The Palin Presidential Exploratory Committee has released its first bumper sticker. What do you think

Geee...People can't have family money or have saved for years? I'm sure their combined salaries were near half a million...not such a leap to buy that property.

As Requested about PALIN:

Top Ten Sarah Palin Scandals

And now, for those of you who want some vetting of this unknown person who's just been jetted into the national limelight, here are the top ten Sarah Palin scandals (and for a woman who's been in office for less than two years, it's an impressive list):

Updates:
November 11th: Sarah Palin "Plows through doors" to attack "bloggers in their parent's basement."

November 5: This woman is still creating new scandals! McCain aides reveal "Hillbilly-gate" - Palin's family raided Neiman Marcus during the final weeks of the campaign, spending hundreds of thousands in RNC campaign funds. Yep, that was the "reform" McCain wanted to bring to Washington. 'Cause politicians just aren't looting from the public enough.

Oct 22: NEW scandals emerge.


The Scandals:

#10. Iron-Fistgate - Sarah Palin ruled her small town Wasilla with an iron fist. Can we say "female Dick Cheney"? Even conservative commentator David Brooks of the NY Times concedes that Palin does little to reassure voters about their biggest concern about McCain: that he just doesn't have the temperament to be President. And her speech at the convention reinforces that impression. Oh really, you say? Read today's NY Times article about her intimidation tacticts. Coming in at number ten since painting Palin as the "hero mayor of the small towns" opens up her small town history for scrutiny.

#9. Kidgate. Palin is staunchly anti-abortion and has a Down Syndrome child to prove it. Certainly making a choice to give birth to and raise such a child is courageous - and will be at least as appealing as Biden's personal backstory - but many women will wonder how she can decide to leave such a child while campaigning for the White House, and at her judgement to get pregnant in her mid-forties, after already having four children, knowing the risk of having a child with such a disease (or was this an example of what happens when right-to-lifers don't use contraception?). Many think that all this, combined with her membership in "Feminists for Life," an anti-abortion group, seems like she's exploiting a baby for ideology. This could turn most women off, although some Clinton aides see this scandal as sexist. Coming in at number nine as it's still getting play in the media, though down a bit given that there are other, more salient political scandals coming out, and Republicans are determined to turn this story into a feel-good plus, while whitewashing her anti-abortion background. (Sept 10: Regarding that: Andrew Sullivan argues that her decision to have Trig is a plus for Palin. Lucia de Vernai in the American Chronical argues that Palin's example of ditching Trig while she campaigns hurts women by being hypocritical about family values. My assessment: if this issue gets spun around baby Trig and the family, Palin will come out like a celebrity mom. If it focuses on Palin's views about abortion and women's roles, she'll be seen as out of the mainstream. But so far the former, not the latter, seems to be winning in the press.)

#8. Censorgate. She asked her town librarian if the library "could live with censorship of library books.” (Note that factcheck.org disputes that the librarian was fired. Wait...fact-checking factcheck, now it appears she DID fire the librarian, but then re-hired her after an outcry). Still, coming in at eight as it signals most succinctly to voters that she's the darling of the hard right. And this fired/not-fired fracas is just keeping it in the news.

#7. Mayberrygate: Palin fired the Wasilla police chief because he was trying to clean up drinking and concealed weapons in the town. Coming in at number seven because it's the delicious kind of small-town backdealing story that seems to be where this campaign will be headed.

#6. Hockeygate. The Hockey rink she built in Wasilla required raising taxes and sinking the town in debt. Can we say "George W. Bush"-style conservatism?

#5. Bricknergate. Palin's preacher invites a speaker to spew anti-semitic nonsense while she sits in the audience and listens. Also, her own church sounds as crazy as anything dished out by Obama's. Can we say Reverend Wright? Coming in at number five: this one has the potential to turn off crucial Jewish voters in the two key states of Ohio and Florida. If McCain loses either of those states, he's done.

#4. Bridge-to-Nowheregate. She was for it before she was against it. Coming in at number four since she brought it up again in her speech: this one will receive real press scrutiny. (Hey: and it's starting to, with Obama bringing it up today.)

#3. Porkgate - Palin lobbied Washington for frivolous funds. All this coming in at number three since it contradicts the whole Republican theme that this is a team of outside "reformers."

#2. Oilgate. She's vetoed legislation for wind and solar energy and is securely in the pockets of big oil (her husband works for British Petroleum). She's even willing to let polar bears die for oil. Coming in at number two because as Nate Silver points out, "taking on the oil industry" for Sarah Palin means getting them to drill more and cough up more scratch for Alaskans. This is a "put Alaska first" policy not a "put America first" policy. Since she's making Alaskan oil the centerpiece of her campaign, I expect to see a long piece on this in the New Yorker.

#1. Troopergate. She fired her public safety commissioner because he refused to fire a state trooper who was the ex-husband of her sister and engaged in a bitter custody battle. Can we say "Bush Administration"? Still number one because it's going to produce the biggest bang when reports are released in October.

Haven't heard about Troopergate? Want more on the deliciously "Northern Exposure Meets Nixon"-esque intricacies of the abuse-of-power scandal rocking sleepy Alaska? Read about it here.

So - what scandals didn't make the list?

Whinergate. She called Hillary Clinton a whiner. THIS is the candidate who's supposed to win over disgruntled Clinton supporters? Can we say "Phil Graham"? Falling off the list today since there are other, bigger things for Clinton supporters to dislike about her.

Junogate. I agree with Obama: family should be out of bounds. I think camp McCain has chastised the media enough...and there are enough other scandals...that this will effectively be put to bed.

Dairygate - Apparently she mismanaged a failing state-run dairy. This one seems a little bit obscure and hard to fact-check to me. Haven't seen much else about it.

