Annals of Tight Vetting
Talking Points Memo — Palin was such a foe of Ted Stevens that she ran his 527.

Palin Served As Director Of 527 Group Called ‘Ted Stevens Excellence In Public Service, Inc.’
Think Progress — ... The Washington Post’s Matthew Mosk reports that Sarah Palin “began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens“: ...

Isn't this supposed to be a SLOW news day?
Blah3 Feed — Wasn't Palin being hyped as someone who fought the corrupt Alaska Republicans? Maybe not. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican ...

Palin Ran Ted Stevens’ 527
Matthew Yglesias — ... know very much about Palin’s record in office, but they knew she was a solid conservative who’d managed to take down an incumbent Republican and still hold the statehouse for the GOP. And this, basically, is Palin’s qualification for office — she’s less corrupt than your average Alaska Republican. As best one can tell this is true. But the extent of Palin’s distance from the Alaska Republican establishment can be easily overstated. Consider this reporting by Matthew Mosk: ...

Awesome vetting
Sadly, No! — ... My personal stance on Sarah Palin’s daughter is that it ain’t none of my business. She’s a kid, kids make mistakes, and I hope the press leaves her alone. I’m personally much more amused about stuff like this: Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens’s 527 Group Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Palin’s ...

Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... Palin's relationship with Alaska's senior senator may be one of the more complicated aspects of her new position as Sen. John McCain's running mate; Stevens was indicted in July 2008 on seven counts of corruption. Palin, an anti-corruption crusader in Alaska, had called on Stevens to be open about the issues behind the investigation. But she also held a joint news conference with him in July, before he was indicted, to make clear she had not abandoned him politically. Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/p... And she claims to be anti-corruption!

Sarah Palin, Ted Stevens, & The Republican Culture Of Corruption
Oliver Willis — More of the same Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Palin’s name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.,” a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state. She served as one of three directors until ...

Sarah Louise Palin was director of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.
The Latest on Air America — ... Sarah Palin "began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens": ...

Anti-Establishment Palin Gained Political Know-How Working on Stevens 527
TPMMuckraker — ... corruption and turning the Alaskan political establishment on its ear. Palin has been vocal about not being more of the same in Alaskan poltics. "[Experience is] not what Alaska needed," Palin has said. "The state needed new blood in there. A candidate with new energy and new ideas." But it looks like Palin got her experience working as a director at the 527 group from the oldest of Alaskan politicians, embattled Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). From the Washington Post: Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers ...

Palin and Stevens
Political Animal — ... Ted Stevens and that crowd in Alaska, you can handle the Russians." On its face, it's an unusually inane thing to say. Unless Ted Stevens is a nuclear power with autocratic tendencies, the analogy is rather a childish one for a United States senator to make on national television. But more to the point, Graham's just wrong. Palin didn't "take on" the allegedly corrupt Alaskan senator; she allied herself with him throughout her brief political career. That includes, we learned today, Palin's work on Stevens' 527 group. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her ...

War and Piece — | Main September 01, 2008 WP : Palin was director of Sen. Ted Stevens' 527 Group. Posted by Laura at September 1, 2008 04:12 PM

McCain, Palin, 527's & Ted Stevens
Daily Kos — Did John McCain spend any time at all vetting Sarah Palin, or was she simply a desperation pick to distract the media after Barack Obama's stellar acceptance speech? Here's John McCain in October '07: The 527s need to be eliminated...527s are a disgrace and they have to be eliminated because they're clearly in violation of the law. And from today's Washington Post: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of ...

Remainders: Labor Day
Ben Smith's Blog — ... the Democratic hugfest. Calderone takes advantage of the RNC downtime and makes friends with a giant Lego dinosaur. Howard Wolfson gets Obamamania. Rove calls Biden a "doofus." "What does the VP do all day?" meets the 3 AM ad. Geraldine Ferraro is happy. As Governor, Palin requested earmarks (it sort of comes with the territory). Dave Barry likes moose. Palin used to run a Ted Stevens 527. Alaska really is another country, and doesn't sound ...

Dave Winer: The Palin vetting continues
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Latest: The Washington Post reports she led a 527 founded by indicted-for-corruption Senator Ted Stevens. So much for her being a reformer and maverick. ...

