I've been looking for how the right are going to spin the Sarah Palin Rape Kit story when it gets too big to ignore. The only writing in her defence I can find that seems substantial enough that it might provide an indication is this National Review blog entry: Six Points to Consider When Reading About Wasilla's Policy on Rape Kits.
As the title of the article suggests, they don't present a single coherent narrative thread around which a story can be woven in her defence; rather they seem to be exploring six different ways they might escape, but committing themselves to none. And I don't think any of them are going to work.
Let's go through it point by point.
Six Points to Consider When Reading About Wasilla's Policy on Rape Kits
A few points to consider when you hear about the town of Wasilla, and its egregious former policy of charging rape victims for rape kits, a topic USA Today examined today.
- It is indeed a terrible policy [...]
That it goes on everywhere is no excuse. She should have been aware of the practice, as Obama was, and she should be on record as trying to stop it, as Obama is as co-sponsor of the 2001 bill you link to.
- Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella told USA Today [...]
Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella refused to answer USA Today's questions about what she knew and when; if she wants to mount a defence of ignorance she'll have to give us details about that. Didn't she notice that House Bill 270 was passing through the Alaska legislature?
In any case, of course, ignorance hardly reflects well on her either.
- The Police Chief of Wasilla who oversaw this policy may have been wrong [...]
What the hell does enforcing a victim-pays policy have to do with wanting a perpetrator-pays policy? Now you're just changing the subject.
- An aide to a Democratic state legislator tells USA Today [...]
The state does have the highest per capita rate of reported rapes, 2.4 times the national average. Wasilla is so small that the error bars on the reported rape rate are quite large compared to the size of the numbers.
- Starting next year [...]
Whereas the policy under Palin was to charge you whether you filed a report or not.
- Let’s concede the worst [...]
I did a search on the bill you attack Obama with here, and I can't find anyone making a fuss about it but the Moonies of the Washington Times, so if there's a "there" there no-one else is talking about it.