OPINION: As governor, Sarah Palin wasn’t exactly conservative

Sarah Palin has come back onstage in Alaska, running for Congress with the promise to “combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda.” Conservatives who welcome her return might want to take a close look back at the many not-so-conservative things she did during her two-and-a-half years as Alaska’s governor.

Some highlights: Gov. Palin passed the largest tax increase in the state’s history. She appointed a pro-choice justice to the Alaska Supreme Court. She vetoed an anti-gay rights bill. She tried to rescue a failing business that was owned and run by Alaska’s state government. She sent every Alaskan — man, woman and child — an extra $1,200, in a “share the wealth” move when the state was flush with cash from an oil price boom.

But those happened during a different chapter of her career, before her No. 1 priority became political stardom for Sarah Palin.

Largest tax increase

Arriving in office after a bribery scandal cast a cloud over the state’s oil tax code, she worked with Democrats in the Legislature to sock the oil industry with a multibillion-dollar tax increase. What started as her “ACES” plan, or Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share, would become a windfall profits tax on steroids, the largest tax increase in Alaska’s history — one her Republican successor as governor promptly worked to roll back.

Pro-choice justice

Palin appointed a pro-choice justice to the Alaska Supreme Court — Morgan Christen, a former board member of Planned Parenthood. True, Palin’s choice was driven in part by Alaska’s merit selection system for judges, which presented her with just one other option. But she did have an alternative, as Jim Minnery of the socially conservative Alaska Family Council pointed out at the time. When it came to his group’s issues, he said Palin could have picked the judge who was “the lesser of two evils.”

A surprising veto

Early in her term, Palin vetoed an anti-gay rights bill. She was correct — the bill to deny state employment benefits to same-sex domestic partners was patently unconstitutional. But she could have played to her political base and wasted taxpayer money fighting it in court. Republican state Sen. Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, said at the time, “I was floored when she caved in without a fight.”

When ‘big government’ wasn’t so bad

As cash from her big oil tax increase flooded the state treasury, Gov. Palin pushed through the kind of expensive government handout that a big-spending Democrat might love. She got the Legislature to hand out an extra $1,200, regardless of income or financial need, to every Alaskan. Yet as John McCain’s vice-presidential candidate, she blasted Barack Obama and his alleged plans for “sharing the wealth.”

While governor, Palin tried and failed to keep the distressed state-owned Matanuska Maid dairy — a “socialist” enterprise if there ever was one — open and running. But that didn’t stop her from criticizing President Obama for “bailing out” GM and Chrysler, instead of letting the “free market” send them to their doom.

Conservatives complain

Palin’s record as governor drew complaints from ordinary conservative citizens who had supported her. When Gov. Palin’s archive of emails was finally released after a long legal fight, it included one from Linda Wood of Eagle River saying, “there are times you act more like a socialist then (sic) a Republican.” Arthur Corliss of Anchorage emailed her to say, “I have seen nothing that would compel me to vote for you a second time … We were sold a bill of goods with you.” A liberal columnist, Elstun Lauesen, wrote in this newspaper, “She was a pretty good socialist governor.”

When Gov. Palin resigned, she professed that she “loved” the job. Not long before that, though, she had sent a private email to her aide Frank Bailey complaining about “this “flippin’ kangaroo court joke of a job.” Paul Jenkins, arch-conservative columnist for Voice of the Times, accused her of “quitting her job because people are mean to her.” A golden parachute softened her departure: she nabbed a $1.25 million contract to write her memoir and soon became a well-paid talking head on national TV.

As Alaskans consider their choices in the special election for Congress, conservatives might want to remember: As governor, Sarah Palin ran the kind of big government they decry — and showed a slick politician’s ability to transform her “brand” to get ahead, even if it meant leaving Alaska behind.

Matt Zencey was editorial page editor of the Anchorage Daily News during most of Sarah Palin’s term as governor. He is the author of “Unlikely Liberal: Sarah Palin’s Curious Record as Alaska’s Governor.” He now lives in Pennsylvania.

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