“We’ll do everything we can to support Norm as long as he has appellate remedies to pursue,” Cornyn said. “I’m not suggesting Norm has this plan in mind, because frankly I think he’s hopeful it turns out well at the state Supreme Court. But as a former state Supreme Court judge and as a recovering lawyer for 30 years now, I would tell that if he were to lose, what happens is that the secretary of state and the governor are required to sign a certificate of election. Just as a procedural matter, if — and this is a big if — Norm were to decide to appeal this matter to the United States Supreme Court under the Bush v. Gore (2000) precedent, which says that under the Equal Protection Clause uniform counting standards are a Constitutional matter, that they could appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The justice that’s responsible for that area — I think it’s Justice Alito — could issue a stay in the issuance of the election certificate, and it could be referred to the entire court.”

Cornyn wasn’t sure that this would happen. “I say all this as ‘could,’” he said, “not as ‘will or should.’ It depends on what the Minnesota Supreme Court does. But at the oral arguments, Franken’s lawyers did argue about the applicability of the Bush v. Gore standard. It makes no sense, and it doesn’t meet the Supreme Court’s constitutional precedent, to say that one local election official can decide by one standard which ballots should be counted and that some official somewhere else could decide by a different standard.”

Cornyn also argued that there was a larger issue at play than whether the Democrats got a 60th Senate seat. “I’m very proud of Norm Coleman for fighting the good fight to protect the right of Minnesota voters to make sure all legitimate votes are counted,” said Cornyn. “That is the real question here. I realize it’s manifested itself in terms of who actually wins this seat, but I think that should be the focus.”

–

You can follow TWI on Twitter and Facebook.

“Terry McAuliffe is slipperier than an eel in olive oil,” Nader said in an interview.

He said McAuliffe, who was the Democratic National Committee chairman at the time, had offered Nader’s campaign an unspecified amount of money, believed to be party funds, to spend in 31 states in exchange for an agreement to withdraw from 19 battleground states where he could potentially hurt Democrat John Kerry.

Perhaps more shockingly, McAuliffe’s not denying it. He’s not exactly admitting it, either — but he’s certainly not calling Nader a liar.

In fact, McAuliffe aides are even attempting to spin this in his favor, basically saying that any effort he made to thwart Nader and prevent the re-election of George W. Bush might actually play well with party loyalists.

In a statement to The Post, spokeswoman Liz Smith said McAuliffe “was concerned that Ralph Nader would cost John Kerry the election as he did Al Gore in 2000 and give us another four years of George W. Bush.” She then jabbed Nader, saying it appears he “misses seeing his name in the press.”

The problem is, Ralph Nader doesn’t need to find a new project to make him relevant these days — with corporate bailouts and credit card reform dominating the public psyche right now, a man who built his reputation on consumer advocacy should be as happy as a pig in mud. And he is busy critiquing everything from the government-led restructuring of General Motors to the handling of swine flu.

The Daily Beast points out that Nader was willing to take cash from wealthy Republicans trying to siphon votes from Democrats in that same election. He told The Post, however, that he turned down McAuliffe’s offer.

So why talk now, five years after the fact? The disclosure of the alleged bribe — which comes less than two weeks before Virginia’s June 9 Democratic gubernatorial primary — will apparently be played up in an upcoming book written by a former Nader campaign manager. Today’s news will likely drive up interest in that project, which is scheduled for release the week after the primary.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported yesterday that four of Minnesota’s top attorneys “have been retained by U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman; his wife, Laurie; Jim Hays, her insurance company employer; and Nasser Kazeminy, a multi-millionaire friend of the Colemans who is accused in the lawsuits of sending them money in 2007 through Hays’ company. Coleman’s Senate ethics form reports no such payment.”

The suits, which have caught the eyes of the FBI, are being brought by investors and a former head of Kazeminy’s Texas-based marine-services company. Though neither of the Coleman duo is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, they do “raise a question over whether Coleman received income that was not reported in his Senate ethics forms,” the Tribune reports. “Regardless of what the FBI does or doesn’t find in its investigation, the issue of unreported income is something the Senate Ethics Committee could choose to scrutinize. That panel has a policy of not confirming or denying its preliminary investigations.”

