When the legislature in Alaska authorized the ethics probe into Palin’s firing of the Public Safety Commissioner in July, I assumed that Palin’s chance of being named as VP was gone.  Obviously, that was not the case.  However, as Palin has effectively outsourced her response to the investigation to the McCain campaign, the controversy seems as if it will loom over her much more than I suspected.  The backlash against McCain operatives seeming to take over parts of Alaska’s state government is growing:

Even conservatives are expressing resentment over the governor’s about-face on the Monegan investigation and the infiltration of state government by the McCain campaign.

“This Palin VP thing has Alaskans all stirred up. Much like Palin divided the Republican Party, she has managed to divide the state over her national candidacy,” conservative talk-show host Dan Fagan complained in a commentary last week.

“My fellow conservatives, remember how frustrating it was when Bill Clinton committed perjury and liberals looked the other way. As conservatives, we are no better unless we demand full disclosure from our governor,” he said. ” . . . No politician is so popular and charismatic that they should be above accountability and telling the truth.”

Keeping Palin largely inaccessible for weeks except for stump speeches and a handful of interviews vindicates one of the main criticisms of her selection, which is that choosing her was a P.R. stunt that could not be defended on its merits.  Whatever comes from this investigation, it will not be credible to say that she is a champion of transparency and accountability in government.  The last three weeks show that this is simply not the case when it involves her career.

P.S. Conor Clarke makes a persuasive case that Palin’s use of private email accounts for state business was an attempt to avoid being subject to state public records law.  As Clarke says, “it’s hard to think of anything less transparent than conducting state business with the obvious intention of avoiding laws designed to promote state transparency.”