Alaskans Cringe Listening To Governor
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaskans' two-year honeymoon with Gov. Sarah Palin may have ended around the time the Republican vice presidential candidate started saying that she told Congress "thanks but no thanks" on the Bridge to Nowhere.
The line brought cheers on the campaign trail but drew winces back home among those who knew Palin had supported the $400 million Ketchikan bridge and only turned against it after Washington backed off its financing.
"I think people went a little bit like Homer Simpson _ 'D'oh!'" said Ivan Moore, a pollster who has tracked a drop in Palin's popularity in Alaska since she was named Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate on Aug. 29.
Most people in Alaska are staunch defenders of Palin and say that she has represented the state well during a month in the national spotlight. They are proud of how she has handled herself in her rapid ascent from small-town mayor to Alaska governor to vice presidential nominee.
But they now cringe when Palin opens her mouth. Most are surprised at how their usually confident governor has foundered in interviews, giving rambling answers that, like the Bridge to Nowhere line, either go against their own recollections or end up lampooned in "Saturday Night Live" skits and by the hosts of late-night talk shows.
On the eve of Thursday's vice presidential debate, they wondered whether the former beauty pageant contestant will once more look like she's in over her head or if she can acquit herself against one of the most proficient debaters in the Senate, Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"I'm very hopeful that she doesn't embarrass us worse than she already has," said Mark Barnhill, a 53-year-old building inspector from Anchorage. "A lot of the mistakes she's made are plain old rookie mistakes and I don't expect to see much from her other than more of that."
The line brought cheers on the campaign trail but drew winces back home among those who knew Palin had supported the $400 million Ketchikan bridge and only turned against it after Washington backed off its financing.
"I think people went a little bit like Homer Simpson _ 'D'oh!'" said Ivan Moore, a pollster who has tracked a drop in Palin's popularity in Alaska since she was named Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate on Aug. 29.
Most people in Alaska are staunch defenders of Palin and say that she has represented the state well during a month in the national spotlight. They are proud of how she has handled herself in her rapid ascent from small-town mayor to Alaska governor to vice presidential nominee.
But they now cringe when Palin opens her mouth. Most are surprised at how their usually confident governor has foundered in interviews, giving rambling answers that, like the Bridge to Nowhere line, either go against their own recollections or end up lampooned in "Saturday Night Live" skits and by the hosts of late-night talk shows.
On the eve of Thursday's vice presidential debate, they wondered whether the former beauty pageant contestant will once more look like she's in over her head or if she can acquit herself against one of the most proficient debaters in the Senate, Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"I'm very hopeful that she doesn't embarrass us worse than she already has," said Mark Barnhill, a 53-year-old building inspector from Anchorage. "A lot of the mistakes she's made are plain old rookie mistakes and I don't expect to see much from her other than more of that."
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