Fact Check: Did Palin say 'no thanks' to the Bridge to Nowhere?

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/20/art.palinkarz.gi.jpg caption="What's Palin's real history with the Bridge to Nowhere? "]The Statement:

During a campaign stop Monday, Sept. 15, in Golden, Colorado, Republican vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin repeated claims that, as Alaska's governor, she fought federal funding for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" - a $223 million project requested by Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to build a bridge to an island with roughly 50 residents. The plan became a symbol of government waste and was scrapped.

"That infamous Bridge to Nowhere, I did tell Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,'"Palin said in her Monday speech, repeating a line from her speech at the Republican National Convention. "If we wanted a bridge up there, we will build it ourselves."

Get the facts after the jump!

The Facts: Palin voiced support for the plan while running for governor. "I'm not going to stand in the way of progress that our congressional delegation - in the position of strength that they have right now - they're making those efforts for the state of Alaska to build up our infrastructure," Palin said during a Nov. 2, 2006 debate shortly before her election as governor, according to CNN reporting. "I would not get in the way of progress of this project or other projects they're working so hard on."

She rejected the bridge after she was elected and the project became a famous symbol of government waste. When she rejected the project as governor, Palin said objections to the project were "based on inaccurate portrayals," CNN has reported. Also, Alaska kept the federal money intended for the project, using it on other transportation projects.

Verdict: MISLEADING