I was unsure how the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter would affect social conservatives' view of the governor's nomination for VP, but they seem to be taking it in their stride. If anything they are seeing it as a positive--more proof that Mrs Palin is a good and supportive mother. At any rate, they say, it is nobody's business but the family's.
The other good news for the McCain campaign is that many Democrats are mishandling the issue as badly as they mishandled the nomination in the first place. There is a tone of exultation over the Palin family's difficulties that will strike many centrists, and decent people regardless of ideology, as repellent. Again, to his enormous credit, Obama himself was the exception. What a class act he is. He reminded reporters that he is the son of an unmarried mother, said the families of candidates and especially their children should be off-limits, and told the press to drop the story. It won't of course: it will mine it for all it is worth. But Obama said the right thing and gave every sign of meaning it.
I think part of the outrage one sees in much of the press and TV coverage of the Palin nomination is disappointed amour propre. We had not been talking about Palin; Palin had not occurred to us; therefore, by definition, Palin was not a worthy contender. Of course, it may turn out that she is not: knowing so little about her, we are not yet in a position to say. But it would do the press a world of good if she proves us wrong.
At the very least, despite the Republican instinct to rally round, and the Democratic instinct to pile on, the news takes the shine off the Palin nomination. And there are dangers ahead as the digging proceeds. My first thought was to wonder if McCain had known about the pregnancy when he announced his choice. He says yes--as he had to. If it should somehow turn out that he didn't know, then he would be guilty both of lying about that and of the too-hasty judgment in nominating Palin he is accused of. If on the other hand he did know, his choice was surely all the more risky and all the more remarkable.
Barring more surprises, it still comes down to how Palin fares in speeches and interviews from now on--and above all in the debate with Biden on October 2nd. If Biden makes her look a fool, McCain's gamble will have failed, and I don't see how he can recover. If she impresses, McCain will likely be in a much stronger position than if he had chosen a safer VP. Whether he knows it or not, McCain has staked everything on this choice. Meanwhile, if the Democrats had any sense, they would follow their leader's dignified and expedient example, shut up, and wait and see. Luckily for the Republicans, they apparently don't.
I recommend this piece (a report from the Palins' home town) by Nathan Thornburgh for Time. I was also struck by this email from a reader, representative of many others I have received:
My wife was on the fence in this election, and is pro-choice. She does not like McCain, and is lukewarm about Obama and Biden.
The Palin pick energized her to call me from work, email me, and--are you ready?--send in $$ to the McCain camp. I was floored (she voted Kerry last election.) She says the story of Palin (which she spent two hours on line researching) has touched her heart, inspired her, and that is enough. She and her friends are meeting Wednesday for dinner (six to nine women) "to talk about Sarah . . . and Hillary."
Not Governor Palin. "Sarah."
My college daughter is reacting the same way and sent McCain $15.00.
I think there is something happening that I don't fully understand, but there it is.Time will tell.
"Then on Monday [Brown] demanded of another McCain surrogate to know whether Palin could be a good mother since she had knowingly thrust her daughter into the spotlight. But who, for heaven's sake, is directing that spotlight?"
This comment, Mr. Crook, is just willfully naive. Did Gov. Palin somehow imagine that her family would escape scrutiny in a presidential election, even without such revelations? The notion that the press is somehow overstepping bounds by thoroughly covering the most important event in the national calendar is...ludicrous.
I fully supported Campbell Brown's efforts to get McCain's represenatative to answer the questions she put to him. He evaded, and evaded, and evaded in a--yes--laughably pathetic way.
It's your mugger comparison that's odious.
Clive,
I agree with everything you've written on this post though I feel the press and not the Democratic party are the one's going overboard here.
Which surrogate or prominent democrat or democrat related website is pushing the Bristol story or using it to attack the ticket?
Thank you.
Whao!
The spin never ends. The question I asked myself is this - Do I see a President Palin competently running the country with McCain incapacitated?
George Bush was sold as the guy you could have a drink with and look where that got us. Despite the grand failures of the current Republican administration, the conservative movement has no reservations pushing an obviously unvetted/unprepared VP candidate.
Hopefully there is an upside to all this. Which is, the Republican ticket fails so miserably that the non-wacko Christian wing can re-take the party and push forth a new manifesto.
I agree that Palin's daughter and her pregnancy is off limits. However, John McCain should not have picked her for several much better reasons. Namely that she is being investigated for abuse of power in her own state and that she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party who advocate succession from the union. The press has turned all of this up in just a few days! It's obvious that she was vetted little if at all.
John McCain's motives for putting her on the ticket were political pandering and had nothing to do with choosing the best person to serve our country as vice-president.
If there is any justice for him or for us he will loose in a landslide and I'll sleep much better.
Are you serious? Blaming the media for shining a national spotlight on the presidential election? I'm sorry, but that's their job. This is an election for the highest office in the land -- the candidates should be under intense scrutiny as we, the people, make our decisions on who is best to lead this nation going forward.
If any party deserves criticism in this debacle, it's Palin for selfishly putting her daughter through this ordeal to achieve her own ambition, not the media for merely doing its job and keeping the public informed.
I also think it's rather absurd of you to cite anecdotal evidence (selective quotations from e-mails) in support of the hypothesis that McCain is gaining support from Democrat and independent women when every poll taken since Palin's selection has shown that women who identify as Democrats and independents are even LESS likely to vote for McCain now.
Clive,
Is it true you have three testicles?
Palin's family off-limits? Maybe for Barack Obama, but not for me.
Democrats shoot themselves in both feet every time they try to take the high road, because the Republicans never do. For example, if I were Al Gore, I would still be contesting the 2000 election instead of all that "concede and heal" nonsense.
So... I'll say what nobody else will. If Sarah Palin can't keep tabs on her own daughter, arming her with abstinence education and Christian piety, how, someone tell me, how, in God's name, is she supposed to run a country?
If baby Trig, known to have Down Syndrome, came prematurely by a month to a 44-year-old mother, and that mother, Governor Palin, finished a speech and then flew for 12 hours with her water broken only to pass up two hospitals with NICUs only to give birth in some backwater medical clinic, how, in God's name, are we to trust her to handle a time-is-of-the-essence international crisis?
If son Track can't be mentioned in public without noting that he enlisted last year, and, coincidentally is headed to Iraq this year on the same date-- September 11th-- then I'll be damned if I'll keep the kids out of it.
Governor Palin is, plainly and simply, whoring her kids out for political purposes. She's turning Track into a modern doughboy, Bristol into an anti-choice poster child, and using Trig as testament to her pioneer toughness, bragging that she returned to work just three days after birthing him... like that's something to be proud of.
She's a disgrace-- a political animal of the first order that could only be the creation of ambition, blind fervency, and Karl Rove.
Palin was member of the alaskan secession.
what the hell are you blaming democrats fr McCain's bumbling and fumbling? This is a superpower and is this the best we can get in a VP pick?
Bristol Palin and Baby...
http://media.tumblr.com/8tqDWct6Wdd4ridqNKz2c9zj_400.jpg
Clive, can't you see through the spin of those emails you're getting? I mean, come on! Look at the Alasksan newspapers. They are interviewing normal Alaskans and they are almost uniformly surprised and worried about McCain's judgment. And women are not rallying to "Sarah's" side. All polls and focus groups show that women, more than men, are disappointed and suspicious of this pick. Do not believe every anonymous email you get in your inbox, brother! I mean, come on, isn't it completely transparent the agenda there - "Hey my sisters, vote for the lady, she's just like you!" Fortunately, no amount of spin can cover up the facts - this was a pretty disastrous pick for McCain, and it's slowly blowing up in his face.
It seems like many people have once again reacted immediately on their emotions instead of waiting for all the facts. I am sure that Gov. Palin has flaws in both her life and political career. We are hard pressed to find anyone in politics who doesn't. Some of the esteemed members of our senate, representatives and very recent presidents have done things that the average Joe would be ashamed to see in the papers or in front of our church members.
The response by the media and Ms. Brown reflect the same things we have seen since the late 70's. It's more about ratings than objective facts.
Governor Palin may not answer all the things we need in a vice president, but that is why we vote in November, not in September. Get the facts out, sift through the commercials, etc...
My wife and I are just average americans in almost every way. We were not huge fans of McCain, but we like that he has chosen someone who may understand the average american, but time will tell.
My niece also sent a donation to McCain in the frenzy of Friday and at the family picnic yesterday professed remose (nothing to do with Sarah's children) as information about Palin's record as mayor and governor came falling out.
Not only did my niece become disillusioned overnight with Palin, but her worries about John McCain's decisionmaking were heightened.
This was not a good move on the part of the GOP/they have exactly one day to rectify this mistake by having Palin bow out as gracefully today before Wed. nomination or they make the trek to Nov with her dragging the ticket down more every day.
Her record shows she does not play well over time.
She is not a pick to get either independents or the Hillary crowd.
It seems like many people have once again reacted immediately on their emotions instead of waiting for all the facts.
I completely agree with this statement. Unfortunately, it appears that with this pick, McCain reacted immediately on his emotions instead of waiting for all the facts. This decision says nothing significant about Palin and everything about McCain.
Yes, Palin's family problems should be off limits in a specific way, but for heaven sake's, she supposedly knew her daughter was pregnant and still accepted this ticket....knowing full well what her daughter would be subjected to. If she didn't know, then she isn't saavy enough to be president. If she did know, then she is whoring her kids out for political purposes. I am a mother of two twentysomethings, and if my kids were in crisis, I would take care of them first. Period. The Republicans cannot spin this to make her appear good. In addition to these facts, the woman is for drilling in the Alaskan wilderness, she is against abortion EVEN in cases of rape or incest (that is taking it too far no matter what opinion one has on abortion), she has issues of impropriety in Alaska, she is anti-gay rights, and craziest of all is that she doesn't think humans have had a role in global warming. If all this isn't enought to convince people, then people are more stupid than I thought. I respected McCain until this; now I respect what he USED to be. He has sold himself to the Party and hopefully, he will realize it before it's too late. Sorry, you can't switch Hillary voters that easily; the American voter is much more sophisticated than that....(or maybe not...after all, we have had 8 excruciating years suffering under George W).
Quoth Clive:
That's the way it appears to me, too. There's a distinct inside-the-beltway arrogance amongst the journalist class, too, disdainful of fly-over country and its denizens.
FWIW, if you look at some of the photos from Palin's Dayton acceptance speech -- especially those posted online by Meghan McCain -- you'll find it hard to imagine anyone would not have realized that Bristol was pregnant.
I love it how when a Democrat has ANY non campaign related issue, said issue is an "important question" that "must be investigated" (Does Michelle Obama hate America?!, Is Obama a MUSLIM?!?!) But when a republican is subjected to the SAME scrutiny, suddenly it's 'overboard'. The current smarmy news/political environment was largely cultivated by Republican hacks like Rove and even Ken Starr (only pre-releasing the sex portions of his report...) and now that the same attitude falls on a republican who finally instills some hope into the base, everyone is upset? You know that feeling you are experiencing? The feeling of watching one of your heroes unfairly harangued in the media? Sucks doesn't it? Enjoy...
Much as I dislike the press/media focusing on people's private lives, in most instances it seems that the persons in question would do best to be forthcoming and upfront initially, rather than have potentially damaging information come out in a slow drip, or be dragged out of them. Sarah Palin's daughter is her own business, but if McCain had truly known from the outset of her pregnancy, it could somehow have been incorporated into the initial introduction of the family, just as her son's military service was, or her younger son's Down Syndrome. They could have said something like "and my daughter Bristol is soon to be married and is expecting a baby that we will all be delighted to welcome to our family."
Aside from that, the truly frightening thought about Ms. Palin's candidacy is that she could one day be the leader of the world's only super power. What could McCain have been thinking, or not thinking when he chose someone with so little experience of the wider world??? He has incredible nerve to put our country and the world in such jeopardy. As one British commentator put it, "God help America!" Not to mention how the focus of all this is on issues like abortion (not that that isn't very important), religious values, etc., rather than on the overwhelming problems that confront the entire world and that our country is very much a part of. I hope the people of this country pay attention to the issues, and THINK a bit before casting their ballots, rather than blindly following their emotions.
Kathleen
First, the pick has excited both my wife and I. Granted we don't know all of the details (like just about every other American), but it has shaken things up, which as needed thing in our stale political environment.
What I find laughable is that both sides have declared victory with the pick. Obama's people say she killed McCain's changes, McCain's people say she sealed the deal. They both keep spewing out the same rhetoric and same "reasons" why their side has already won.
What I read into this whole thing is that there is fresh new blood that is untainted by "mainstream" politics. If Biden makes her look like a fool, then it will be a disaster. But if the newcomer can jump into the big leagues and hold her own then it will give a whole new start to the election from both sides. McCain would obviously have the upper hand at that point, but it would by no means be over.
