Political positions of Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Template:SarahPalinSegmentsUnderInfoBox Sarah Palin is the Governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate for the 2008 United States presidential election; with her newness to the national spotlight, Palin's political positions continue to be determined.

Social and legal issues

Religion in public life

See also: Public image of Sarah Palin

Palin has said that creationism would ideally be part of the public school curriculum: "It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum [but] I am a proponent of teaching both." She has also stated, "I won't have religion as a litmus test, or anybody's personal opinion on evolution or creationism."

In October of 2007, she signed the "Christian Heritage Week" Proclamation which "reminds Alaskans of the role Christianity has played in our rich heritage." She also declared the week of November 18-25, 2007 as Bible Week in Alaska, stating that "the Bible has profoundly influenced art, literature, music, and codes of law."

After the Republican National Convention, Palin's religious views came under increasing scrutiny in the media. Palin spoke to a group of graduating ministry students at her former church, where she urged them to "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [US soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.", and in the same remarks asserted that “God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built", in reference to the Alaskan national gas pipeline project. In her talk at the Assembly of God Church, she stated, “God has sent me, from underneath the umbrella of this church, throughout the state.”

According to Steven Waldman of BeliefNet, the Christian Heritage Week resolution Palin signed "plucked Founding Fathers quotes way out of context to misleadingly imply they were devout Christians" a technique which he says in many other cases has been used "to promote the argument that America was created to be a Christian nation, and separation of church and state is a myth." Furthermore, Palin has suggested that her work as governor would be hampered "if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God," which Waldman says ascribes religious explanations for policy outcomes, and "makes assessing her performance nearly impossible. If she stumbles, it’s our fault."

Palin’s former pastor believes that her sincerely-held religious beliefs will naturally influence her political positions, while Palin has stated that she would not allow her personal beliefs to dictate public policy. Nancy Hardesty, a professor of religion at Clemson University in South Carolina, asserts that Palin has been exposed to a religious world view that could shape her environmental and foreign policies. Der Spiegel describes the relevance of her Pentacostal views to what she says in public, and asserts that the McCain campaign wants to play it down.

Stem cell research

Governor Palin stated in 2006 that because she believes embryonic stem cell research causes the destruction of life, it is inconsistent with her pro-life position and she does not support this research.

All of the various adult stem cell research approaches are supported by Palin. In an interview with Charlie Gibson, Palin differentiated between the two types of stem cell research "And thankfully, again, not only are there other options, but we're getting closer and closer to finding a tremendous amount of other options, like, as I mentioned, the adult stem cell research".

Abortion

Palin is opposed to abortion in almost all cases, including rape and incest, but not if the life of the mother is endangered. In 2006, while running for governor, Palin was asked what she would do if her own daughter were raped and became pregnant; she responded that she would "choose life." She and her husband have stated that they have "faith that every baby is created for a good purpose." When asked what she would do as governor if Roe v. Wade were overturned, she responded "it would not be up [to me] to unilaterally ban anything. It would be up to the people of Alaska to discuss and decide how we would like our society to reflect our values." Palin personally supported bills to outlaw late-term abortions and to require parental consent for underage abortions in Alaska, but rebuffed religious conservatives who wanted to legislate restrictions on abortion even though she agreed with the bills.

In her televised interview with ABC News anchor, Charlie Gibson, on September 12, 2008, Sarah Palin made the statement that as a politician she felt that her opinions were to be made openly to the public, but that sometimes it may differ with political legislation. When Gibson asked if she thought Roe v. Wade should be overturned, she replied, "I think it should and I think that states should be able to decide that issue." Palin also said that she hoped "to reach out and work with those who are on the other side of this issue, because I know that we can all agree on the need for and the desire for fewer abortions in America and greater support for adoption, for other alternatives that women can and should be empowered to embrace, to allow that culture of life." Gibson noted that McCain allows exceptions for rape or incest, and asked, "Do you believe in it only in the case where the life of the mother is in danger?" Palin answered, "That is my personal opinion." When pressed on the matter, she said, "My personal opinion is that abortion allowed if the life of the mother is endangered. Please understand me on this. I do understand McCain's position on this. I do understand others who are very passionate about this issue who have a differing [opinion]."

