National Journal On Sarah Palin

[Ichingcarpenter]

Sarah Palin, a Republican, was elected Alaska’s youngest and first woman governor in 2006. When she began her political career she was viewed as a rising Republican star but she won election to the governorship as a maverick reformer at arm's length from her party.

Born in Idaho, Palin moved to Alaska when she was three months old with her parents, a teacher and a school secretary. She grew up in Wasilla, just outside of Anchorage, played on Wasilla’s state championship girls basketball team in 1982, wore the crown of Miss Wasilla in 1984 and competed in the Miss Alaska contest.



She studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho and graduated in 1987. After returning home, Palin eloped with her high school boyfriend in 1988 to save money on an expensive wedding. She helped out in her husband’s family commercial fishing business and appeared occasionally as a television sportscaster.

Sounding themes that would resurface throughout her political career, Palin won a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 as a “new face, new voice” and by opposing tax increases. Four years later she was elected mayor at 32 by knocking off a three-term incumbent. Palin conflicted with the city’s staff and fired department heads who had stood by her predecessor, leading opponents to call her “Sarah barracuda”, reviving a nickname she earned on the basketball court for her fierce and adversarial style.

Palin relied on the tax revenue she once derided to help fuel the city’s rapid growth by funding infrastructure improvements that attracted big-box stores; during her tenure as mayor, the city’s operating budget grew from $3.9 million to $5.8 million. Wasilla’s growth and booming sales tax revenues allowed her to cut property taxes; Republican Party leaders took notice and began grooming her for higher office. At the end of her second term, party leaders encouraged her to enter the 2002 race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Against veteran legislators with far more experience, Palin finished second by fewer than 2,000 votes, making a name for herself in statewide politics.


>>>>>More here and talks about her energy policies.

LINK:http://www.nationaljournal.com/almanac/2008/people/ak/akgv.php