Sen. Coleman has denied any wrongdoing.

In the wake of Sen. Ted Stevens’ conviction yesterday on charges of failing to report corporate gifts, Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential hopeful, has a terse message for his colleague of 22 years: See ya!

From a McCain statement issued Tuesday:

It is clear that Sen. Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all.

There’s never been much love between Stevens, the unapologetic king of earmarks, and McCain, who’s made a career of condemning federally funded pet projects like those Stevens has been so prolific in securing.

Still, the conviction is hardly welcome news for McCain as he enters the final week of the campaign. Most Americans aren’t familiar with the personal clashes between McCain and Stevens, and might instead just associate the two Senate veterans based on their shared GOP affiliation — a brand already suffering from image problems after eight years of the Bush administration.

Steven Haycox, a cultural historian at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, said the conviction, aside from helping Stevens’ challenger Mark Begich, the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, will also help Ethan Berkowitz, the Democratic opponent of long-time Alaska Rep. Don Young (R), who faces a series of corruption charges of his own.

But, Haycox added, the guilty verdict is “not very likely” to help the Obama ticket in Alaska, where Gov. Sarah Palin remains a popular figure.

Stevens yesterday proclaimed his innocence and vowed to stay in the election fight. But McCain isn’t the only GOP voice questioning the Alaskan senator’s fitness to serve. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, issued a statement of his own yesterday, saying he was “disappointed to see [Stevens’] career end in disgrace.”

Sen. Stevens had his day in court and the jury found he violated the public’s trust — as a result he is properly being held accountable. This is a reminder that no one is above the law.

That seems to indicate that Stevens, even if he were to cling to his seat next week, would face a less than collegial reception on his return to Washington.

Sitting here with this group of journalists, print and television, I’m reminded of an interesting moment last night in Asheville, N.C.

Palin met a raucous crowd — I estimated around 10,000 people. She got her fans going with a number of points, including victory in Iraq, meeting the education needs of children with disabilities and, of course, calling out the media for its biased coverage.

At one point, when Palin brought up the press, the crowd on the floor of the arena turned toward us and let out some disapproving “boos” and the thumbs down sign. (No threats of violence, don’t worry Mom!)

After the rally, a woman in her late 40s or early 50s approached me and asked if the press has a suggestion box. I was puzzled at first, and explained that we each work for a different outlet — so there isn’t a general place to contact all of us. She repeated again that she wants to know why there is no suggestion box, a bit more irritated with me this time.

I paused, trying to think how I could help this woman out. It sounded like she wanted to voice a grievance or request some kind of investigation.

I suggested writing a letter to the editor, or emailing any of us. I said she can contact any of us directly or our editors, in fact.

She became more visibly annoyed at my response and said, “So there is no suggestion box, then” and rolled her eyes and walked away.

What struck me about this was the way she asked if we are the McCain press. She seemed to see us as a monolithic unit, rather than individuals looking for our own angles and stories to report.

I was sorry that she walked away so angry; that she believed there was no way to reach us.

In that spirit, let me leave you with a virtual suggestion box. Comments, questions, suggestions are all welcome. Email me anytime at lmcgann@washingtonindependent.com.

Sen. John McCain (WDCpix)

A Straight Talk Express cleaning lady today sold several crumpled pages outlining Sen. John McCain’s script for tonight’s third and final presidential debate, which she had found stuck to a takeout pizza box on the floor, to an unnamed member of the media elite.

Anxious to do everything in his power to sabotage the Republican war hero’s campaign, the nattering nabob of negativity immediately turned over the documents to The Washington Independent.

Key excerpts:

- “Go after O. for having a bank account, linking him as crony of greedy Wall Street tycoons. Two-faced hypocrite should put all his $$$ in mattress like Cindy and me. In fact we have stuffed all 32 mattresses in our 10 homes with cash.”

- “Slip in — real casual — question: why hasn’t O. told truth about his 9/11 role? Was only six states away from one of the airplane hijackers in 2000 and did nothing.”"Complain to moderator that O. keeps looking at me during debates, giving “evil eye” notorious among certain tribes in Indonesia, where he grew up.”