Sex education

Palin is opposed to "explicit sex-ed programs", including "school-based clinics and the distribution of contraceptives in schools", though is in favor of teaching children about contraception, having said "kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues".

Feminism

See also: Public image of Sarah Palin

Palin has been a member of Feminists for Life since 2006. In August 2006, she told the Anchorage Daily News that "no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child."

Palin has also been criticized by women's rights advocates for allegedly allowing the Wasilla police department to charge rape victims (or the victims' medical insurance) for forensic rape kit exams necessary to gather evidence for prosecuting attackers. While Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, municipal authorities supposedly charged women $500 to $1200 for the examinations, although no records have been found of rape victims being billed . A spokesperson for Palin has said that Palin "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test." Palin has not responded to reporters' questions as to whether or not she was aware of the policy.

Equal pay

According to the McCain campaign, Palin favors the concept of equal pay for women. However, she opposes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would allow more time for victims of employment discrimination to bring suit under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The bill would overturn the United States Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. There the Court held that the time period of 180 days within which to bring suit was to be calculated from the first affected paycheck, even if the plaintiff had not yet discovered the discrimination. The bill would begin this statute of limitations period from the receipt of the most recent affected paycheck.

Same-sex unions

While campaigning for election as Governor of Alaska in 2006, Palin declared that she supported the 1998 Alaska constitutional amendment that proposed adding "...a marriage may exist only between one man and one woman" to the Alaskan constitution.

Palin opposed state covered health and retiree benefits to same-sex partners of state employees, but complied with an Alaska Supreme Court directive to do so, subsequently vetoing a bill that would have denied the benefits. She later signed a bill ordering a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny the benefits. Although the referendum passed in April 2007 with 53% of voters supporting a constitutional amendment, a bill to place such an amendment on the ballot in November 2008 stalled in the state legislature.

Judicial appointments

While interviewing candidates to fill judge vacancies in Alaska state courts, Palin has asked prospective appointees questions about work history, background and basic judicial philosophy. She has not asked about positions on abortion or any other specific cases.

Capital punishment

Palin has declared herself in favor of capital punishment. She has stated: "If the legislature passed a death penalty law, I would sign it. We have a right to know that someone who rapes and murders a child or kills an innocent person in a drive-by shooting will never be able to do that again."

Gun rights

Palin is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment and supports gun-safety education for children. She is a life-long hunter and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.

Jury rights

On August 31, 2007, Palin signed a Jury Rights Day Proclamation, commemorating September 5, 2007, as the 337th anniversary of the acquittal, in defiance of the legal direction of the bench, of William Penn and William Mead for preaching a Quaker sermon.

Illegal Drugs

Palin is opposed to efforts to decriminalize marijuana, which she says sends the wrong message to children. Palin has said she is more concerned about methamphetamine than marijuana, which she sees as a greater social threat.

Freedom of expression

See also: Mayoralty of Sarah Palin § Library matters

According to Laura Chase, Palin's first mayoral campaign manager, while serving on the city council in 1995 Palin complained about the inclusion of the book Daddy's Roommate in the Wasilla library; Chase explained that the book aimed at helping children understand homosexuality and told the New York Times that she found it "disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it." According to the City of Wasilla Library records, there was never a request for the library to remove the book.

During a debate for governor in 2006, Palin expressed misgivings about religious officials endorsing political candidates, but said she "would never support any government effort to stifle our freedom of religion or freedom of expression or freedom of speech." She has come under fire for inquiring about censoring books from the library in Wasilla shortly after she was elected mayor.

Economic issues

Palin describes herself as a fiscal conservative. At the Republican National Convention, Palin stated "I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary... I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress."

