Governor hails the chief executive

Here is something you might not have thought about much lately, but by the time Nov. 4 rolls around, trust us, you will know it better than you know your own mother: Governors make decisions. They are chief executives. They veto stuff. They never vote “present.”

Sarah Palin took a few minutes during a luncheon for the Republican Governors Assn. on Thursday to press the argument that her 21 months as Alaska’s governor have given her a leg up on her opponent, or rather, her ticket mate’s opponent.

She did not mention Sen. Barack Obama by name, but there was no question whom she meant when she said, “There is a big difference between the legislative and executive branch in our experience. . . . We are expected to lead and take action and not vote just ‘present.’ ” (When Obama was in the Illinois Legislature, not getting any executive experience, he voted “present” rather than “yea” or “nay” more than 100 times.)

As governors and their guests ate lunch in the Museum of Russian Art, a pool of journalists was ushered from a back alley into a small dark gallery, where Palin stood with eight other governors. Palin, who looked every bit the harried hockey mom, with her hair falling out of her bun, was not supposed to take questions, and her staff seemed taken by surprise when a TV reporter from Alaska identified herself and said, “Governor, we feel like we’re losing you. Are you still going to be there for Alaska?”

Now, how would you expect her to answer that question?

“This is going to be really good for Alaska,” she said. “I get to travel across the nation and let people know about our great state and about the people who live there.”

-- Robin Abcarian