born in Waco, Texas,[1] and raised in Richardson, Texas. She is the daughter of Joe Truett Simpson (a former Baptist youth minister who is now her manager) and Tina Ann Drew.

Ashlee attended Prairie Creek Elementary.[3] An accomplished dancer, Simpson began studying classical ballet at the age of three, and was admitted to the School of American Ballet in New York City at the age of eleven.[4] Around that time, she suffered from an eating disorder; the condition lasted about six months, and she dropped to about 31 kg (70 pounds) at 159 cm (5 ft 2 in), but her parents then stepped in and got her to eat more.[5] After her sister Jessica Simpson landed a record deal, the Simpson family decided to move to Los Angeles, California, where Ashlee began appearing in television commercials.[6]

Career

Early years

When Jessica became a star after releasing her first album, Ashlee became one of her backup dancers. Later, Ashlee began appearing in films and television series, including an episode of the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle in 2001, a minor role in the 2002 film The Hot Chick and a recurring role, 39 episodes from 2002-2004, on the family drama series 7th Heaven.[7]

Ashlee recorded a song called "Christmas Past, Present and Future" in 2002 for the holiday album School's Out! Christmas, later to be re-released on Radio Disney Jingle Jams in 2004 and 2005. In the summer of 2003 she released a song titled "Just Let Me Cry" for the soundtrack of the film Freaky Friday. Eventually, Simpson signed a record deal with Geffen Records.

Debut album and reality television (2004)

See also: Autobiography (Ashlee Simpson album)

Simpson-Wentz's first album, Autobiography, debuted at number one in the U.S. in July 2004 with first week sales numbering around 398,000 copies. The album was certified triple platinum in September 2004. Simpson co-wrote all of the album's tracks and described it as "very true to my emotions" in one interview,[8] but critical reviews were mixed.[9] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Relic characterised Autobiography as a "mundane melange of Avril-ish brat pop and Sheryl Crow cod rock".[10] E! Online wrote "Even if it doesn't wow you, Autobiography may surprise you."[11] The single that preceded the album, "Pieces of Me," was one of the biggest hits of the summer in the U.S. and sold well elsewhere. However, the follow-up singles "Shadow" and "La La" were less successful.

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Simpson occasionally appeared on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, a reality show about the married life of Jessica and her then-husband Nick Lachey. To accompany the beginning of her own music career, she got her own MTV reality show entitled The Ashlee Simpson Show, which aired in a subsequent time slot to Newlyweds. It ran in the U.S. for eight weekly episodes over the summer of 2004, and a second season of ten episodes aired from January to March 2005. The show dealt with the process of writing, recording, and performing Simpson-Wentz's music as well as aspects of her personal life.

When appearing for live performances, Simpson performs live with a backing band. During the period from 2004 to 2006, the band consisted of Ray Brady (guitar), Braxton Olita (guitar), Joey Kaimana (bass guitar—from 2004 to 2005 Zach Kennedy filled this role), Chris Megert (keyboards and vocals—from late 2004 to 2005 Lucy Walsh filled this role), and Chris Fox (drums).

In addition to her own first album, Simpson sang a duet of the Christmas song "Little Drummer Boy" with her sister Jessica for the album Rejoyce, which they had sung together during the ABC variety hour special Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas.[12][13]

At the Teen Choice Awards on August 8, 2004, Simpson received the "Song of the Summer" Teen Choice Award for "Pieces of Me," as well as the "Fresh Face" award.[14] In addition, she won a Billboard Award for New Female Artist of the Year in December,[15] and in the same month she was named one of Entertainment Weekly's Breakout Stars of 2004.[16] Simpson also co-hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve along with Regis Philbin (in Dick Clark's absence) at the end of the year, hosting the West Coast portion of the show and performing three songs.

The Saturday Night Live incident

Simpson crying due to vocal difficulties after a rehearsal for her controversial Saturday Night Live appearance in 2004.

Simpson appeared as a musical guest on Episode 568 of Saturday Night Live (October 23–24, 2004), and as is customary for the show's format, she was scheduled to perform two songs. Her first song, "Pieces of Me", was performed without problems. However, when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for the song "Pieces of Me" were heard again—before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to dance and then left the stage, while the band (not a recording) continued playing. During the closing of the show Simpson appeared with the guest host Jude Law, and said "I'm so sorry. My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoe down."

On October 25, Simpson called in to the music video show Total Request Live and explained that due to complications arising from "severe" acid reflux (which had previously been seen in The Ashlee Simpson Show) she had completely lost her voice and her doctor had advised her not to sing. She said that because of the acid reflux, her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance. She said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself." According to Simpson-Wentz, the drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played.[17] During the October 25 Radio Music Awards broadcast, Simpson pretended, as a joke, to make the same mistake as she did in the SNL incident, but then began to perform "Autobiography" without using a pre-recorded vocal track as she had done during the prior SNL performance. On October 31, the CBS news program 60 Minutes aired footage from Simpson-Wentz's rehearsals before the SNL performance in which Simpson is shown to be disturbed by voice trouble.

The incident was spoofed in the episode Brian Goes Back to College in the animated series Family Guy. Wentz is about to start miming a song when the song changes to Ol' Man River.

Jeannette Walls compared the impact of the SNL incident to the 1990 Milli Vanilli incident in which their guide track skipped during a live MTV performance, revealing that they were lip-synching.[18]

The New York Times said the much-viewed clip of Simpson-Wentz's SNL appearance "may just be this year's best music video," but dismissed its significance: "one of 2004's most popular new stars had been exposed as ... As what, exactly?"[19]

Orange Bowl performance and first tour (early 2005)

Simpson's Orange Bowl performance.

On January 4, 2005, Simpson performed "La La" at the halftime show for the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida; after her performance, many of the 72,000-plus spectators booed. Others note that Kelly Clarkson had performed before Simpson in the show to a far more positive reaction, and assert that Simpson-Wentz's performance was poor and very off-key.[20][21][22][23] Following her Orange Bowl performance, an Internet petition at PetitionOnline.com asking Simpson to stop producing music became one of the most active of the site's petitions.[24] Simpson later said: "That's cool. You don't always have to be a fan of everybody's music", also citing the support she had received from her fans.[25] Around the time of the petition, Cosmopolitan magazine chose Simpson to be on the cover of the February 2005 issue, naming her the "Fun Fearless Female of the Year".[26]

Simpson's first U.S. headlining tour (with two dates in Canada as well) ran from mid-February to late April 2005, and its opening acts were Pepper's Ghost and The Click Five.[27] In addition to material from Autobiography, Simpson performed her own unreleased song "Hollywood", The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket", Blondie's "Call Me", and Madonna's "Burning Up". She said that the tour would be "stripped down", without pyrotechnics, and that "it's going to be me and my band getting out there and having fun".[28] In March 2005, Simpson said that The Ashlee Simpson Show would conclude at the end of its second season,[29] the last episode of which aired at the end of the month.

