Is Sarah Palin the new Dick Cheney?

Of course Sarah Palin is much cuter than Dick Cheney. As the must-have Republican political button from St. Paul put it: "Hottest VP From Coldest State."

And it sounds like she's better with a gun than the vice president, who accidentally shot a friend while on a hunting trip in southern Texas.

But lots of folks are beginning to draw a parallel between Cheney, with his secret meetings on energy policy, and Palin, the pistol-packing soccer mom who took on -- and beat -- the political establishment in Alaska.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in an interview today with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, calls Palin a "skilled politician" but says his rival Republican John McCain "chose somebody who may be even more aligned with George Bush -- or Dick Cheney -- or the politics we've seen over the last eight years -- than John McCain himself is."

And last week on the same program, John Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee, said Palin is a member of the "flat earth caucus" whose views of climate change are reminiscent of Vice President Cheney.

"With the choice of Gov. Palin, it's now the third term of Dick Cheney, because what he's done is he's chosen somebody who actually doesn't believe that climate change is man-made," said Kerry, who also called Palin "Cheney-esque" in her views of social issues.

In an interview with Newsmax, Palin said she does not believe that global warming is caused by humans.

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location," she told the magazine. "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

There is one energy policy distinction between Palin and Cheney, a former exec at Halliburton. As the Wall Street Journal has noted, the governor of Alaska has annoyed the oil companies by raising their taxes and royalty payments to the state.

But that hasn't stopped Democrats from seeing a resemblance.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[DC]

Compaing Palin to Dick Cheney? Nice try. Now that the vetting process included a test for marksmanship, we see the results. Seriously, the democrats are running scared as demonstrated by the stories we see in the media. Dick Cheney was a non-factor -- nobody cared. With Sarah Palin, EVERYONE has an opinion. She is THE candidate in 2012. Either McCain is too old for a second term OR Obama wins. If Hillary has to wait until 2016, she might find herself running against an incumbent female president.

[Dave]

"In an interview with Newsmax, Palin said she does not believe that global warming is caused by humans."

Miss South Carolina anyone? GG Republicans. Pay attention to your presidential candidate more, not the V.P. candidate.

[chris]

by raising the taxes and royalties( at a time when Alaska had a budget surplus)of the oil companies,she helped raise the price of gas.That would probably be the Cheney comparison.

[M.I. Smith]

The fact that she does not believe that "global warming" is man made is not a problem, its a feature.

[HH]

Wow...you're ready to call her the next Dick Cheney just because she happens to have the same view as him on one issue. That's just a bit of a stretch don't ya think.

[Shayne]

My question is why would any responsible American vote the virtually unknown and untested Obama into the most important office in the world when doing so will eliminate the delicate balance of power in this country, effectively exposing us all to great peril, from which we would potentially have no recourse? Moreover, given the questionable America-hating individuals with whom Obama has associated, how can anyone rank him above a proven American patriot? It would seem that this issue alone leaves us no choice in this election. It would seem that it is far more important to have a President who has been tested in the most difficult test imaginable, and who has proven his love for America time and time again, than to roll the dice with a complete unknown in terms of where he stands on protecting the values upon which our great country was founded, and for which generations of Americans have fought and died.

[bobster]

So you use the Cheney reference to try and slime Palin, though you have no evidence other than the fact she is running for VP. Yet another example of the Left-Media just NOT getting it

[JP, Philly]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. No matter how ridiculous the connections are drawn and will continue to be, they will not overcome or fog the breath of cold, fresh air Governor Sarah Palin has brought forth.

Her selection will validate the general election outcome on November 4th but not in terms of stale racial division already being penned in some circles, but with hope for all of humanity that continues here at home and leads to an American export priceless in value.

[big bouncer]

Sarah Palin holds nothing but a bachelors degree in communications from the Univeristy of Idaho- the sixth college she attended in six years to earn a four-year degree. John McCain graudated at the bottom one percent of his class at the Naval Academy. What do they know?

[Lisa]

Once again the LA Time proves the media bias and lack of journalistic intergity.
Is Sarah Palin the new Dick Cheney? The Answer: NO!

This Democrat Women is voting for McCain....

