The crowd — on TV and in the bar — was on her side. Then, 10 minutes in, Palin swung hard with her right. “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer,” Palin said, “except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Bar-goers seemed to gasp in unison.

This Palin lunging at Sen. Barack Obama on national TV was not the irresistibly likable, maverick governor they had come to know.

Read the rest of McGann’s story, which illuminates both Palin’s career and the political climate in Alaska, here.

I told her I appreciated her help, since I’m sure she’s been bombarded with requests these last few weeks. The clerk’s office keeps all City Council meeting agendas, minutes, legislation, ordinances, etc. She chuckled. Then she told me that I’m the first person who has asked her office for anything.

Meanwhile, it appears Palin’s record on earmarks is less cut-and-dried than it once appeared.

If you’d like to follow McGann’s great Alaskan adventure, click here for her Twitter feed.  There you’ll learn fun facts like this:

Palin beat her opponent in the 1996 mayor’s race 616-413.

and

Walmart employs 4 times as many people here as the city of Wasilla.

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney gave a presentation in Muscatine on Thursday that included a video display with graphs, statistics and bullet points. His event was billed as a talk on his “Strategy for a Stronger America: Strengthening America’s Economy.” He talked and explained slides that gave statistical projections on subjects including taxes, immigration and U.S. oil dependence.

During a question-and-answer period, one man from the audience asked about drilling for oil in domestic territories, particularly in Alaska.

Romney said he thinks drilling in “Alaska is the easiest, the people of the state want us to drill there and the nation wants to drill there. Let’s do it. But in this case the Democrats are listening to extreme environmentalists that say no.”

During his answer Romney said 60 percent of U.S. oil is imported. The Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy has predicted that imported oil will rise to 70 percent by 2025.

Romney went on to talk about energy from nuclear power and how the U.S. is “beholden to people like Putin, Ahmadinejad and Chavez,” referring to the current leaders of Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Romney also took a question from Muscatiner Amanda Gott on “sanctuary” cities in the U.S.

Following his stop in Muscatine, Romney headed to Bettendorf, Iowa, for a press photo opportunity.