Bottom line is that this is going to be an amazing election to watch. So calm down people. Stop taking sides and throwing out baseless claims. Go pop some popcorn and get ready to watch history be made one way or another!
Jonathan,
Of course!! Because there are no high stakes here! It's not the leadership of the free world, it's just a movie!!
Make mine Orville Redenbacher!!
I think the only reason why her story is getting as much attention due to her daughter's pregnancy is because of the blatant hypocrisy that is going on. We all know if this story was turned around, the republicans would be doing the same thing.
What about that email that was going around claiming that Obama was Muslim and that he had to be a terrorsit because his middle name is "Huessein". Like he had something to do with his name. The same way that has nothing to do with how he would run the country is the same way Palin's daughter's pregnancy would have nothing to do with how she would run the country. But for some reason, democrats get blamed for bringing it up when there is no way in the world this would go unspoken by the republican party.
I feel sorry for Bristol and I hope her pregnancy does turn out ok. I feel bad that they are thrown into the spotlight although this is to expected. I just wish that people would stop lying to themselves and stop acting like this would never be a problem if the tables were turned.
The whole inexperience spiel is crazy too. All this time everyone talked about how "inexperienced" Obama was but yet they chose someone who is inexperienced. I personally wouldn't hold that against her if the McCain camp hadn't made it such a big deal for Obama. The hypocrisy is what is the most ridiculous out of everything and I think that's the real reason why people are disecting her the way the are.
I can only partially agree with you. I think when Obama asked everyone to drop the baby issue - it should have been dropped - at LEAST by democrats - let the press do what they will. But grilling Tucker whatshisname into the ground for an answer on the issue of McCain's abandonment of the issue of experience was absolutely reasonable. NOT because experience is (in itself) the end all and be all of anything, but because the McCain camp has always made out like it was - making the choice of Palin a rather odd one, reeking of political opportunism.
I don't think much of the press these days - I didn't even watch the news outlets during the convention. But I happened to catch that one exchange, and I have to admit that it was a fair one.
QT
um. I think you have it a bit wrong in your post, here.
Obama was not the son of an unmarried mom. His mother and father were married!!! Big difference here, and a point that you should correct in your original post!!
1) There are always a few rotten apples in every barrel. Don’t take a few and label it as “many Democrats are mishandling the issue as badly as they mishandled the nomination.” There are rotten apples on the GOP side as well.
2) The issue is not Sarah Palin’s 17 year old daughter, but rather Palin’s credibility herself. As well we’re following the Troopergate story – yet under investigation as to whether she used her political rank to influence.
3) The Democrats went to Alaska to vet Palin, and were told that No One else had asked to research their files which are not online. How hasty, was his decision?
4) And finally, I would recommend that you visit http://worldpoliticsreview.com/Article.aspx?id=2605
Is Europe Again Starting to Like Its American Cousin?
Europeans are excited about America's elections. Once again, Europeans are finding inspiration from across the ocean.
Obama is the overwhelming favorite, even as McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate has stirred curiosity, adding further to the level of European interest in the race for the White House.
“At times, it seems people here have forgotten the U.S. presidential election is not over. Many talk of how the world will change after Bush, as if Obama already lives in the White House. “
Beverly Hillbillies
Here were Obama's exact comments:
"You know, my mother had me when she was 18. How family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics. I hope that anybody who's supported me understands that's off limits."
He NEVER said his mom was not married, as his mom and dad were married. Big difference!! Please correct the false blog post. Thanks
When will you admit that McCain made a judgment error in that he made a hasty decision and did not vet her. Would you like a gambler in the white house? I don't think most women do. Yes the women from her hometown and evangelicals might be ecstatic but everyone else is horrified.
I have yet to see any Democrat actually use the pregnancy as a smear. Does anyone have any examples?
TO ME THE WORSE THING ABOUT PALIN IS:-
From TIME Online (Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008 By NATHAN THORNBURGH)
"...Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Thats right folks, SHE IS AGAINST FREE SPEECH!! How scary is that for a President of the United States?
TO ME THE WORSE THING ABOUT PALIN IS:-
From TIME Online (Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008 By NATHAN THORNBURGH)
"...Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Thats right folks, SHE IS AGAINST FREE SPEECH!! How scary is that for a President of the United States?
TO ME THE WORSE THING ABOUT PALIN IS:-
From TIME Online (Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008 By NATHAN THORNBURGH)
"...Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Thats right folks, SHE IS AGAINST FREE SPEECH!! How scary is that for a President of the United States?
TO ME THE WORSE THING ABOUT PALIN IS:-
From TIME Online (Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008 By NATHAN THORNBURGH)
"...Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Thats right folks, SHE IS AGAINST FREE SPEECH!! How scary is that for a President of the United States?
Also - to the charge of media myopia - wasn't it this very site that raised the spectre of Palin as a nominee? And I'd certainly heard about it on the Blogosphere...
If the media got caught with their pants down, shame on them. It ought to be standard practice now for big media to have as part of their intelligence gathering - eyes on the blogs.
QT
I disagree on your assessment of Campbell Brown. The mothering point was a bit lame, yes. But when Tucker Bounds rolled out the "Sarah Palin commanded the Alaska National Guard" line, she called him on it. And she wouldn't let him weasel out of naming one instance of a decision she'd made in that capacity, which he of course could not do. Thank god, I though, somebody in the media doing their job.
Her teenage daughter's pregnancy is irrelevant, but fit for the job she is not. I'm only disappointed in the media's focus on the juicy gossip because there is so much politically relevant fertile ground for questioning her nomination and McCain's judgment.
Say what you want about Campbell but she's awesome here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYiw_y2qDI
Anyone who blames Gov. Palin for her daughter's pregnancy is naive, has no children, or both. In my opinion, she and her husband are setting a good example of parenting in a crisis.
I would like to know the truth. Did she abuse her power when it came to her exbrother in law's firing? Sounds like he was a detriment to his job and his wife - but fair is fair!
At any rate, they say, it is nobody's business but the family's.
Um. What? Social conservatives say a teenager getting pregnant out of wedlock is nobody's business but the family? The cognitive dissonance threatens to disrupt the space-time continuum....
"many Democrats are mishandling the issue as badly as they mishandled the nomination in the first place."
Mr. Crook, either back up this outrageous statement about "Democrats" or take this Republican talking point off.
i saw this interview with Campbell Brown and looked for comments regardng it today. She is pathetic.
Your comment is right on track. My wife called me at work, crying with joy of the Palin pick. This is a call of support from an entire class of women who are marginalized by the MSM, Democrats, and Hollywood for not bowing to liberal feminist orthodoxy. I think MSM is terrified that they will answer.
I'll take Palin over Biden in a foxhole any day. She can take care of herself, and handle a weapon!
All of this from a party that hailed and celebrated Ted Kennedy last week, the man who let a girl drown while he saved his political behind.
This from a party that defended Bill Clinton who had sex with a young girl in the Oval office.
This from a party that idolizes every Hollywood tart and seducer who throws money their way.
There is hypocrisy out there but it's not in St Paul.
I like Palin, I do think that her experience is comparable to Obama's, and she has shown far more political courage than Obama. But I think Cambell Brown did a great job against Tucker. Give credit where credit is due.
I completely agree with you regarding Campbell Brown. I can't remember the last time I was so offended and appalled by an interviewer. I will do my best never to watch CNN again as a result. Seriously, it irritated me that much.
Amazing how the media has not once looked into Obama's activities in corrupt Chicago yet we know what this woman had for breakfast 18 years ago.
I completely agree with you regarding Campbell Brown. I can't remember the last time I was so offended and appalled by an interviewer. I will do my best never to watch CNN again as a result. Seriously, it irritated me that much.
Ohh the libs are so funny....Palin has more experience than Nobama yet he is ok for the #1 position and she isn't qualified for #2....Have they no shame?
What amazes me is that the daughter story isn't the real story. It is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is her direct association with a successionist organization and her history of pork barrelling. Also relevant is that she is an obvious political pick as opposed to one that would actually make sense as far as governing - she undermines both of McCain's arguments: Country first (not with this pick) and inexperience (obviously he is disingenuous about that as well).
These stories are getting far more play in the liberal blogosphere than the baby silliness. It is the MSM that is obsessed with the baby - but what else would you expect?
clive, i have never read you before. i stumbled upon this post and i will make sure never to read you again. you really don't know what you are talking about
I must say ditto about being completely re-energized by the pick of Sara Palin. All my girlfiends will be meeting next week to also talk about " Sara". Yep this is the real deal . I have not seen this much excitment in the " girls" in a long time. Moose gutting, caribou hunting beauty queen from Alaska- who knew?
Did you even watch the CNN clip? Tucker Bounds dodged the question so many times that it was virtually impossible to avoid chuckling. When you can't come up with a new way to answer by rephrasing the question, and you just start repeating yourself, you are a pretty laughable spokesman. A journalist who lets someone off the hook for that kind of evasiveness is no kind of journalist at all. And the question wasn't about Palin's family, it was about her executive experience. Get a clue, man. Or maybe get a clue, Atlantic editors.
"Then on Monday [Brown] demanded of another McCain surrogate to know whether Palin could be a good mother since she had knowingly thrust her daughter into the spotlight. But who, for heaven's sake, is directing that spotlight?"
This comment, Mr. Crook, is just willfully naive. Did Gov. Palin somehow imagine that her family would escape scrutiny in a presidential election, even without such revelations? The notion that the press is somehow overstepping bounds by thoroughly covering the most important event in the national calendar is...ludicrous.
I fully supported Campbell Brown's efforts to get McCain's represenatative to answer the questions she put to him. He evaded, and evaded, and evaded in a--yes--laughably pathetic way.
It's your mugger comparison that's odious.
Posted by Dale | September 2, 2008 3:54 AM
************
No Dale you are wrong, I saw the same thing and had the same comment. It was disgusting the way that that bit ch Brown was acting. What was even better though was how the guy from the McCain campaign dressed her down and got her so mad. He smacked her up one side and down the other. She was defending the Sainted One experience left and right while trying to trash Palin. You can argue one or the other but as the guy said tell me one thing that Saint O has executive experience in? Brown of course could not and that got her all the madder.
She has more executive experience than Barry
Obama....She even has more than Mccain....A senator does nothing except vote they dont run
anything at least she has experience running a state...what has Barry Obama ever run except to
the corner as a child for more drugs
Between Sarah and Hillary America is about to get a graduate seminar in the sexism of large segments of the Democratic Party.
Kudos for an honest and compassionate look at this situation. The Dems are so filled with rage that a smart, capable and appealing woman is NOT in their party that they are having a hate-fest of carping and jealousy. Grow up, little babies. You should be glad that the Republicans finally "get it" and are promoting women to high office. Or does not being a Dem make her not a woman?
Good lord! You people are focusing on all the petty personal things and spreading more vicious rumors that have nothing to do with Palin's capacity in government. The liberals try to take the high road but are bashing a 17 year old girl all the while.
Unbelievable. The liberals are smearing more than the Republicans.
Good lord! You people are focusing on all the petty personal things and spreading more vicious rumors that have nothing to do with Palin's capacity in government. The liberals try to take the high road but are bashing a 17 year old girl all the while.
Unbelievable. The liberals are smearing more than the Republicans.
Great article, but one item to clarify...
'He reminded reporters that he is the son of an unmarried mother"
His mother was married, but was just 18 years of age when he was born.
Memo to Politicians: PLEASE keep your kids OFF the stage!
I think this national tendency to exploit minor children in political campaigns is dreadful.
Here is my view of the ethical standards that should apply:
Fine to have the spouce come around on the campaign trail if he/she has nothing better to do.
Fine to have children over the age of 18 campaign for you, but not required (you never see McCain's kids and I think that is just fine).
Children under 18 should be quietly seated in the audience. Or else left at home with a responsible adult. Fine to mention them in a speech from time to time but please don't parade them around the platform.
I think Palin's exploitation of her minor kids, who had no choice about having themselves put on public display to millions, is deplorable. And, frankly, I think even Obama has stepped pretty close to the line with his young daughers. He should take a page from the Clintons and keep them out of the spotlight, too.
This panic from the left just proves that McCain's choice was a brilliant one, and a game changer.