Affairgate. National Enquirer breaks "story" she had an affair with her husband's business partner. But it's the National Enquirer. Let's wait till ABC picks up the story.

Cluelessgate. She sounds totally clueless talking about Iraq or foreign policy. After her speech at the convention, people will question this less (and team McCain is hiding her from the press to prep her with answers.)

Buchanangate. She was a big supporter of Pat Buchanan's 1996 rather hard-right, somewhat anti-semitic run for office. That ought to win over voters in Florida. However, this fact is now being denied by the McCain campaign, so this one will probably go away.

Superstitiongate. Not only is Palin anti-science, she wants to teach Creationism in schools. (Correction: Factcheck.org says she is "open" to teaching Creationism along side evolution. Well, since Creationism is a religion, not a science, I find the "openness" to obfuscate science with religion pretty appalling. No wonder our country is falling behind.) However, since there are more Americans who would accept Creationism than censorship, Censorgate takes the list.

Sexual Scandalgate. She appointed a known sexual-harassment offender to office then had to fire him. But this hasn't gotten much pick up so far.

Secessiongate - Turns out Palin didn't belong to this anti-American organization promoting that Alaska secede from the union, even though her husband did.

Perdiemgate - Palin charged the state of Alaska for herself, her daughter, and her husband while working at home. I can see the point since she seems to be bilking the taxpayers for the most she can get. But there do seem to be reasonable things she was doing (i.e., attending NCAA basketball tournaments - hey, it's what governors do). As a small business person, I kind of sympathise with taking the per diem. It's not like she's as wealthy as John McCain, or anything. I think this may be a tempest in a teapot.

Rapetestgate - As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin had the police chief charge women for their own rape kit (up to $1,200). One to keep an eye on: if more comes of this, could move into the Top 10.

NEW! Gibsongate - in her first interview with Charlie Gibson, Palin sounds a bit out of it, saying we should go to war over Georgia and flubbing the Bush Doctrine question. Not only that, she blatantly lies to his face. But the press is treating her with kid gloves and giving her a pass (some even are trying to spin it as "a badge of honor" to not know anything about foreign policy). Or is this sexism? Is it 'cause she's a woman that she can get away with lying and doesn't need to know about foreign policy? (They wouldn't be saying this about Hillary, would they?)

Okay, I suppose based on reader comments I need to address Babyswicthgate - the idea that Bristol Palin is the actual mother of Trig, not Sarah Palin. Besides (to me) the "who cares" factor, I just don't see anything on the net that suggests that this is anything other than a rumor. So, I wouldn't call that a scandal (a scandal needs to involve an actual accusation based on fact). I'd call it a "conspiracy theory" (which is an idea someone is pulling something over on people, that gains traction based on circumstantial evidence). I do love conspiracy theories, but this is a page devoted to scandals. If you want more conspiracy theories, see my Top 10 Conspiracies for 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.

Also, regarding the reader's suggestion of Trackgate in comments below - I pretty much place all these in the same category as Junogate: fodder for the tabloids (no doubt, if McCain is elected, we'll have years of such fun), but not salient scandals about Palin herself. As Obama says: let's leave the kids out of this. Remember how Republicans (including McCain) vilified Chelsea Clinton? Obama has more class than McCain. And I pretty much think going there backfires on Democrats. However...if you are a scandal junky and just can't help yourself and want ALL the juicy scandals about the Palin family, The National Enquire sure isn't shy about going there.

As I've said, the hardest thing about this page is keeping it up to date....

And hey, a shout-out to my Republican friends who've made their way to this web page. I've got a couple of very special web links just for you: here...and here.

Original list from August 30th:

#10. Cluelessgate. She sounds totally clueless talking about Iraq or foreign policy.

#9. Censorgate. She asked her town librarian if the library "could live with censorship of library books.”

#8. Bridge-to-Nowheregate. She was for it before she was against it.

#7. Buchanangate. She was a big supporter of Pat Buchanan's 1996 rather hard-right, somewhat anti-semitic run for office. That ought to win over voters in Florida. (Update: this fact is now being denied by the McCain campaign. Until there's evidence one way or another we should probably remove this from the list in favor of Porkgate at #2 - see below.)

#6. Whinergate. She called Hillary Clinton a whiner. THIS is the candidate who's supposed to win over disgruntled Clinton supporters? Can we say "Phil Graham"?

#5. Kidgate. Not only is she staunchly anti-choice, she recently had a Down's Syndrome child. While making a choice to give birth to and raise such a child is certainly courageous - and will be at least as appealing as Biden's personal backstory - many women will wonder how she can decide to leave such a child while campaigning for the White House. And you have to wonder at her judgement to get pregnant in her mid-forties, after already having four children, knowing the risk of having a child with such a disease (or was this an example of what happens when right-to-lifers don't use contraception?) Won't all this, along with her membership in a notorious anti-choice organization called "Feminists for Life," seem like she's exploiting a baby for ideology, and turn most women off?

#4. Superstitiongate. Not only is Palin anti-science, she wants to teach Creationism in schools.

#3. Sexual Scandalgate. She appointed a known sexual-harassment offender to office then had to fire him.

#2. Oilgate. She's vetoed legislation for wind and solar energy and is securely in the pockets of big oil (her husband works for British Petroleum). She's even willing to let polar bears die for oil.

#1. Troopergate. She fired her public safety commissioner because he refused to fire a state trooper who was the ex-husband of her sister and engaged in a bitter custody battle. Can we say "Bush Administration"?

Troopergate, you say? Just you wait: Want more on the deliciously "Northern Exposure Meets Nixon"-esque intricacies of the abuse-of-power scandal rocking sleepy Alaska? Read about it here.