I just got an email from Bill McAlister, a spokesman for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I had emailed him early this morning to ask about whether his boss was in Dayton and whether she had been vetted by the McCain campaign. (I had been told two weeks ago that she had not, which was a surprise given early reports that McCain’s vice presidential vetter A.B. Culvahouse had been to Alaska to see her). A Palin spokesman told ABC News that Palin remains in Alaska and intends to go to the Alaska State Fair. McAllister’s entire response: “Not sure what’s up.” That’s not exactly a denial. McAllister is a well-respected newsman from Alaska, hired by Palin this June. I talked to Palin for about twenty minutes two weeks ago, after John McCain, in response to a question, told me that he intended to talk to her about ANWR. We had a good chat, but the way she answered a couple of my questions is interesting in retrospect. I read her McCain’s comments about the possibility that he is reexamining the ANWR issue and she responded as if he already had — suggesting that maybe she had already talked to him about such issues.
SH: I asked if he’s reconsidering his position, which is something I’d heard from some of his advisers. And he said to me: “I continue to examine it.” Then he added that “Most Americans think that drilling offshore is appropriate but they’re somewhat more ambivalent about a national wildlife refuge. They’re more reluctant to do that.” My follow up was to ask if he’d talked to you about it. And he said: “No, I haven’t I probably should. She’s a remarkable woman. I probably should talk to her. I will.” Apparently he’s going to call you to get your thoughts on drilling there and I just thought I’d call to see if you could tell me what you’re going to tell him. SP: “It’s very encouraging to know that he’s considering that, as well he should. And it bodes well for him as a pragmatic and wise and experienced statesman. What he’s doing here is he’s calling an audible when conditions on the field are changing. And that’s what you do if you want to win the game here. And the game is an energy crisis that Americans are in and it’s going to get worse before it gets better unless we start getting domestic production ramped up here – American sources of energy. Calling that audible is the right thing to do and we can win this if, obviously, if we start plugging in all of the different solutions that are out there. One of the pieces of a solution is allowing exploration on that little 2000 acre plot of land out of the 20 million acres up there in the coastal plain and what he’s obviously acknowledging, too, in his comments to you, is that most Americans do believe that American supplies of oil need to be tapped so we can quit relying on the foreign sources. And I know up here in Alaska, most every Alaskan believes that ANWR should be drilled and no one cares more about Alaska’s environment – our lands, our wildlife, our fresh air, our clean water – than Alaskans themselves. And we know that this can be allowed safely, cleanly, ethically – this type of exploration and development of an American supply of energy. So it’s very encouraging.
One additional thought: Palin is the one pick who would fit the descriptions most often bandied about over the past couple of days: “transformative” and “traditional” — if you take traditional to mean someone not likely to upset conservatives.