- “Express outrage that O.’s tax plan fails to even mention relief for gypsies with 20 or more dependents earning less than $250,000 per year and filing from overseas.”

- “O. is not a maverick.”

- “Keep punching away at O.’s shady connection with fellow Chicagoan Al Capone. Only proof Capone is actually dead is one yellowing piece of paper — (don’t mention it’s his death certificate.)”

- “Repeat rumor that O. plays basketball like a girl.”

- “Challenge O. to prove wife Michelle wasn’t member of Manson Family.”

- “Announce discovery of dinosaur bones in basement of Toledo, Ohio, department store, proving earth is less than 100 years old. (Check with Sarah P’s team first.)”

- “Challenge O. to name all nine starting players on the 1945 Chicago Cubs World Series losers. Only pretends to be a sports fan to curry voter favor.”

- “Announce that veep nominee Sarah P. will be shot into space on a rocket as an accelerated way of getting to know the world and will see countries stay-at-home O. has never even bothered to visit.”

- “Take my pills right before debate starts.”

Bruce McCall, a humorist, is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. He is the author of “All Meat Looks Like South America: The World of Bruce McCall” and “Zany Afternoons.”

Gov. Sarah Palin (Zuma Press)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – As one of the most successful newcomers in Alaska’s political arena, Gov. Sarah Palin should have known better than to get into an ethics scandal right now.

The mood of the public in Alaska has been changing, gradually, but noticeably in the last few years. Palin was one of the first to catch on to it — and exploit it to win an upset victory in the 2006 governor’s race.

Before then, an Alaska official who pursued a personal vendetta in office probably would not have drawn the ire of the state’s legislature. Voters in the state would have looked the other way too.

But Alaska seems to have gained a new political maturity.

Palin ran for governor on a reform platform that proved widely appealing. She knocked out the state’s sitting governor, Frank Murkowski, in the GOP primary and defeated a well-known former governor, Tony Knowles, in the general election. Knowles campaigned on “experience” — which effectively tied him to the corruption-tainted old guard, though it was the GOP that was embroiled in scandal. That year, voters elected four Democrats to replace Republicans in the state House and Senate.

The politics that Palin pledged to reform was typified by a clique of state lawmakers that embraced the nickname the “Corrupt Bastards Club” because of its cash-for-votes relationship with an oil services firm, Veco Corp. The group had baseball caps made, on Veco’s dime, with their “CBC” insignia embroidered on the back.

Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

The CBCers eventually landed in trouble with the law. The FBI raided 12 legislative offices in 2006, as part of a broad investigation into ties between state and federal lawmakers and Veco Corp., whose former chief executive, Bill Allen, and former vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges.

Since the raids, three state legislators have been convicted of bribery charges in connection with Veco. Allen and Smith are cooperating with prosecutors.

A testament to just how much the legislature has changed came this summer when news broke that Palin may have unethically fired her commissioner of public safety, Walt Monegan, over a long-standing family feud with her ex-brother-in-law.

The legislature acted swiftly. It hired Steve Branchflower, a well-respected former Alaska prosecutor with 28 years experience in the Anchorage district attorney’s office, to handle the investigation. A legislative committee voted unanimously Friday to release his 236-page report on “Troopergate,” as the scandal is known,  to the public.

Alaska, only 50 years old this year, is growing up politically.

TROOPERGATE

Branchflower’s report found that Palin violated a state ethics law by overseeing a coordinated effort to get her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, fired from his job as a state trooper. Palin ultimately fired Monegan after he wouldn’t oust Wooten, despite being pressured  by the governor’s husband, Todd, as well as multiple state officials, including the state attorney general. Todd Palin also pressured Monegan’s replacement on the same issue.

Branchflower exonerated the governor on her final decision to fire Monegan, though the investigator concluded that Monegan’s refusal to oust Wooten was likely a factor in his removal.

Before Troopergate, it had been more than 20 years since the legislature asserted itself so aggressively in an ethics matter.

“It was just over two years ago that the FBI raided the legislative offices in Anchorage and Juneau,” said state Sen. Hollis French, the Anchorage Democrat who headed the Troopergate investigation. “Since that time, the state’s been very alert to ethical lapses in government.”

