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| | '''Sarah Louise Heath Palin''' (pronounced pay'-lynn) (born February 11, 1964) is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] who served as the 11th [[governor]] of [[Alaska]] from 2006 through 2009. She is both the first woman and the youngest person to hold this office in the state's history. On July 3, 2009 Palin announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301738.html Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor, Citing Probes and Family Needs] Rucker, Philip and Eli Saslow, July 4, 2009, washingtonpost.com, retrieved August 20, 2011</ref> Executive power was transferred to [[Lieutenant Governor]] [[Sean Parnell]]. | | '''Sarah Louise Heath Palin''' (pronounced pay'-lynn) (born February 11, 1964) is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] who served as the 11th [[governor]] of [[Alaska]] from 2006 through 2009. She is both the first woman and the youngest person to hold this office in the state's history. On July 3, 2009 Palin announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301738.html Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor, Citing Probes and Family Needs] Rucker, Philip and Eli Saslow, July 4, 2009, washingtonpost.com, retrieved August 20, 2011</ref> Executive power was transferred to [[Lieutenant Governor]] [[Sean Parnell]]. |
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| − | Palin came to the nation's attention as Senator [[John McCain]]'s vice presidential running mate in the [[2008 Presidential Election]].<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/palins_vp_selection_speech.html Acceptance Speech by Palin] realclearpolitics.com, August 29, 2008</ref> She is the first woman to appear on a Republican presidential ticket. In an appearance on August 30, 2008 in Washington, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by a surprisingly large crowd as she promoted the new McCain-Palin ticket. She brought a [[populism|populist]] image and a record of cutting wasteful spending and reforming government to McCain's ticket. In the summer of 2007, she was the most popular governor in America, having cut 13% of [[Alaska]]'s budget.<ref>http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp</ref> | + | Palin came to the nation's attention as Senator [[John McCain]]'s vice presidential running mate in the [[2008 Presidential Election]].<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/palins_vp_selection_speech.html Acceptance Speech by Palin] realclearpolitics.com, August 29, 2008</ref> She is the first woman to appear on a Republican presidential ticket. In an appearance on August 30, 2008 in Washington, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by a surprisingly large crowd as she promoted the new McCain-Palin ticket. She brought a [[populism|populist]] image and a record of cutting wasteful spending and reforming government to McCain's ticket. In the summer of 2007, she was the most popular governor in America, having cut 13% of [[Alaska]]'s budget.<ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp The Most Popular Governor] Barnes, Fred, Jul 16, 2007, weeklystandard.com</ref> |
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| − | She is strongly [[pro-life]], and a prominent spokesperson for [[special needs]] children. She favors more competition in health care, and pushed for abolishing the [[certificate of need]] regulations that interfere with opening new medical clinics.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403253.html?referrer=emailarticle</ref> | + | She is strongly [[pro-life]], and a prominent spokesperson for [[special needs]] children. She favors more competition in health care, and pushed for abolishing the [[certificate of need]] regulations that interfere with opening new medical clinics.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403253.html?referrer=emailarticle Palin's Efforts to Reform Health Care Are Complicated] Mosk, Matthew, September 5, 2008, washingtonpost.com</ref> |
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| − | Her memoir ''[[Going Rogue]]'' was published in November 2009, with Palin drawing large crowds to book signings around the country. She comments regularly on public affairs via her [[Facebook]] page, having criticized the "death panels" of the health care reform program, and praised President Obama's pro-war speech upon his receiving the [[Nobel]] Peace prize in December 2009. She appears regularly on [[Fox News Channel]].<ref>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/sarah-palin-to-contribute-to-fox-news/?scp=2&sq=Palin&st=cse</ref> | + | Her memoir ''[[Going Rogue]]'' was published in November 2009, with Palin drawing large crowds to book signings around the country. She comments regularly on public affairs via her [[Facebook]] page, having criticized the "death panels" of the health care reform program, and praised President Obama's pro-war speech upon his receiving the [[Nobel]] Peace prize in December 2009. She appears regularly on [[Fox News Channel]].<ref>[http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/sarah-palin-to-contribute-to-fox-news/?scp=2&sq=Palin&st=cse Sarah Palin to contribute to Fox News] Rutenberg, Jim, January 11, 2011, Media Decoder blog, nytimes.com</ref> |
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| | Since her rise to prominence in 2008, Palin has been the subject of demonization by the left-wing mainstream media, including insults to her intellect and various sexist comments. | | Since her rise to prominence in 2008, Palin has been the subject of demonization by the left-wing mainstream media, including insults to her intellect and various sexist comments. |