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile (18 km) gravel road outside Juneau to a mine and sold the state's Westwind II jet, which had been purchased by the Murkowski administration against the wishes of the Legislature. While governor, she slashed the state budget by $231 million for FY2008. The vetoes – which covered 36 spreadsheet pages – drew praise from those who believed the budget originally reflected too much spending, but anger from those who thought Palin went too far. The $231 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects including an expansion of the Port of Anchorage and the Fire Island wind energy project.

In September 2008, responding to a CBS interviewer's suggestion that the American taxpayers’ $700-billion bailout for failed Wall Street firms might be better funneled through middle-class families, she said: "That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in . . . where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Um, helping, oh -- it's got to be all about job creation too. Shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions, and tax relief for Americans, and trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, um, scary thing, but 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We've got to look at that as more opportunity. All of those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that."

Earmarks

Alaska's Federal congressional representatives cut back on pork-barrel project requests during Palin's time as governor. Alaska is still the largest per-capita recipient of federal earmarks, requesting nearly $750 million in special federal spending and obtaining $295 per citizen from the federal government.

While Mayor of Wasilla, the town paid a lobbying firm $24,000 to $36,000 per year to help secure federal earmarks for the town. She also personally went to Washington to ask for more earmarks from the state's congressional delegation. According to a review by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group, Wasilla (a town of 6,700 residents) benefited from $26.9 million in earmarks in Palin's final four years in office.

In 2008 budget year Palin sought $256 Million in Earmarks. Alaska State revenues doubled to $10 Billion in 2008, there is no sales tax or income tax, and for the 2009 budget Palin gave a list of 31 proposed earmarks, totaling $197 million, to Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. By comparison, Alaska governor Frank Murkowski had requested $550 million in earmarks for the 2005 budget year, so Palin's request for 2008 was a substantial reduction.

Bridge to Nowhere

In Palin's 2006 gubernatorial campaign, she supported the building of the Gravina Island Bridge, which critics had dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" because it would connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island, which had only 50 people.

In 2005, the $442-million earmark to build the Gravina Island Bridge and the Knik Arm Bridge was included in an early version of an omnibus spending bill for 2006, but the earmark generated strong criticism and was stripped from the bill before final passage in November 2005; Congress instead gave the transportation money to Alaska with no strings attached. In 2006, Palin ran for governor on a "build-the-bridge" plank in her platform. She argued that it was essential for local prosperity, saying in August 2006: “We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative.”

In October 2006, when asked, "Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?", she answered: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now - while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

After Palin became governor, however, Congress did not renew the bridge earmark that had been stripped from the 2005 spending bill. In September 2007, Palin stated:

Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened.

While declining to provide state funding for the bridge, Palin kept the full federal grant for the state "because the money would otherwise have to be returned to the federal government." Mike Elerding, Palin's campaign coordinator in Ketchikan, says, "She said 'thanks but no thanks,' but they kept the money." According to Palin’s communications director Bill McAlister, the bridge "isn’t necessarily dead"; it may still be built with "a less costly design."

In her nomination acceptance speech, Palin said: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere." McCain/Palin television advertisements also claim Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." These claims were criticized as misleading by the Obama campaign and numerous media outlets, including the Associated Press and the New York Times. The Washington Post reported that "critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called [Palin's claim] a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth." In an article entitled, "Some of Palin's remarks stretch the truth", the Anchorage Daily News confirmed: "THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation, although she has cut, by more than half, the amount the state sought from Washington this year. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

Knik Arm Bridge

Palin supports, with some reservations, the Knik Arm Bridge. $42 million has been spent on the planning process. Palin asked for a review of the bridge's financing plans and expressed concerns about the financial risks for the state. Some Alaskan Democrats state that the bridge is an expensive project, doesn't help commuters, doesn't help create jobs. John McCain derided the project, calling it a "monstrosity" that was "terrifying in its fiscal consequences."

Housing issues

On September 6, 2008 Palin stated that the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help." Critics pointed to it as an example of Palin's lack of knowledge in the area, noting that the mortgage entities operated until September 7, 2008 as quasi-private companies. Supporters scoffed at the claim that her statement was a gaffe, arguing that neither of the companies are completely private, and that the companies are being bailed out with hundreds of millions of tax dollars.

