The Alaskans Are Getting Restless....

this just in: Governor Palin Neglects Alaska Duties for Partisan Stumping on Campaign Trail in Georgia.

Alaska faces challenges that need attention now.

Anchorage - While Gov. Sarah Palin is out of state again, this time in Georgia campaigning for incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss on the eve of the runoff election, Alaska faces challenges including a lack of leadership from the Governor.

Palin will stump for Chambliss, the draft-evading incumbent Republican who waged a notoriously misleading campaign against a decorated war hero, at rallies Monday in Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah and Perry, Georgia. Palin has been back in Alaska at work for only a few days since running for vice president.

"Alaskans need our Governor here earning her salary and working on key problems facing Alaska families," said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins.

Alaska is facing significant challenges, Higgins said, including:

* Oil prices have dropped dramatically to about $45/bbl from the peak of $144/bbl in July, which threatens the state budget.
* Alaskans are paying some of the highest prices for gas in the nation, averaging $2.87 per gallon, while the national average is $1.91.
* The state's oil production continues to decline, due to falling prices and mature fields.
* The global credit crunch and falling natural gas prices threaten the Alaska gas line.
* The State is failing to meet its constitutional obligation to take care of public education as shown by the high drop out rates and the low graduation rates.
* Many Medicare patients cannot find doctors.
* There is continued flight from rural villages.
* Alaska faces the prospect of reduced federal dollars from Washington, D.C.

"Alaska's challenges are significant, and there is much that needs to be done right now. Our Governor should remember that her primary job is to work on behalf of the citizens of Alaska, not engage in partisan politics in other states," Higgins said. "Governing is more than creating photo ops. We'd like a commitment that the Governor is working, not just scheduling media appearances."

Enough is Enough! Someone needs to tell Sarah that SHE DIDN'T WIN. She has been paid for her governor job for months during a campaign. Show up or shut up.

Follow Shannyn Moore on Twitter: www.twitter.com/shannynmoore

Comments

[Ohsnap]

Tina Fey said it best:

Sarah Palin speaks like she is lost in a corn maze.

She should staw away from Iowa at all costs.

[tm68]

Well, as the oil prices drop, so does Palin's approval rating. Bet she's regretting that $1200 payout she made to all of us right about now. Why didn't she use that money toward a more long-term energy plan- like building more refineries here in AK so we can lower our gas/oil prices here? Greta asked her point blank why we pay so much for gas and as our governor, she should have had at least some semblance of an explanation and then a plan as to what she's going to do about. Yet, she just shrugged her shoulders and said she had no idea why prices were so high. Why did we elect her again?

As a teacher, I worry about the "forward funding" we've been promised when oil was $140 a barrell- is that going to go away? Palin won't find it so easy to "govern" with no $ in the budget. Just ask Arnold down in CA how his governorship is going. Education funds were among the first to go in his budget. With AK having one of, if not THE, highest dropout rates in the country, we can't afford to have any money taken away.

Oh SARAHHH!! WHERE ARE YOU??? You have a job to do here! Get back here and do it and stop spewing your tired stump speeches for an underserving man.

[falcon17]

Remember the buttons the legislators would wear? "Where's Sarah?" She was never around when there was work to be done......­....and she still isn't. Loves the limelight, that one does. Photo ops, press conferences, now she's had a taste of the national scene and Alaska? huh? Where's that again? Geography never was her strong suit, ya know.

[falcon17]

That is pathetic that she couldn't and didn't even try to answer Greta's question about your high gas prices. Shrugs her shoulders and says she has no idea, that's Palin all right. I heard Greta was really easy on her too. At least during the campaign, she got nailed when she tried to get out of answering.

I noticed during the campaign as Alaskans began to learn more about their governor that her approval ratings dropped big time. Still high but much less so. What are they now? With oil prices dropping and she won't be able to send out those nice checks to every citizen, will her ratings drop even more? I had wondered if the checks were a main reason for her high ratings.

From what I read about her as governor, she was mainly focused on the gas pipeline, and the ex brother in law, and the serious problems of high school drop out rates, one of the highest rates of rape and violence against women and children were left for others to tend to. I don't envy you.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Don't worry about next year's budget. She will just raid the Permanent Fund for the difference.

[LightningJoe]

I don't think Sarah has "regrets," tm68. She just sees the wind change, sees people suddenly take issue with what she's done or said, and makes up a new story to explain that, what people think is happening -- just isn't so and never was.

Gas prices are high, in part, because we have no refineries up here. To become gasoline, the oil has to be shipped out of state (a long way, whichever direction you pick), and then shipped back to us once it's refined.

Also, we buy the stuff by the barge-load, and use it at a rate far lower than, say, Seattle does. This means that it sits in barges until it's used up, and every gallon in the barge brings the set price that purchased the barge-load. When the barge is finally empty, we can get a new price on a new barge-load. This is why price changes (in the downward direction, at least) take so long to make it to the pump. Strangely enough, however, when the price goes up, the sellers can ease in that change a lot quicker.

Sarah could have just said that. Instead, she says she has no idea. Why not? Everyone else knows this.

