On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal joined the parade of media outlets questioning Sarah Palin's claims about her role in stopping the "Bridge to Nowhere." (On Monday, in this space, Salon's Mike Madden cast his own critical eye in that direction -- his post is here.)
In their article, the Journal's Elizabeth Holmes and Laura Meckler included a rather damaging quote from Palin herself, taken from a press release announcing the redirection of funds originally intended for the bridge. Here's the relevant section of the Journal piece:
"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer," [Palin] said. "Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened."On Monday in Missouri, Gov. Palin put it this way: "I told Congress thanks but no thanks for that bridge to nowhere. If the state wanted to build a bridge we would buil[d] it ourselves."
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." Mr. Salter added that he welcomed a fight over earmarks with the Obama campaign.
Shares