Maybe we've been calling the wrong person "McSame." This sound like anyone you know?
... when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.
Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.
... an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.
Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.
Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.
Ms. Palin ordered city employees not to talk to the press.
Not deeply versed in policy, Ms. Palin skipped some candidate forums; at others, she flipped through hand-written, color-coded index cards strategically placed behind her nameplate.
Before one forum, Mr. Halcro said he saw aides shovel reports at Ms. Palin as she crammed. Her showman’s instincts rarely failed. She put the pile of reports on the lectern. Asked what she would do about health care policy, she patted the stack and said she would find an answer in the pile of solutions.
Another confidante of Ms. Palin’s is Ms. Frye, 27. She worked as a receptionist for State Senator Lyda Green before she joined Ms. Palin’s campaign for governor. Now Ms. Frye earns $68,664 as a special assistant to the governor. Her frequent interactions with Ms. Palin’s children have prompted some lawmakers to refer to her as “the babysitter,” a title that Ms. Frye disavows.
Like Mr. Bailey, she is an effusive cheerleader for her boss.
“YOU ARE SO AWESOME!” Ms. Frye typed in an e-mail message to Ms. Palin in March.
Democrats and Republicans alike describe her as often missing in action. Since taking office in 2007, Ms. Palin has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, some 600 miles to the north of the governor’s mansion in Juneau, records show.
At an Alaska Municipal League gathering in Juneau in January, mayors across the political spectrum swapped stories of the governor’s remoteness. How many of you, someone asked, have tried to meet with her? Every hand went up, recalled Mayor Fred Shields of Haines Borough. And how many met with her? Just a few hands rose. Ms. Palin soon walked in, delivered a few remarks and left for an anti-abortion rally.
(h/t: John Evo, via email | all blockquotes from this NYT article | pic. sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
3 comments:
Quite impressive collection of feats!
As strange as it may seem I have to say something in her defense...
Considering the size and population of her Alaska town, how likely is it that she could appoint someone that is not a high school class mate? I mean, if she wants to fill the state offices with her town countrymen...
Did you read today's NYT article?
Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
I think you could make some good Cheney comparisons too. Her cut-throat way of operating makes me think - Cheney without experience. Since she doesn't have experience, or knowledge, it's reasonable to think she might follow the blueprint.
Ocean: I did read Rich's column, yes, but thanks for sharing the link anyway.
You make a good point about the unavoidable overlap of classmates and appointees when Palin was mayor, but I think if you read the article, you'll realize that (1) we're talking about way beyond statistical likelihood, even given the small population, and (2) there were plenty of experienced, qualified people already in those positions, who were pushed out to make room for her cronies.
Not saying a new executive doesn't get to appoint new staff, but there's a point where loyalty cannot be allowed to trump competence, and Palin went way beyond that point.
John: You're right. Halfway through assembling the post, that same thought occurred to me. However, the biggest things for me right now are the Bush characteristics of cronyism, lack of intellectual curiosity, and arrogant conviction of the correctness of thinking with her gut, as driven by her faith.
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