[NoSillyName]

Impeach Spalin! Do the whole country a big favor.

[dessertsfirst]

But doncha know? she's a STAR!!!! also too.

[timmmahhhh]

Shannyn thanks for the article! I've read so much about you in the Mudflats site that it is good to see you on HuffPo!!

For those of you that say Palin doesn't matter, maybe true in the lower 48 but don't forget the Alaskans like Shannyn that still have her as a governor. And let's face it - Sarah has had a huge taste of the limelight and several fellow social conservative minions that worship her and want her to lead them over the same cliff.

I'm surprised she doesn't hire a state manager much in the same way that she hired a town manager. Maybe with the falling price of oil she can't afford that luxury. Or maybe she is trying to prep Meg Stapleton to be more than a mouthpiece? Or hey the first dude sits in on most of her meetin's, maybe he can take it over der, you betcha.

Course Stevens is finally out of the picture so maybe there is hope in 2010...

[MossyOak]

Be careful what you wish for, Alaska. If you're lucky she'll stay in Georgia. She'd fit in like a big ol' greasy hand in a bag of pork rinds.

[myfatherschild]

You don't know Georgia very, do you? Too multi-cultural in the city parts and I doubt Ms.Palin would enjoy being couped up with her base all the time. Besides, all the stores and malls are where us city folk live. Nope, she wouldn't fit in with us, "the others." We are EVERYWHERE in Georgia!

[CaptainStormfield]

I loved visiting Atlanta. I never spent any time anywhere else tho.

[flash LI]

Is she on Per Diem? I pray that Alaska gets payback when Sarah runs for re-election; only the most hard-core base should be blind to this selfish, hypocritical, ignorant, ambitious ideologue.

Are the investigations on Palin's other alleged abuses ongoing? Hope so.
----------­----------

HAHA lol You guys are funny. Palin really pulls something from way inside you. You guys are really worried. If she was just a passing thought, you wouldn't care, but she really gets under your skin because she is well-liked - not by you, 'the smarest people in the room', but by REAL patriots.

[Selbourne]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". Guess who said that?

[speakyourmind]

I always have to chuckle when I read somebody like you who claims that we're "afraid" of her. That just cracks me up to no end. You really don't get it, do you?

[Karlp]

If Palin's presence can win Georgia, my deepest condolences for the people of Georgia because they are living in deep darkness.

[maceov]

Well, according to "Sister Sarah" she doesn't HAVE to do a good job in Alaska anymore, or even a mediocre one for that matter, because you know, she's like going to be the great savior of the GOP in 2012 and rescue or mud-wrestle the Presidential nomination away from us filthy, heathenous Democrats and she'll storm in and break that door down if it's cracked open or not...

I say NOT!

[lovintheconstitution]

Good GAWD!!! Her 15 minutes was up a lonnnnnng time ago!!!

[Gladys1963]

She just keeps on hitting the snooze button.

[curocat]

RECALL election..­. remove her from office...

[peacegurl48]

Is she on Per Diem? I pray that Alaska gets payback when Sarah runs for re-election; only the most hard-core base should be blind to this selfish, hypocritical, ignorant, ambitious ideologue.

Are the investigations on Palin's other alleged abuses ongoing? Hope so.

[cowbore]

Unfortunately the base you describe here is probably 65% of our population up here in Alaska. We've got some real uglies 'round here.

[mnhockeyfan]

DangitRuss -- thanks but no thanks to Palin for North Dakota. My home state already has a Republican governor ... he was just reelected to his 3rd term with a +70% vote because he knows how to stay home and do his job and manage an energy-producing state all while speaking in compete, articulate sentences.

The only thing I'd add to Shannyn's list of Alaska's challenges is the terribly high price of heating oil that's forcing citizens in remote villages to leave their homes or freeze. This from an "energy" governor.

Maybe someone could tell the gov that the RNC is home waiting for her ... they just want their clothes back!

[Donnat]

Not to worry, Chavez said he's giving Alaskans heating oil this winter...I wonder if Sarah pals around with him?

[falcon17]

Well, hey, she pals around with the Alaska Independence Party, not the most patriotic thing to be doing. And then there's Bishop Muthee, Christian Nationalist who preached at her church in Wasilla about purging the country of people who actually believe they are in charge of their destiny, who accept modernity. He wants to infiltrate the government, education, the arts and entertainment, business among others. He is not an American citizen so he can't be called on his patriotism but what about Palin?

I never did understand how the MSM gave her a free pass on all this, it's not exactly secret but not a word, except CNN ran something one evening and that was the end of it. The current occupant of the White House has really done a number on the media, trained them to be lapdogs. Ignoring stories they don't like is the kiss of death.

[eigram]

Ambition, ambition, ego, ego. A taste of fame and what demons have been released. What about her children and her family and the state of Alaska? Does she even realize what is happening around her? No news of Bristol, how is she doing? Is there a wedding in the near future? How is Trig? Is Piper still hauling around Trig, since Mom is so busy on the campaign circuit? What is with this person?

[DangitRuss]

She really went rogue! Look out N. Dakota. She's coming to govern you next!