The state legislature approved the hiring of Branchflower to investigate the matter in June, three months before Sen. John McCain tapped Palin for the GOP ticket. Branchflower spent much of his career evaluating cases submitted by police and state troopers for prosecution to determine if the D.A.’s office should take them up.

“Steve Branchflower’s report is a model of keen analysis and hard work,” French said. “He’s fair. He analyzed the facts, and I think he came to balanced conclusions.”

Even among lawmakers who have doubts about the report’s findings, none has questioned Branchflower’s integrity.

“The report was probably rushed to get done before the election,” said Rep. Bill Stoltze, who voted to appoint Branchflower and voted Friday to make the report public.

Stoltze said he didn’t like that Branchflower used inference to reach his conclusions, though he did not question its fairness. Stoltze said he wished there had been “more participation” — a reference to Palin’s decision not to testify, after she had first agreed to cooperate.

THE REFORM CANDIDATE

Palin has said the report is a vindication  of her conduct. “I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there,” Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in a phone interview from the campaign trail.

One of the report’s findings, however, is that Palin broke the law.

That Alaska governor’s ethics problems certainly don’t square with the reform candidate of 2006.

Palin had a strong sense of the changing attitudes toward corruption in Alaska and tapped those sentiments to move into the governor’s office. “Alaskans deserve transparency and accountability from their leaders,” said Palin on her 2006 campaign website. “It’s a philosophy I will promote as governor.”

About a month before voters went to the polls in 2006, news cameras captured FBI agents carrying boxes of material out of the 12 state lawmakers’ offices — including Senate President Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens. The younger Stevens has not been charged.

Buttressing her reputation as a reformer after the election, Palin stood up to her own state party chairman over accusations of a conflict-of-interest with oil companies. And she filed a bipartisan complaint that led to the resignation of the state’s GOP attorney general.

Things were even starting to change for the federal delegation.

ALASKA’S 50th

Sen. Ted Stevens (WDCpix)

This year, Alaska celebrates its 50th year of statehood, thanks to Sen. Ted Stevens, who helped usher the territory into statehood in 1958. Stevens, the longest-serving GOP senator, has been in the Senate since 1972.

T-shirts are on sale all over Anchorage right now featuring the image of a 1958 newspaper front page with the headline: “We’re In!”

By 2006, Stevens — known here as “the most famous Alaskan” — was starting to take heat nationally for his infamous earmarking. The non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Commonsense estimates that Alaskans see about $4,300 per person in federal dollars return to their state, compared to states with far larger populations like Texas or New York, where residents see about $95 per person.

Stevens, now on trial in federal court in Washington on charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from Veco Corp., without disclosing them on Senate ethics forms, is slipping in the polls in his reelection bid. The gifts include the construction of a new first floor in his Girdwood home, furnishings and a state-of-the-art Viking grill.

Stevens is locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Mark Begich, Anchorage’s mayor. The last poll showed Begich with a four-point edge. In 2002, Stevens won with 78 percent of the vote.

Many long-time Stevens supporters are starting to reconsider whether the state should keep the longtime GOP senator in office. “[Stevens] brought a lot of money to the state,” said Susanne Hutzel, a nurse who lives 20 minutes outside Anchorage. “But, we have to have a balance.”

Still, change doesn’t come all at once. Stevens garners nearly 50 percent of Alaskan voters Alaskans like Claude Morris, a retired oil field project manager and World War II veteran who lives on the same street in Girdwood as Stevens. Morris credits the senator with bringing Alaska into the modern era, not to mention the town of Girdwood, a small ski-resort town about an hour and a half drive south of Anchorage.

“Ted Stevens has got my vote no matter what,” Morris said in a recent conversation in the Double Musky Inn’s bar, Stevens’ favorite hometown restaurant. “For what he has done for Alaska for the last 40-some years.”

The state’s only congressman, Rep. Don Young, a feisty character who has never achieved the same popularity as Stevens, is facing a far tougher electoral battle. He’s down about nine percentage points in the polls.

