Palin's successor a study in exact opposites

JUNEAU, Alaska — The fresh-faced governor of Alaska is jabbing at the federal government over polar bears and health care, urging the Obama administration to expand oil exploration and taking swipes on Facebook at fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

While the script might feel familiar, why does virtually everyone here in the state capital say that Gov. Sean Parnell, party affiliation and initials aside, could not be less like the phenomenon he followed?

"A lot of people have described him as mush," said State Sen. John Coghill, R-Fairbanks. "I think it's just that he's a gentleman."

Sarah Palin, Parnell's predecessor, introduced herself to America in 2008 as a pit bull in lipstick, and then she attacked. The same summer, the mild-mannered Parnell was called "Captain Zero" by a campaign opponent — then he took more heat for not fighting back.

Now, even as he echoes many of Palin's positions and has tentatively tweaked lawmakers ("they should spend less!" he wrote on Facebook), it is clear Parnell's political playbook is different from Sarah Barracuda's.

"I've never been about standing up and just yelling for the sake of yelling," Parnell said in an interview in his Capitol office. "That's not who I am. I'm about getting the job done."

The question now, as Parnell graduates from his first legislative session as governor, is whether being a gentleman — or mush, depending on the point of view — will get him elected to a term of his own in November.

"We pick risk-takers," state Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, said in describing the kind of governors Alaskans have elected since statehood in 1959. "We select strong people."

Facing a crowded field of Republican challengers, Parnell, 47, is regarded as the front-runner. Yet some see vulnerabilities.

In 2008, Parnell, then lieutenant governor, was thought to be well-positioned to unseat U.S. Rep. Don Young, the state's sole member of the House for more than 35 years. Young was mired in a federal investigation at the time, and Palin, at the peak of her popularity, had openly criticized him.

It was in the Republican primary Young called Parnell "Captain Zero." Parnell ended up losing by 304 votes.

Distinguishing factors

The perception of weakness is a favorite theme of opponents. Parnell's most prominent Republican challenger, Ralph Samuels, a former state senator who has strong allies in the oil industry, recently accused him of not doing enough to fight federal health-care reforms. That was before Alaska announced last week it would join other states in suing the federal government over the new law.

"I'm a guy who does my homework," the governor said at a candidate forum. "That's what distinguishes me from the rest of these folks."

Parnell clearly benefited from Palin's popularity in Alaska and beyond; he is in office now because she resigned last summer. Yet the stream of attention and controversy that has surrounded Palin has also exhausted many people in Alaska. Parnell, bland and by-the-book by comparison, stands to benefit this time because he is different.

Alaska endured a wide-ranging federal investigation that sent several state lawmakers to jail and, in 2008, led to the conviction of the state's longtime political lion, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican. Stevens lost his bid for re-election that year, even though the guilty verdict was later thrown out.

Few expect Parnell to stir up much controversy.

"I don't think in his lifetime we'll ever see anything worthy of an inquiry," McGuire said of Parnell.

It helps Parnell that boom-and-bust Alaska is in remarkably strong shape because of surging oil prices.

Lawmakers here are arguing over how much to spend, not cut. The state is projected to have more than $12 billion in savings this year.

Still, as the legislative session came to a close Monday, Parnell could not claim a resounding victory for his agenda. Lawmakers ignored his call for restraint by passing more than $3 billion worth of capital-spending projects.

"They're kicking sand in his face, seeing if he's going to muscle up," said Sen. Con Bunde, a Republican and the only one of the state's 20 senators to vote against the capital budget.

Not "personal"

Palin infuriated lawmakers by vetoing hundreds of millions of dollars in local projects.

During one prickly round of budget negotiations, she suggested she was the only "adult in the house."

Lawmakers often noted that Palin had no legislative experience.

Parnell, who became one of the top budget brokers in eight years in the state Legislature, has made clear he will also veto projects, but he has done so without making things personal.

"I can make a phone call and walk upstairs and talk to the governor," said Rep. Mike Chenault, a Republican and the House speaker. "That's the way it should be. It's dramatically different."

Parnell is careful not to criticize Palin or even compare himself with her. He praised her efforts toward developing a natural-gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope (it remains far from certain whether one will be built) and said he learned how to communicate more effectively by watching her.

Palin did not respond to requests for comment.

Parnell said he talks with Palin periodically, but not about state business. That is more contact than others in the Capitol have had with the former governor.

"We watch her on TV," said Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Wasilla, Palin's hometown. "She's awfully good at those microphones."

Even as some lawmakers were skeptical of Parnell, none said they missed Palin.

"The best thing she ever did was resign," said Sen. Bert Stedman, a Republican from Sitka and a major budget negotiator. "We're a lot better off, and she's better off. Everybody wins."