Healthcare

Palin supports free-market competition in health care, and laws allowing patients better access to medical pricing information. In 2008, Palin said she was considering incentives for employers to provide health insurance. She added that changes must also include citizens "choosing to take more personal responsibility" to be healthier.

Taxes

In a September 18, 2008 speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Palin said, "Our opponents, they have some strange ideas about raising taxes. To them, raising taxes – and Joe Biden said it again today – raising taxes is about patriotism. To the rest of America, that's not patriotism. Raising taxes is about killing jobs and hurting small businesses and making things worse. This isn't about anyone's patriotism – it's about Barack Obama's poor judgement."

As mayor, using income generated by a 2% sales tax that was enacted prior to her election, Palin cut property taxes by 75% and eliminated personal property and business inventory taxes. Palin also supported a voter-approved city sales tax increase of 0.5% to pay for a new sports complex. As governor, Palin helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits, although she opposes the Windfall Profits Tax proposed by Senator Barack Obama.

Energy and environment

Oil and gas development

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Map: Click on the image in the top right corner of this section, to see an area marked 1002, the proposed drilling area.

As Governor, Palin has strongly promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, and advocates exposing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, controverting McCain's position.

Crude oil drilling

In an interview with Time in 2008, Palin argued that energy independence through ANWR drilling was essential to reducing American dependence on hostile foreign regimes. "We need to drill, drill, drill," she told the Wall Street Journal; she argues that "ANWR is only the size of the Los Angeles airport, and drilling there isn't environmentally destructive." The Guardian adds, "She tried to sue the US government to derail the listing of polar bears as a threatened species, fearing that it would get in the way of oil and gas development - this as the ice melts under their paws and they are literally drowning."

According to University of Alaska Professor Rick Steiner, Palin has not pushed Exxon to pay the government for the unanticipated environmental injuries from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: "Shortly before Palin took office in 2006, the governments presented Exxon with a demand to pay $92 million for this additional environmental damage, but her administration has since not pressed the issue nor taken Exxon to court to collect the money. Meanwhile, Exxon reaps record profits from Alaska."

Natural gas pipeline

In June 2008, Palin stated that she would work to create jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets. In her acceptance speech at the GOP in Sept, 2008 Palin stated: "I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history," "And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence." TransCanada projects the pipeline to be operational by late 2018, barring unforeseen obstacles.

In an article entitled, "Some of Palin's remarks stretch the truth", the Anchorage Daily News counters: "THE FACTS: Palin implies that construction has begun on a major natural gas pipeline from the top of Alaska into Canada. That is not correct. In fact, no building has begun and actual construction is years away, if it ever happens...Palin also puts the price tag for the project at $40 billion, an exaggeration. This is roughly $10 billion more than most cost estimates industry players and consultants have made to date."

Global warming

"Palin is on the record saying "I'm not one...who would attribute it to being man-made," after saying that global warming would affect Alaska more than any other state. Salon notes that in her interview on ABC, she said, "Show me where I have ever said that there's absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any effect or no effect on climate change. I have not said that."

According to University of Alaska Professor Rick Steiner, "Although Alaska is ground zero in the crisis of global warming" Palin has ignored requests to establish an Alaska Office on Climate Change, an Alaska Climate Response Fund, and emissions reduction targets, although she has held meetings and appointed a "climate sub-cabinet" that Steiner says "has done little." On September 14, 2007, Sarah Palin signed an administrative order creating a Climate Change Sub-Cabinet charged with preparing a climate change strategy for Alaska.

Water

While governor, Palin opposed The Alaska Clean Water Act stating that "very stringent regulations and policies [were] already in place." The Clean Water Initiative was voted on as Ballot Measure 4 on August 26, 2008 and lost by a vote of about 57 percent against and 43 percent for the measure. The measure was designed to impose higher water quality standards on a large scale mining operation, known as the Pebble Mine, near the Bristol Bay, which were designed to prevent pollution from entering some of the world's most productive Sockeye salmon runs. The Pebble Mine is primarily a large open pit mine which will extract copper and gold ore, resulting in runoff from the mine finding its way into salmon streams and drinking water, copper dust in particular being poisonous, even in low quantities, to fish.