Young’s popularity has been sliding since last year, when a series of corruption scandals came to light. Young has been accused of taking money from Florida developers in exchange for a $10-million earmark. The Senate has since asked the FBI to look into the earmark, added to a bill after it passed Congress.

News also broke last year that Young is under federal investigation for his connections with Veco. Federal agents are looking into an annual pig-roast fund-raiser held at Veco chief executive Allen’s home. Last year, Young was booed and oinked as he arrived at the event.

“Don’s problem in that race is that in six polls in a row he’s had a negative rating above 50 percent, and he’s got to push that down into the mid-40s, or below, to have a chance,” Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore told Alaska’s NBC affiliate, KTUU, when the last Young poll was released. “You know, you just can’t win when more than half the people don’t like you.”

PALIN’S FUTURE

If Palin returns to Alaska as a state politician, it’s unclear if she will be regarded by voters as another of their pols who doesn’t deserve their trust.

Little is likely to happen before the regular legislative session begins Jan. 20, according to House GOP spokesman Will Vandergriff.  For there to be a special session, a supermajority of lawmakers — 45 members out of 60 — must approve. Palin could also call a special session — though that is considered unlikely.

If the legislature went into special session, Palin could face impeachment.

Sen. Kim Elton (D-Juneau), who served as chairman of the Legislative Council that oversaw the Troopergate investigation, said in an interview with TWI shortly after the report was released Friday that he is not prepared to start considering taking action against Palin. The violation of the state ethics law outlined in Branchflower’s report caries up to a $5,000 civil penalty.

“This is like truth and consequences, Elton said, standing in a hallway of the Anchorage legislative office building where the report was released. “Today, I will say we got the truth. The facts are now public. I’m not prepared to go to consequences.”

Once the legislature is back in session, it will have to decide whether to act on Branchflower’s report.

Does all this signify a turning point for public corruption in Alaska?

“I think we will try to grow up,” said former Anchorage Daily News editorial page editor Michael Carey. “Or we will be caught in the Palin lie machine.”

I just spoke with an Anchorage lawyer who has known Branchflower for about 20 years. The lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described Branchflower as “one of the most disciplined people I’ve ever encountered.”

Branchflower served as an assistant district attorney in Alaska for many years. He spent much of his career evaluating cases submitted by police and state troopers, determining whether the D.A.’s office would take them up. In that role, he made deals left and right, while staying focused on the case at hand, the Anchorage lawyer told me.

Over his long career, Branchflower also tried cases — including some high-profile murders.

Alaska trial observers say he is famous for winning the “quickest jury verdict ever.” Lore has it that the jury came back with a decision while the court exhibits were still being bundled.

Branchflower, who took the testimony of seven aides to Gov. Sarah Palin this week, after they initially resisted his attempts to interview them, still had his final report in on time today. No surprise there.

Branchflower prizes efficiency, according to the Anchorage lawyer:

He is the kind of guy who travels to Germany and cites his visit to either the Mercedes-Benz or BMW factory as the highlight (he drove one or the other) because the factory was so efficient.

It sounds like there is not a wasted word in his 236-page report.

Gov. Sarah Palin in Columbus, Ohio (Associated Press)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — When Sarah Palin ran for Alaska governor in 2006 her opponents underestimated her.

They attacked Palin’s small-town persona. Former Gov. Frank Murkowski called her an “untested” rural mayor and Andrew Halcro claimed Palin’s folksy debate style amounted to “gibberish.”

They missed the point.

Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

What they saw as a parochial streak was actually a key to Palin’s coveted political skill: an ability to connect with voters in a meaningful way, regardless of substance. In 2006, Palin offered few details on how she would run the state. Instead, she presented herself as a change candidate and won over voters with her disarming personality. Alaskans embraced her as an honest politician at a time when the state was ripe with corruption.

Throughout her political career, Palin has proven that she can reach voters without touching on specifics of policy. Even instances where she had no understanding of the issue at hand, she won over crowds. Her personality comes across on stage, on TV and one-on-one. Voters in the state describe her as authentic and say she relates to them. In a series of interviews over the last month, many Alaskans say Palin captivated voters in a way no other politician ever had.

