Palin Used State Politics to Settle Personal Scores

GOP candidate aims for more conciliatory role in national politics

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin hopes to become a less divisive figure in national politics, assuming she’s not headed to Washington with John McCain, the vice-presidential nominee said after voting today in Alaska, CNN reports. “If there is a role in national politics, it won’t be so much partisan,” Palin said. “It would certainly be a uniter type of role.” More»

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin vows to battle political boys' clubs, but her mayoral record shows that girls' clubs can be useful too, the AP reports. While mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin accepted gifts from merchants—even thanking one for an "awesome" facial—and argued for rulings that favored her family. Other examples abound: A waiver eased the sale of her house, and tax breaks helped a snow machine shop she co-owned with her husband. More»

Sarah Palin's threat of a libel suit goes a bit awry

(NEWSER) - Back in the day, public figures were cautioned not to pick fights with people who bought ink by the barrel—namely, newspaper publishers. In the age of the blogger, it's more important to guard against fueling your antagonists with the 21st-century version of ink: attention. Paging Sarah Palin: "The Wasilla whack-job was an obsessive reader of this blog," crows Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic . More»

Host has bashed sniping at Alaska governor by unnamed McCain sources

(NEWSER) - Fox News host Greta Van Susteren beat out a slew of prominent journalists for the first post-election interview with Sarah Palin, the Los Angeles Times reports. Van Susteren has defended the Alaska governor against a recent storm of criticism from unnamed McCain aides, and will allow the former candidate to respond to recent charges in chats taped Sunday and Monday for Monday broadcast. More»

VP nominee sketches a path to 2012

(NEWSER) - If Sarah Palin makes a run for the presidency in 4 years—a widely anticipated possibility—she'll need a more visible post than the governorship of Alaska, writes the Washington Post. Palin might well gun to polish her resume in the Senate, especially if a victorious Ted Stevens is forced out of office. Although Palin commands a deep allegiance from the conservative faithful, the former VP nominee will face stiff competition for the 2012 nod. More»