Palin Defends 'Bridge to Nowhere' Claims



Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) listens to vice-presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speak at a campaign event at the historic Golden Lamb September 9, 2008, in Lebanon, Ohio. (J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)



Updated 7:05 p.m.

By Michael D. Shear

LEBANON, Ohio -- Facing increasing criticism of her claim about opposing the "Bridge to Nowhere," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin refused to back down, repeating for a soggy but boisterous crowd of several thousand her claim to have stopped the project.

"I told Congress thanks but no thanks for that bridge to nowhere up in Alaska," Palin said at the "McCain Street USA" rally here. "If we wanted a bridge we'll build it ourselves."

That claim -- a central part of her claim to be a political maverick in the image of her new benefactor, Sen. John McCain -- is under withering fire from Democrats and some media organizations, who say she has a record of supporting the project.

The Wall Street Journal, in a story today, wrote that "She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere." And the Associated Press wrote yesterday that "McCain and Palin together have told a broader story about the bridge that is misleading."

Democrats, too, are attacking Palin for refusing to back down on the issue. In a statement issued moments after the rally here, Sen. Barack Obama's spokesman chided here for repeating what he called a "debunked" claim.

"On the same day that dozens of news organizations have exposed Governor Palin's phony Bridge to Nowhere claim as a 'naked lie,' she and John McCain continue to repeat the claim in their stump speeches. Maybe tomorrow she'll tell us she sold it on eBay," said Obama

campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

There are some who are coming to her defense. As reported by the Post's Paul Kane, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, one of the biggest backers of the bridge and a man now under indictment for bribery, said he never thought Palin was a supporter of the bridge.

"She was never really behind this," Stevens said today, reminding reporters of his impassioned defense of the project in 2005: "I defended it in the Senate. She did not support that. She did not support that."

And ABC's Jake Tapper reported on his blog that Alaska Democrats once credited Palin for stopping the bridge. During the 2006 election, they wrote: "Gov. Palin recently cancelled the Gravina Island Bridge near Ketchikan that would have connected the Alaska mainland with

Gravina Island (population: 50)."