Palin voiced her opposition to Measure 4, which, according to the Alaska constitution, could be construed as being unconstitutional, since a governor is not by law allowed to advocate either for or against any ballot measure. "Let me take my governor's hat off for just a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop 4- I vote no on that", she said. "I have all the confidence in the world that (the Department of Environmental Conservation) and our (Department of Natural Resources) have great, very stringent regulations and policies in place. We're going to make sure that mines only operate safely, soundly."

The Pebble Mine is a finite resource which will employ 5,500 people a year and bring $200 million in tax revenue a year to the state. Salmon fishing, a naturally renewable resource each year, employs 12,000 people in the Bristol Bay region alone and contributes $250 million each year to the economy. Many fisherman, environmentalists, naturalists, native Alaskans, residents and nature lovers, among many others, both in Alaska and worldwide, fear that pollution from the mine will destroy the salmon runs as well as the sometimes rare and very diverse wildlife that thrives there.

Predator control

In 2007, Palin supported the Alaska Department of Fish and Game policy allowing Alaska the hunting of wolves from helicopters as part of a predator control program intended to increase moose and caribou populations, a practice which has been banned since 1972. The Program has come under criticism and legal actions from wildlife activists stating the purpose of the program is to increase the numbers of prey species to unsustainable levels for sport hunters, residents and non residents of Alaska. It ignores that at high levels, prey populations can overbrowse and destroy their habitat.

In August, 2007, both lawmakers and Governor Palin approved appropriating $400,000 from the state treasury to explain the aerial hunting program to Alaskans. Since Alaskans were voting on an initiative against the practice the following year, many felt the funds were an attempt to influence the vote against the initiatve. Alaskans had voted already against the aerial hunting of predators in 1996 and 2000; both times the state legislature overturned the results. The measure had been allowed to expire after two years each time; hence the controversial vote. The program also allowed the fly-and-shoot, liberalized hunting of black bears with no bag limits in the same areas, in addition to the area from Anchorage across Cook Inlet, where for the first time allowing the hunting of sows with cubs, not just males, with a goal of up to kill rate of 60 percent of the black bear population around Anchorage.

In March 2007, Palin's office announced that to offset fuel costs, a bounty of $150 per wolf would be paid to the 180 volunteer pilots and gunners, drawing protest among wildlife activitists. In March 2007, they took the state to court, where the bounty was ruled illegal. The program prompted California State Representative George Miller to introduce a federal bill (H.R. 3663) that would protect wolves, bears, and other wildlife from airborne hunting.

In May 2007 Palin introduced Bill 256 to streamline the Predator Programand make it more difficult for conservation groups to sue the State. Critics of the Bill claimed it removed scientific standards and claimed the programs are expensive and not effective.

In March 2008 a federal judge limited the aerial gunning program against wolves by banning the practice in four areas comprising up to 15,000 of about 60,000 square miles covered by the program. The Judge said the board had extended into these areas for predator control without making any new findings on the wolves, caribou and bears in those areas. On August 26, 2008, Alaskans voted against ending the state's predator control program.

Endangered species

Polar bears

In December 2007, Palin wrote an opinion column in which she described her opposition to the listing of polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In it she also stated that the polar bear population is more numerous now than forty years ago and "there is insufficient evidence of polar bears becoming extinct in the foreseeable future". After Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior listed the bear as threatened on May 14, 2008, Palin (representing the state of Alaska) sued the federal government, claiming that the listing would adversely affect energy development in the bears' habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts, while again questioning the scientific basis for the listing.

Palin claimed that scientists found no ill effects of global warming on the polar bear, a claim disputed by a range of Alaskan state biologists and environmental groups. When Alaska University professor Rick Steiner invoked a federal records request in order to obtain open information on the state scientists' findings, he was informed his request would cost $466,784 to process; when at length he received the e-mails, he discovered that contrary to what Palin had suggested, the scientists had actually been at odds with the administration's denial that Alaskan polar bears are in danger.