Film, second album, and theater (2005–2006)

See also: I Am Me

Simpson had a supporting role as an aspiring actress named Clea in Undiscovered (originally titled Wannabe), an independent film that was released in theaters in August 2005. Simpson filmed her scenes in late 2004. While Simpson's performance was met with acceptable reviews,[30][31] the film itself was trashed by critics[32] and placed outside of the top ten in its opening weekend,[33] earning just $676,048. Her performance in the film earned her a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

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Simpson-Wentz's second album, I Am Me, was released in the U.S. on October 18, 2005. Simpson said that she had wanted to incorporate the feel of music from the 1980s on the album, and that unlike her debut it would focus less on relationships and more on herself.[29] I Am Me debuted at number one with roughly 220,000 copies sold,[34] but sales quickly deteriorated; by April 2006, it had sold a little less than 900,000 copies.[35] Its first single, "Boyfriend", became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and performed similarly elsewhere. The second single, "L.O.V.E.", reached the U.S. top twenty-five, its success aided by a remix by R&B/hip-hop producer Missy Elliott and MTV's heavy rotation of the single's music video (it has been her most successful video to date on Total Request Live).

Simpson performing in October 2005.

Simpson began a concert tour in late September in Portland, Oregon and appeared on the October 8, 2005 episode of SNL to promote the album. The first of Simpson's two performances on the show was of the ballad "Catch Me When I Fall", which was written about her previous SNL experience, and she thanked the crowd after her second performance. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan, possibly due to exhaustion. She was briefly hospitalized, and consequently cancelled an appearance at the Radio Music Awards.[36]

Simpson and her sister Jessica were scheduled to appear in Rolling Stone magazine in a shoot shot by photographer David LaChapelle in 2005. Upon hearing the concept, both sisters were said to be uncomfortable with LaChapelle's raunchy ideas and cancelled, outraging the photographer. He ranted to the press in early 2006, calling them "everything that's wrong with music." Furthering his statement, LaChapelle said he was just trying to "make the Simpsons look cool. I realize now that is an impossible task." LaChapelle planned to have the sisters "down and dirty" and appearing with snakes.[37]

Simpson appeared on the December 2005/January 2006 cover of Teen People with her sister Jessica,[38] and could also be seen on the December 2005 issue of Blender,[39] Cosmopolitan magazine's January 2006 edition, the March 2006 issues of Seventeen and Elle, the April 2006 issue of Jane, the June/July 2006 issue of Teen People (in which she was named one of its "25 hottest stars under twenty-five"), the July 2006 issue of Marie Claire and the September 2006 issue of CosmoGirl.

Simpson won a Kelly Slater/MTV celebrity surfing invitational competition, which also featured celebrities such as Meagan Good, Jack Osbourne (her main competitor during the competition), Ashley Parker Angel and Tony Hawk, as part of an MTV-sponsored 'Spring Break' Special in March 2006. On April 12, 2006 she hosted and performed at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, where she won "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Video" (for "Boyfriend").[40] A new single, "Invisible", was released in mid-2006 and reached the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Initially it was said that the song would appear on a re-released version of I Am Me, but this never occurred. Simpson began a summer tour on June 5, 2006 with Ashley Parker Angel as an opening act;[41] initially The Veronicas also opened but quit the tour after the first few shows due to a problem with one of their singers' vocal cords.[42]

Simpson said that after this tour, which ended in late July, she would be going on vacation, that she would take her time making her third album, and that she would look at movie scripts and continue her acting career.[43]

Simpson played the role of Roxie Hart in the London stage production of Chicago to rave reviews, from September 25 to October 28, 2006.[44] One reviewer called Simpson's performance in the show "dazzling and near flawless".[45]

Bittersweet World (2007–2008)

See also: Bittersweet World

In November 2006, Simpson said that she was going to meet with record executives soon and begin working on her third album.[46] During 2007, Simpson worked on the album, which was eventually given the title Bittersweet World,[47] with producers Timbaland, Kenna, and Chad Hugo.[48] She said that it would have a more "soulful" sound and more emphasis on beats than guitars.

Geffen chairman Ron Fair said in December 2006 that working on Simpson's next album would be "very tricky" because of press scrutiny and "prejudices", but that Geffen would work with her to overcome that, "because she deserves to be heard and she deserves a shot."[49] A March 2007 interview with EW.com suggested she was working with a variety of musicians for her new album.[50]

In October, the album's release was delayed to the first quarter of 2008.[51] The album's first single, the Timbaland-produced "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", was released as a digital download in December 2007.[52]

In an interview with Cosmogirl for its December 2007/January 2008 issue (for which she was the cover girl), Simpson said that she had a "stronger vision" for this album and that she challenged herself by "working with new sounds and new people". She described the result as a "fun party album" with a "silly and quirky" side. Regarding her future plans, she said that she wanted to take some small movie roles and eventually move into bigger roles. She also said she would like to do theater again and to someday have a clothing line.[53]

Simpson has described the album as having some influences from '80s music while still incorporating some pop/rock. She intends to go on tour to support the album.[52] Its second single, "Little Miss Obsessive", was released in March 2008.[54]

Bittersweet World was released in the U.S. on April 22, 2008. Reviews for the album were characterized as mixed.[55] A collection of tops designed by Simpson was launched by the clothing retailer Wet Seal on April 22, in connection with the album's release.[56]

Simpson began appearing in commercials for Canadian retailer Zellers to promote their independent clothing line, Request, in mid-2008. [57]

Voice

Simpson cites her childhood as being the time when she began to sing, and admits that she dreamed of being on Broadway and didn't expect to break into the pop music scene.[58] Simpson's voice is described as being a Lyric Alto.[59] The highest note Simpson has shown capabilities of hitting is an E5 (in her songs "Invisible" and "La La"), and the lowest note she has shown capabilities of hitting is an E3 (in her songs "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Shadow") – about a 2 octave range. On Simpson's voice, producer Ron Fair has said it has a "gritty tone", and in a review of her album Autobiography, a critic said "Simpson has a singing ability much like a harder-rocking Alanis Morissette, with the sassy aspect of Avril Lavigne, and the poise of such singers as Sheryl Crow".[60] The New York Times has described Simpson's voice as "rather breathy, and mannered". Simpson trains with a vocal coach, and studies old Etta James and Aretha Franklin albums for vocal inspiration.[61] In one interview, Simpson pointed to Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and Chrissie Hynde as musical influences.[62]