"The choice is clear. Most of all we can choose between hope and fear. It is going to be very difficult for Democrats to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy. We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of Palin. She’s young and inexperienced and she gave her kids funny names. And did I mention she’s a woman"
Having watched Campbell Brown's interview with Tucker Bounds, I have to say that I think your characterization of the interview is way off base. Tucker Bounds, and the McCain campaign's surrogates, are trying to pass her off as having some kind of national security experience... which she clearly doesn't. One wouldn't expect the governor of a small state to have such experience anyway, but please, let's not pretend that she does... I think they're actually saying that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her national security experience. Anyway, CNN's Brown was just calling him on it, and when he kept feeding her crap talking points, she kept pushing. If I'm not mistaken, that's what journalism is supposed to look like. Maybe we're all just too accustomed to the idiots they put on tv accepting bogus talking points as answers. Good for Campbell Brown!
This Bristol Palin pregnancy story is becoming so incredibly funny as every pundit needs to put in his or her five cents' worth. It's a pregnancy - a condition that happens all the time. The girl didn't do anything illegal, didn't commit a crime, didn't befriend or harbor terrorists. I didn't know progeny virginity was a job requirement for a VP to the US President. Bristol seems to be the kind of girl who likes to have too much fun - let her be. To have the mother pay for the daughter's unintended pregnancy is cruel and unsophisticated.
For the posters who say that the Liberal wings of the Democrats are not attacking Sarah, who is the DailyKOS and DU to you? Do you deny they are the Libs vassels?
And George Soros and P Heinz Kerry who are bankrolling the takeover of the Democratic Party (my former party) by the extreme left? He is not your original parties' worst nightmare?
Hillary was treated incredibly poorly by the Deans. No wonder so many of her supporters are feeling the "scales fall from their eyes'.
The "Liberals" aren't smearing the 17 year old. They're mindboggled that someone so clearly unqualified for office would be chosen as a veep. Plain and simple. This story means nothing -- the McCain camp clearly meant to have it out yesterday as a news dump, and it worked. There are real issues that make Palin unqualified, not the least of which is her seeming disinterest in anything non-Alaskan for her whole life. The vindictive firings, would be book-bannings and the rest just make the point more clear.
To reiterate -- no one is smearing her daughter. We just don't see why the mother is any more qualified to be veep than the daughter.
What do you know..... a REAL honest to God person, who is not afraid of hypocritical, idealistic, nonsense, and she really is cracking that glass ceiling like an atomic bomb. It is not BECAUSE you are a woman, Sarah Palin, but IN SPITE of it, many of us are behind you 110%. Even though I AM from the South.....I am a retired professional person with M.Ed. .... early childhood , and of the 70's..... It is a long time coming... LONG overdue, but..... it is TIME the world wakes up to a McCain/Palin reform. Kudos to you......Sarah "Baracuda" Palin!
Well done! Your insights and fair assessment of the "Sarah" nomination is spot-on, as evidenced by the shallow-headed negative moanings of your frightened liberal responders.
QueenTiye:
I can only partially agree with you. I think when Obama asked everyone to drop the baby issue - it should have been dropped - at LEAST by democrats - let the press do what they will. But grilling Tucker whatshisname into the ground for an answer on the issue of McCain's abandonment of the issue of experience was absolutely reasonable. NOT because experience is (in itself) the end all and be all of anything, but because the McCain camp has always made out like it was - making the choice of Palin a rather odd one, reeking of political opportunism.
I don't think much of the press these days - I didn't even watch the news outlets during the convention. But I happened to catch that one exchange, and I have to admit that it was a fair one.
QT
Posted by: QueenTiye | September 2, 2008 10:00 AM
***********
Tell me what was fair about her continued attack when that guy answered the question? He gave the answer but because he did not agree with her that she was not qualified she kept attacking. If you asked me he got the better but getter her cheesed by the end because he out witted her. She looked like a crying baby over the whole thing because that guy would not agree with her. Who is she to decide who is qualified or not? I thought she was supposed to ask the questions and let you decide. She wanted to ask the questions and make the decision as well.
It appears the crusty old Religious Right is more forgiving and tolerant of messy humanity than the New Left and the MSM? The irony is delicious.
I write this as a member of none of the above.
I wonder if these people who support McCain on picking Palin would be excited if something happen to McCain and she's preident God forbid and she's suddenly faced with foreign policy issues and sluggish econmony and high gas prices what would be her response. I think the american people need to really look at the issues before they speak McCain is gambling with the American public and he has made a poor judgement call. He is very danagerous to be president let alone someone whose has very little qualifications to be the next president.
Wake Up American People
McCain is putting your kids at risk and your grandchildren just to get a vote.
For months Hillary asked that the spotlight be put on Obama and the press did nothing.
When the Reverent Wright story came out Anderson Cooper was telling pundits on his show not to mention it because it did not matter.
Now Sarah Palin comes on the scene and journalists all over sudden discover that they are journalists. There sending people to Alaska and talking to everyone and all.
Is anyone stopped to asked if they even talked to any friends of Obama. From what I understand friends of Obama are not allowed to talk to the press and no one is asking why.
When Hillary was running she kept saying she has experience and he doesn't. The press said experience doesn't matter. They like Obama and that's all that matters. Now Palin comes on the scene and press want to know all about her experience. Where was that curiosity about Obama's experience when Hillary was begging for it.
All I know for sure is this. I don't care what people say but race is not as important as gender. A black man can go farther in life than a woman of any color could ever. Sarah Palin is proof of that. Hopefully I'm proven wrong this November and the McCain/Palin tickets win. I'm optimistic it will.
"The choice is clear. Most of all we can choose between hope and fear. It is going to be very difficult for Democrats to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy. We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of Palin. She’s young and inexperienced and she gave her kids funny names. And did I mention she’s a woman"
Can anyone tell me what happened to the tradition of leaving children out of the limelight? I can remember that during the democratic primary there was a correspondent on I believe MSNBC that was fired for making a passing comment about Chelsea Clinton. My heart goes out the Bristol Palin; I don't support the actions that put her in this situation, but I respect the fact that she and her family don't view this pregnancy as a life ruining mistake (drawing from Obama's view of this situation). I can't wait for this hypocritical banter to backfire on the liberal bloggosphere and media; if they aren't careful they'll lose this for Obama.
On a secondary note: since when did experience matter to so many of these critics. If they are so concerned about Palin's experience if something were to happen to McCain why are they not equally concerned about Obama's experience at the top of the ticket. As far as I can tell its a pretty even field at that point. Under that logic every critic on this topic with Palin should vote for Nader or Barr seeing as the two major party tickets are pretty identical from an inversed perspective!
I can only presume that all of the sexists who believe the media coverage of the Palin's family affairs and medical history is simply a fair part of the effort to understand where Palin is coming from will also understand the appropriateness of requiring future women who seek similar offices to disclose whether they and/or their daughters have had abortions.
The coverage of this matter, starting with coverage of accusations that Palin faked her pregnancy to protect her daughter and ending with questions of whether a fit mother would seek a high office based on the pain it might cause her children is hypocritical misogyny of the highest order.
Perhaps Obama should be called upon to provide DNA samples to prove that he is actually the father of his children. Perhaps Michelle should be called upon to disclose any pregnancies which were not taken to full term. Ridiculous? Absolutely.
The media attention to matters pertaining to the Palin children is wrong. Plain and simple. It is wrong for Palin. It is wrong for Obama.
We listened to Dems all over the place howl about the coverage of a candidate's affair with a staff member. Where are you now?
Sounds a lot like obama has his people working overtime to justify campbell's going off the deep end and unjustly attacking Sarah. The obama camp must REALLY BE AFRAID. Guess they should be. I am an example of what was lost when the media, DNC, obama and his camp went after Hillary. I left the DNC after 40 yrs of faithfull voting straight ticket. I am now an Independent and will be voting for McCain/Palin. At first my extensive family members were scandelized, but are now having seconds thoughts as well! I am an educated hispanic veteran....SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
I see the Obama sheeple are scared sh*tless over the Gov. Palin VP pick... and for VERY GOOD REASON!
Too bad for you. I can't wait until November. Now, it's time to go to work fixing Congress!
I was hoping for Governor Palin to be chosen but did not believe it would happen. I'm only in my twenties but I think I now have an idea what it was like when Reagan first came on to the national stage. I made this video in tribute to Sarah. Please share the link for this video with others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quvBbcFDPI0
"Thats right folks, SHE IS AGAINST FREE SPEECH!! How scary is that for a President of the United States?"
ask Obama
I was offended and turned-off by Campbell Brown's attack-dog style of interviewing, which came thru as totally emotional and completely unprofessional.
I think it surprised and threw Tucker Bounds out of step enough to give back a coherent reply, which should have been:
She sympathized with Gov. Jindal's decision to send the Louisiana National Guard into Gustav's path, as she had to do the same and mobilize the Alaskan National Guard during recent flooding.
Delio.
The hatred and bile that is spilled from some of the obviously liberal comments is astounding to me. These same people are joyous about Palin's daughter's troubles but would also joyously vote for philanderers like Edwards, Kennedy and Clinton.
The same people that are piling on the experience issue with Palin are the same ones that were defending Obama whose resume is only slightly longer.
The same people that are criticizing Palin’s association with the succession party are the ones defending Obama that association with the Rev Wright does not matter
Liberal = Hypocrisy is what I see.
They are so consumed with the righteousness of their position they are blind to reality. They are out to save the world and will do anything, lie cheat and steel to get their way.
This is the ends justifies the means crowd. I am quite frankly frightened of them much more than the George Bushes of the world. It is these people so consumed with the rightness of their position that they have no room for discussion or respect for others point of view. It is holy war against the ignorant. Their definition of ignorant is that you do not agree with them.
" . . . This is like the mugger who tells his victim he regrets what's happening, "but why were you so stupid as to walk up this dark alley?" . . .
No, it's really more like the people who send their children up a dark alley by preaching that abstinence is their only protection, and are then shocked, shocked to find themselves dealing with a (COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE) family crisis.
Y'know, Mr. Crook (assuming you've read this far in the comments, which would be stunning), I get the FT and read you over there too. It seems to me you really get a different kind of reader and comment at the Atlantic (a magazine I've also long gotten in print). I guess that's to be expected: those are publications with different audiences and foci.
I'd be very interested, should you have time, in hearing what thoughts you might have on how the audiences differ and whether that creates tensions in how to write a given piece, knowing that it has to communicate in different venues. I know that's off-topic by the comments bring it up.
Well, at least we know those Palin gals are fertile! Mama Palin must be so proud of how her "abstinence-only" education worked for her irresponsible daughter! Typical of the holier-than-thou,hypocritical conservatives, preaching one life and living another. The media glare is right where it should be--at the no experience former pageant contestant and her pathetic inability to run her own house, much less the White House. What a joke of a VP pick--McCain must be senile! BTW--I don't know a single former Hillary supporter who will support this light-weight in go-go boots.
If Cambell Brown could increase her IQ by 50 points she would have an IQ of 50 - Long live the brain-less wonder.
Governor Palin has more effective experience as the Republican VP nominee than Obama has in his bid for POTUS. Obama has no accomplishments of record, save the ability to give a great prepared speech. Palin has fought corruption in her own party, killed the Bridge to Nowhere, negotiated with Canada & Russia as governor of Alaska.
Consider the huge number of parents out here who have taught their children what to do, what not to do, & sometimes even what to do if they do what they shouldn't do - only to see their kids have an unplanned pregnancy. Palin's family & she are facing this with courage - not running away & hiding.
Palin is a wonderful pick because she is a authentic person - not a career politician who has been on the wrong side of things for years (Biden) or a typical machine politician (Obama).
It's hilarious that the press & punditry are comparing her experience to Obama's. She has much more relevant experience than he. Not to mention she's going for VP - Obama is going for POTUSA. Every time her experience is questioned, sane people think of how unprepared Obama is...
Governor Palin has more effective experience as the Republican VP nominee than Obama has in his bid for POTUS. Obama has no accomplishments of record, save the ability to give a great prepared speech. Palin has fought corruption in her own party, killed the Bridge to Nowhere, negotiated with Canada & Russia as governor of Alaska.
Consider the huge number of parents out here who have taught their children what to do, what not to do, & sometimes even what to do if they do what they shouldn't do - only to see their kids have an unplanned pregnancy. Palin's family & she are facing this with courage - not running away & hiding.
Palin is a wonderful pick because she is a authentic person - not a career politician who has been on the wrong side of things for years (Biden) or a typical machine politician (Obama).
It's hilarious that the press & punditry are comparing her experience to Obama's. She has much more relevant experience than he. Not to mention she's going for VP - Obama is going for POTUSA. Every time her experience is questioned, sane people think of how unprepared Obama is...
Wow, it's really heartening to see the lib Dems so shrill, panicking about Palin so quickly after her nomination!
It’s hilariously funny, too, because of their hypocrisy in so many ways, such as on the experience issue, where Palin’s executive experience as the VP exceeds Obama’s - and has Obama citing his *campaign* experience as his “executive” experience! At least the McCain/Palin ticket isn’t upside-down like the Biden/Obama ticket.
