Alaska's Palin facing polarizing problems

Recent polls show Palin is still popular among Alaskans, even though at least one "Impeach Palin" sign has sprouted in Anchorage.

But the once-brash young governor can be harsh these days at the Capitol, especially when dealing with Democrats, who used to be staunch allies on energy initiatives.

The end of session has been marked by a prolonged standoff between Palin and Democrats over filling Juneau's vacant Senate seat.

She has to choose a Democrat for the seat to replace the incumbent, but has ignored the wishes of the Juneau Democratic Party, who wanted her to select a state representative who had questioned Palin's qualifications to be vice president last fall. Palin instead asked other Juneau Democrats to apply to her directly, and the Senate Democrats have rejected her first two selections.

She had another flap over a Democrat, namely Begich, who beat former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, last November after Stevens was convicted of felony charges of failing to disclose gifts on Senate forms.

When a judge last week threw out the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct, Palin immediately joined local GOP leaders in calling for Begich to resign and for a special election to be held. Later Palin claimed she didn't call for Begich to resign, only that a special election be held.

Video   Defending Sarah Palin April 8: A political action committee known as the Free American Citizens is setting up a legal defense fund for Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, to help defend her and her family against exploitation. CQPolitics.com’s Craig Crawford discusses. Countdown

When asked how an election could take place without his resignation, she said: "I'm not splitting hairs."

Her evolving positions on the stimulus package have also put her at odds with a nearly unified state House and Senate.

In another nod to the conservative base, Palin announced she was not accepting nearly half the stimulus spending, saying the strings attached would burden the state in the future. That half actually turned out to be only a third of the money headed to Alaska. Then Republican leaders said they couldn't find any strings.

More recently, even as Palin disparaged the stimulus money as "an unsustainable, debt-ridden package of funds," she changed course and proposed using some of that money to replace state spending on education. Senate leaders rejected the idea as being too late and too risky.

Palin's defensive posture and waffling is at odds with the resolute and self-assured Palin of the past. Even her sometimes divisive nominee for attorney general said he wanted to help Palin regain her footing and re-establish better communications with lawmakers.

"As somebody in her cabinet said the other day, 'You can't kick every dog that barks at you,'" Wayne Anthony Ross, Palin's nominee for attorney general, told the House Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing. "I'm trying to convince her that she ought not get treed by the Chihuahuas."

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