Image and personal life

When Simpson first broke onto the music scene in 2004, she was set apart from her sister's already established image by a different musical style, different fashion choices, and a more assertive personality. Simpson's songs have been characterized by rock elements absent from her sister's music, and, particularly during the time of her initial stardom, Simpson would often wear outfits highlighting a more rock or punk-influenced sense of style. Her fingernails and toenails have often been painted black. Over time, Simpson has moved toward more typically feminine styles. In March 2008, she said that "I like to get dressed up now, and that's something I've never been into before" and "I like to be feminine and sexy." According to Simpson, in her sense of style she tends to "mix and match".[63]

Previously blonde like Jessica, she dyed her hair dark during the recording of the MTV reality show after she finished filming for the 7th Heaven television series. In November 2004, she debuted a shorter haircut with the same dark color. Following the end of her Autobiography tour, in early May 2005 she moved back to a blonde color;[64] she remained blonde until January 2008, when she appeared with a red hair color.[65]

She has seven tattoos:[63] a star on one wrist, two cherries on her ankle, the word "love" on her other wrist,[66][67] the number "3" added to one wrist in 2007,[68] and a large peony flower on one wrist in early March 2008.[69]

Simpson and her sister were tied for third on oft-quoted celebrity-fashion critic Richard Blackwell's list of the worst-dressed celebrities of 2004. Blackwell quipped that "from gaudy to grim to downright frenetic these two prove that bad taste is positively genetic."

Simpson's relationship with actor Josh Henderson lasted for nearly two years and was shown ending in the first episode of The Ashlee Simpson Show. Soon after, she began dating fellow musician Ryan Cabrera. That relationship was also featured on the show, and Simpson appeared as Cabrera's love interest in the music video for his song "On the Way Down". The two were reported to have split in August 2004 due to their hectic schedules, but they resumed their relationship for a while afterward, before ending it again in early 2005. Simpson said afterward that they were still friends, although rumors suggested that Simpson did not like the fact that Ryan had moved on to Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas.

At the beginning of her music career, Simpson said that she would not discuss her sex life, in contrast with her sister, who had openly stated her intention to practice sexual abstinence until marriage. "I decided that I didn't want to talk about that because it's super personal," Simpson said of the situation.[70]

In 2005, rumors began circulating that Simpson was in a relationship with Wilmer Valderrama, who previously was involved with Lindsay Lohan. Simpson's single "Boyfriend" was reported to be about the situation, but she said that the song "is about [how] every girl out there sometimes thinks you stole her boyfriend. It's just making fun of that."[71] Valderrama subsequently said on Howard Stern's radio program that he had sex with Simpson, but claimed the incident was unrelated to his break-up with Lohan. Later that year, rumours arose that Simpson was secretly dating another Joe Simpson-managed actor, Viva La Bam's Chris Raab. In February 2006, she told Seventeen magazine that she was dating bandmate Braxton Olita and went on a 10-day vacation with him to Hawaii.[72]

In November 2005, eTalk broadcast a video of a late-night visit made by Simpson to a McDonald's fast-food restaurant in Toronto, Canada. Simpson appeared to be intoxicated in the video, and was shown arguing with an employee, as well as rejecting a customer's attempt to get an autograph from her because he wouldn't kiss her feet. According to Simpson in a 2006 Elle interview, she was "a little tipsy", and the customer had first called her "gross" before he had realized who she was, at which point he asked her for an autograph.[72] She said that she told herself to "grow up" after the incident.

In February 2006, Simpson was honored by MTV's Total Request Live (TRL), as the "Bounce-Back" artist. The award was given to her for being able to recover from the negative moments of her career and release another #1 platinum album.

Simpson reportedly had a nose job in April 2006. When asked about it in an interview in May, Simpson neither confirmed nor denied it.[73] In the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar, she said that she was not insecure about her appearance and had not been beforehand. She said that plastic surgery was a "personal choice" that one should only decide to do for oneself and not for others.[74] Joe Simpson said of the surgery in a September 2007 interview that "there was a real problem with her breathing and that was cured".[75] In March 2008, she said that "as long as people have two eyes" they could determine whether she had a nose job.[63]

In the June 2007 edition of Cosmopolitan, Simpson said that she hasn't lip synched since her Saturday Night Live incident, that she has "a little crush on Christian Slater", feels sexiest in bed, and that you can and can't have a good relationship without amazing sex.[76]

Simpson was ranked as one of the "Hottest Women in Pop/R&B" by Blender in January 2007.[77] She was later voted as number 16 in Maxim's 2007 Hot 100 list.[78]

In June 2006, it was reported that Simpson seriously considered[79] but later turned down a $4 million offer to pose nude for Playboy.[80]

In early September 2006, Us Weekly reported that Simpson and Braxton Olita had split up. Simpson's rep said that the couple "broke up about a week ago. They have decided to take a break."

Marriage

Simpson married Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz on May 17, 2008.[81][82] The two were first seen together in late 2006; initially they denied being in a relationship, although there was much speculation about this. In an interview for OK! magazine in late 2006, Simpson denied the speculation,[83] while in an interview with Pete Wentz on Ryan Seacrest's American Top 40 live, Seacrest asked if Wentz and Simpson were "on" or "off", and Wentz laughed and said "off". In a Rolling Stone photo shoot, however, Wentz and Simpson took a picture together for the opening of Wentz' bar, Angels & Kings, and were labeled as a "couple".

Eventually the two began to acknowledge the relationship. In mid-2007 Wentz spoke about their relationship to InTouch magazine, saying of Simpson that "I have never met somebody who makes me feel the way she makes me feel", although he denied rumors of engagement.[84] Simpson has since discussed their relationship in a number of magazine interviews, including the September 2007 issue of Seventeen magazine[68] and the December 2007/January 2008 issue of CosmoGIRL!.[53] In March 2008, Simpson and Wentz presented the award for Favorite Reality Show at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards.

The couple announced that they were engaged on April 9, 2008.[85] Simpson had previously been wearing what she described as a "promise ring" from Wentz for several months.[85] On April 14, Us Weekly and OK! magazine reported that Simpson is pregnant. Wentz promptly denied this in an e-mail to MTV News,[86] although Simpson, in an interview the next day, chose not to confirm or deny the report, saying that it was something to "keep personal",[87][88] and on TRL she noted that rumors claiming she was pregnant had been appearing for so long that, if they were all true, she "would have had a baby by now".[88][89][90] Due to the marriage, Ashlee has legally changed her name from Simpson to Wentz with her stage name changing to "Wentz". Simpson says:

"I think that that's something that a woman should do when they're marrying a man. It's a tradition that I think is a great tradition."

