A Handy Guide to Governor Palin's Accomplishments

Due in part to the ineptness of the McCain campaign in 2008 and the mischaracterization and flat out lies from the media over the 20 months, Governor Palin's gubernatorial accomplishments are largely either misunderstood or unknown. However, Governor Palin accomplished quite a lot in her 2 and a half years as governor of Alaska. As supporters of the Governor, I thought it might be a good idea to have a handy resource of Palin's gubernatorial accomplishments. This may allow us to correct the record for our friends and family who may still think that the Governor personally shot wolves from a helicopter or cut funding for special needs children. Additionally, while none of us know the Governor's political future, many of us hope that she runs for President. I feel that having something tangible that we can hand out to individuals at GOP events, Tea Parties, other political gatherings, or wherever else to let others know about the Governor's accomplishments will open the eyes of many who are skeptical or uninformed Even many conservatives and Republicans still do not have a firm grasp of what Governor Palin did while in office.

With the wonderful assistance of some of the contributors at The Palination, Conservatives4Palin, The Design Conservative and US4Palin along with other knowledgeable Palin supporters, I have put together a two page (or, ideally, one page double sided) PDF summary of Governor Palin's accomplishments while she was in office. These accomplishments range from energy issues to 10th amendment issues to budgeting and national security. Please go here to download and print or e-mail the document, and please share it as you have opportunity. Should the Governor be a candidate in any future elections, her accomplishments will speak volumes regarding her political abilities and policy chops.

Obviously, one issue that may be raised if the Governor's accomplishments are mentioned is the fact that the Governor resigned halfway through her third year in office. This is a valid criticism. I do think that the Governor has sufficiently justified her decision to step down. Upon announcing her resignation, she said:

Every one - all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We've won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to "opposition research" - that's money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers - or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the "politics of personal destruction" ... Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn't cost them a dime so they're not going to stop draining public resources - spending other peoples' money in their game.

It's pretty insane - my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more "politics as usual," but THIS isn't what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.

....

My choice is to take a stand and effect change - not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities - and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

In the 10 months that have passed, she has not changed her tune. She resigned because she recognized the cost that the frivolous ethics complaints were having on her state, and she saw how much of her staff's time and her own time were forced to deal with those issues. She recognized how much money these unsubstantiated complaints cost her family. She was able to effectively fulfill her role as Governor, so she passed the reins onto someone who didn't have to be concerned that if he sneezed in the Lower 48, an ethics complaint would be thrown at him.

Additionally, she promised that she would "effect positive change outside of Government", and she had most definitely done that. Through her large and loud social media megaphone, the Governor has written many Facebook posts that have changed the course of debate and have effectively criticized the Obama administration's policies. She has been a champion of the Tea Party movement and the Pro-Life movement and has been a superstar on the stump in the early stages of the 2010 primaries.

The Governor has chosen, at least for the time being, to "effect change outside of Government". However, there have been numerous politicians who have resigned to effect change inside of government. Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Napolitano both resigned their Governors' offices to be part of President Obama's cabinet. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman resigned his gubernatorial position to be an ambassador to China. Secretary Clinton resigned from the Senate to be Secretary of State, and, of course, both our President and Vice President resigned from the Senate to take their positions. Would anybody say that these individuals "quit" on their constituents? I would say likely not. Governor Palin is the same. She has been able to speak more boldly for both Alaska and all Americans for the conservative principles this country was founded on now that she is outside of office and without the concern of a possible ethics violation been thrown at her.

So, I encourage you to please print off the document linked in this post and share it with anyone you feel needs to know more about what Governor Palin has achieved.

Again, a big thanks to all who helped me put this document together!

Crossposted here.