7 September 2008, 7:01 am
I think I might be missing a few: #10. Iron-Fistgate - Sarah Palin ruled her small town Wasilla with an iron fist. Can we say "female Dick Cheney"? Even conservative commentator David Brooks of the NY Times concedes that Palin does little to reassure voters about their biggest concern about McCain: that he just doesn't have the temperament to be President. And her speech at the convention reinforces that impression. Coming in at number ten since painting Palin as the "hero mayor of the small towns" opens up her small town history for scrutiny. #9. Censorgate. She asked her town librarian if the library "could live with censorship of library books.” Coming in at nine as it signals most succinctly to voters that she's the darling of the hard right. #8. Whinergate. She called Hillary Clinton a whiner. THIS is the candidate who's supposed to win over disgruntled Clinton supporters? Can we say "Phil Graham"? Coming in at number eight because even after her speech, Palin is still having trouble convincing Hillary supporters she's anywhere near as substantial as their gal. #7. Mayberrygate: Palin fired the Wasilla police chief because he was trying to clean up drinking and concealed weapons in the town. Coming in at number seven because it's the delicious kind of small-town backdealing story that seems to be where this campaign will be headed. #6. Kidgate. Not only is she staunchly anti-choice, she recently had a Down's Syndrome child. While making a choice to give birth to and raise such a child is certainly courageous - and will be at least as appealing as Biden's personal backstory - many women will wonder how she can decide to leave such a child while campaigning for the White House. And you have to wonder at her judgement to get pregnant in her mid-forties, after already having four children, knowing the risk of having a child with such a disease (or was this an example of what happens when right-to-lifers don't use contraception?) Won't all this, along with her membership in a notorious anti-choice organization called "Feminists for Life," seem like she's exploiting a baby for ideology, and turn most women off? Some Clinton aides see this scandal as sexist, but it's still picking up a lot of sympathy from average folks turned off by the images of politicians passing the baby around at the convention. #5. Bricknergate. Palin's preacher invites a speaker to spew anti-semitic nonsense while she sits in the audience and listens. Can we say Reverend Wright? Coming in at number five: this one has the potential to turn off crucial Jewish voters in the two key states of Ohio and Florida. If McCain loses either of those states, he's done. #4. Bridge-to-Nowheregate. She was for it before she was against it. Coming in at number four since she brought it up again in her speech: this one will receive real press scrutiny. #3. Porkgate - Palin lobbied Washington for frivolous funds. Coming in at number three since it contradicts the whole Republican theme that this is a team of outside "reformers." #2. Oilgate. She's vetoed legislation for wind and solar energy and is securely in the pockets of big oil (her husband works for British Petroleum). She's even willing to let polar bears die for oil. Coming in at number two because as Nate Silver points out, "taking on the oil industry" for Sarah Palin means getting them to drill more and cough up more scratch for Alaskans. This is a "put Alaska first" policy not a "put America first" policy. Since she's making Alaskan oil the centerpiece of her campaign, I expect to see a long piece on this in the New Yorker. #1. Troopergate. She fired her public safety commissioner because he refused to fire a state trooper who was the ex-husband of her sister and engaged in a bitter custody battle. Can we say "Bush Administration"? Still number one because it's going to produce the biggest bang when reports are released in October. Haven't heard about Troopergate? Want more on the deliciously "Northern Exposure Meets Nixon"-esque intricacies of the abuse-of-power scandal rocking sleepy Alaska? Read about it here. So - what scandals didn't make the list? Junogate. I agree with Obama: family should be out of bounds. I think camp McCain has chastised the media enough...and there are enough other scandals...that this will effectively be put to bed. Dairygate - Apparently she mismanaged a failing state-run dairy. This one seems a little bit obscure and hard to fact-check to me. Haven't seen much else about it. Affairgate. National Enquirer breaks "story" she had an affair with her husband's business partner. But it's the National Enquirer. Let's wait till ABC picks up the story. Cluelessgate. She sounds totally clueless talking about Iraq or foreign policy. After her speech at the convention, people will question this less. Buchanangate. She was a big supporter of Pat Buchanan's 1996 rather hard-right, somewhat anti-semitic run for office. That... read more
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