Palin touts return

to GOP values

March 21, 2006

LEILA KHEIRY/Frontiersman staff

Dubbed &#8220Sarah Barracuda” during her high school days in Wasilla, gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin is known locally and statewide for her competitive, outspoken nature.

Palin bills herself as the Republican candidate for change, a maverick running against the stream of plugged-in cronies who are caught up in a web of ethics violations, broken campaign promises and departure from party ideology. But she also wants to be the candidate who brings Alaska's Republican Party back to its roots, back to the basic concepts and values exemplified by former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. She promotes the idea of &#8220service before self,” an ideology she said she learned best from raising children.

&#8220When you have kids you have to be selfless,” she said during a recent interview with Frontiersman staff. &#8220I have four kids, so there's four lives that come before mine.”

She said that experience has translated into a desire to serve Alaskans, adding, &#8220It's that selflessness that's needed,” not politicians lining their pockets or setting up jobs for their daughters.

As the candidate touting reform, Palin said there are many strikes against her - party leaders such as Randy Ruedrich, chair of state Republican Party central committee and former member of the state Oil and Gas Commission, have thrown their support to her opponent John Binkley. It's difficult to change government, she said, because you often have to be part of the system in order to get elected and have influence.

Despite the inherent challenges, Palin said she was born for political office.

&#8220I know that … being involved in government is what I was created to do,” she said.

Palin said her basic platform is based on old-fashioned Republican values and a relatively strict interpretation of the state constitution. She said she is in favor of smaller state government, more local control, respect and equality for all Alaskans regardless of party affiliation, and vigilance when it comes to ethics.

Palin already has established a reputation regarding ethics. When she served on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she spearheaded the effort to sanction fellow commissioner Ruedrich for ethics violations. Ruedrich, who settled with the state and agreed to pay a $12,000 fine, resigned from the commission in November 2003. Palin resigned from the commission in January 2004.

She also spoke out about former Attorney General Gregg Renkes' ethics issues that led to his resignation in February 2005, and said she wonders why lawmakers didn't speak out.

&#8220Legislators knew this. They knew there were problems,” she said, and their inaction led to the atmosphere of distrust she said the Republican Party is facing.

Palin said she expects Ruedrich and his supporters will do what they can to keep her from winning the Republican primary.

&#8220They're not going to make it easy,” she said. &#8220Nothing would surprise me.”

However, she added, &#8220I'm not going to let them kick me off,” and even if they do decide to support her in the end, she wouldn't accept any campaign donations from them - something her opponent, John Binkley, would not say.

Palin's tenacity has served her in the past. She was elected to two terms on the Wasilla City Council, two terms as mayor of Wasilla, and ran a close race for state lieutenant governor in 2002. She also runs marathons, hunts and fishes.

She said she loves Alaska and Alaskans and wants to make a government that focuses on service to the people. Palin said she considered running as an independent, but knew the odds would be even more against her. Besides, she said, she believes in the basic platform of the Republican Party.

&#8220Overall, the Republican agenda is the right agenda for Alaska,” she said. &#8220But the party is vulnerable when personalities running the show screw things up and make room for another agenda.”

While Palin said she wants to change the &#8220obsessively partisan” nature of the Legislature, former Wasilla mayor John Stein, now administrator for the city of Sitka, said partisanship defined Palin's candidacy and first years of office after she beat him in the 1996 Wasilla mayoral election.

&#8220I viewed her as being very tightly conservative,” he said in a telephone interview Saturday. &#8220Maybe she's changed her mind, but she rode in on a huge partisan wave. If your philosophy started with an &#8220L,” you were lower than Iditarod Trail dust.”

Stein said much of that stemmed from Palin's conservative Christian background. He added that Palin's first actions as Wasilla mayor included ousting department heads based on political ideology, and looking into how to censor books at the public library.

&#8220I was horrified, I have to say,” he said. &#8220That was the last straw. That's where Sarah and I had a huge disconnect.”

That was 10 years ago, and Stein said he would like to believe Palin has changed her attitude toward partisan politics, but, he said, he would ask, &#8220When did you have the epiphany?”

While he has issues with her past political style, Stein said Palin is a very personable woman from a well-respected Valley family. He said she always has had a competitive nature, and referred to a former classmate of Palin's who told him the candidate's nickname in high school was Sarah Barracuda.

Former state senator and area dentist Curt Menard Sr. touted Palin's competitive attitude. He recalled a 1982 basketball game that he broadcast via telephone for Cabin Radio KMBQ in which Palin was point guard. That was the only time the Wasilla girls won state, he said, and Palin played a big part in that victory.

&#8220She's an Alaskan star,” Menard said. &#8220She was very feisty and competitive, and when she sees what she wants, she goes after it,” an attitude that has carried over to her political career.

Menard, who is running for Mat-Su Borough mayor, said he supports Palin's candidacy.

&#8220I think her political style is very straightforward in that she knows her rights from wrongs, and when she finds something that's wrong, she definitely goes forward with her gut instinct,” he said. &#8220 She's very honest … what you see is what you get. I think she'd be an excellent governor.”

Contact Leila Kheiry at

352-2270 or leila.kheiry@

frontiersman.com.