February 2008 

From Elizabeth Peratrovich’s call for Alaska Native rights on the floor of the Territorial Legislature to the formidable late state Representative Ramona Barnes, Alaska’s first female Speaker of the House, women have been movers and shakers in Alaska politics.

Today, Lisa Murkowski represents Alaska in the U.S. Senate and Sarah Palin occupies the governor’s mansion while enjoying one of the highest popularity ratings of any sitting state executive in the country.

Palin was a dark-horse candidate from the start, disowned by her party and running against popular former governor, Tony Knowles, and incumbent governor and fellow Republican Frank Murkowski. When she trounced Murkowski in the primary, other politicians and pundits began to take notice, but by then her momentum among voters was unstoppable.

In spite of thin political experience— she’d been mayor of Wasilla and served as Commissioner of Oil and Gas under Murkowski— Palin blindsided Alaska’s political machine and became our first female governor in January of 2007.

A year into her term she has successfully pushed an oil-industry tax hike through the Legislature and enjoys wide popularity among Alaska’s fiercely independent voters. It’s a strange juxtaposition in a state that is so dependent on royalties from the sale of state-owned crude oil.

Alaska politicians I know and respect tell me Palin is too easily swayed by public opinion, making decisions that are good for her popularity but bad for the state. Others disagree. From what I’ve seen of Sarah Palin, she gives undue preference to neither industry nor the individual. And whether you like it or not, a majority of the citizens of Alaska think she’s doing a good job, and isn’t that the best gauge of a public servant’s effectiveness?

She reminds me of one of my personal heroes, the late Gov. Jay Hammond, another Republican who maintained the core values of the party—conservative spending and fair taxes—without gathering the corporate-influence baggage that seems to be dragging down the Republican Party.

Much of what Palin is doing seems like common sense, but not many politicians manage to lead with such apparent ease while going against the prevailing political winds.

So this month we’re taking a look at Palin the person, rather than the politician.

Getting a little more familiar with Gov. Palin is a good idea because her political momentum shows no sign of slowing down, and we expect that she’s going to be a part of Alaska’s political landscape for decades to come.

Andy Hall
-Editor