GOP Flails To Keep 'Experience' Issue Alive
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Unfortunately for Palin and Graham, however, I can now reassert the essential stupidity of that statement, because, as it turns out, Palin doesn't have that good a record where standing up to Ted Stevens is concerned: ...

The gift that keeps on giving
The Reality-Based Community — ... have been hers to make. [As to the impulse to use the pregnancy to attack "abstinence-only" or to cast aspersions on Sarah Palin's mothering skills, what Hilzoy said and what Megan said . Let's try to keep some of our morals, folks.] 2. Remember how Sarah Palin was a "reformer" and "took on Ted Stevens," proving that she's tough enough to take on Putin? Not so much; turns out that not only did Palin accept Stevens's support when she ran for Governor in 2006 she was an official of Stevens's 527 group . Bonus fun fact: McCain considers 527s ...

The “reformer” who “took on Ted Stevens”
Martini Revolution — Was a member of indicted Senator Ted Stevens’ 527 committee: ST. PAUL — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Palin’s name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.,” a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot ...

Palin Received Millions In Earmarks, Clouding Reformer Image
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Making matters worse, on Monday the Washington Post reported that Palin had previously served on Ted Steven's political action committee. The revelation is a notably thorny one for McCain. The Arizona Republican has butted heads with Stevens over spending matters (Palin, too, has challenged the longtime Senator on the matter). And Stevens was recently indicted on seven counts of corruption. On Sunday, moreover, McCain's chief surrogate and confidante, Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Palin's foreign policy experience, "if she can handle Ted Stevens she can handle Russia." ...

Remainders: 72 Hours Later
Jonathan Martin's Blog — ... Palin. Halperin has unanswered questions about Palin McCain has raised at least $10 million since the announcement. Jon Meacham indulges in some McCain daddy-centric psycho-profiling. Tammy Haddad reports that Washington laywer and Hillary donor John Coale is backing McCain Palin asked for earmarks as Governor -- in Alaska, it's sort of unavoidable. Her dad can't help but welcome the press. She used to run a Ted Stevens 527. Everyone in Wasilla knew about Bristol Palin's ...

Thomas Eagleton Watch
Booman Tribune — ... and tell John McCain that he is not going to keep Sarah Palin on the ticket and drag them down with the ship? Palin is lawyering up in the Troopergate scandal. MSNBC is reporting that Republicans are up in Alaska vetting her anew: It was an open secret in Wasilla that her daughter was pregnant but almost no one (if anyone) on McCain's staff knew about it. Her husband was once arrested for DUI . Palin was the director of indicted Senator Ted Steven's 527 . She lied about opposing the bridge to nowhere . Add all of this to the fact ...

Chris Weigant: Framing Sarah Palin
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... (7)  "If Sarah Palin is such a 'maverick' and takes on her own party, then why was she on the board of a 527 group called 'Ted Stevens Excellence In Public Service, Inc.'? What exactly did she do for Stevens while leading this group? How much money was raised, and from whom exactly? Sounds like until Stevens' scandals broke into the news, they seem to have been pals." ...

Reports: McCain camp only starting to fully vet Palin now?
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... almost certainly isn’t; it’s simply to grasp at all available straws, no matter how short, and bundle them together in an “unknown quantity” narrative so that she’s perpetually on the defensive about such important matters as why she didn’t oppose the bridge to nowhere early enough . It’s the best possible contrast for Biden, too. Love him or loathe him, he’s been in D.C. since the Mesozoic Era. WYSIWYG. But Sarah Palin — did you know she served on the board of a 527 for Ted Stevens three years ago ? Why, I’ll bet Joe Biden’s never even spoken to Ted Stevens. ...

Links for 2008-09-01 [del.icio.us]
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can seced Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news - CNN.com Key evangelical leaders rallied to Sarah Palin's support Monday amid news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was having a child. Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group | The Trail | washingtonpost.com ...

Curiouser And Curiouser
Obsidian Wings — ... The name on the tongues of gleeful Dems, meanwhile: Eagleton." TPM Election Central adds a few more bits like the fact that Palin "relied on an earmark system she now opposes", as well as supporting the Bridge to Nowhere before the funding was cut. Which, of course, means that when she said "I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge to nowhere," she wasn't exactly telling the truth. And besides all that, she was a Director of Ted Stevens' 527 corporation, and hired his former chief of staff ...

