Faribanks Daily News
"questions about Palin come from both those who adore her and those who despise her. Regardless of their feelings, most people outside of Alaska don’t understand the unique political circumstances that made her ascension possible. Alaskans, meanwhile, still haven’t come to terms with what hit the state when their wildly popular governor became one of the most polarizing figures in America."
Cartoonist provides a critical, and useful, Palin retrospective
by David A. James / Books in Review
Feb 12, 2012 | 131658 views | 5 5 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a
FAIRBANKS - “Before 2008,” writes Juneau Empire cartoonist Tony Newman, “the questions Alaskans would get from outsiders were typically concerned with fishing, polar bears, or the darkness that envelops us in winter. Now we are accustomed to questions about Sarah Palin.”
With these words, Newman (who signs his work as “Toe”) opens “When Sarah Palin Came to Town,” a retrospective of the former governor’s rise in Alaska, her unexpected elevation to the national stage, and her subsequent remaking of herself as a political celebutante.
As Newman notes in his introduction, questions about Palin come from both those who adore her and those who despise her. Regardless of their feelings, most people outside of Alaska don’t understand the unique political circumstances that made her ascension possible. Alaskans, meanwhile, still haven’t come to terms with what hit the state when their wildly popular governor became one of the most polarizing figures in America.
In order to help both sets of readers get a better grip on the Palin phenomenon, Newman has gathered together a collection of cartoons originally published in the Empire (along with a few drawn specifically for this book), each coupled with a brief background and commentary on the issues the cartoons address. The resultant book offers a fairly accurate assessment of the past decade of Alaskan politics, giving readers a better idea of why Palin emerged as the state’s potential savior.
As anyone who lived through the period recalls, Palin’s election resulted directly from the collapse of her predecessor’s administration. Whatever one thinks of Frank Murkowski, there is no question that he was the most politically tone-deaf governor in memory. Newman includes a sizable collection of cartoons documenting Murkowski’s multiple missteps and outright failures during his single term (it should be noted that as a caricaturist, Newman captures Murkowski wonderfully).
At the same time, the state’s Republican political establishment was swept up in a series of corruption scandals that resulted in several legislators being led away in handcuffs. By 2006, most Alaskans probably would have voted for Hugo Chavez if it meant cleaning house, but in Palin they saw someone who appeared principled and incorruptible.
As a political cartoonist, Newman looks for the tarnish on the armor, and judging by his work dating back to the 2006 campaign, he wasn’t particularly smitten with Palin.
Southeast Alaskans in general, and Juneau voters in particular, never truly warmed to her.
Palin had previously supported the relocation of state governmental offices to Anchorage. Like many in Juneau, Newman realized that if she followed through, the city’s economy would suffer.
That said, Palin took on oil taxes and corruption with greater transparency than Murkowski, endearing herself to Alaskans. The cartoons Newman drew during her first year in office vacillate between suspicion of the governor and periodic bouts of admiration.
Palin was getting things done by working both sides of the aisle while maintaining the appearance of being above politics. As Newman notes, this briefly boosted her approval rating to 93 percent.
For Newman, like most Alaskans, the clear dividing line came when Palin was nominated for the vice presidency. Newman depicts Alaskans as fairly stunned by the announcement, but quickly learning to love the sudden attention, bragging to relatives and jumping in front of television cameras whenever possible. As Palin’s star rocketed upward, however, national reporters started doing what Alaskan reporters hadn’t: taking a hard look at what Palin had been up to in office.
Newman’s cartoons from the fall of 2008 show how it all looked from an Alaska perspective. Palin’s bumbling interviews, increasingly partisan and hateful speeches, and diva-like behavior on the national stage dovetailed with revelations that she hadn’t governed as honestly as many had believed.
Newman’s most telling cartoon comes from the eve of the election and features a bear and a raven watching television. Reflecting the growing consensus in Alaska, the bear says, “While she’s out there campaigning, back here I feel like we Alaskans have been had. Turns out our squeakyclean reformer broke ethics laws, gave her husband free reign of her office … took per diem to work at home … used state funds to pay for family trips … Didn’t she used to say she’d protect Alaskans like a mama bear protects her cubs?” After Palin shouts “You betcha!” from the television, the raven asks, “Don’t bears sometimes eat their offspring?”
“Only when it’s in their best interest,” replies the bear.
Like many Alaskans, Newman quickly realized that in the wake of her failed election Palin was no longer interested in being governor. Several consecutive cartoons show her as primarily concerned with national attention and making money. He follows these with depictions of her escalating problems with the Legislature and the public that, in retrospect, make it obvious she wasn’t long for the office.
The final cartoons follow her recent career, raking in money while serving as an embarrassment to the state she abandoned. Alaskans moved on, so much so that, as Newman notes in one of the last pieces, the state rejected 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller as much for his association with Palin as for his own myriad shortcomings.
This book, containing far more insight than one might expect from a brief work heavily dependent on cartoons, is one of the few genuinely honest works on Palin currently available. Newman is fiercely critical of her, but never hateful. He largely avoids the dirty laundry, focusing instead on politics. Every Alaskan should keep a copy for whenever some Outsider asks those annoyingly unwanted questions about Sarah Palin. Instead of rehashing the details yet again, one can simply hand it over and say, “Here’s how it happened.”
Freelance writer David A. James lives in Fairbanks.
When Sarah Palin Came to Town
Tony “Toe” Newman
Copper Raven Press, 2011
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/17506637-Cartoonist-provides-a-critical-and-useful-Palin-retrospective-
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