On May 28, 2008, Simpson and Pete Wentz announced on Fall Out Boy's official website that they are expecting their first child.:[91] "While many have speculated about this, we wanted to wait until the press was gone to have our first child. This is truly the most joyous time in our lives and we are excited to share the happy news and start our family."[92] On November 20, 2008, Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz.[93]

Criticism

Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone magazine criticized Simpson as being a "manufactured" artist with little singing talent.[94] Simpson's critics cite incidents like the SNL episode and the Orange Bowl performance as evidence for their claims.

In mid-2006, Simpson gave an interview to Marie Claire magazine, in which she was said to have "had it with Hollywood's twisted view of feminine beauty" and was photographed painting a pro-female mural with a group of underprivileged girls from Los Angeles's Green Dot Public School.[95] By the time the magazine hit newsstands, Simpson had already had her nose job, and some Marie Claire readers complained about this as being hypocritical. The magazine received over 1,000 angry letters and the magazine's new editor expanded the letters section of the September issue of the magazine to give readers a chance to vent their frustrations.[96][97]

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin Sarah Lingerie

Sarah Louise Heath Palin (pronounced /ˈpeɪlɪn/; born February 11, 1964) is the governor of the U.S. state of Alaska.

Palin was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected governor of Alaska in November 2006 by defeating Frank Murkowski, the incumbent governor, in the Republican primary, and then defeating Tony Knowles, a former two-term Democratic governor, in the general election. She is the first female governor of Alaska and the youngest person elected governor.

Palin was the Republican Party's vice-presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election together with Senator John McCain. The election was won by Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Palin was the second female candidate and the first Alaskan candidate of either major party, as well as the first female vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party.


Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, the third of four children of Sarah Heath (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach.[6][7] The family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. As a child, she sometimes went moose hunting with her father before school. The family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.[8]

Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, located 44 miles (71 km) north of Anchorage.[9] She was the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of the school's girls' basketball team that won the Alaska state championship in 1982.


Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Feet Sarah Palin Legs Sarah Palin skirt

















In 1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College, but left after her first semester. She transferred to North Idaho community college, where she spent two semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transferred to the University of Idaho for two semesters.[11][12] During this time Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant,[13][14] then finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant,[15][16] at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.[8] Afterwards, Palin attended the Matanuska-Susitna community college in Alaska for one term. The next year she returned to the University of Idaho where she spent three semesters completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987.[11][12]

In 1988, she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV and KTVA-TV in Anchorage, Alaska,[17] and for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as a sports reporter.[18] She also helped in her husband’s commercial fishing family business.


Sarah Palin Bikini



Palin was elected twice to the city council of Wasilla, in 1992 and 1995. Wasilla city councillors serve three-year terms.[20] Palin says she entered politics because she was concerned that revenue from a new Wasilla sales tax would not be spent wisely.[21]

Palin's first foray into politics was in 1992, when the 28-year-old ran for Wasilla city council against John Hartrick, a local telephone company worker.[22][23] She won 530 votes to John Hartrick’s 310.[22] On the council, she successfully opposed a measure to curtail the hours at Wasilla's bars by two hours, which surprised Hartrick because she was then a member of a church that advocated abstinence from alcohol.[22] After serving on the city council for three years, she ran for reelection against R’nita Rogers in 1995, winning 413 votes to Rogers' 185.[24]

According to Laura Chase of Wasilla, and former Wasilla mayor John Stein, Palin as city councilwoman mentioned to her colleagues in 1995 that she saw the book Daddy's Roommate in the public library and did not think that it belonged there. Chase later became Palin's campaign manager for mayor in 1996, when Palin defeated John Stein, but the two had a falling out and Chase is now a vocal critic of Palin.[25] City of Wasilla Library records indicate that there was never a request for the library to remove the book and that no books were ever censored or banned.[26] The McCain-Palin campaign says that Palin was not advocating censorship.[27]

Palin did not complete her second term on the city council because she ran for mayor in 1996. Throughout her tenure on the city council and the rest of her career, Palin has been a registered Republican.[28]

Mayor of Wasilla

Palin served two three-year terms[29] (1996–2002) as the mayor of Wasilla. At the conclusion of Palin's tenure as mayor in 2002, the town had about 6,300 residents.[30] In 1996, Palin defeated three-term incumbent mayor John Stein,[31] on a platform targeting wasteful spending and high taxes.[8] Stein says that she introduced abortion, gun rights, and term limits as campaign issues.[32] Although the election was a nonpartisan blanket primary, the state Republican Party ran advertisements on her behalf.[32]

First term

Wasilla City Hall
Wasilla City Hall
Location of Wasilla, Alaska
Location of Wasilla, Alaska

Shortly after taking office in October 1996, Palin consolidated the position of museum director and asked for updated resumes and resignation letters from some top officials, including the police chief, public works director, finance director, and librarian.[33] Palin stated this request was to find out their intentions and whether they supported her.[33] She temporarily required department heads to get her approval before talking to reporters, saying that they first needed to become acquainted with her administration's policies.[33] She created the position of city administrator,[32] and reduced her own $68,000 salary by 10%, although by mid-1998 this was reversed by the city council.[34]

According to Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Emmons, Palin inquired two or three times in October 1996 as to how Emmons would handle any request to remove books from the library.[35][36][37] John Stein, the former mayor of Wasilla and Palin's 1996 political opponent, said in September 2008 that Palin's "religious beliefs," and the concerns of some voters about language in the books, motivated her inquiries.[38] In December 1996, Palin said she had no books or other material in mind for removal.[37] No books were removed from the library,[35][39] and Palin stated in 2006 that she would not allow her personal religious beliefs to dictate her political positions.[40]

Palin fired Emmons and Police Chief Irl Stambaugh in January 1997, stating that she did not feel they fully supported her efforts to govern the city.[41] The next day, following expressions of public support for Emmons and a personal meeting, Palin rescinded the firing of Emmons, [35] stating that her concerns had been alleviated, and adding that Emmons agreed to support Palin's plan to merge the town's library and museum operations.[41] Stambaugh, who along with Emmons had supported Palin's opponent in the election,[39] filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, violation of his contract, and gender discrimination. In the trial, the defense further alleged political reasons;[42] Stambaugh said that he had opposed a bill in the state legislature that Palin supported.[43] The bill, SB 177, would have permitted concealed weapons in banks, bars, colleges, and other public places.[44][45] Governor Tony Knowles' Senate Journal entry announcing his veto of SB 177 mentioned the opposition of, among other parties, the City of Wasilla.[46] The federal judge who heard the case said in the decision that the police chief serves at the discretion of the mayor, and can be terminated for nearly any reason, even a political one, and dismissed Stambaugh's lawsuit[47] ordering Stambaugh to pay Palin's legal fees.[43]

