Obama vs. Palin: the first scuffle

Barack Obama took his first direct swipe at Sarah Palin on Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana, a critical swing state. The Illinois Senator said, "I know the governor of Alaska has been saying she's change, and that's great. She's a skillful politician. But, you know, when you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change. Come on! I mean, words mean something, you can't just make stuff up."

My first observation is that Obama has been using the Clintonesque phrase, you know... quite a bit lately. No doubt Sen. Obama is feeling some of the same bewilderment and indignation Hillary Clinton felt when she realized her "inevitable" candidacy was in jeopardy. The New York Senator's staff have made statements over the weekend indicating that Sen. Clinton will not take on the attack dog role against Gov. Sarah Palin, saying, "Attacking Palin is checkers; attacking McCain on the economy is chess," a Clinton aide commented. Clinton herself reiterated at a press conference her statement from the Democratic convention, amending it to, "No way, no how, no McCain-Palin." Earlier the same day, she had praised Palin as bringing an "important voice" to the presidential campaign.

No doubt Hillary Clinton is weighing quite a few things herself, considering her tepid response to sudden calls for her to bail out the Democrats. In spite of some indicators otherwise, there is no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton will run for President again. Her campaign materials are still available, but have been stripped of any mention of 2008. Her website is now maintained by "Friends of Hillary," and has been scoured of any remnants of her contentious 2008 bid. By all accounts Sen. Clinton did her duty at the Democratic Convention, and no doubt she will continue to stump for Obama, but will focus on McCain. It is a smart and safe response that insulates her from criticism quite well.

Sarah Palin wasted no time going on the offensive against Obama, responding to his snipe about earmarks with a sledge hammer. Gov. Palin, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, another swing state today fired back: “Today our opponent brought up earmarks and frankly I was surprised that he raised the subject. I didn’t think he’d want to go there. Our opponent has requested nearly one billion dollars in earmarks in just three years…about a million dollars for every working day. Just wait until President John McCain puts a stop to that.” She is alluding of course to Sen. McCain's campaign promise to end earmarking and pork barrel spending, referring to politicians who endorse earmarks, "I will make them famous, and you will know their names."

The Associate Press also released some details today about Palin's earmark projects in Alaska. They report:

Under Palin's leadership, Alaska this year asked for almost $300 per person in requests for pet projects from one of McCain's top adversaries: indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. That's more than any other state received, per person, from Congress for the current budget year. Other states got just $34 worth of local projects per person this year, on average, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.The state government's earmark requests to Congress in her first year in office exceeded $550 million, more than $800 per resident. Palin actually reduced the state government's requests for special projects this year in the wake of President Bush's demand for a cutback in earmarks.

Alaska also has become so accustomed to largess flowing from Congress through Stevens that most of Palin's earmark requests this year — such as studies of Alaskan fisheries, grants to combat drug trafficking, and rural airport upgrades — simply keep ongoing programs going. Among her requests was $150,000 to pay the travel bills of state and fisheries industry representatives on the boards that implement North Pacific fisheries agreements.

Those sound like fairly worthwhile projects to me. Also, the state population of Alaska is ranked 47th in the country at less than a million people and has the lowest population density in America, and is the largest state. Palin has also posted a decrease in earmark requests. All those pipe lines and roads and national parks we see every day on the Discovery Channel cost a lot of money. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is also the largest revenue producing source of crude oil in the United States and whose profits are shared with Alaskan residents under the Alaska Permanent Fund, in the form of a fuel rebate; due largely to Gov. Palin's work, this rebate is estimated to be as high as $1200 per person by 2009. Palin has reduced the state budget as well by a reported $124 million, and is making Alaskans richer. It's no surprise she said she was surprised Obama would want to "go there" with her. She is a shrewd politician, and attacking her on the economy may prove just as hard as attacking her experience was. I'd say the first scuffle goes to Palin.