The Collegian

Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spoke about offshore drilling and America's need for energy independence during this summer's Hillsdale College cruise, inviting attendees to the governor's mansion afterward and introducing them to her family.

Organizers in Hillsdale's external affairs had wanted Palin to speak for a Hillsdale event long before Republican presidential candidate John McCain named Palin his running mate last week at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

"In circles we run in, she's well known as an impressive young politician," said Doug Jeffrey, vice president of external affairs.

Palin had originally planned to speak about polar bears and endangered species, but switched just before the event because rising oil prices began consuming the national mind.

She was also scheduled to speak at Hillsdale's Free Market Forum in Dearborn, Mich., Sept. 25 to 27, but her recent nomination will preclude that, Jeffrey said.

"I've received e-mails from people who were thrilled to have met her, and this was before McCain picked her as a nominee," said President's Club Director Shannon Van Horn, who helped organize the cruise. "To a person, I think everyone really liked her."

Palin said she's read Hillsdale's publication Imprimis for years, Jeffrey said, and thus knew a lot about the college before speaking on the cruise.

After her speech, she invited cruise-goers to her mansion and introduced them to her husband, whom she calls Alaska's "First Dude."

Riding forward full-steam from last week's convention, Palin is running for vice president on her record as Alaska's first female governor.

Conservatives tend to support her resistance to government overspending and kickbacks: upon taking office, she sold the luxury jet her predecessor had bought on eBay, fired the governor's chauffer and chef and approved an overhaul of her state's ethics laws in her first legislative session.

She also chairs the state's Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Critics complain that she opposes abortion, has used her authority to fire government workers improperly and is too close to the "'religious right."'

Palin is the second woman nominated for vice president by a major party. The first was Geraldine Ferarro, who campaigned with Democrat presidential candidate Walter Mondale in 1984.

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