Palin appointed[48] Charles Fannon to replace Stambaugh as police chief. Fannon later opposed a state law preventing police departments from billing rape victims or their health insurance for evidence collection kits.[49] Fannon said that the Wasilla police had sometimes billed victims' health insurance in the past; Stambaugh said that under his tenure the city had paid.[50] An investigation by the St. Petersburg Times found no evidence that Palin had ever commented on the policy at all.[51]

During her first year in office, Palin kept a jar with the names of Wasilla residents on her desk, and once a week she pulled a name from it and picked up the phone; she would ask: "How's the city doing?"[39] Using income generated by a 2% sales tax that was enacted before she was elected to the city council,[52] Palin cut property taxes by 75% and eliminated personal property and business inventory taxes.[53][31] Tapping municipal bonds, she made improvements to the roads and sewers, and increased funding to the Police Department.[32] She also oversaw new bike paths and procured funding for storm-water treatment to protect freshwater resources.[31] At the same time, she reduced spending on the town museum and blocked construction of a new library and city hall.[31] Palin ran for re-election against Stein in 1999 and won, with 74% of the vote.[54] She was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.[55]

Second term

During her second term as mayor, Palin introduced a ballot measure proposing the construction of a municipal sports center to be financed by a 0.5% sales tax increase.[56] The $14.7 million Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex was built on time and under budget, but the city spent an additional $1.3 million because of an eminent domain lawsuit caused by the failure to obtain clear title to the property before beginning construction.[56] The city's long-term debt grew from about $1 million to $25 million through voter-approved indebtedness of $15 million for the sports complex, $5.5 million for street projects, and $3 million for water improvement projects. A city council member defended the spending increases as being caused by the city's growth during that time.[57]

Palin also joined with nearby communities in jointly hiring the Anchorage-based lobbying firm of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh to lobby for federal funds. The firm secured nearly $8 million in earmarked funds for the Wasilla city government, and another $19 million for other public and private entities in the Wasilla valley area.[58] Earmarks included $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 linking Wasilla and the ski resort community of Girdwood.[59] Term limits prevented Palin from running for a third term as mayor in 2002.[29]

Post-mayoral years

In 2002, Palin ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a five-way Republican primary.[60] The Republican ticket of U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski and Leman won the November 2002 election. When Murkowski resigned from his long-held U.S. Senate seat in December 2002 to become governor, he considered appointing Palin to replace him in the Senate, but chose his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, who was then an Alaskan state representative.[61]

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.[62] She chaired the Commission beginning in 2003, serving as Ethics Supervisor.[63] Palin resigned in January 2004, protesting what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members.[8][64]

After resigning, Palin filed a formal complaint against Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner Randy Ruedrich, also the chair of the state Republican Party,[65] accusing him of doing work for the party on public time and of working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. She also joined with Democratic legislator Eric Croft[66] to file a complaint against Gregg Renkes, a former Alaskan Attorney General,[67] accusing him of having a financial conflict of interest in negotiating a coal exporting trade agreement,[68] while Renkes was the subject of investigation and after records suggesting a possible conflict of interest had been released to the public.[69] Ruedrich and Renkes both resigned and Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.[63][8]

From 2003 to June 2005, Palin served as one of three directors of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group designed to provide political training for Republican women in Alaska.[70] In 2004, Palin told the Anchorage Daily News that she had decided not to run for the U.S. Senate that year, against the Republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski, because her teenage son opposed it. Palin said, "How could I be the team mom if I was a U.S. Senator?"[71]

Governor of Alaska

Palin visits soldiers of the Alaska National Guard, July 24, 2007.

In 2006, running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.[72] Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell.

Despite being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she won the gubernatorial election in November, defeating former governor Tony Knowles by a margin of 48.3% to 40.9%.[8] Palin became Alaska's first female governor, and at the age of 42, the youngest governor in Alaskan history.[73] She is the state's first governor to have been born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood, and the first not to be inaugurated in Juneau; she chose to have the ceremony held in Fairbanks instead. She took office on December 4, 2006, and has been very popular with Alaska voters. Polls taken in 2007 early in her term showed her with a 93% and 89% popularity among all voters,[74] which led some media outlets to call her "the most popular governor in America."[66][74] A poll taken in late September 2008 after Palin was named to the national Republican ticket showed her popularity in Alaska at 68%.[75]

Palin declared that top priorities of her administration would be resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.[73] She had championed ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling it a "first step", and declaring that she remained determined to clean up Alaska politics.[76]

Palin tries out the Engagement Skills Trainer, July 24, 2007.

Palin has sometimes broken with the state Republican establishment. For example, she endorsed Sean Parnell's bid to unseat the state's longtime at-large U.S. Representative, Don Young.[77] Palin has publicly challenged Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the ongoing federal investigation into his financial dealings. Shortly before his July 2008 indictment, she held a joint news conference with Stevens, described by The Washington Post as needed "to make clear she had not abandoned him politically."[70]

Palin promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Proposals to drill for oil in ANWR have been the subject of a national debate.[78]

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport[79] and in 2007 traveled for the first time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited the Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard at several bases.[80] On her return trip to the U.S., she visited injured soldiers in Germany.[81]

Budget, spending, and federal funds

Governor Palin in Germany, July 2007

In June 2007, Palin signed a record $6.6 billion operating budget into law.[82] At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to $1.6 billion.[83] In 2008, Palin vetoed $286 million, cutting or reducing funding for 350 projects from the FY09 capital budget.[84]

Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet, a purchase made by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005 against the wishes of the legislature.[85] In August 2007, the jet was listed on eBay, but the sale fell through, and the plane was later sold for $2.1 million through a private brokerage firm.[86]

Expense reimbursements

Palin lives in Juneau during the legislative session and lives in Wasilla and works out of offices in Anchorage the rest of the year. Since the office in Anchorage is far from Juneau, while she works there, state officials say she is legally entitled to a $58 per diem travel allowance, which she has taken (a total of $16,951), and to reimbursement for hotels, which she has not, choosing instead to drive about 50 miles to her home in Wasilla.[87] She also chose not to use the former governor's private chef.[88] Democrats criticized Palin for taking the per diem and $43,490 in travel expenses for the times her family accompanied her on state business.[89] In response, the governor's staffers said that these practices were in line with state policy, that Palin's gubernatorial expenses are 80% below those of her predecessor, Frank Murkowski,[89] and that "many of the hundreds of invitations Palin receives include requests for her to bring her family, placing the definition of 'state business' with the party extending the invitation."[87]

