Sunday, July 05, 2009

A Palin Scandal?

Tana Ganeva, writing on the Alternet website, provides a great deal of evidence to suggest that Sarah Palin, soon to be ex-governor of Alaska, may have resigned her post in order to escape one of several public scandals, ranging from things that cropped up during her vice-presidential campaign, to one or two new ones. Particularly of note are Gov. Palin's dealings with an Alaskan contractor, Spenard Building Supplies, which built one of Palin's houses and later the Wasilla Sports Complex.

My Gut Reaction: I told you so.

Analysis: Although some Palin supporters such as Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, think her resignation may be a brilliant, if bizarre, political move, the amount of scandal murmurings in the background suggest that she's trying to get out of Dodge before all hell breaks loose.

The Spenard Building Supplies issue, which may become the subject of a federal investigation, is particularly intriguing. Unlike the other scandals that Ganeva writes about, which are frankly old news, this is a new issue, one that may evolve into a media frenzy, particularly with the number of Republican governors who have had problems recently.

Of course, it is too early in the game to be certain of anything. Given Gov. Palin's tendency toward political gaffes, it might just be another sign of incompetency on her part.

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