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Palin silent on who she will endorse
The day Governor Sarah Palin was introduced as the Republican candidate for vice president, her fellow Alaska Republican, Senator Ted Stevens, announced his strong support. "I share in the pride of all Alaskans," Stevens declared.
- New York Times News Service
- Published: 23:42 September 19, 2008
Girdwood, Alaska: The day Governor Sarah Palin was introduced as the Republican candidate for vice president, her fellow Alaska Republican, Senator Ted Stevens, announced his strong support. "I share in the pride of all Alaskans," Stevens declared.
Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, a Democrat who is challenging Stevens for the seat he has held for 40 years, has praised Palin - even claiming a kinship with her as a reformer. Though he supports Senator Barack Obama for president, Begich says Palin's nomination is good for Alaska and for women.
"They sort of represent the next generation of leadership," Julie Hasquet, a spokeswoman for the Begich campaign, said of Palin and Begich. Palin has endorsed neither Stevens nor Begich. But that has not stopped both candidates from trying to benefit from her popularity in Alaska, which has only grown since she joined the McCain ticket.
Few people believe Palin would openly support a Democrat, but neither is she expected to endorse Stevens, who goes on trial next week in Washington on federal felony charges that he concealed more than $250,000 [about Dh919,000] in home renovations and gifts.
"Her silence," Hasquet suggested, "is telling." Or it may be an opportunity for Stevens. Palin has long had a distant relationship with Stevens, but as she has moved to the national stage, Stevens has risen in some Alaska polls, a benefit some have attributed at least in part to the Republican enthusiasm that Palin has generated.
"He's the old generation and she's the new," said Connie Scott, a Republican, stepping out of the post office here in Girdwood, Stevens' official state residence. "I think it'd be nice to have a little of both."
Bad publicity
Then again, Begich is counting on potentially weeks of bad publicity for the senator from the coming trial to raise doubts among voters - and keep Palin at a safe distance from the senator.
Few successful politicians in Alaska have crossed Stevens, but Palin has come closer than most.
"She's been tactful, I guess," said Jerry McBeath, a professor of political science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, "which is unusual for her."
This summer, in a rare joint news conference with the governor, before he was indicted, Stevens joked that Palin sometimes called him "stupid," but both insisted on their respect for each other. Asked then whether she would endorse Stevens, Palin said she could not discuss politics because they were in a government building during the workday.
Meanwhile, the husband of the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is refusing to comply with a subpoena issued in an abuse-of-power probe of his wife, the family's lawyer said Thursday.
Todd Palin, father of five children with John McCain's running mate, was among 13 people ordered to testify in the potentially explosive "Troopergate" investigation of his wife, who is the Alaska governor.
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