SARAH PALIN IS FORGETFUL

Alaskan governor Sarah Palin expresses support for the Gravina Island Bridge in 2006. She later withdrew her support.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to call Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin a liar. But I will call her really really really forgetful. At least when it comes to this “Bridge to Nowhere” fiasco.

In short (if you’re too lazy too click on the link to the Wikipedia article above to get the whole picture), two Alaskan congressmen (one being Republican Senator Ted Stevens) sought federal funding for a bridge to be built from Ketchikan, Alaska to the city’s airport. They got $398 million. Really. The bridge became a symbol for pork barrel spending and opponents of the bridge gave it the “Bridge to Nowhere” moniker.

Well, Palin, running for governor of Alaska in 2006, said she supported the construction of the Gravina Island bridge (that was supposed to be its name) in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News. The Ketchikan Daily News noted her support on October 21, 2006. And, of course, there is this picture from her campaign for governor.

Later, as the outcry increased from everybody in the 49 other states that weren’t getting an exorbitant amount of money to be spent on trivial projects that should be funded by the state, Palin withdrew her support. Which was the right thing to do. Because $398 million is a lot of money.

Appropriately, Palin has admitted that she was wrong about the whole “Bridge to Nowhere” situation since she has joined the McCain campaign.

Except for the fact that she hasn’t.

No, instead, she said today in my home state of Ohio, “I told Congress thanks but no thanks for that Bridge to Nowhere.”

I even have video of it:

I get the whole “thanks” part, but not the whole “no thanks” part is holding me up. Because I thought I just read several articles that showed her expressing support for the bridge. Hmm.

But I must be on to something because some other people at major newspapers and websites picked up on it too. Like Tom Kizzia of the ADN. There were a few others too. Like, the Chicago Tribune, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, the AP, the USA Today, TIME, the Wasington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and even the Wall Street Journal. And you know things are bad when you’re a Republican and the WSJ goes against you. (Almost all of these links were found in a release from the Obama campaign that can be found here.)

Well, at least the McCain campaign isn’t making a big deal about her role in this situation. Not like they would bring it up in a campaign ad or anything. Probably best to let the issue slide under the table, right?

Oops, I lied again. Sorry. It’s just too much fun:

Oh my. At least the Obama campaign has responded:

“I got to admit these folks are shameless,” Obama said to cheers from the audience.

“Now she’s out there acting like she was fighting this thing the whole time!” Obama laughed. “I mean I’m not perfect,” he continued, “but you know what I’m not going to do is, I’m not going describe in an ad that I did something that’s the opposite of what I did!”

So, the woman has lied about this situation and is currently dealing with Troopergate is the face of the Republican Party? AND she has a controversial pastor? This has to be a slam-dunk for the Democrats, right? Not exactly. Just Palin’s name got McCain $4 million at a fundraiser in Chicago. In Obama’s home state, nonetheless. And multiple polls now have McCain leading Obama among voters with Palin receiving credit for raking in the white woman vote. And then there’s this which should offend Chuck Norris. Because nobody messes with Chuck.

Seriously though, if the Democrats don’t push these issues to the forefront of the public, they will continue the slide that’s been happening since the Republican National Convention. And if the Democrats blow another election, I just might spontaneously self-destruct.