Federal funding

In her State of the State Address on January 17, 2008, Palin declared that the people of Alaska "can and must continue to develop our economy, because we cannot and must not rely so heavily on federal government [funding]."[90] Alaska's federal congressional representatives cut back on pork-barrel project requests during Palin's time as governor; despite this, in 2008 Alaska was still the largest per-capita recipient of federal earmarks, requesting nearly $750 million in special federal spending over a period of two years.[91]

While there is no sales tax or income tax in Alaska, state revenues doubled to $10 billion in 2008. For the 2009 budget, Palin gave a list of 31 proposed federal earmarks or requests for funding, totaling $197 million, to Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.[92] Palin’s decreasing support for federal funding has been a leading source of friction between herself and the state's congressional delegation; Palin has requested less in federal funding each year than her predecessor Frank Murkowski requested in his last year.[93]

Bridge to Nowhere and Knik Arm Bridge

See also: Gravina Island Bridge and Knik Arm Bridge
See also: Use of "Bridge to Nowhere" in 2008 campaign

In 2005, before Palin was elected governor, Congress passed a $442-million earmark for constructing two Alaska bridges as part of an omnibus spending bill. The Gravina Island Bridge was proposed to connect Ketchikan to sparsely populated Gravina Island where an international airport serves over 200,000 passengers per year and the existing ferry carries 400,000 passengers per year.[94] The Knik Arm Bridge (also known as "Don Young's Way" after Alaska's Congressman Don Young) was to provide an alternate link between heavily-populated Anchorage and Wasilla, 44 miles away.[95] The Gravina Island Bridge proposal became nicknamed the "Bridge to Nowhere" because of the island's population of fifty people.[94] More rarely, the term "Bridges to Nowhere" has been applied to both bridge proposals.[96] Critics of the two bridge proposals gave them national attention as symbols of pork-barrel spending, and Congress responded to the intense criticism by stripping the earmark from the bill before final passage in November 2005 and instead giving the $442 million to Alaska as transportation money with no strings attached.[94]

Sarah Palin holds up a t-shirt reading "Nowhere Alaska 99901" while visiting Ketchikan during her Gubernatorial campaign in 2006; the zip code for the area is 99901.

In 2006, Palin ran for governor with a "build-the-bridge" plank in her platform,[97] saying she would "not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project [...] into something that's so negative."[98] Palin criticized the use of the word "nowhere" as insulting to local residents[97][99] and urged speedy work on building the infrastructure "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."[99]

As governor Palin canceled the Gravina Island Bridge in September 2007, saying that Congress had "little interest in spending any more money" due to what she called "inaccurate portrayals of the projects."[100] She opted not to return the $442 million in federal transportation funds.[101] Palin maintained her support for a controversial highway on the bridgeless Gravina Island, committing $25 million in federal funds to the project saying through her spokesperson that it would open territory for development. Alaska state officials said if the money were not used for the road it would have had to have been returned to the federal government.[97] She also directed state officials to explore other ways to provide access to the island.[100]

Later, as a vice-presidential candidate, Palin characterized her position as having told Congress "thanks, but no thanks, on that bridge to nowhere." This angered some Alaskans in Ketchikan, who said that the claim was false and a betrayal of Palin's previous support for their community.[101] Meanwhile, some critics complained that this statement was misleading, since she had repeatedly expressed support for the spending project and even kept the Federal money after the project was canceled.[102] Palin continues to support the Knik Arm project.[95]

Gas pipeline

See also: Alaska Gas Pipeline

In August 2008, Palin signed a bill authorizing the State of Alaska to award TransCanada Pipelines — the sole bidder to meet the state's requirements — a license to build and operate a pipeline to transport natural gas from the North Slope to the Continental United States through Canada.[103] The governor also pledged $500 million in seed money to support the project.[104] It is estimated that the project will cost $26 billion.[103] Newsweek described the project as "the principal achievement of Sarah Palin's term as Alaska's governor,"[105] but it faces legal challenges from Canadian First Nations (aboriginal peoples).[105]

Predator control

In 2007, Palin supported a 2003 Alaska Department of Fish and Game policy allowing the hunting of wolves from the air as part of a predator control program intended to increase moose and caribou populations for subsistence-food gatherers and other hunters.[106][107] In March 2007, Palin's office announced that a bounty of $150 per wolf would be paid to the 180 volunteer pilots and gunners, to offset fuel costs. Wildlife activists sued the state, and a state judge declared the bounty illegal on the basis that a bounty would have to be offered by the Board of Game and not by the Department of Fish and Game.[106][108]

Public Safety Commissioner dismissal

Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on July 11, 2008, citing performance-related issues, such as not being "a team player on budgeting issues."[109] Monegan said that he had resisted persistent pressure from the Governor, her husband, and her staff, including State Attorney General Talis Colberg, to fire Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten; Wooten was involved in a child custody battle with Palin’s sister that included an alleged death threat against Palin's father.[110][111] Monegan stated he learned an internal investigation had found all but two of the allegations to be unsubstantiated, and Wooten had been disciplined for the others—an illegal moose killing and the tasering of an 11-year-old.[111] He told the Palins that there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed.[112] When contacted by the press for comment, Monegan first acknowledged pressure to fire Wooten but said that he could not be certain that his own firing was connected to that issue;[111] he later asserted that the dispute over Wooten was a major reason for his firing.[113] Palin stated on July 17 that Monegan was not pressured to fire Wooten, nor dismissed for not doing so.[109][112] Monegan's replacement resigned on July 25, amid charges of sexual harassment in his previous job.[114]

Legislative investigation

On August 1, the Republican-dominated[115] Alaska Legislature hired an investigator, Stephen Branchflower, to review the Monegan dismissal. Legislators stated that Palin had the legal authority to fire Monegan, but they wanted to know whether her action had been motivated by anger at Monegan for not firing Wooten.[116][117] The atmosphere was bipartisan and Palin pledged to cooperate.[116][117][118] After she ordered her own internal investigation, Palin stated on August 13 that "pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it."[119] Palin announced that officials had contacted Monegan or his staff about two dozen times regarding Wooten,[112] that she had only known about some of those contacts, that many of those contacts were appropriate, and that she had not fired Monegan because of Wooten,[120] who remained employed as a state trooper.[121] She placed an aide on paid leave due to one tape-recorded phone conversation that she deemed improper, in which the aide appeared to be acting on her behalf and complained to a trooper that Wooten had not been fired.[122]