Never really thought that by someone’s daughter getting pregnant it would make them less capable of doing their job…Should it have been disclosed, yeah probably, but when the Boy Wonder, Bill Clinton, was having inappropriate relations in the White House the liberals all cried that what he does in his own PERSONAL time was his own PERSONAL business. How quickly we all forget…
I'll quickly agree that the storm of hatred from Democrats just may end up hurting them more than Palin and McCain. And I also agree that Dems couldn't shut up even if it was printed in the sky that they were screwing themselves.
The only thing I ask is this: Is there any possibility that if Dems lose, all the wild postings on internet blogs after the election won't blame it on racism, that just some will blame Dems for picking a naked candidate?
Naw, no chance!!
Lo' down and dirty! Of course I expect that from the LAME STREAM MEDIA. And these very idiots who spew such putrid crap should talk about values when they have a candidate in Obama whose "globetrotting mother" had him out of wedlock, and who has a womanizing and drunk of a dad. I would not talk about values if I were the Obama camp!!!
Never really thought that by someone’s daughter getting pregnant it would make them less capable of doing their job…Should it have been disclosed, yeah probably, but when the Boy Wonder, Bill Clinton, was having inappropriate relations in the White House the liberals all cried that what he does in his own PERSONAL time was his own PERSONAL business. How quickly we all forget…
Interesting that people are willing to assume that since Palin’s daughter disobeyed her advise about sexual abstinence, that the same daughter would have heeded her advise about contraception. And, of course, while the *assumption* is that the daughter did not use contraception, there is no way to know whether contraception was used, but failed, as it sometimes does.
Oh, but excuse me for showing that many have preconceived notions about persons and events about which they are entirely ignorant of any details!
As a pro-choice Republican from Connecticut, I am thrilled by the selection of Gov. Palin as McCain's VP. While I don't agree on her about abortion (or evolution, for that matter) those are trivial issues compared to everything else.
As for the politics of it, I don't see her as necessarily appealing to women voters, and certainly not to liberal feminists. Rather, I think she will appeal more to blue collar men, exactly those voters who find Obama so distant and unappealing.
Go, Sarah!
TRIG'S DNA
We still need to determine who Trig's parents are, so there should be scientific testing. How about it Straight Talkers?
It is very easy to look up - Obama's parents were married on Feb 2, 1961 and he was born on Aug 4, 1961 (6 months and 2 days). Either he was 3 months pre-mature or his mother was 17 and unmarried we the Messiah was conceived.
In business, one of the best ways to determine how effective your proposal was – is to see how the opposition responds. It appears McCain’s choice was just what the doctor ordered.
Don't any of you realize this is not about the partisan Dems, or the partisan Repubs, it is about the moderate middle of the country. This entire election year has been disgusting. I don't care if Sarah's daughter is pregnant. I am pro-choice, but I have sat and held too many friends while they cried over nightmares about their aborted children to not understand why someone is pro-life. I am one Hillary supporter that is going to vote for McCain, and their are lots more of us out here. Obama is just too far to the left, and he is number one on the ticket.
BTW, Obama's father was not married to his mother. A wedding ceremony was performed, but his father was already married, so was not free to marry again. I don't care, it has nothing to do with Obama, it appears to have made him stronger. It is good that the press has ignored this distinction and not called him a bastard, as one poster calls Bristol Palin's unborn child. You people are truly sick.
One other thing. Gov. Palin is not opposed to birth control in any way. I believe she thinks (as most intelligent parents think) that unmarried children should not have sex. That her daughter didn't take that advice is unfortunate; how many of you parents out there are confident that your teenage children are always following your heartfelt wishes for their safety and well being?
Four of our lasr five presidents were Governors lacking foreign policy experience -- Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Dubya.
So why must a mere candidate for VP have foreign policy experience? Why can't a Governor be VP?
A double standard is being applied because Palin is a woman. If Romney were the pick, I doubt we'd be hearuingf about experience even though he was "just a Governor" too.
Re the status of Obama's parents:
His parents were not legally married. Obama's father already had a legal wife in Kenya. Bigamy trumps legitimacy.
Although why should this matter?
Trig's real mother is Cambell Brown - nice of Sarah to help out.
Campbell Brown's comments were appalling and ludicrous. What a shameless shill, what a homer for Obama.
Clive is right, she made no effort to hide her disgust with Sarah Palin. These questions would have NEVER been asked of a Democratic candidate. CNN and the other liberal media outlets did not even want to cover John Edwards when there was proof he was having an affair while his wife is dying of cancer!
CNN and Campbell Brown have moved beyond the pale where they can claim to be REPORTING the news and are now trying to MAKE the news.
Fortunately, there is a large swath of America who will be totally turned off by this character assassination and mugging attempt and it will redound to the favor of McCain and Palin.
Since the talking head liberal elite don't understand middle America, they will continue to make the same mistakes on television. Thank them one and all, their shameless efforts to promote all things Obama, as it will only help McCain. Any rational person can see what is going on here.
David Rahm
The issue is that it appears Palin wasn't vetted and the main stream media is having a field day uncovering the kind of information we've known about Biden and McCain for years and about Obama in the past 18+ months (more if you live in IL).
FYI toddy: Obama's mother was 18 years old, in college and married when her son was born. His parents were divorced when he was 2.
And I agree: Palin's children, like any candidate's, are off limits.
--I simply cannot believe that people and women in 2008 would question Palin--if a man with 5 kids was running for office--THESE COMMENTS WOULD NEVER BE MADE--we are setting the women's movement back 50 years--HELLO out there---1-YES a woman with 5 kids can run for office--ps the kids have a father too--2-don't judge Palin because it isn't what you as a mother would do--be more open minded and tolerant of your fellow woman -3-if you consider what some of the candidates themselves were doing at 17 18 19 what Palin's daughter has done is not newsworthy let alone mudslinging worthy-4-when Palin's daughter decided not to quietly abort and save herself her mother the governor and the family aggravation she decided to let a person be able to decide for her himself what to major in at university in 18 years--she said "this babies rights are equal to mine, therefore I can't chose for her"--if you want to call this irresponsible or immoral then you must work from a different dictionary-5- what the heck happened to discussing the issues? you guys went from your one liner of mcsame (if that is your best argument then you are in trouble because the list of mccain positions is long)-6-you guys call this change--it is the same old same old and you guys are backing a candidate who has never once so much as stood up to moveon.org--and has a record breaking rate of applying for pork and who claims he is ready to be president because he has run for the presidency for 2 years--go take a logic course--not to mention that running a state with conflicting parties and population that needs you to do what is best for them requires just a few more skills than running a group of people who are so enamored with you that they faint --
PATHETIC that you guys could stoop so low as to attack a talented ethically woman a mother and her daughter too---PATHETIC--
To all those who suddenly applaud the media spotlight on Palin, I wonder what they think about Wright, Rezko and Ayers?
Palin, our #2, is more competent and experiencd than Barack Obama is, your #1. That's what this media-driven wilding of Sarah Palin is going to expose. So keep it up, Dems! You're digging your own graves!
What would be more horrifying to me is if Joe Biden had a heart attack and died (only 4 years younger than John McCain) and 0bama was left running the Country by himself. Just 8 years ago all the libs were laughing at Gorge Bush when he picked Dick Chaney for the experience. The Dems are such hypocrites!
Re poster kabookey: "She was defending the Sainted One experience left and right while trying to trash Palin. You can argue one or the other but as the guy said tell me one thing that Saint O has executive experience in? Brown of course could not and that got her all the madder."
Actually, Obama does have executive experience, as the Director of the $150 million Annenberg Chicago School Challenge for five years. But the media doesn't want to go near that, (it's not even on Obama's resume) because it was such a bust, and no Obama supporters want the public to know this, let alone how the money was spent.
Palin, our #2, is more competent and experiencd than Barack Obama is, your #1. That's what this media-driven wilding of Sarah Palin is going to expose. So keep it up, Dems! You're digging your own graves!
I can't believe how many fools there are so ready to pile on without so much as waiting for all the info to come out. How many of you know ANYTHING about the Governor beyond what headlines you've read in the last few days? Do you know the kind of legislation she's passed or vetoed? Does she deal with the Russians for any reason (because of the shared Bering Strait)? I don't know, but there has barely been any time for the full story to come out - it was announced on the Friday before a 3 day holiday weekend, and right after Obama's big speech. Give me break!
Barack Obama, your #1, chose Joe Biden as veep PRECISELY because Barack is so inexperienced. Yet you criticize Governor Sarah Palin, who is only our #2. How craven you Dems are! Surely the American people will see through this charade being perpetuated by the Dems and their attack dogs in the corrupt mainstream media.
Like mother, like daughter...neither one can seem to keep their legs closed! They're going to need their own zip code soon!
I'll be laughing at this VP pick all the way to election day!!!! I can just imagine the flop-sweats at the McCain headquarters as all the dirt rolls out on this one. Troopergate...DWI's...teenage pregnancy...Bridge to Nowhere flip-flops...and on and on and on and on it goes........ :) Next time try vetting first!
This election will be won by Barrack if Hillary's supporters can forgive and forget Barrack collective giving Her and them the finger and if Bitter Whites that cling to Guns, Religion, Love of American and believe in our Constitution against Invasion and the rule of Law can be convinced by Barrack that the largest invasion in world history, of any country, at any time, by any means and that is taking their jobs and lowering their standard of living while killing, robbing and raping American citizens by the 10,s of thousands and slowly but surely changing American into an Spanish speaking third world cesspool of Crime, Corruption, Poverty and Misery, modeled on Mexico, is a good thing for them and American.
He may even start losing losing black votes since they are the ones paying the greatest price for his pandering for Hispanic votes to fuel his political ambitions and lust for power!
They are starting to realize that Obama open Borders and Amnesty for the Invading horde will completely disfranchise and destroy the political gains, civil rights & progress made by Black Americans and empower the Black hating Hispanics.
He needs to explain why he and most Democrats Believe that Article IV Section IV of our Constitution against invasion, enforcement of our Immigration Laws and their Oath of office are all null and void!
He will need to convince them that attending the church of hate, supporting and listening to Hate American, Hate Whites and hate everything but Blacks and Muslims for 20 years while hanging out with criminals, terrorist and racist is no big deal and no harm intended!
I also found Ms. Campbell Brown's interview was offensive, in both style and content. During the interview on Sept. 1 she gleefully described the daughter's preganancy as a "bombshell", and later labelled it as a McCain campaign "secret." This reporting is even more puzzling to accept when Time Magazine had already reported that the daughther's pregnancy was openly known in her home town, albiet quietly kept. It couldn't have been a "secret" if it was openly known in her hometown. CNN simply had not done any investigation before Ms. Campbell's exclamation of "bombshell." This is irresponsible journalism. Where in America has there ever been any duty on any politicitan to divulge the personal situations of every immediate family member? And if there is no such duty, what forms the basis for Campbell Brown's claim this as a "secret" that she presumed should have been discloed by McCain or Palin earlier?
CNN owes Ms. Palin and her family a public apology, and to safeguard its own pecuinary interests, cease having Ms. Campbell sully Mr. Anderson's fine reporting style and genuninely decent instincts.
What's the problem? Campbell Brown asked a simple question and got less than a non-answer. Do you have a problem with a reporter actually asking questions and following up instead of merely echoing a given campaign's talking points line for line. If the Mccain campaign can't answer a simple question like, "Name one decision Pallin made as CINC of the Alaskan National Guard?", a line they have been pushing all weekend, then they have a serious problem.
I understand the ridiculously overblown discussion of baby-gate, but this is a legitimate topic.
Bottomline, this pick was stupid and basically "dumbed down" the positions of president and vice president.
I can't wait to see the look on all of these "energized" women that support Palin when she takes away every single right women have --AND I AM NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT ABORTION. Her extreme right views do not jive with the mainstream public -- haven't we had enough of this in the past eight years.
And as for this article -- How stupid to say that "democrats" are to blame for this, are mishandling it, etc. This is just a republican ploy to try and shift the blame, but the public is SMARTER this time around...
I was on the fence too but have decided to move over to the McCain side. I watched the Brown interview and was completely disgusted by her. I wouldn't have even minded had she asked Obama surrogates in the same manner. I think that this thing has become so much bigger than an election. It is about how women are ridiculed and attacked in this process and I feel like we have to stand up and defend the rights of ourselves and our daughters. Completely disgusted. Shame on democrats.
Like mother, like daughter...neither one can seem to keep their legs closed! They're going to need their own zip code soon!
