GOP Convention Spin, Part II

When she was running for governor, however, Palin expressed a different position. In 2006, the Ketchikan Daily News quoted her expressing optimism and support for the bridge at a Ketchikan campaign stop.

Palin, 2006: "People across the nation struggle with the idea of building a bridge because they've been under these misperceptions about the bridge and the purpose," said Palin, who described the link as the Ketchikan area's potential for expansion and growth. … Palin said Alaska's congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she "would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge."

Palin also answered "yes" to an Anchorage Daily News poll question about whether she would continue to support state funding for the Gravina Island bridge if elected governor. "The window is now," she wrote, "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." It was only after she won the governorship that Palin shifted her position. And even then, it's inaccurate to say that she "told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks.'" Palin accepted non-earmarked money from Congress that could have been used for the bridge if she so desired. That she opted to use it for other state transportation purposes doesn't qualify as standing up to Congress.

The bridge reversal is not the only matter throwing doubt on Palin's credentials as a government waste reformer. Watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense has reported that the small town of Wasilla, Alaska, which had not previously received significant federal funds, hauled in almost $27 million in earmarks while Palin was mayor. (McCain has explicitly criticized several of the Wasilla earmarks in recent years.) To help obtain these earmarks, Palin had hired Steven Silver, the former chief of staff for recently indicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, as Wasilla's lobbyist.

And Palin continued to solicit federal funds as governor. A request form on Stevens' Web site shows that she requested $160.5 million in earmarks for the state in 2008, and almost $198 million for 2009.

Tough Grader
Palin disparaged Obama's legislative record, both in Illinois and in Washington:

Palin: But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state Senate.

Of course, we can't say what Palin considers "major." But if Palin's own ethics reforms in Alaska were important enough to highlight in her convention address, then it's only fair to credit Obama's efforts on that topic. In 1998 in the Illinois Senate, Obama cosponsored an ethics overhaul that bars elected officials from using their campaign funds for personal use and and was called the the first major overhaul of Illinois campaign and ethics laws in 25 years. It also bans fundraisers in the state Capitol during legislative sessions. Obama's Republican cosponsor Kirk Dillard even appeared in an Obama ad last summer describing Obama's skills working with members of both parties to get legislation passed.

In Washington, Obama was instrumental in helping to craft the 2007 ethics reform law that ended gifts and meals from lobbyists, cut off subsidized jet travel for members of Congress, required lobbyists to disclose contributions they "bundle" to candidates, and put the brakes on other, similar common practices.

In addition, we already noted in a recent article Obama's efforts with Republican senators to help detect and secure weapons of mass destruction and to destroy conventional weapons stockpiles around the world, and to create a publicly searchable database on federal spending.

Overburdened?
One area where we note improvement is the way Palin attacked Obama's tax proposals—as a burden "on the American economy" rather than, as McCain has been falsely claiming, a direct tax increase on middle-income workers:

Palin: And let me be specific: The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, and raise payroll taxes, and raise investment income taxes, and raise the death tax, and raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. ... How are you—how are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy?