Sarah Palin

Almost since her unexpected rise to national prominence in 2008 Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was been rumored as a potential 2012 Republican candidate. Palin embarked upon several traditional candidate-like activities, including writing two books (Going Rogue an American Life and America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and the Flag) and creating a PAC to distribute money and offer personal endorsements/assistance to candidates during the 2010 election.

However Palin announced she is not a presidential candidate for 2012 and will not seek the nomination.

History

Sarah Palin was born with the maiden name Heath on February 11th 1964 in Sandpoint Ohio. When she was eight years old her family relocated to Wasilla, Alaska. She was a competitive basketball player and was on the cross country running team at Wasilla High. In 1984 she won the Ms Wasilla beauty pageant and placed third in the Ms. Alaska pageant. In 1987 she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Idaho. She then worked as a sportscaster before working in her husband Todd’s commercial fishing business.

She is the mother of five children, Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig.

Political Career

Sarah Palin was elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1992 and re-elected in 1995.

In 1996 Palin was elected Mayor of Wasilla and was re-elected in 1999. She could not run again because of term limits.

In 2002 Palin ran for lieutenant governor but lost. She campaigned for her opponent and the ticket which won. She was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

In 2006 she ran for governor and defeated Murkowski in the Republican primary before defeating her Democrat opponent in the general election. On July 3, 2009 Palin, in a surprise announcement, resigned as Governor of Alaska.

In 2008 Palin was named the Vice Presidential running-mate of Senator John McCain. Their campaign was not successful.

Positions & Ratings

Abortion
Palin is “pro-life” believing Roe Vs. Wade should be overturned and the issue left to states. She supports abortion only in the rarest of circumstances, specifically if the life of the mother is in jeopardy or rape is involved.

Gun Rights
A lifetime member of the NRA Sarah Palin strongly supports gun ownership rights including access to semi-automatic weapons.

Stem Cell Research
Palin is against embryonic stem cell research believing “we should not create human life, create an embryo and then destroy it for research, if there are other options out there.” She does support pursuing adult stem cell research for experimentation and treatment.

Same-sex unions
In 2006 Palin stated she supported a 1998 proposed amendment adding the definition of marriage between a man and a woman in the Alaska Constitution. She also, as Governor, opposed opposed providing state-covered health and retiree benefits to same-sex couples. She did comply with a Alaska Supreme Court directive to do so. She has signaled support for a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

TARP & Bailouts of 2008
As the running-mate of Senator John McCain, Palin expressed her support for TARP and argued repeatedly for the legislation to pass.

Palin specifically stated:

“Now, as for the economic bailout provisions and the measures that have already been taken, it is a time of crisis and government did have to step in playing an appropriate role to shore up the housing market to make sure that we’re thawing out some of the potentially frozen credit lines and credit markets, government did have to step in there.”

After it was passed and Palin’s bid for the Vice Presidency ended, she repeatedly came out against bailouts, government intervention and the “too big to fail” mentality that drove TARP.

The bailouts, the takeovers of the private sector — that’s not the answer. That is not what built this great country into the most prosperous, healthiest, safest country on earth. No, it is free enterprise, it’s the innovation and work ethic of our small businesses and our entrepreneurs, empowering them to be able to keep more of what they earn and reinvest according to their priorities and then be able to create jobs one — one job at a time with the principles that are free market, free enterprise-based.

The liberal Web site Media Matters has a roundup of Palin’s changing position on TARP.

Video of Sarah Palin

In 2008 my wife and I traveled to Auburn, NY to see Sarah Palin speak at the first annual Founders Day commemorating William Sewars, Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State who purchased Alaska. Below are videos from that day.