I'll be laughing at this VP pick all the way to election day!!!! I can just imagine the flop-sweats at the McCain headquarters as all the dirt rolls out on this one. Troopergate...DWI's...teenage pregnancy...Bridge to Nowhere flip-flops...and on and on and on and on it goes........ :) Next time try vetting first!
One question:
Would you have KNOWINGLY put your teenage daughter through this type of media circus at this difficult time, just to get a promotion?
McCain says that he warned her about this, yet both she (and he) decided to follow through just to prove his "maverick" status.
Again, who would answer 'yes' to that question.
IT'S ABOUT JUDGMENT.
..that's why it's relevant.
Obama a class act? what a joke. So when he goes on CNN and with a straight face says that Palin is mayor of a town with a budget less his campaign thus he is more qualified than her (last I looked he was running for PRESIDENT not her) that is a class act? When he knows she's a governor and he is belittling her experience? Then by that logic Obama is nothing more than a community organizer since he held that job years ago like she was a mayor years ago. If Obama says it with a straight face the media goes gaga--look at how honest he is. He knows she's a governor yet he refuses to acknowledge it. Sexism anyone? That's why as a Hillary supporter I'm not supporting the fraud Obama.
What would be more horrifying to me is if Joe Biden had a heart attack and died (only 4 years younger than John McCain) and 0bama was left running the Country by himself. Just 8 years ago all the libs were laughing at Gorge Bush when he picked Dick Chaney for the experience. The Dems are such hypocrites!
What political office is Sarah Palin's daughter running for again? And would someone really not vote for Palin just because her daughter is pregnant. I don't think so! You either like Sarah or you don't. Did Clinton cheating on his wife have any effect on his electibality back during his 2nd term? Nooo. so why should Sarah's daughter being pregnat at such a young age have any effect either? Plain and simple, it won't!
Can Sarah Palin just be the President already so Tina Fey can play her on SNL? I'd love to see the cast do some musical numbers from Annie Get Your Gun.
PS: The Rolex Commies will lose this year, too. Hope Biden leaves some moonshine for Obama come November 5.
An experienced and professional journalist doesn't keep asking the same question the same way...she reframes it. Campbell Brown is not very good and comes across as strident. Surely the news network can do better than her.
It looks like Obama / Biden got their bounce, but it wasn't huge. Now it will be the GOP's turn after this week and they have all of the momentum. Keep in mind that while Bush is not popular any more, neither is the Democratic Congress - less popular, in fact. The choice is going to be four more years of Pelosi / Reid - unchecked - versus four more years of Bush - the Dems mantra. McCain is making a play for the middle / independent vote and he will collect the female vote in that category along with cleaning up the heretofore hesitant conservative vote and their money. All he needs to do is to point out that the country is indeed not heading in the right direction, but insist that it is not hopeless. He needs to point out that his direction will include less governmental spending and reasonable taxation. His opponent, who lacks experience, will spend more and tax more for those making as little as $42,000 per year, killing business and therefore jobs. He needs to stress that Obama is not only a liberal, but he is basically an unrepentant socialist - believes the government - himself - is the only force that can help you. That will pop the Obama balloon - reminds me of the Moonies watching the liberals salivate to his bell of socialism (not liberty). It will be an interesting stretch of political activity.
What would be more horrifying to me is if Joe Biden had a heart attack and died (only 4 years younger than John McCain) and 0bama was left running the Country by himself. Just 8 years ago all the libs were laughing at Gorge Bush when he picked Dick Chaney for the experience. The Dems are such hypocrites!
For months we've heard Republican politicians and conservative talking heads tell anyone who would listen long enough that Barack Obama is not experienced enough to be president and/or commander-in-chief. But now these same folks are trying to tell us that Sarah Palin is more than ready to be both.
Don't pee on my boots and tell me its raining.
Sarah Palin is more capable at running the country than Obama by a long shot. I've been vetting Palin myself for the last 3-4 months, ever since her named showed up on the "long" list.
She is smarter, tougher and more competent than 99% of the people in Congress. And I include the current group of VP and Prez candidates.
The barbs being thrown at her are from ignorant Dems and hateful, Kool Aid drinking Hollywood loving leftists. I love to read and hear your pathetic whinings. It thrills me to watch you all squirm in fear of a real shining star - as opposed to the phoney Barak Hussein Obama rock star you nominated.
Oh I forgot .......
Here are some things she doesn't bring to the table.....
1. A son who lobbys her like Biden's sone did for the Bancruptcy law change that is screwing people who have nothing left.
2. Friends that wish they blew up more of the country like Bill Ayres
3. Friends that are on their way to jail like Tony Rezko
4. A minister/mentor who is full of racist hate like Rev Wrong
5. A husband that is proud of his country for the first time in his adult life.
Oh and the very very worst.........
A penis!
Oh but I bet DailyKos wants her to prove that too!
The shrillness, particularly from Leftists, of much of the argument here is vulgar, uncivil and rude.
I Catholic, Pro-Life not a Republican am not in the least tempted to renounce my resolve to vote for McCain/Palin. If anything, the deranged expressions objecting to Palin have me digging in my heels in support of her candidacy.
In my opinion, Obama's clearly unworthy and unqualified for the presidency, even if he is in fact an American rather than the Kenyan I believe him to be.
I agree that it will all come down to how she performs in that debate. The liberal blogs have taken this to an amazingly low level and I think it will become the norm rather than the exception to the rule. Pretty sad.
You can smell the fear coming from both the Dem establishment and the punditocracy. McCain has gone off script and they don't know how to handle it. Can't wait for Governor Palin to face off against Joe Biden.
Who are you kidding Clive Crook. For every person who has supposedly "run to McCain" after his cynical, hypocritical, selection of Palin, there are others, like me, who are galloping in the other direction...and I bet there are more of us. I was a strong, very strong, Hillary supporter...and I have not really cared much for Obama...that is, until McCain's selection of Palin scared the crap out of me. This women and I might share the same internal plumbing apparatus...but that, thankfully, is as far as it goes. She is a horror when it comes to woman's rights. I truly was undecided between Obama and McCain. And now?? I just donated $100.00 to the Obama campaign. McCain's judgement is not just provocative, it is dangerous, and the utter lack of experience of his new runing mate is shocking. Oh, by the way, Clive Crook, that is the real story here...McCain's very questionable judgement..and not her daughters pregnancy...that is simply emblamatic of the larger story itself.
gladRocks said: "To all those who suddenly applaud the media spotlight on Palin, I wonder what they think about Wright, Rezko and Ayers?"
Which of those referenced outrages is aimed at Obama's children? None of them remotely related to private, intimate family matters. None of the media coverage said or did anything with regard to these issues which could harm or would hurt his children in any way.
I can't wait until the Dems demand that Palin release all of her health records -- including those related of Ob-gyn. And I can't wait until we have a Dem woman of whom it can reasonably be asked, under the new, high-minded journalism that the Dems seem to favor, about pregnancies which terminated prematurely -- or her daughter's pregnancies which terminated prematurely.
After up close and personal is now fair game. Fair is fair in the future. Right?
Mr. Crook,
What are your examples of Democrats not following Obama's example and 'piling on'?
I'd like to see examples rather than just your assertion. And by Democrats, we should be clear that we mean official members of the party acting in formal campaign roles. Because there is no way for the campaigns to control or be responsible for all of the behavior of all ideologically friendly media voices; you know that. Sen. Obama's position clearly separates him from those voices and does not attempt to hold Sen. McCain accountable for every utterance of potential supporters of his. That is in stark contrast to the McCain campaign's top leadership's attempts falsely to tie Obama by name to the malicious rumors floating two days ago around the blogosphere.
So again: please provide your examples of Democrats' failing to heed Sen. Obama's standard of family being out of bounds. I'll even accept examples that occurred before the Senator made his pronouncement.
Thomas Horton....BRAVO!! Great post!! It couldn't have been better said!!
To set the record straight: Obama's mother was pregnant when she married his father. Just exactly the same situation as Bristol Palin and her boyfriend who, it is said, plan to marry.
So, enough of the silly conversation.
Gov. Palin has plenty of experience in both life and government.
And please note the work experience. Did Ted Kennedy have any work experience before he began his life-long political career?
Did Bobby Kennedy have any experience of any kind before his brother appointed him attorney general?
I would prefer someone who has lived and worked in the real world to someone who has only ever been a politician.
One gains valuable experience working in the real world that it is impossible to gain in any other venue.
By all accounts, Palin has been a very successful governor. I find it humourous that the media keeps turning up "someone in Alaska" who doesn't like her. How do they find these people when her approval ratings in her state are in the high 80s?
And by the way, the trooper that Palin wanted fired? He was a drunken lunatic who tasered his eleven-year-old step-son. Hello? Do you really want to go on record as supporting his continued employment as a state trooper?!?
He was proven to be drinking on the job as well. Hello??? Hello??? Anybody with any brains out there? Are you REALLY defending this guy?
He threatened to kill his father-in-law -- a threat which was wisely taken seriously. Anybody who would taze an 11-year-old child can expect to be taken seriously when he says his wife's father is going to "eat lead."
I'm pretty much tired out by the same shrill arguments on both sides. Supporters of both parties exaggerate to the hilt and get all puffed up and righteous. Funny really.
The bottom line is that VP's don't matter unless they bomb. Palin's shot is coming soon so be patient. To be fair, Biden ain't out of the woods yet either! She's a very likeable person, imo, and the more the msm and democrats attack her and her family, the more votes she'll get for McCain.
Pick your presidential candidate based on their credentials, experience and ideas- and shut up about all the rest. We have heard it all already-at every decibel level.
McCain a maverick? Try a loose-cannon! Did he forget he was selecting the next Vice President of the United States, NOT the next Miss America? When will the Republican party ever bring themselves to nominate an intelligent woman rather than some go-go boots wearing former pageant girl with a knocked up daughter?
Well, at least we know they can't claim "experience matters" anymore!
BTW, I'd like to be Vice President, too , can I, pretty please?
Robin--
I can appreciate the frustration you feel. Now you can appreciate what half of this country has felt like for the past 8 years under the smear based politics. Now we can all enjoy.
Thomas Horton....BRAVO!! Great post!! It couldn't have been better said!!
Yes. BUT, Palin is on video calling Hillary a 'whiner' who did a 'disservice' to women. I can't imagine that this bodes well for pulling in Hillary supporters. Palin seems to have a good story and seems to be a good person, but I cannot see how this is going to, by itself, hold water with voters.
Has anyone demonstrated that the top of the Democratic ticket has more experience than the VP of the Republican ticket. My God, all this hysteria by Democrats that McCain did not consider his country in picking Palin. How about the fact that liberal Democrats did not consider their country in picking a Presidential candidate with no experience whatsoever....and arguably less than Palin. We will get to know Sarah Palin over the next two months. It has been 9 months and we still do not know the REAL Barack Obama.
When John McCain found his "soul mate" Sarah Palin, was it the same as George Bush looking into Putin's eyes and getting a sense of his soul?
I hear the Palin's favorite movies are "Juno" and "Knocked Up".
I agree that Obama took the high road responding to Bristol Palin's pregnancy story. However, this could be a part of a Democrat good cop (Obama)/bad cop (media & blogs) routine.
They fear something. As Peggy Noonan recently stated, "[the Left] must kill it and kill it quickly."
See Fred Thompson's rebuttal to the attacks on Palin Wed. night at the RNC.
P.S. I can't wait for the Palin-Biden debate!
Obama Senior may have married Stanley Ann Dunham but given that he already had a legal wife back home in Kenya, I wonder whether the second marriage would be legal in the United States. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know, but I do wonder. Not that I care one way or the other, but it seems to matter to some of the posters.
That aside, the pile-on Sarah Palin is just a little too much. The same people who are saying it's out of bounds to criticize Michelle Obama (who has made some fairly offensive comments) or to bring up Obama's association with people like Ayers, Wright, Rezko etc, who resolutely defend Obama as being qualified for the presidency because he grew up the (half) black child of a single mother and became editor of the Harvard Law Review and a community organizer, who continually avert their eyes from Obama's connections with Chicago Machine politics and his utter failure to accomplish "change" and "post-partisanship" up until now are all of a sudden piously pronouncing Sarah Palin a hypocrite, John McCain a reckless gambler etc. I for one hope that McCain has the guts to stick with her. She is "real" in a way that Obama and Biden will never be and she is probably the only likable candidate in this race. And the glee with which the the main stream media is attacking her is truly disgusting.
Mr. Crook: Please elaborate on which Democrats have been mishandling the issue. If your definition of a Democrat is someone who anonymously posts vitriol on a blog, then you're on a slippery slope. (We all know that there are plenty of examples from BOTH parties of that.) Or is your definition of "Democratic" the MSM reporting the fact that the McCain campaign decided to announce the fact of Bristol Palin's pregnancy just as a hurricane was hitting the mainland? Again I'm disappointed by your sketchy reasoning here -- I expected more from The Atlantic. Give us concrete examples of piling-on Democrats. Otherwise, you really do just come across as a McCain campaign talking point.