Meltdown
Shakesville — ... there's plenty other stuff we're finding out about Palin that legitimately calls into question McCain's decision-making skills and competence: • Palin was a member as recently as 1996 of the Alaskan Independence Party, "which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States" and has as its motto "Alaska First – Alaska Always." • Palin served until 2005 as a director of a 527 group organized by corrupt fuckneck Senator Ted Stevens. • Palin's claim, ...

Curiouser and Curiouser
Political Animal — ... "I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge to nowhere," she wasn't exactly telling the truth. And besides all that, she was a Director of Ted Stevens' 527 corporation, and ...

Rove: Bush Had Foreign Policy Experience Because Texas Is Near Mexico
News Hounds — ... investigation and many of her other shortcomings as a candidate were conveniently overlooked. With video. Rove’s comment about foreign policy experience occurs near the end of the video. But I’ve included the entire discussion in order to showcase the glaring lack of scrutiny of Palin on FOX News’ prime time debate show. She has already been proven to have lied about opposing the “bridge to nowhere.” She’s embroiled in a corruption investigation; she was a director of Ted Stevens’ 527 Group, “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service;” she demonstrated a ...

links for 2008-09-02
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... (tags: sarah_palin) Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group | The Trail | washingtonpost.com Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, ...

Anti-Corruption Crusader?
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Palin ran a Stevens 527 group.

Stevens Is Palin's "Mortal Enemy"? Not Quite
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Despite the revelation, first reported on Monday, that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin once directed a pro-Ted Stevens political committee, the notion still persists that John McCain's running mate was a fierce foe of the recently indicted U.S. Senator. ...

9/2: Scrutinizing Sarah
Blogometer — ... fact that the group's founder has made disparaging remarks about the U.S.: PALIN III: She's Better Than Your Typical Alaska Pol, But... Liberal bloggers are also arguing that Palin isn't the reformer that the McCain camp is making her out to be, noting that she (1.) "employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor" , (2.) "was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it" , and (3.) "serv[ed] as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska ...

A Hasty, Misguided Decision
Firedoglake — ... Second, Sarah Palin was a director, listed on federal filing forms, of Ted Stevens' 527 organization, the shadowy group he used to accept and re-direct barely-legal bribes without revealing their source. ...

Media, New And Old, Vet Palin, Do McCain's Job For Him
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... The mainstream media has been no slouch in tracking Palin. Matthew Mosk of the Washington Post, for example, broke the story that Palin had been a director of a "527" independent expenditure organization working in behalf of Senator Stevens' re-election. McCain has been an adamant critic of such organizations. ...

Will Sarah Palin vote for Ted Stevens in November?
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — Last Tuesday, August 26th, was primary day in Alaska. Indicted Senator Ted Stevens was on the Republican ballot. He won a contested primary and will be on the ballot again on November 4th. In between, Stevens will be on trial for public corruption. Sarah Palin has a long history with Ted Stevens. In 2003, she ran a 527 for Ted Stevens. Not sure if the media will ever have access to Sarah Palin. But, if they ever do get to ask questions, here's one -- ...

Palin Was Director Of Stevens’ 527 Group
Crooks and Liars — ... So much for fighting for reform, eh? Sarah Palin built her political capital in Alaska by throwing in with none other than Ted Stevens ...

The Education Of David Brooks
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — ... hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project linking Wasilla and the ski resort community of Girdwood.[30] Some of the earmarks were criticized by Senator McCain.[31] Yes, she pointed out the rank corruption of some of her peers. But even her criticism of Ted Stevens was tempered by expediency: Shortly before his July 2008 indictment, she held a joint news conference with Stevens, described by The Washington Post as being "to make clear she had not ...

Who is Sarah Palin?
The Moderate Voice — ... We’ve learned that Palin was a founding director of indicted senator Ted Stevens’ 527 fundraising group from 2003 through 2005, and that she delighted in his endorsement during her gubernatorial campaign in 2006. We’ve learned that she at least considered in the abstract the question of ...

