Palin All for Drilling—and Has Been Tough on Big Oil

Gov. Sarah Palin wants the US to drill for oil, offshore or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in her home state. Not only does recent drilling convert John McCain get backup, Andrew Leonard writes in Salon, but Dems will have a hard time branding Palin a pawn of Big Oil: She’s had a history of taxing oil companies and badmouthing lobbyists.

In 2004, Palin resigned as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, citing corruption among fellow GOP commissioners. And as governor, she passed a major tax increase on oil production to offset skyrocketing prices. "That tax increase made her some enemies in the Alaskan oil industry," Leonard notes, "but right now it makes her look perfect for McCain." (More John McCain stories.)