This is aimed at the comment that was made right out of the bos by Dale. I ask you: When is Campbell Brown going to ask The Messiah about why he hung around the Rev Jeramiah for 20 years, or; Why did The One seek out the endorsement of a known, unrepentant terrorist to help launch his political career In CHICAGO POLITICS?
Get real guys. Half the news coverage on the convention is about Palin's pregnant daughter, are her and her husband secessionists, was she vetted, Troopergate, et al. It's sucking all the oxygen out of the Republican attempts to frame themselves positively and tear down Obama. A leading checkout counter mag has a Jerry Springer cover about Palin. This is crashing and burning. No wonder Palin is nowhere to be seen, presumably working desperately on her speech and trying to soften the screechy diction. McCain also seems to be dodging the cameras, cancelling interviews because Campbell Brown has put his spokesman on the spot, and giving a very testy brief response to a shouted answer at a fire station. This is not a convention and a candidacy that is under control. The polls this morning show a distinct shift to Obama and I see nothing in the Palin nomination or the images coming from this convention that is going to change that.
What i find so scary about Palin is ..............She has more experience than the Democrat in the number 1 spot.....talk about lack of judgement!!Go Sarah
What i find so scary about Palin is ..............She has more experience than the Democrat in the number 1 spot.....talk about lack of judgement!!Go Sarah
Posted by Sheri | September 2, 2008 6:59 PM
To quote David Frum "Palin makes Obama look like George C. Marshall." Statements like yours may make you feel warm and fuzzy but they bear no relation to public perceptions. My wife is now sitting watch Extra or some other bs gossip show and the big story. The Palin Pregnancy. This is making the Republican party look like utter fools while people like Sheri and a lot of other Republicans who look nutty go oh whoopsy isn't she great. This is a train wreck. I expect Obama to be in the mid fiftes by next week.
Mac is playing chess while noBoma is checkers. Since the anouncement, noBoma has had no message. Nobody even mentions his lackluster speach or the lack of fireworks he created. Now throw in the pregnancy anouncement, already known by Mac, and again no message from noBoma. Of course they forecast how the looney left would respond to all of this, and the result will be more people voting for Mac because of people identifying with Sarah and her family. With the 40+ million abortions of the past few decades, most people are very aware of close friends and/or family that have had unplanned children or aborted. This is the backlash that will put Mac and Cuda into the WH.
Oh I am so worried. There are so many things Palin just doesn’t bring to the ticket .......
Here is the short list.....
1. A son who lobbies her like Biden's son did for the Bankruptcy law change that is screwing people who have nothing left.
2. Terrorist friends that that helped her get a start in politics and wish they blew up more of the country like Bill Ayres
3. Criminal friends that helped her buy a house and are on their way to jail like Tony Rezko
4. A pastor that taught her everything she knows about religion, a minister/mentor who is full of racist hate like Rev Wright
5. An angry husband is incapable of counting his blessings that says he is proud of his country for the first time in his adult life.
Oh and the very very worst.........
She doesn’t have a penis! It’s only ok to be a successful woman democrat (but not Hillary).
Oh but I bet DailyKos wants her to prove that too!
Mac is playing chess while noBoma is checkers. Since the anouncement, noBoma has had no message. Nobody even mentions his lackluster speach or the lack of fireworks he created. Now throw in the pregnancy anouncement, already known by Mac, and again no message from noBoma. Of course they forecast how the looney left would respond to all of this, and the result will be more people voting for Mac because of people identifying with Sarah and her family. With the 40+ million abortions of the past few decades, most people are very aware of close friends and/or family that have had unplanned children or aborted. This is the backlash that will put Mac and Cuda into the WH.
Mac is playing chess while noBoma is checkers. Since the anouncement, noBoma has had no message. Nobody even mentions his lackluster speach or the lack of fireworks he created. Now throw in the pregnancy anouncement, already known by Mac, and again no message from noBoma. Of course they forecast how the looney left would respond to all of this, and the result will be more people voting for Mac because of people identifying with Sarah and her family. With the 40+ million abortions of the past few decades, most people are very aware of close friends and/or family that have had unplanned children or aborted. This is the backlash that will put Mac and Cuda into the WH.
Yep, did the same, mcCain earned a donation here and that from someone who is very strong **in favor** of abortion rights and pro-choice. Nothing infuriates me more than hyprocrites and Palin clearly is not. She follows up on her choice and does not change it when it is more convenient. Talk about backbone here. Above all, she has shown integrity and honors the constitutions above her own opinion; her first action as governer veto-ing a bill that would be unjust to gay couples tells me enough that is not for an overzealos government regulating your life. Even if it is not what her personal choice is.
I am a Democrat. There is no way I will vote for McCain. That being said, I am disgusted at the attacks on Palin by "progressives" who imagine themselves to have higher standards than the practioners of "Rovian" politics.
There is plenty to question about Palin's candidacy without freaking out about all that "icky woman stuff". Question her experience. Question McCain's judgment in chosing an inexperienced running mate. Isn't that enough?
Naw. Some of the lefties (the ones in print, anyhow) saw how much fun the Reps. had with that famous "politics of personal destruction" and the Starr report which served up salacious details under the label of Rule of Law and the people's right to know.
Maybe they just think that now it's their turn to dish up slime and legitimize it.
Obama spoke up against all that. If his words have no effect on his supporters, how is that going to work when he tries to govern?
Since McCain pick Pallin, the polls are showing a movement towards Obama bigger than DNC, this was not an appealing vp choice
Since McCain pick Pallin, the polls are showing a movement towards Obama bigger than DNC, this was not an appealing vp choice
Since McCain pick Pallin, the polls are showing a movement towards Obama bigger than DNC, this was not an appealing vp choice
Question for all: Who would win in a fist fight, Sarah or Obama?
More seriously, who do you want Vladimir Putin to have to face at a negotiating table? Oh wait, I just remembered that Putin has already weighed in on that.
Sarah's family by all rights should be a part of the discussion? Why? Because the Republicans themselves are making it part of the discussion. All of the trials and tribulations are proof to them that Sarah is a good person - and thus by extension will make a good VP. It is certainly incumbent upon Democrats to knock down this false construct.
Think about this - Obama has made his family situation (parents, grandparents) part of his discussion. The Republicans quite rightly have gone after the lived-in-Indonesia and Mom-was-a-hippy aspects. Obama hasn't complained, nor taken false umbrage at the response. (He knows, of course, the positives have far outweighed the negatives.) Biden, on the other hand, makes rarer mention of his family (and the tragedy of his first). He could use it more, if he wanted, but he rightly believes that it is his own actions that should be judged. Now, apply this to Sarah, and how she has put forth her biography. Family woman. Outdoorswoman. Reformer. She puts it out there, and lets the party put it out there as well, and it is fine and fair game. She certainly had all ability to keep her family away from the spotlights but resolutely has not. Thus, the response.
Question for all: Who would win in a fist fight, Sarah or Obama?
More seriously, who do you want Vladimir Putin to have to face at a negotiating table? Oh wait, I just remembered that Putin has already weighed in on that.
disappointed amour propre
Heh. I think there are more vigorous monsters in that closet, Clive. I am gob smacked by the storm of feverish tripe that exploded in the sphere after Palin's pick.
I mean, I have seen earnest discussions of amniotic fluids and timing deliveries, photo analysis of 17 year old tummies reminiscent the Rather Memogate debacle, gilnetting disputations, tasered 11 year olds, ...
Jesus wept.
So in the way of raising the bar, let me cross post two snippets an article that actually uplifts and informs:
Christopher Orr on TNR's The Plank
...Ohio. Virginia. Colorado. Folks.
Complaining about the media digging into the pregnancy story is like sending a child to play in traffic and complaining about the cars.
In both cases, it's the parent who put the kid in harm's way who ought to be held accountable first.
When a mother has a child and then expects the taxpayer to support that child, it becomes a matter of public policy. When the parents support the child, it's a private matter.
As a feminist I'm horrified by the women - the women! - who say that Gov. Palin is "ambitious!" When did that become a dirty word? Campbell Brown ACTUALLY said that Gov. Palin might should step down to stay at home to take care of her Down Syndrome child! Who is being the neanderthal? Brown has lost all credibility now.
At about the same time that Todd Palin got a DUI, Barack Obama was snorting coke. How can the press concentrate on the DUI (when the guy was 22 yrs old) and not compare it to Obama's indiscretions? Where is the sense of proportion?
No man candidate went through the gauntlet like Hillary and like Sarah Palin. This whole attention to Palin's daughter is absurd. It makes me realize that some people still think a women's place is in the home and I thought, as a people, we'd gotten beyond that.
disappointed amour propre
Heh. I think there are more vigorous monsters in that closet, Clive. I am gob smacked by the storm of feverish tripe that exploded in the sphere after Palin's pick.
I mean, I have seen earnest discussions of amniotic fluids and timing deliveries, photo analysis of 17 year old tummies reminiscent the Rather Memogate debacle, gilnetting disputations, tasered 11 year olds, ...
Jesus wept.
So in the way of raising the bar, let me cross post two snippets an article that actually uplifts and informs:
Christopher Orr on TNR's The Plank
...Ohio. Virginia. Colorado. Folks.
Man, you libs are nervous. Reading these responses is highly entertaining, thanks for making my evening.
[yeah, I know, "McCain is the anti-Christ and will institute fascism in America so we have to break a few eggs just like Uncle Joe did". What's scary is that some of you actually believe that].
On Campbell Brown--I don't have tv so just know the snippets I see online. But the one piece I did see with Brown had Tucker Bounds solemnly insisting that Palin had CinC experience from her roll as commander of the Alaskan National Guard while Brown insisted that he provide one instance of her giving an order to that guard. He plainly didn't have one.
Too often reporters take a clear non-answer and don't follow up. Or they point out to their readers that the interviewee never answered the question, but they don't say in the interview "that didn't address my point at all; to repeat..." I gather Brown isn't taken too seriously amid newscasters but, damn, at least she's willing to ask a follow-up when she's bsed. All too often I'm seeing:
Interviewer: Aren't Palin's links to a secessionist movement a problem?
Surrogate: It is just awful how the Governor's family is being dragged into this. Her daughter...
I do agree with you per the angriest members of the left desperately piling in, eager to harangue the morals of someone on the right, and that it's ugly and off-putting. If I believe such matters are private and involve individual choices then I believe that for the veep nominee as well as for myself. But I think the bigger story is becoming McCain's judgment in picking her with no vetting. ("It was a thorough vet that did not involve speaking with anyone in Alaska, or looking at any records in Alaska" is not really a spin that should be let stand.)
Palin's daughter and her issues are off limits as far as I'm concerned. It's McCain's age and judgment that are the key issues concerning Palin's selection. McCain that that he could sell this lemon to the American people. That's how stupid he and the GOP thinks the electorate is. As mayor, Palin left Wassila 22 million in the hole. She fired employees who didn't support her mayoral campaign. As governor, she supported the bridge to nowhere, and is deeply embroiled in "Troopergate". The AIP issues needs to be explored as well. McCain did not properly vet this woman although he says he has. The onus for "Palingate" or "Veepgate" is squarely on the shoulders of McCain and McCain only.
Those criticizing Ms. Palin are the moral heirs to Hitler's Brown Shirts.
Democrats have to go find "real people" to speak at their convention, to remind America that "real people" need to be protected and taken care of. Republicans, they say, don't ever consider these "real people." Republicans don't think about families who can only eat whatever they can hunt; people with teen daughters who get pregnant; wives with five kids and a husband who works two hard, dangerous jobs; students who have to win scholarships to pay for college; mothers who have to balance a demanding job with caring for a disabled child. Republicans, the DNC is trying to tell you, ignore these "real people," so the Democrats have gone out and found some to tell you about. It was, in fact, perhaps the most compelling moment at the Democratic Convention.
I hope McCain can find somebody like that to speak at the Republican National Convention. It could use some "real people."
Also, while I'm not a big fan of Campbell Brown, she totally pwned Tucker Bounds in that interview last night. It's pretty telling of the McCain camps negative reation to that interview by McCain not wanting to be on Larry King tonight. The GOP and their lame-duck candidates are clearly on the defensive.
Palin is not a member of nor has she ever been a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which favors seceding from the US.
Now I know the problem! Obama has the least experience of any previous Democrat candidate. And I know why he won the nomination. OBAMA wasn't properly VETTED!