Several weeks after the start of what the media referred to as "troopergate", Palin was chosen as John McCain's running mate.[117] In a news story published on September 2, the state senator running the investigation complained that Palin's hiring of private lawyers hampered the investigation, and suggested that the results of the investigation were "likely to be damaging to the Governor's administration."[123] On September 1, Palin asked the legislature to drop its investigation, saying that the state Personnel Board had jurisdiction over ethics issues.[124] The Personnel Board's three members were first appointed by Palin’s predecessor, and Palin reappointed one member in 2008.[125] On September 19, the Governor's husband and several state employees refused to honor subpoenas, the validity of which were disputed by Talis Colberg, Palin's appointee as Alaska's Attorney General.[126] On October 2, a court rejected Colberg's challenge to the subpoenas,[127] and seven of the witnesses, not including Sarah and Todd Palin, eventually testified.[128]

Branchflower Report

Main article: Branchflower Report

On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously voted to release, without endorsing,[129] the Branchflower Report, in which Stephen Branchflower found that firing Monegan "was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority," but that Palin abused her power as governor and violated the state's Executive Branch Ethics Act when her office pressured Monegan to fire Wooten .[130] The report stated that "Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."[131] The report also said that Palin "permitted Todd Palin to use the Governor's office [...] to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired."[131][132]

On October 11, Palin's attorneys responded, condemning the Branchflower Report as "misleading and wrong on the law";[133] one, Thomas Van Flein, said that it was an attempt to "smear the governor by innuendo."[134] Van Flein further argues that Branchflower's findings are flawed because Palin received "no monetary benefit" from her actions.

Palin said that she was "very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there".[135] Among the commentators disputing her interpretation was a columnist for The Washington Post:

"Whether or not the Branchflower report -- which was launched by a bipartisan committee -- was a partisan smear job is debatable. What is not debatable is that the report clearly states that she violated the State Ethics Act. Palin has reasonable grounds for arguing that the report cleared her of 'legal wrongdoing,' since she did have the authority to fire Monegan. But it is the reverse of the truth to claim that she was cleared of "any hint of any kind of unethical activity."[134]

Another view was expressed in McClatchy's Kansascity.com, The Kansas City Star: "It’s just Steve Branchflower’s opinion that he thinks Governor Palin had, at worst, mixed motives for an action that even Branchflower admits she unquestionably had both the complete right to perform and other very good reasons to perform."[136]

State Personnel Board investigation

The State Personnel Board (SPB) reviewed the matter at Palin's request.[137] On September 15, the Anchorage law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness filed arguments of "no probable cause" with the SPB on behalf of Palin.[138][139] The SPB hired independent counsel Timothy Petumenos as an investigator. Mr. Petumenos describes himself as a "loyal Democrat" according to the Washington Post. [140] On October 24, Palin gave three hours of depositions with the Board in St. Louis, Missouri.[141] On November 3, Petumenos found that there was no probable cause to believe Palin or any other state official had violated state ethical standards, which contradicted the Legislature's conclusion in the Branchflower Report.[142][143][144][145]

2008 vice-presidential campaign

See also: Republican Party (United States) vice presidential candidates, 2008

On August 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio, Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate.[146] According to Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for John McCain, he first met Palin at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington in February 2008 and came away "extraordinarily impressed."[147] He called Palin on August 24 to discuss the possibility of having her join him on the ticket.[148] On August 27, she visited McCain's vacation home near Sedona, Arizona, where she was offered the position of vice-presidential candidate.[149] Palin was the only prospective running mate who had a face-to-face interview with McCain to discuss joining the ticket that week.[148] Nonetheless, Palin's selection was a surprise to many as speculation had centered on other candidates, such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, United States Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.[146]

Palin is the first Alaskan and the second woman to run on a major U.S. party ticket. The first woman was Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1984, who ran with former vice-president Walter Mondale.[146] On September 3, 2008, Palin delivered a 40-minute acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention that was well-received and watched by more than 40 million viewers.[150]

Several conservative commentators met Palin in the summer of 2007 when they sailed on cruises that docked in Juneau.[151] Some of them, such as Bill Kristol, urged McCain to pick Palin, arguing that her presence on the ticket would provide a boost in enthusiasm among the religious right wing of the Republican party, while her status as an unknown on the national scene would also be a positive factor for McCain's campaign.[152]

Since Palin was largely unknown outside Alaska before her selection by McCain, her personal life, positions, and political record drew intense media attention and scrutiny.[153] Some Republicans felt that Palin was being subjected to unreasonable media coverage, a sentiment Palin noted in her acceptance speech.[154] A poll taken immediately after the Republican convention found that slightly more than half of Americans believed that the media was "trying to hurt" Palin with negative coverage.[155]

The Palins and McCains in Fairfax, Virginia, September 2008.

During the campaign, controversy erupted over alleged differences between Palin's positions as a gubernatorial candidate and her position as a vice-presidential candidate. While campaigning for vice-president, Palin touted her stance on "the bridge to nowhere" as an example of her opposition to pork barrel spending.[97] In her nomination acceptance speech and on the campaign trail, Palin has often said, "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere."[156] Although Palin was originally a main proponent of the Gravina Island Bridge, McCain-Palin television advertisements assert that Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere."[157] These statements have been widely questioned or described as misleading or exaggerations[158] by many media groups in the U.S.[159] Newsweek remarked, "Now she talks as if she always opposed the funding."[160]

Palin signing an autograph at a campaign rally in O'Fallon, Missouri

After McCain announced Palin as his running mate, Newsweek and Time put Palin on their magazine covers,[161] as some of the media alleged that McCain's campaign was restricting press access to Palin by allowing only three one-on-one interviews and no press conferences with her.[162] Among the news organizations that criticized the restrictions were Palin's first major interview, with Charles Gibson of ABC News, met with mixed reviews.[163] Her interview five days later with Fox News's Sean Hannity focused on many of the same questions from Gibson's interview.[164] However, Palin's performance in her third interview, with Katie Couric of CBS News, was widely criticized, prompting a decline in her poll numbers, concern among Republicans that she was becoming a political liability, and calls from some conservative commentators for Palin to resign from the Presidential ticket.[164][165] Other conservatives remained ardent in their support for Palin, accusing the columnists of elitism.[166] Following this interview, some Republicans, including Mitt Romney and Bill Kristol, questioned the McCain campaign's strategy of sheltering Palin from unscripted encounters with the press.[167]

Palin was reported to have prepared intensively for the October 2 vice-presidential debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden at Washington University in St. Louis. Some Republicans suggested that Palin's performance in the interviews would improve public perceptions of her debate performance by lowering expectations.[168][164][169] Polling from CNN, Fox and CBS found that while Palin exceeded most voters' expectations, they felt that Biden had won the debate.[170][171]

Upon returning to the campaign trail after her debate preparation, Palin stepped up her attacks on the Democratic candidate for President, Senator Barack Obama. At a fundraising event, Palin explained her new aggressiveness, saying, "There does come a time when you have to take the gloves off and that time is right now." In a series of campaign rallies, Palin returned to the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of attack dog, lashing out at and criticizing the Democratic ticket.

