The Road back to Alaska May not be easy for Palin
 

ANCHORAGE - Can Sarah Palin go home again?
In the 68 days since Alaska's governor began her run for vice president, things have changed on the home front. Some of her former allies are fuming, and former enemies are lying in wait. Public perceptions of the governor have also changed. Has the governor changed as well?

Questions about Palin's future began to circulate at Alaska's Election Central on Tuesday night almost as soon as the national election results came in.

Palin is expected to arrive in Alaska sometime today in a campaign plane. Will she be the old Palin, a populist who worked with Democrats to achieve victories in the Legislature, or the sharp partisan from the national campaign?

At an Alaska Obama gathering Tuesday night, some celebrants said they were disappointed by the new Palin they saw in the campaign.

"All the alliances she used to get things done have been shattered," said Kate Troll, executive director of the Alaska Conservation Alliance. "She comes back to unknown territory."

But some Republican legislators who have backed Palin in the past said they thought she could resume her leadership style now that she was back to her old job. Her support was built around issues, not party loyalty, said Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer.

"If she takes the same course her next two years and picks issues with broad consensus, it won't change at all," Seaton said.

Feelings get raw in campaigns and then everyone gets back to work, said Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, who directed the Legislature's Troopergate inquiry. He said he's more worried about Palin's future relations with the federal government, whose help is needed on loan guarantees and rights of way to get the gas pipeline built.

"I hope the new president has a magnanimous soul," French said.



http://www.adn.com/palin/story/579161.html

So...what do you think will determine her running in 2012?

I think she'll name herself as Alaska's replacement senator whenever Stevens gets forced out of office.

ETA: Because they haven't called the race yet, but it looks like he probably won.

We joked about that at lunch yesterday. I think that would be an ethics violation though.

You can go home again. I just hope her path is bumpy as all get out.

I would not be surprised.....BTW...In related news...Marion Berry was re elected in his council seat.

No joke.

I don't think so, there's always some talk around presidential elections of if a senator wins would the governor consider naming him/herself as the replacement. The only rule I'm aware of is that it has to be someone who is Constitutionally qualified to sit in the Senate, and if you name yourself than your Lieutenant Governor would take over the governorship.

Apparently Alaska's Constitution requires a special election in this situation.

Or so I'm told by an ordinarily poorly informed source.

That's what all of the news outlets have reported as well. Here's an interesting dicussion about it.

When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or United States representative, the governor shall, by proclamation, call a special election to be held on a date not less than 60, nor more than 90, days after the date the vacancy occurs. However, if the vacancy occurs on a date that is less than 60 days before or is on or after the date of the primary election in the general election year during which a candidate to fill the office is regularly elected, the governor may not call a special election.

It depends on how you read that statute. If he retires before the end of this year it would technically be after the date of the primary election in the general election year. And if that is the case this appointment statute applies:

When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator, the governor may, at least five days after the date of the vacancy but within 30 days after the date of the vacancy, appoint a qualified individual to fill the vacancy temporarily until the results of the special election called to fill the vacancy are certified. If a special election is not called for the reasons set out in AS 15.40.140, the individual shall fill the vacancy temporarily until the results of the next general election are certified.

If that's the case she could appoint someone (including herself) to a two-year portion of the term until 2010 when they would have the special election and she (or whoever) would essentially be running for reelection to the rest of the term.

I'm actually going to give Palin some credit here, I think she handled herself in this interview quite well and managed to sound sincere in her graciousness too: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...56549#27556549

(I still don't think she has the chops to ever make it to the Executive branch, but time will tell...)

Didn't Blagojevich appoint himself to Obama's seat, and still retain his governor's office?

So far as I know, Obama hasn't formally resigned from the Senate yet, so there's no vacancy to fill quite yet.

And unless Illinois law is quite different from any other law I'm familiar with, no one can hold two offices normally filled by election at the same time.

Here's a TIME article on it.

AH! So it was just hearsay! To be completely honest, I've only lived here a couple of months and I already don't like Blagojevich. Mostly because he pushed everyone to get IPass (or easypass, or whatever the open road tolling is anywhere else) by making the tolls twice as high if you're paying in cash, and now he wants to use the open road tolling as traffic control devices, to send (in the mail) speeding tickets to owners of vehicles. That's not what they were there for!

I don't really know if I explained the IPass thing right - I don't know if I could!

/Hijack

No one -- not even die-hard Democrats - likes Gov. Elvis. He might like to be the next Senator from Illinois, but he'd hate the commute. Rumor has it Blago may appoint Jesse Jackson, Jr. As for IPass, you'll get used to it. IPass is the least of Illinois' problems.

/end hijack.

I read something along the same lines the other day. IIRC in The New Yorker on-line. Steven's race is still toclosetocall.