Paul Loeb: Pit Bull Palin
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... We should already know, because we've had one for the past eight years. Palin is younger, more attractive, and a better shot. But she has a similar ruthlessness, bellicosity, and eagerness to destroy anyone who gets in her way. She's similarly secretive and controlling beneath the disarming charm. Despite her image as the outsider reformer, she has her own ties to pay-to-play politics from serving as one of three directors for the political action committee (PAC) of corrupt Alaska Senator Ted Stephens, to fighting ...

McCain Ad Attacks Obama and Chicago Machine
TalkLeft — ... economic adviser, William Daley. Lobbyist. Mayor's brother. His money man, Tony Rezko. Client. Patron. Convicted Felon. His "political godfather." Emil Jones. Under ethical cloud. His governor, Rod Blagojevich. A legacy of federal and state investigations. With friends like that, Obama is not ready to lead.” Either is Sarah Palin, and she's got no relevant national experience and the evangelical right behind her to boot. More... Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building ...

Sarah Palin And The Integrity Gap
RedState: Conservative News and Community — ... who now resides in the Taft minimum security prison outside Bakersfield, Calif., communicated his views of Palin through his friend, Fred James. Kohring, said James, feels "betrayed" by Palin. I've discussed above some of her specific breaks with Ted Stevens; for another example, in 2007 she again demanded the resignation of his son Ben from his role as Alaska's representative on the Republican National Committee. Granted, despite their many battles, Palin hasn't entirely cut ties with Stevens, who after all remains the state's senior senator: ...

Alaska is the biggest welfare state in the country
Brilliant at Breakfast — ... , and of course her new designer wardrobe provided courtesy of Republican camapign donors, that her "reform" credentials are as bogus as her claims to be a frugal hockey mom. And while the road in the above article is associated with Ted Stevens, Palin was perfectly OK with sucking up to Stevens when it was in her interest to do so, serving as a director of Stevens' 527 group. ...

Stevens Conviction Could Burn McCain, Palin
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Palin also served as the director of Ted Stevens' Excellence in Public Service Inc, a 527 group that raised unlimited funds from corporate donors, from 2003 until June 2005. ...

Stevens Conviction Could Burn McCain, Palin
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Palin also served as the director of Ted Stevens' Excellence in Public Service Inc, a 527 group that raised unlimited funds from corporate donors, from 2003 until June 2005. ...

Palin, Popularity and the Public Media
Stubborn Facts — ... thing is on the NYT's "Timestopic" section that includes brief snippets of key newsworthy figures we see this: In a state dominated by the same party – and in many cases the same people – virtually since its inception, Sarah Palin is at the vanguard of a new generation of Alaska Republicans with a reformist bent. Gosh, now there's something that also seems worthy of in depth review. What happened? From the Washington Post we heard that Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group. Palin's name is listed ...

Stevens' (and Palin's) next move
Political Animal — ... to even cast a vote for himself, and hopes to become the first convicted felon ever elected to the U.S. Senate. The other angle worth considering here is that of Stevens ally Sarah Palin, who helped run Stevens' political group and who ...

McCain Calls On Stevens To Step Down, Aide Predicts Palin Won't Vote For Him
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... whether or not she was supporting Stevens' reelection bid -- despite the fact that she once served as a director of a Stevens-steered 527 group. ...

McCain Calls On Stevens To Step Down, Aide Predicts Palin Won't Vote For Him
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... whether or not she was supporting Stevens' reelection bid -- despite the fact that she once served as a director of a Stevens-steered 527 group. ...

Matthew Filipowicz: Does Ted Stevens Know Prison Is A "Series Of Bars"?
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Maybe he can ask Sarah Palin for help. She was the director of a 527 that was literally called "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc." ...

Palin Is Not Ted Stevens’ “Close” Political Ally? Depends On The Definition Of “Close!"
News Hounds — ... “they came together this summer for a joint press conference on energy initiatives. Both support drilling in ANWR, and Stevens has lent tacit support for Palin's effort to build and pay for a natural gas pipeline through Alaska. And Stevens went out of his way to compliment Palin this summer in interviews, saying she was on the right track as governor, praising her plans to handle the state's energy crisis and telling Alaskans she'd make a good vice presidential pick for McCain.” The Washington Post has an article which describes Palin’s role as director of a 527 which was ...