Your "email from a reader" is an email of transparent lies by an anonymous author. Voted Kerry, loves Hillary, suddenly all exited by a right wing creationist, anti-abortion even in the case of rape and incest nutcase, $27 million dollar earmarking fiscal "conservative", Ted Stevens corruption-loving republican without a clue of foreign policy or Islamic extremism? Oh, that would be truly inspiring, enough so to send in $15. My guess is its not really the bitter Geraldine Ferarro with nothing to do but post as "anonymous". Get a grip.
I agree that family, especially children, are off-limits in politics, unless you are introducing them your self. However, once you try to take credit for the accomplishments of some of your children, then you open up the action of all of your children. Stop holding up one son who is deploying to Iraq (and god speed and good luck to ALL of our servicemen) and then claim that your daughter is off-limits. You can't have it both ways.
I am amazed watching the blogs. Is there a coordinated effort on the part of the far left to blog everywhere? The regular people I know don't even read a blog. I am not a Republican. I tend to vote for Democrats. The media and the hateful bloggers have totally turned me off. Did you vote for Clinton after it was revealed he used state troopers for his affairs (I did)? How do you feel about Biden lying during law school and speeches (it killed his candidacy for me in 1988)? Is calling to have your brother-in-law fired over tasering your nephew (if it happened) somehow worse than Wright and Rezco (I don't think so)? These are what regular people, not bloggers, are talking about.
Mr. Crook, it is ridiculous to assert that Palin (and McCain) did not assume this scrutiny. This is 2008. Did she think this was NEVER going to come out?
I find it fairly disgusting that you by ommission equate the press whom in reality are just doing what they are paid to do, to "The Democrats".
I find it disturbing, that seemingly every 4 hours something new comes out tarnishing this women, as if at face value her complete and utter lack of experiance READ: 0 wasnt enough with even a skimming of her past. The latest of which is her whack job Church ALA the same thing Republicans had no problem dragging Obama over the coals for.
I find it nausiating, that Republicans call off the tit for tat...when its tat.
I find it worriesome, that you have a beef with a reporter, that OH MY GOODNESS..asked a hard question, that the respondant couldnt dance around to save his life, after yourself and your collegues have laid down like lambs to slaughter since Sept 11th.
I find it amusing, that Palin and crew apparently think its OK to whore off their children when its politically convienant, but are repulsed when it exposes their hypocripsy.
I find it scarey, that at a time when our WORLD sits at a hair width crossroads of peril, or technilogical, economic, social, political, revolution; Sarah Palin sits behind our oldest first term nominee, with bouts of cancer and other health issues under his belt...and ANYONE is defending this pick.
With regaurds,
-2000 massivly enthusiastic McCain campaign worker/doner/Voter, 2008 mild McCain supporter/Doner. Post Palin decidedly, sitting this one out.
Put that in your ancetodal pipe and smoke it.
While we're on the subject of questionable Vice President selections....
...watching Joe Lieberman at the GOP Convention, does it give anyone else the chills about how off-base Al Gore's judgment was/is?
While we're on the subject of questionable Vice President selections....
...watching Joe Lieberman at the GOP Convention, does it give anyone else the chills about how off-base Al Gore's judgment was/is?
Let's see.. Sarah should've strapped a GPS locator to Bristol and made sure she didn't get pregnant. Oh yeah ..and she should've aborted her Down's Syndrome child. Should she have waited 'til the third trimester or done one of those post-birth Obama-type abortions? Maybe Bristol should abort and tell Levi to take a hike. Maybe Sarah should retroactively post-birth abort all five of her kids so they won't interfere with her veep duties. Is this all you morons have? She has more executive experience than McCain, Biden, and Obama put together. She has real life family issues precisely because she's not been living in the Washington incubator. McCain didn't take a gamble, he made the best possible choice in light of the country's current needs and the fact that he probably knew the Democlod media machine would end up gnawing off their own foot the moment they found out about Bristol.
The media and Demoblogs are arming Palin with everything she needs to crush Obama's camp soundly. You don't mess with a woman's children.. especially one that runs a state bigger than Texas and California combined ..and supplies America with 20% of her energy needs.
Let's see.. Sarah should've strapped a GPS locator to Bristol and made sure she didn't get pregnant. Oh yeah ..and she should've aborted her Down's Syndrome child. Should she have waited 'til the third trimester or done one of those post-birth Obama-type abortions? Maybe Bristol should abort and tell Levi to take a hike. Maybe Sarah should retroactively post-birth abort all five of her kids so they won't interfere with her veep duties. Is this all you morons have? She has more executive experience than McCain, Biden, and Obama put together. She has real life family issues precisely because she's not been living in the Washington incubator. McCain didn't take a gamble, he made the best possible choice in light of the country's current needs and the fact that he probably knew the Democlod media machine would end up gnawing off their own foot the moment they found out about Bristol.
The media and Demoblogs are arming Palin with everything she needs to crush Obama's camp soundly. You don't mess with a woman's children.. especially one that runs a state bigger than Texas and California combined ..and supplies America with 20% of her energy needs.
While we're on the subject of questionable Vice President selections....
...watching Joe Lieberman at the GOP Convention, does it give anyone else the chills about how off-base Al Gore's judgment was/is?
You know what I am tired of? I am tired of being told that Governor Palin is 'real people.' What the hell does that mean? Is someone from a city not real? How many of us citizens are walking around 'fake'? I am a bricklayer's daughter from a small town in Kansas, and I find that term almost as condescending as the tokenism of John McCain in picking Governor Palin as a 'soul mate.'
Oh, and I didn't vote for Clinton and I remember the outrage over Travelgate (improper firing of government employees) where is that outrage now?
And the outrage of the Clinton's using Chelsea for photo opps, but then calling her off limits for criticisms. I try to believe the best of most, but the hypocrisy shown by the Republican leaders makes me very grateful for Obama. For once, I actually do have a choice.
Socially liberal, fiscally conservative. Check the facts if you don't believe me.
Sitting here watching Democrats destroy themselves with their hate. What are we coming to people? Vile.
When are we going to vet Obama? We only get puff pieces on him
I find it amusing that there is so much criticism of a sitting govenor as a Vice Presidential candidate. 4 of the last 5 Presidents elected have been either sitting govenors (Bush, Clinton) or govenors who had previously left office (Carter, Reagan) Somehow the Union survived. Those of use who have been following Republican politics closely were pleasantly surprised by Sarah Palin's selection but certainly not shocked. She has always been in the top tier of contenders, albeit at the bottom of the top tier. Last mont Newt Guingrich said if given his choice, Bobby Jindal would be his first pick and Sraah Palin would be his second choice. What a great election year it has been -- has there ever been a Vice Presidential acceptance speech that will be more highly anticipated than tomorrow night?
You know what? I'm a working mom, and I feel like I'm under attack. I get enough disapproval from my convervative "stay at home mom" friends. Now I have to listen to the media lecture about how a good mother wouldn't work, but supervise the kids. Great! I'm thinking about getting one of those "I am Sarah Palin" t-shirts.
I find it amusing that there is so much criticism of a sitting govenor as a Vice Presidential candidate. 4 of the last 5 Presidents elected have been either sitting govenors (Bush, Clinton) or govenors who had previously left office (Carter, Reagan) Somehow the Union survived. Those of use who have been following Republican politics closely were pleasantly surprised by Sarah Palin's selection but certainly not shocked. She has always been in the top tier of contenders, albeit at the bottom of the top tier. Last mont Newt Guingrich said if given his choice, Bobby Jindal would be his first pick and Sraah Palin would be his second choice. What a great election year it has been -- has there ever been a Vice Presidential acceptance speech that will be more highly anticipated than tomorrow night?
Palin is not a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Voter registration records going back as far 1982 have conclusively proven this false.
This is as stupid as people saying Obama is no a citizen even though his Hawaiian birth certificate clearly says he is.
It is amazing to me that I actually found Palin speaking at an Alaska Independence Party convention and the next minute she has nothing to do with it and everyone falls for it. It's sad but I can't trust anyone anymore.
Excellent article.......
Bottom line, Palin has more leadership and experience than Obama.
She'd make a better president than Obama.
I voted hillary, but in Nov, its
MCCAIN/PALIN
Palin appears to be quite real like much of the rest of us. Real family, real issues and challlenges, real love and support.
Her executive experience exceeds that of Obama.
a great choice, that we can all relate too. Not just an empty suite, marketing image like Obama.
MCCAIN/PALIN
Sarah Palin is already making Britney Spears look more credible as a VP pick, after Paris Hilton showed more class than McCain. Obama is solidly up in the polls, Palin has a suitcase of dirty laundry, and the media is enjoying vetting her. Will wingnut Sarah last the week? Or was she a bridge to nowhere?
September 02, 2008
The Cynicism Express
By Eugene Robinson
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Has anyone noticed that Sarah Palin's central claim to political fame is a fraud? She represents herself as a fiscal conservative who abhors pork-barrel projects and said no thanks to the "bridge to nowhere" -- a $398 million span that would have linked Ketchikan, Alaska, to its airport across the Tongass Narrows. But as mayor of Wasilla (pop. 9,780), she hired a Washington lobbyist to bring home the bacon. And just two years ago as a candidate for governor, she supported both the Ketchikan bridge and the congressional earmark that would have paid most of its cost.
I know, we're not supposed to pay attention to such inconvenient details. We're supposed to be dazzled by how unaffected she is, how plain-spoken, how "genuine."
Indeed, if you don't get hung up on her actual record, Palin simply is who she is. It's not her fault that she's a former Miss Wasilla with a campy "Northern Exposure" vibe, doctrinaire social-conservative views and no discernible qualifications for being vice president. It's undeniable that people in Alaska apparently like her well enough, though they seem to have been even more shocked than the rest of us when she was named to the Republican ticket. In any event, she's not the one who created this farcical situation.
We learned last week that John McCain is not who he is -- not, at least, who he claims to be. The steady, straight-talking, country-first statesman his campaign has been selling is a fictional character. The real McCain is either alarmingly cynical or dangerously reckless.
You will recall that McCain gave the same prime criterion for choosing a running mate that every presidential candidate gives: someone who is ready to step in as president if, heaven forbid, the need arises. Barack Obama echoed those words before picking Joe Biden, who is about as prepared as a vice presidential candidate could ever be.
You will also recall that McCain and his supporters have been lecturing us about the grave and urgent dangers our country faces -- Islamic fundamentalism, the resurgence of Russia and other geopolitical threats. In a menacing world, McCain says, he will keep America safe.
So, at 72 and with a history of cancer, how could McCain choose a vice presidential nominee who has, let's face it, zero experience in foreign affairs? Being the nominal commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard doesn't count, unless you think Vladimir Putin is about to order an invasion across the Bering Strait.
At a time when the nation also confronts enormous challenges at home, Palin has, um, slightly more than zero experience in domestic affairs. The reason most people move to Alaska is that it's different from the rest of the country. Salmon fishing and snowmobile racing are not front-page news in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.
McCain's political calculation in choosing Palin is obvious. Social conservatives, who had been unexcited by his candidacy, are ecstatic that he has picked a running mate who staunchly opposes abortion, favors the teaching of "intelligent design" in the public schools and generally embraces the agenda of the religious right.
I have my doubts about the other objective of McCain's gambit: to win the votes of blue-collar women who supported Hillary Clinton. For one thing, these voters disagree sharply with Palin on most of the issues. For another, initial indications are that many women were insulted at the notion that they would automatically swoon over any candidate who happened to have two "X" chromosomes. Republicans tend to have a comically simplistic view of how "identity politics" works. They should recall how African-Americans reacted when Clarence Thomas was named to the Supreme Court.
Whatever the political impact, so much for the John McCain we thought we knew. In choosing Palin, he cynically did what his party is always accusing Democrats of doing: He selected a running mate based on her potential ability to appeal to targeted segments of the electorate, rather than for her honestly assessed ability to lead the nation should the occasion arise.
The other thing we learned about McCain is that he is willing to take an enormous gamble based on limited information. He only met Palin once before summoning her for a final interview. He realized he needed to shake up the presidential race, and that's what he did. But we are reminded, if we did not realize it before, that the three things not to expect from a McCain presidency are caution, prudence and a willingness to always put the nation's interests above his own.
eugenerobinson@washpost.com
Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facebook | Email | Print | Comments
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Topics: election 2008 | mccain | palin |
Sponsored Links
Login | Register | RSS
Eugene Robinson
Author Archive Latest From this Author
The Cynicism Express
So Many Miles From Selma
Democrats, Snap Out of It
The Unknown John McCain
Our Multipolar World
Eugene Robinson is a foot soldier of KO and their adoration for Obama. He is pathetic.
