Top-ranking Republican powerbrokers have placed current Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin under intense political pressure. Leading Republican strategists feel a growing sense of uncertainty about the judgment of John McCain because of his hasty selection of Governor Palin as his running mate after only a cursory period of casual consideration.
The Governor cancelled her busy schedule today allegedly to prepare her acceptance speech, but insiders report that she is now consumed in dealings with powerful Republicans who want to oust her.
A consensus appears to be growing that John McCain appointed Governor Palin prematurely without proper scrutiny prior to naming her as his Vice-Presidential running mate in a surprising announcement last Friday.
Initially, many conservatives were thrilled with McCain’s selection because Governor Palin is a devout evangelical Christian, a pro-life politician and a prominent gun enthusiast with a membership in the National Rifle Association (NRA). However, the mood of many of the party’s faithful is changing with the emergence of new and troubling reports about hitherto obscure details lurking in her background.
Today, many Republican heavyweights are becoming increasingly concerned about Governor Palin’s controversial record in Alaska as a growing number of conservative strategists are coming to the conclusion that she will be a burden for their beleaguered party in the November election.
Evidence has come to light that Governor Palin is the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation probing charges that she fired the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner when he refused to intervene in her sister’s acrimonious divorce. The case involves serious charges that Governor Palin ordered the Public Safety Commissioner to fire her sister’s husband in the midst of what had become an unusually bitter divorce. The pending investigation is casting a shadow of doubt over her viability for the Vice Presidential nomination.
But, the most troubling allegations about Governor Palin may involve her former membership in the Alaska Independence Party (AIP), an ultra-conservative state’s rights group that advocates a vote on Alaskan secession from the United States. In an ill-advised video issued earlier this year, Governor Palin sent a warm message of support to the separatist party.
In 1997 while she was Mayor of Wasilla (pop. 5469) Palin eventually faced down a public call for her resignation after she fired the town’s Chief of Police Irl Stambaugh and other department heads for failing to support her radical agenda. She survived her stormy mayoralty to be elected governor of the state.
Unfortunately, Governor Palin’s controversial political career is not the only source of conservative doubts about her qualifications. Since her selection as McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate, Governor Palin was confronted by disapproval from the evangelical community over the pregnancy of her seventeen year-old daughter, Bristol Palin. Governor Palin is a staunch evangelical Christian who advocates abstinence and virginity for the young.
The Republican Party platform contains a clear-cut position on teen age pregnancy, “”We support abstinence education and oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for abortion and contraception.”
Many Republican conservatives attending the St. Paul convention are aghast that Governor Palin’s daughter might not have become pregnant had she been able to obtain appropriate counseling.
The father of Bristol Palin’s unborn child, Levi Johnston (18), may have unwittingly made matters worse for the Governor when he described himself to the press in frank terms as a, “f—in’ redneck.” Mr. Johnston issued a blanket warning that he will, “Kick ass,” if anyone questions him over the pregnancy of Bristol Palin. In a candid interview with the New York Post, Levi Johnston stated, “I don’t want children.” The couple has just announced plans for a December wedding with the baby due to be born later that month possibly as early as Christmas.
For their part, Senators Obama and Biden have stated that charges involving Governor Palin’s daughter are, “Off limits,” but many of the fundamentalist Christians who are the backbone of the Republican Party are taking a different approach from the Democratic nominees and are now regarding the Republican nominee with a more critical view.
That is not all of the troubling information about the private life of Governor Palin. Darker suspicions are now swirling around Governor Palin’s youngest child, a four month-old daughter named, “Trig,” who has Downs Syndrome. The Governor’s latest pregnancy was not announced until March even though she had not appeared to be pregnant. Over an extended period of time, Bristol Palin had been incommunicado reportedly recovering from a bout of mononucleosis that had become intractable.
After the surprise delivery in April, Governor Palin resumed her official duties in only three days. The unusual circumstances of the stealth pregnancy and extended absence of her teenage daughter have led to a plethora of rumors and public speculation that Bristol gave birth to Trig, and the Governor covered up the embarrassment with an elaborate subterfuge that may have involved an attempt to persuade her daughter to have a late term abortion. Eyewitnesses in Wasilla report that Levi Johnston has been escorting Bristol Palin for the past year.
Even Governor Palin’s personal image is causing her problems. Earlier this morning, Republican eyebrows were raised when a photograph emerged of Governor Palin wearing disco attire featuring a micro-mini-skirt and a breathtakingly low-cut décolleté as she steadied herself on a bar while teetering on shiny, black patent leather platforms fitted with vertiginous stiletto heels that could have been purchased at Victoria’s Secret.
Governor Palin’s colorful image plus her interesting background and rising political profile will certainly remain subjects of intense public interest for a long time to come.
SOURCES
Alaska Governor Palin’s Address to the AIP
Palin Focus of Probe In Police Chief’s firing
Bristol Palin’s pregnancy was an open secret back home
Sarah Palin reveals teenage daughter is pregnant