Palin appeared on the television show Saturday Night Live on October 18. Prior to her appearance on the show, she had been parodied several times by Tina Fey, who was noted for her physical resemblance to the candidate.[172] In the weeks leading up to the election, Palin had also been the subject of numerous other parodies.[173]

The election took place on November 4, and Obama was projected as the winner at 11:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.[174] In his concession speech McCain thanked Palin, calling her "one of the best campaigners I've ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength."[174]

Personal life

In 1988, she eloped with her childhood sweetheart Todd Palin. According to her mother, she believed that her parents "couldn't afford a big white wedding."[175] Todd Palin works for the London-based oil company BP as an oil-field production operator and owns a commercial fishing business.[73][21] The Palins have an estimated combined net worth of over $1 million.[176]

Palin family members at the announcement of her vice-presidential selection, August 29, 2008. From left to right: Todd, Piper, Willow, Bristol and Trig.

Palin describes herself as a hockey mom. The Palins have five children: sons Track (b. 1989)[177] and Trig (b. 2008), and daughters Bristol (b. 1990), Willow (b. 1995), and Piper (b. 2001).[178] Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11, 2007,[179] and was subsequently assigned to an infantry brigade. He and his unit deployed to Iraq in September 2008 for 12 months.[180] On September 1, 2008, Palin announced that Bristol was five months pregnant and that she intends to keep the baby and marry Levi Johnston, the father of the child.[181] Palin's youngest child, Trig, was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome.[182]

Palin was born into a Roman Catholic family.[183] Later, her family joined the Wasilla Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church,[184] which she attended until 2002. Palin then switched to the Wasilla Bible Church because, she said, she preferred the children's ministries offered there.[185] When in Juneau, she attends the Juneau Christian Center.[186] Her current home church is the Wasilla Bible Church, an independent congregation.[187] Palin described herself in an interview as a "Bible-believing Christian."[183] After the Republican National Convention, a spokesperson for the McCain campaign told CNN that Palin "doesn't consider herself Pentecostal" and has "deep religious convictions."[40]

Political positions

Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982, and has described the Republican Party platform as "the right agenda for America".[4] She is an ardent social conservative, and her deep religious convictions guide her politics. According to Mary Glazier, an ordained minister who helped bring together the prayer networks in Alaska, Palin was an active member of Glazier's prayer group in Wasilla when God "began to speak" to her about going into politics.[188] In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, responding to a question asking the candidates whether they would support teaching creationism in public schools, Palin stated that she supported teaching both creationism and evolution. Shortly after that debate, however, Palin said in an interview that she had only meant to say she supports allowing the discussion of creationism in public schools, but says it does not have to be part of the curriculum.[189] She supports sex education in public schools that encourages abstinence but also discusses birth control.[190][191]

Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples; however, early in her gubernatorial term she vetoed such a bill, citing its current unconstitutionality.[110][192] Palin has called herself "as pro-life as any candidate can be"[192] and has called abortion an "atrocity."[190] Palin has stated that abortion should be banned in nearly all cases, including rape and incest, except if the life of the mother is endangered.[193][194] Palin has stated that she does not support embryonic stem cell research.[195] A lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), she believes the right to bear arms includes handgun possession, and is against a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons.[195] She has supported gun safety education for youth.[196] She supports capital punishment.[197]

Palin has promoted oil and natural gas resource exploration in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.[78] She brought suit to overturn the listing of polar bears under the federal Endangered Species Act,[198] and also opposed strengthening protections for beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.[199] The official Alaska press release stated that she had "asked [the National Marine Fisheries Service] to work with the state and other scientists to finalize and implement a conservation plan for the Cook Inlet stock of belugas."[200]

On global warming, Palin said that "a changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."[201] She later said that "man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue" and that "John McCain and I agree that we gotta do something about it."[202]

Regarding foreign policy, Palin supports the Bush Administration's policies in Iraq, but is concerned that "dependence on foreign energy" may be obstructing efforts to "have an exit plan in place".[203][204] Palin supports preemptive military action in the face of an imminent threat, and supports U.S. military operations in Pakistan. She declined to give a yes or no answer regarding whether U.S. military forces should make cross-border attacks into Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government.[205] She supports NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia,[205] and affirms that if Russia invaded a NATO member, the United States should meet its treaty obligations.[206]

Public image

Before the Republican National Convention (RNC), a Gallup poll found that Palin had "the lowest rating any running mate has had since then-Indiana Senator Dan Quayle was selected in 1988 to join George H.W. Bush's team."[207] Over half of the poll respondents had never heard of her.[208] Following the RNC, Palin's image came under close media scrutiny,[209][210] particularly regarding her socially conservative political preferences. Her perceived lack of experience in foreign and domestic politics came under fire[211] from conservative[212][213] columnists Charles Krauthammer,[214] Kathleen Parker[215] and George Will,[216] and Republicans such as former Bush speechwriter David Frum.[217] Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell gave her inexperience in foreign and domestic policy as one reason for his endorsement of Obama.[218][219]

In contrast, William Kristol of the Weekly Standard wrote: "There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader."[220]

During the 2008 elections, some media outlets repeated Palin's statement that she "stood up to Big Oil" when she resigned after just 11 months as the head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission because of abuses she witnessed involving other Republican commissioners and their ties to energy companies and energy lobbyists, and again when she raised taxes on oil companies as governor.[221][222] In turn, others have said that she is a "friend of Big Oil" due to her fervent advocacy of oil exploitation, including her push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and an effort to de-list the polar bear as an endangered species, since this could hinder oil searching.[221][222] The National Organization for Women, which endorsed Obama, made clear that it would not support Palin simply for being a woman, and made its support for her opponent publicly known.[223][211] The National Rifle Association said nothing specific about Palin's position on gun legislation, but concluded that she would be "one of the most pro-gun vice-presidents in American history."[224]