[Diane P. Rogers]

I would like Governor Sarah Palin to explain why she ENJOYS killing animals. I would also like her to explain why she thinks she would be qualified to be President of the United States if it came to that .

[ronin]

how pathetic can the liberals get? just because she has conservative views - THAT makes her like Cheney? maybe it does - and also like Reagan, and all other social conservatives.

[Mark A.]

Your bias is showing, but then what else is new? No wonder newspapers are dead.

[R. Marqu]

Is Obama the new Jimmy Carter?

[joseph marcucilli]

If she has annoyed oil companies then why did Exxon back her campaign for governor?

[Paul]

When will Palin hold a press conference to answer questions rather than just feed us canned lines?

[serty]

I had to laught at this article. It spends more time distinguishing Palin from Cheney, but then concludes that Palin may be the equivalent of Cheney? LOL! The only justification is because some of the Democrats "said so." What lousy reporting.

[RNF]

Unfortunately, Palin is to the far right of Cheney. When one examines the crime rate in Alaska, especially as to forcible rape, domestic violence, alcohol use and murder of women by men, women should be very concerned.

[kmc]

Johanna Neuman you are absurd. what is the point of this article except to express your support for obama. who is biden, the new fitz mondale, how about a story like that......

[vicweast]

Palin is a dangerous politician because many Americans will only see that she is attractive and won't understand that to Palin and the rest of the Christian Right the ends justify the means -- So far, each time Palin has spoken as a member of McCain's pursuit of the White House, Palin has distorted more facts and positions than the average politician. It sure seems that the media and Americans are not bothering to get bellow skin depth with her.

Her lies start with her blatant claims that she sold her Gov plane on bay -- she did NOT -- she sold it to a Republican campaign contributer for LESS than it was worth! Where is the outrage at that lie and that scam?

Secondly, when McCain and Palin talk about how terrible earmarks are and that THEY will end US Congressional earmarks -- Shame on the two of them! Palin and her Alaska mafia have used earmarks to siphon a phenomenal amount of Congressional money to Alaska. Where is the outrage at this hypocrisy and lying?

I am having trouble understanding the attraction of a lying right wing extremist who holds the Bible in one hand, accepts money with the other hand and lies lies lies.

Absolutely -- Palin is Cheney in a dress from the 1980's.

[anita]

I am insulted that by the Palin nomination.

[Pam]

Palin --so far-- has refused to be interviewed or answer questions from journalists and her aides say they may not allow it at all. She is just a pretty face put in front of the public to "read" speeches written by speechwriters and can't be counted on to perform well, ad lib. So they just refuse to allow her to be questioned.

I don't know how anyone can support a candidate who believes they do not have to answer questions from the public. It is reminiscent of the secrecy of Dick Cheney, Harriet Myers and other denizens of the Bush administration hiding evidence, "losing" thousands of e-mails, and refusing to appear before Congress, even when subpoenaed. Haven't we had enough of that??

The news media will be derelict in their duty if they let Palin get away with refusing to be interviewed except by friendly people of her choosing. If the American people let her get away with it, then they deserve what they get.

[Vince]

Wow. Two conservatives have similar values and positions, what an observation. Clearly then, Obama is the next John Kerry. I can live with that.

[dr Twumasi]

Over to you folks, do we want another 8yr Bush-Cheney.....Lord have mercy!

[Alan Glanz]

The comparison to Cheney is obvious, in the sense that Gov. Palin has said nothing significant about *policy* yet during the past week... so all we have to go on is image. And yes in image she appears to be Cheney-esque -- a figure who is not afraid to just go down some very dark roads in terms of dividing the country, playing on peoples' fears, "dumbing down" the rhetoric she uses just to take jabs at people of the other party. But first and foremost, one can tell from her speeches that she HEARTILY ENJOYS the attempt to SMEAR people who are not of her party. Well, after 4,152 Americans dead, the American people have learned how to pick a president. In 2000 and 2004 they elected someone "they'd like to have a beer with", only to have so many of our finest young men and women KILLED. They won't make the same mistake again... Look for this election to not be as close as it appears now... By October 15th or so Obama will have a pretty substantial lead. Governor Palin and Senator McCain do not have the intellect, the character, or the substance to compete with Obama and Biden. AND PEOPLE NOW KNOW TO PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE THINGS.