This almost Reaganesque appeal factored into Sen. John McCain’s decision to tap Palin as his vice presidential running-mate. He needed her to reach the partyu’s conservative base and energize those who might otherwise have stayed home. When Palin was introduced to the national audience at the Republican convention, she was an overnight sensation. Tonight, during her match up with Sen. Joseph Biden at the vice presidential debate in St. Louis, Palin has a shot at buoying the GOP ticket again.

Since a series of clips revealed Palin floundering during an extended interview with CBS’ Katie Couric in the last week, Republican strategists and observers are saying Palin needs to be allowed to have more room so voters hear her voice. Some of Palin’s worst moments with Couric seemed to be when she tried to recall talking points. If voters get to know the Alaska governor, some seasoned political hands say, she has a shot at success.

In her hometown of Wasilla, Palin won the office of mayor on a platform of change in 1996. In that race, Palin carried the support of fellow evangelical Christians by injecting religion and social issues, mainly abortion, into the campaign, similar to her current roll in the presidential campaign. But in 2006, Palin aggressively retooled her run for governor, rarely speaking about her anti-abortion views. She proved that her personality can win over the middle-of-the-road voter, not just those who share her ideology on social issues — a testament to her political skill.

Part of Palin’s appeal in Alaska was her sincere-sounding approach with voters when much of the old guard was looking untrustworthy. She developed this reputation as the press covered her favorably in the years leading up to her run for governor.

Gov. Murkowski had appointed Palin to chair a state energy commission in 2002, after she lost a bid for lieutenant governor. A year into her term, Palin discovered that a commission member, state GOP chair Randy Ruedrich, had been working on campaign fund-raising while on the clock. Ruedrich resigned after Palin took her complaints up the ladder. Dissatisfied with how her complaints were handled, Palin also resigned, walking away from a $125,000 a year job.

Palin went on to co-sponsor an ethics complaint with a Democratic state legislator, Eric Croft, against the state attorney general, Gregg Renkes, who had seemingly known about Ruedrich’s behavior but did nothing. Renkes eventually stepped down as attorney general.

The scandals made statewide news. Palin was painted as a hero — and Alaskans took notice.

“I recognized that this was somebody, that if she decided to run for office, I’d help her,” said Anita Halterman, of Eagle River, Alaska. “ I would back her and do whatever I needed to do.”

When Palin launched her gubernatorial campaign in 2005, Halterman, now a civil servant at the Alaska Dept. of Health and Human Services, began volunteering full-time.

“I never embraced a politician or gave a campaign contribution until I met [Palin],” Halterman said. “I dug deep for her, emotionally and financially. I rolled up my sleeves and I wanted to see some change — and I did.”

Halterman was drawn to Palin’s persona, though it took Palin longer to reach the broader electorate.

Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore noted that in a poll taken about a month before the July 2006 primary, Palin was down a few points when matched against the Democratic front-runner, Tony Knowles. Her victory came at the last-minute.

“People got to know her,” Moore said. “It’s that populist appeal that some people can create in a very natural, unforced way.”

Moore noted that on the national stage, Alaskans seem to be watching a different Palin. While she was largely in charge of her own presentation style in her home state, she appears over-coached and less herself on national TV.

“If she was given the freedom to react in the ways that were more natural to her,” Moore said, “none of the mistakes that have happened at this point would have happened to this degree. think she would have been great, but I don’t think she had the latitude and the freedom to do that.”

Recently, observers of the national campaign have called it a mistake on McCain’s part to keep her away from the media. The campaign has now said Palin will start making more appearances, particularly on talk radio.

“They’d be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin,” said Mitt Romney to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “Look, she wasn’t selected by John McCain because she’s an expert in foreign policy. John McCain’s the expert in foreign policy … She’s a person who identifies with people with homes across America.”

During the race for governor, The Anchorage Daily News covered an event where Palin’s ability to relate trumped her inability to get into the details. In addressing an association of chiropractors, Palin “had little specific to offer on the group’s complicated legal and Medicaid questions.” But she won the crowd over when she brought up how her husband Todd Palin competed in intense, 2,000 mile snowmachine races, that, without the help of his chiropractor, would have left him unable to stand. In response, the Sheraton Hotel ballroom “erupted in applause.”

