You Have To Love The Enthusiasm But What Is True And What Is A Stretch?

If you have watched the Republican Convention you saw two year Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and other Republican party supporters issue some fairly strong attacks against Senators Obama and Biden. However, Palin and her supporters had plenty of praise regarding her credentials to be Vice President. To some degree this is to be expected at a political party convention but I had to ask myself if some of what was said stretched the truth, perhaps just a little. Here are some quotes, judge for yourself.

Sarah Palin: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending...and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

A Little Closer To The Truth: My understanding is, as mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as Governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

Sarah Palin: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."

A Little Closer To The Truth: Obama has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, Obama was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois, the first studying racial profiling by police and the second requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

John McCain: In an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson McCain said "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply...She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."

A Little Closer To The Truth: John McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state - by population.

John McCain: McCain also stated on ABC, "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard…She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."

A Little Closer To The Truth: While Governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their Governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations in the country.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for President of the United States."

A Little Closer To The Truth: I have to classify this as a major exaggeration and simply wrong. Palin received 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and received 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses but still received 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney: "We need change, all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

A Little Closer To The Truth: This is an interesting perspective. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats been in charge of the House and Senate. Under Bush the federal government has grown to be the largest in this country’s history.