Originally Posted By Dabob2 <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/03/palin_reports_throw_curve_to_campaign/" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/news/nat...ampaign/</a> "ST. PAUL - John McCain's campaign hoped that the five days between the introduction of Sarah Palin as his running mate and her high-stakes speech tonight to the Republican National Convention would let it weave a narrative about the Alaska governor as a kindred maverick reformer who shares McCain's disdain for pork barrel projects and political corruption. But almost from the moment of her unveiling, one report after another has deconstructed that story line. Instead, voters are seeing reports that have questioned whether she really opposed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" as she claimed, whether she abused her office's power in firing a state official, and why she hired a lobbying firm to land nearly $27 million in federal projects while she was mayor of Wasilla." (snip) "She was a city councilor and mayor of Wasilla at a time when the town of about 9,000 people received $27 million worth of earmarks after hiring a Washington lobbying firm. The projects included $15 million for a rail commuter line to Anchorage, which benefited Wasilla and other communities on the route, as well as $800,000 for an airport, $1 million for a transit center, and $2.4 million for water and sewer projects. "She asked for earmarks in each of her executive jobs," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Clearly she is in a different position from Senator McCain there." (snip) "As governor, Palin asked this year for 31 federal earmarks totaling $198 million, down from $550 million in her first year in office. But that's still about $295 per Alaska resident, compared with the national average of $34 per person, according to Citizens Against Government Waste." Doesn't sound like she's the anti-pork person the McCain campaign is trying to paint her as - anything but.
