Spin Cycle

Politicians always create images that are half-true. Or less. As has been pointed out frequently, Obama's record as a change agent falls far short of his rhetoric. In the end, most of them are egomaniacs desperate to seem bigger than they really are.

So, some slippage in Palin's claim to be a big reformer and warrior against wasteful spending is to be expected -- and has already started. Yesterday, she said she killed the notorious Bridge to Nowhere -- something that a national audience has actually heard of. But the New Republic blog found this exchange in a Q and A in the Anchorage Daily News in 2006, while she was running for governor:

"5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

"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."

The blog also notes that when Palin later killed the project, she didn't condemn it -- she lamented that it had become impractical because of "inaccurate portrayals." And this year, her office submitted 31 earmark requests to Washington -- her counsel even wrote a column for the Juneau paper assuring everyone that Palin was not abandoning pursuit of earmarks!!

Also, don't miss the NYTimes profile: She supports a big-deal TransCanada pipeline project after hiring a former TransCanada lobbyist as her pipeline advisor. And, as mayor of tiny Wasilla:

"Although she would later criticize Congressional earmarks like Alaska’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” proposed for the town of Ketchikan at a cost of about $400 million, as mayor she began the practice of making annual trips to Washington to press for them on behalf of their town."

Does that sound like someone who's really going to shake up business as usual in Washington?