• Anne Kilkenny, a resident of Wasilla, Alaska, is the author of a viral email message that is highly critical of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.Millard Fillmore's Bathtub: The value of local historians in small-town Alaska (September 2, 2008) In the letter, Kilkenny assesses Palin's stint as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002, as well as her governorship of Alaska.

• 1. Email dated August 31, 2008
  2. Kilkenny originally sent the email to 40 friends and family membersThe Daily Journal (Illinois): Alaska resident writes...
  3. Kilkenny asked that readers forward it to friends, but not post it onlineThe Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)
  4. Claimed to have known Palin since 1992.Millard Fillmore's Bathtub: The value of local historians in small-town Alaska (September 2, 2008)
  5. Crosscut.com posted the letter with Kilkenny's permission on September 2, 2008Crosscut.com: About Sarah Palin: an e-mail from Wasilla (September 2, 2008)
  6. Popular political blogger Andrew Sullivan posted the letter as wellAndrew Sullivan: A Wasillan On Sarah Palin (September 2, 2008)
  7. Source and authenticity of letter confirmed by Alaskan newspaper The Daily JournalThe Daily Journal (Alaska): Alaska resident writes about VP nominee Palin (September 4, 2008)

• Quotes

  The following are excerpts from Kilkenny's comments on Palin.

  • "Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks. :)"The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She is 'pro-life.' She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the 'bridge to nowhere' after it became clear that it would be unwise not to."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

  • "There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she."The Washington Independent: The Reform Candidate? (September 1, 2008)

Categories