On August 28, 2008, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the American Iron and Steel Institute joined Alaska's suit against the federal government, objecting to a special rule the government issued along with the bears' listing. Meant to keep the bear's status from resulting in greenhouse gas limits, the rule creates a situation known as the 'Alaska Gap', where all states except Alaska are exempt from having their projects' emissions reviewed. The condition is seen by the plaintiffs as unfair to Alaskan industry and opening a backdoor for greenhouse gas limitation elsewhere. The lawsuit was filed as 'American Petroleum et al v. Kempthorne et al'.

Beluga whales

Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles (290 km) from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska.

Palin has opposed, on economic grounds, the designation of the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species. Palin cited state scientists who claimed that hunting was the only factor causing the whales' decline and that the hunting has been effectively controlled through cooperative agreements with Alaska Native organizations. Recent research states that hunting controls have halted the decline of beluga whales in Cook's Inlet but that the population remains severely depleted and at high risk of extinction. As governor, Palin allowed Chevron to increase the quantity of industrial waste it allows to flow into Cook Inlet waters. Federal scientists do not attribute the decline in the Cook Inlet beluga population to human pollution.

Foreign policy

Foreign policy experience

In a CBS interview aired in September 2008 Palin was asked what she meant when she cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of her foreign policy experience. She explained that "Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada." Pressed to explain why that enhances her foreign-policy credentials she replied, "Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of."

Asked if she had ever been involved in any negotiations with the Russians, she said: "We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state."

Iraq

Palin supports the Bush Administration's policies in Iraq, but is concerned that "dependence on foreign energy" may be obstructing efforts to "have an exit plan in place".

Iran, Syria

In the CBS interview cited above, Palin criticized Barack Obama for saying he would meet with leaders of Syria and Iran without preconditions. Reminded by the interviewer that Henry Kissinger, whom Palin had recently met, supports direct diplomacy with both countries, Palin responded: “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’” Five days earlier Kissinger had made a televised statement of his position regarding Iran: "I am in favor of negotiating with Iran...[and] I do not believe that we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations."

Israel

In a meeting on September 2, 2008, with leaders of the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC, Palin stated that she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between U.S. and Israel." Following the meeting, an AIPAC spokesman stated that Palin had "expressed her deep, personal, and lifelong commitment to the safety and well-being of Israel." Palin also stated, in reference to a possible nuclear threat from Iran, that: "Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel."

According to the Washington Times, Palin's faith has made her a "favorite with the staunchly pro-Israel neoconservative elements in the Republican Party." Palin displays an Israeli flag in her governor's office in Juneau. Palin has received a strong endorsement from the Republican Jewish Coalition, and has also been described as being "totally out of step with Jewish public opinion" by the National Jewish Democratic Council.

In her interview with Gibson, Palin stated that she would not "second-guess" Israeli military action against Iran.

In an interview with CNN in late September 2008, Palin stated that "We shouldn’t second-guess Israel's security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust. They are our closest ally in the Middle East and they need us we need them and we shouldn't second-guess them." Palin said the United States would naturally consult with Israel on such matters, but added that it was Israel's right "to fight against a regime like Iran who would seek to wipe them off the earth" and that "It is obvious to me who are the good guys and who are the bad guys."

NATO

Palin believes that the former Soviet Union states of Georgia and Ukraine should be admitted into NATO, and that if Russia invaded a NATO signatory country, the United States should be prepared to go to war in that country's defense. Going to war in defense of NATO allies who are invaded is current US policy.

See also

• Governorship of Sarah Palin
• Mayoralty of Sarah Palin
• Political positions of John McCain
• Political positions of Barack Obama
• Political positions of Joe Biden

External links

• On the Issues - Sarah Palin's issue positions and quotes
• Sarah Palin news portal at Anchorage Daily News
• Sarah Palin smears debunked