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"The Road to Nowhere" replacing "Barracuda" as Palin's theme song

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Wall Street Journal: Record Contradicts Palin's 'Bridge' Claims

Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the McCain campaign continues to assert that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the federal government "thanks but no thanks" to the now-famous bridge to an island in her home state.

 

The McCain campaign released a television advertisement Monday morning titled "Original Mavericks." The narrator of the 30-second spot boasts about the pair: "He fights pork-barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." Gov. Palin, who John McCain named as his running mate less than two weeks ago, quickly adopted a stump line bragging about her opposition to the pork-barrel project Sen. McCain routinely decries.

 

But Gov. Palin's claim comes with a serious caveat. She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.

 

Senior adviser Mark Salter pointed to her role in killing the project while in office and allocating the money elsewhere. When pressed further that it was actually Congress that stopped the earmark, Mr. Salter said: "She stopped it, too. She did her part."

 

Democratic candidate Barack Obama used a town-hall style event in Flint, Mich., to attack Gov. Palin over the "Bridge to Nowhere" debate. He accused the vice presidential nominee of lobbying for the bridge and then hiding her initial position when she ran for governor and the project became unpopular. "You can't just make stuff up. You can't just recreate yourself. The American people aren't stupid," he said.

 

Why is this one issue such a big deal? Sen. McCain's anti-earmarks stance has been paramount to his campaign. The Arizona senator has blamed everything from the Minneapolis bridge collapse to Hurricane Katrina on Congress's willingness to stuff bills full of pork barrel spending. As such, Gov. Palin's image as a "reformer" is part of the storyline the McCain campaign needs to complement the top of its ticket.

 

www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/palin-also-supported-th...

The Road to Nowhere

While a debate rages over how honest Sarah Palin has been in stating her opposition to the infamous Bridge To Nowhere, another massive, widely-criticized transportation project is lingering in Alaska.

 

The "Road To Nowhere" is a $375 million "mega-project" designed to connect Juneau to the towns of Haines and Skagway via 50 miles of new road along the steep slopes of an avalanche-battered canal, ending at a ferry terminal at the Haines river. As of 2005, Haines had a population of 2,400, while Skagway had 870 residents. According to the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a group promoting "sensible transportation systems in the state," the Road to Nowhere is an irresponsible waste. The project has received more than $100 million in federal and state funding. This includes a $15 million dollar federal earmark and approximately $24 million in federal dollars passed through to the state. But it remains far from completion - hampered by opposition, environmental and safety concerns, and general wariness over its utility.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXsuAey-NE

WELL WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOIN'

BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'VE BEEN

AND WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE KNOWIN'

BUT WE CAN'T SAY WHAT WE'VE SEEN

AND WE'RE NOT LITTLE CHILDREN

AND WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT

AND THE FUTURE IS CERTAIN

GIVE US TIME TO WORK IT OUT

 

We're on a road to nowhere

Come on inside

Takin' that ride to nowhere

We'll take that ride

 

Feelin' okay this mornin'

And you know,

We're on the road to paradise

Here we go, here we go

 

We're on a ride to nowhere

Come on inside

Takin' that ride to nowhere

We'll take that ride

 

Maybe you wonder where you are

I don't care

Here is where time is on our side

Take you there...take you there

We're on a road to nowhere

 

There's a city in my mind

Come along and take that ride

and it's all right, baby, it's all right

 

And it's very far away

But it's growing day by day

And it's all right, baby, it's all right

 

Would you like to come along

and you could help me sing this song?

And it's all right, baby, it's all right

 

They can tell you what to do

But they'll make a fool of you

And it's all right, baby, it's all right

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8z40-XoIPc

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Uploaded on October 4, 2008
Taken on October 3, 2008