During the race for governor, Palin participated in about two-dozen debates. A review of a handful of them by The New York Times found a candidate who “held her own,” though she spoke in generalities and rarely delved into a deep argument. Palin often ended her answers abruptly, without using all her allotted time. Her train of thought had gaps, her sentences were often not complete. She tended to repeat the phrase “here in Alaska.”

Former aides said Palin was difficult to prep for the debates, particularly when it came to going over policy nuance. Still, she appeared calm and confident and came across as likable in many appearances, even taking jabs at her opponents with a charming smile as the campaign wore on.

Palin has been practicing for tonight’s debate at McCain’s home in Sedona, Ariz. If her prep work focused on memorizing answers that are not her own, she’s in trouble. Palin needs to be relaxed enough to answer in a way that lets people know who she actually is.

Palin’s real strength in Alaska was meeting with voters. She marched in parades, shook hands with locals after town hall events and debates and fielded phone calls from voters in her Anchorage campaign headquarters.

“When people sit in a room and talk to her, they’re energized,” Halterman said.

In the heat of the campaign, Palin got an additional boost when, two months before election day, federal agents raided the offices of a half-dozen state legislators in a broad investigation into the dealings between state lawmakers and the oil field servicing company, Veco Corp.

Palin stood in direct contrast to the shocking images of FBI agents carrying boxes of evidence out of the legislative offices. Though all of the lawmakers under investigation were Republicans, her Democratic opponent, Knowles, was running on a platform of experience. Even the sharpest criticism of Palin, that as a two-term mayor of the small town of Wasilla she was not qualified to serve as governor, actually worked to her advantage.

“Throughout her political career, Sarah Palin has benefited from establishing and exploiting contrasts,” Michael Carey, former editorial page editor of The Anchorage Daily News wrote in a recent column. “The contrast between Palin the women-of-integrity and dishonest Republican bosses. The contrast between the fresh new Palin and old clumsy incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski. The contrast between women-of-the-people Palin and screw-the-people oil companies. Even the contrast between young, vital Sarah Palin and aging, stiff John McCain — which perversely enough has helped McCain in the polls.”

Compared to her primary competitor, Murkowski, whom voters had largely soured on, Palin looked fresh and forthright. Murkowski was criticized for running an arrogant administration unwilling to speak with the press. He was also accused of dealing with oil companies behind closed doors, a serious political problem in a state with an extraction economy.

The oil industry accounts for one-third of Alaska’s economy and nearly 80 to 90 percent of the state’s revenue. Voters support oil companies paying their fair share, but are hesitant to over-tax a critical employer.

Palin retooled the image she created in Wasilla of a socially conservative, staunchly anti-abortion candidate to accommodate this statewide issue. In the rural town of Wasilla, Palin’s pro-life views played well with voters. Across the state, though, nearly 70 percent of voters live in urban areas where social views tend to be less extreme. Palin was able to present herself as a pro-energy candidate, which appealed to average Alaskans.

According to an archive of Palin’s now-defunct campaign website, energy was the only policy focus of Palin’s television and radio ads, besides ethics reform. Palin campaigned for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that would connect to the lower 48 states through Canada. She also ran a radio ad pushing for a “revenue sharing” program that would distribute state oil revenues to local municipalities.

In office, Palin kept both promises, pushing through a plan to spend $500 million in public money to subsidize the natural gas pipeline project. She also raised taxes on oil companies, allowing state spending to soar.

“Palin came along and she could represent herself as a reformer, a whistleblower and as someone who would go to the [oil] industry as much more an equal player and get a better deal,” said Stephen Haycox, a history professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. “And it turned out she was able to do that.”

At a time when the state was garnering national attention for its deep corruption, Palin represented the opposite of what had earned voters disgust in Alaska.

“She has rekindled hope that there’s something to be salvaged,” Halterman said. “I’ve seen it in our state.”

The question tonight is, will she let voters get to know her — in contrast to the national Palin who Alaskans don’t recognize.

This is from the McCain campaign statement announcing the resumption of campaign activities — or, at least, whatever activities actually stopped:

The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.

Yeah, no politics here.