I agreee with Mr Crook that Obama's response in this case was classy. However, this statement is factually wrong:
"He reminded reporters that he is the son of an unmarried mother,"
No, Obama reminded reporters he was the son of an eighteen year-old. His parents were indeed married when he was born, albeith through a shotgun-wedding (it seems).
Sorry, only now saw that Decaturmom had already remarked on this!
I hate Campbell Brown, she annoys me with her underbite.... It's irelevant what she says....
I think Sarah Palin may turn out to be a good choice...if it isn't....It will have cost McCain the election.
A former Bill Clinton strategist, whose name I do not remember, recently said that in 1992 he was delighted by the fact that Republicans kept hitting at his wife Hillary, not Bill, because in this way they knew Bill could win more easily.
Now Democrats are making the same mistake. They target Palin instead of McCain. They compare her experience to Obama, thus implicitly admitting that the right spot for Obama was VP, not the presidency. Palin is like a lightning rod for the Republican party. She will take all hits, and she will handle it quite well, also because she appears a defenceless victim ,like Hillary in 1992, and so exhalts the hatred of democrats.
In a few weeks we may not just have to admit that McCain was right and lucky in picking Palin, but that he is a political genius.
Great, sensible post. I think the Palin choice has upset both parties' equilibrium somewhat, and now it is time for the Democrats to take stock and maybe tone down the stridency somewhat.
This election will be won by Obama on the Republicans' rotten record in office, and on the expected continuance of that by McCain & Palin.
Let Palin talk .. her views are those of the extreme right-wing base, the very people Bush pandered to most of this time in office. I would expect once women hear her authenthic views on Roe vs Wade & abortion, Big Oil and gays any expected support among women should drop off.
Bush-Cheney are McCain-Palin lite.
I think overall the Palin choice has been bad for McCain so far ... for a few days, he lost ocntrol of the narrative. It'll reduce the expected convention "bounce".
But enough is enough. Time to get back to the Democrat's key messages. This election is not a referendum on McCain's choice as VP. VP choices do not determine elections.
Ummm, so what is it called when the MSM willfully ignored the Edwards love child story? Understepping bounds??
Just one example of many...
"It is amazing to me that I actually found Palin speaking at an Alaska Independence Party convention and the next minute she has nothing to do with it and everyone falls for it."
Moving the goalposts. The charge was that she was a member. The rejoinder was that she wasn't, so some folks are seen as just too eager to lie to smear her.
Now, can you do better with the details about when she said, and what she said, at said convention? Or are you counting on liars for that information as well?
Amusing to see the Democrat talking points repeated as gospel. Obama's mother was 17 when he was conceived and he was born six months after his parents' wedding. That would be about the same situation as Bristol Palin.
Sarah was mayor of Wasilla, a very nice upscale town north of Anchorage that was proposed as the new capital of Alaska in 1994, when the Alaska Independence Party had a convention there. She has been a registered Republican since 1982. Pat Buchanan, for some reason, lied when he said she had been a supporter of his. Records of his campaign show no evidence that she was ever associated.
I think McCain saw a kindred spirit when he met her in February and has wanted to pick her all along. The reaction of Democrats shows what an inspired choice it was. She has, for example, almost the same level of experience that Governor Dean had when he ran in 2004. Except he, like Obama, was running for the #1 spot, not #2. And, of course, Dean had not been elected as governor of Vermont. He moved up when the governor died.
I would suggest the Democrats calm down but the hysteria is fun to watch. She could still stumble but I think we are seeing the first female president as she begins her climb to the oval office. Time will tell.
This is from the second comment on the thread:
"I agree with everything you've written on this post though I feel the press and not the Democratic party are the one's going overboard here."
and illustrates willful ignorance on the part of the commenter.
DNC/MSM. Same team. Same talking points.
See you in November, losers.
This is from the second comment on the thread:
"I agree with everything you've written on this post though I feel the press and not the Democratic party are the one's going overboard here."
and illustrates willful ignorance on the part of the commenter.
DNC/MSM. Same team. Same talking points.
See you in November, losers.
Wait a second ... look at the LONG LINE of Governors who have run for President over the years ... Romney, Huckabee, Dukakis, Dean, Bill Clinton, Pete Wilson ... etc ... did ANYONE say that THEY lacked the foreign policy experience to be President?
NO.
But Sarah Palin gets a VP nod, and bingo, the media is out in force with the Democrats, and their first contention is that she lacks foreign policy experience.
HUGE double standard. Keep up the nasty comments, lefties. You'll turn off more independents, and energize the McCain/Palin ticket.
The MSM is the Democratic party (with few exceptions).
So, the Democratic party is doing much of the smearing.
If you compare Obama's birth certificate and his mother's marriage date, she was pregnant when she married. And, I believe, was 17 when Obama was conceived.
IOW, exactly the situation in which Palin's daughter finds herself.
The Left's real grip about Palin and her daughter is that when both of them got inconveniently pregnant, they didn't abort the way they were "supposed to". Which, of course, the Left finds utterly disgusting.
Palin is 1/2 Mary Lou Retton, ans 1/2 Ronald Reagan - An amazing pick!
Would the MSM cover Palin's daughter's pregnancy if they thought John Edwards was the father?
I doubt it.
Let's see Sarah Palen's husband had a DUI at age 22, and that shows poor judgment as to who Sarah married? Yet at the same time as Hubby was kicking back a few, Obama admits snorting coke. You can pretty much tell from the respondents who your rabid Republicans are and who your rabid democrats are. No one expects them to do other then pull the lever for whomever their party puts forward. Palen appears to appeal to that small group that will decide the election.
All it takes is to Google Alaska state budget and you see she was responsible for an 8.1 BILLION dollar budget. Then look at her record of dealing with corruption in her own party statewide. Her record of accomplishment is impressive if looked at objectively. Compare it to the record of accomplishment of either Obama or Biden, and the comparison becomes even more impressive.
I find it outrageous that the repubs could suggest a garduate of a school other than harvard could ever be vice president. She's not even a lawyer ! And the idea of her leaving the house until her children are fully grown is outrageous . This sort of thing has to stop . We courageous democrats have fought for years to make sure that every woman stays at home with the kids (that's why its so important to kill your babies early). In Indonesia where our sainted leader grew up women cant leave the house at all except in the company of a male relative and covered from head to toe. Sarah Palin appears bare-faced and with naked legs. What a hussy !
Vote for the Messiah and save our wonderful country from inbred gun-loving hicks from fly-over country.
All of these protests that the media is just doing their job in digging into details on Palin are stupidly hollow given the press' largely "see no evil, hear no evil" approach to the top of the ticket on the other side. Where is the press' outrage over Obama's Ayers affair? Where is the focus on the utter lack of accomplishment or experience? There is none, because they don't care. They just want to elect a leftist in their own images, period, to hell with any relevant merit.
The slow, bleeding, suicidal death of the MSM is sad to watch, but inexorable.
One thing is for sure, we can take the gloves off regarding Ayers, Rezko, and Wright now.
The media is not going to be in any position to condemn "swiftboating."
Get ready to hear a LOT about the failed Chicago Annenberg Challenge.
Contrast the media stonewalling and cover-up over John Edward's love child and the immediate dragging through the mud of Palin's daughter (and the horrible lie they promoted about her son Trig). Even though the first story involved a presidential candidate (and former VP candidate), the MSM declared it a non-story and refused to even investigate it, until forced to by the National Enquirer (how ironic). With Palin, they were immediately ready to run with a completely fabricated piece of nonsense about her son (Andrew Sullivan, front and center) and then, when that didn't pan out, plaster her daughter's picture everywhere shouting, "For shame, for shame!", behavior that they would vehemently denounce coming from a Christian fundamentalist. It isn't just a double standard; it is outright, blatant partisanship. It is disgusting.
The Dems and the media have certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt this year that they are deeply sexist. How are we having a debate about a woman with children being able to hold a high-profile, executive postion? Did I wake up in 1970? I am no feminist but this treatment of Palin sure pisses me off in a way I haven't been since the 70s and I doubt I am the only woman who feels this way.
Contrast the media stonewalling and cover-up over John Edward's love child and the immediate dragging through the mud of Palin's daughter (and the horrible lie they promoted about her son Trig). Even though the first story involved a presidential candidate (and former VP candidate), the MSM declared it a non-story and refused to even investigate it, until forced to by the National Enquirer (how ironic). With Palin, they were immediately ready to run with a completely fabricated piece of nonsense about her son (Andrew Sullivan, front and center) and then, when that didn't pan out, plaster her daughter's picture everywhere shouting, "For shame, for shame!", behavior that they would vehemently denounce coming from a Christian fundamentalist. It isn't just a double standard; it is outright, blatant partisanship. It is disgusting.
The Dems and the media have certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt this year that they are deeply sexist. How are we having a debate about a woman with children being able to hold a high-profile, executive postion? Did I wake up in 1970? I am no feminist but this treatment of Palin sure pisses me off in a way I haven't been since the 70s and I doubt I am the only woman who feels this way.
My God, the bait is being taken in spades.
One commenter after another talking about how "terrified" he or she is that Sarah Palin -- who is running for the Vice Presidency -- might become President. And yet the prospect of Barack Obama as President seems to scare them not at all, despite the fact that he can hardly open his mouth about any matter having to do with foreign policy without revealing abysmal ignorance.
If you Obama partisans had the sense God gave a housefly, you'd all be saying, "Hey, I have no problem with her lack of experience; experience isn't anywhere near as important as vision and judgement and passion and the ability to inspire" or whatever the hell it is you guys see in that smooth-talking standard-issue Chicago-political-machine politician who has you so snowed. Instead you're all leaping in to talk about how irresponsible it is for the Republicans to run an inexperienced person for...wait for it...the Vice Presidency -- when one of the most critical and pressing tasks you face is the task of convincing undecided voters that the massive difference between McCain's lifetime of experience and Obama's stunningly thin resume, ought to be considered irrelevant to their decision. You act as though Obama is running against Palin rather than McCain. Are you insane? Repeat after me: "Experience doesn't matter. Experience doesn't matter. Experience doesn't matter."
[shaking head] You guys really, really don't understand plague-on-both-their-houses, which-of-these-two-evils-is-lesser independent voters, do you? Do you really have no conception of what pathetic hypocrites you look like now that suddenly experience is a sine qua non for the Vice Presidency (but not the Presidency)? And then you people who are justifying the media's fixation on Bristol Palin's pregnancy, and saying it's her mom's fault because she should have known it was coming -- well, sure, Sarah and Bristol both knew it was coming from the media, just as Michelle and Barack and John Edwards all know that their own families will be protected at all costs from bad publicity by the same media. Fortunately I imagine the Palins can take care of themselves, not being prone to Michelle-esque bombastic self-pity...but the fact that the Palins are strong enough to deal with the rank and vicious and contemptible partisanship of the press doesn't change the fact that attacking a 17-year-old girl because you hate her mother, is contemptible and despicable.
And if you still disagree with me and think there's nothing wrong with what the press is doing, hey, take it up with Obama -- who has condemned precisely the behavior you pond scum are defending, and done so in strong and unambiguous terms -- for which he deserves full credit.
I'd like to know whether John Edwards was homeschooled, what John Kerry told him about sex education, whether he was ever shown how to place a condom over a banana, whether Elizabeth Edwards was failing in her duties as a wife, driving poor John to cheat. Considering the questions that are now legitimate, I'm no longer interested in civility. If you Dems wanted this campaign to go nuclear, you just got it.
I must say I'm impressed at the vigor with which the netroots have been released on blogs, message boards, comments, etc.
I support the hosting of several mainstream sites and have seen a *lot* of posts under several names with various twists all coming from the same couple of dozen consumer IPs.
The non-tech people in my office just stratch their heads... I guess they're not stupid enough to buy into to the mass of comments condoning the scorched-Earth attacks on an American family and the misinformation campaign associated with them.
The nutroots will cost Obama this election, and he knows it. He is clearly not happy about how this is being handled - the BS attacks are going to tune votors out to legitimate questions about Palin that are yet to come.
Sex? I have only heard how she lies about a bridge, how she supports Bush policies,
and is a creationist,
I am not sure how it serves the Dems well to be discussing whether their PRESIDENTIAL nominee or the REpublican VP nominee has less experience. In my view, they both come with very little experience - I think Palin's is more relevant because it was executive, but Obama's is a bit longer. The point is, Palin will learn while working as VP - if Obama wins, he is the man from day one, and I've never seen him actually DO anything, besides run for increasingly higher elective office (which he is very good at). The man gives a great speech, but nobody can point me to any great achievements besides landing prestigious jobs - what did he do at those jobs? John Edwards was a scumbag plaintiff lawyer, but is widely acknowledged to have been one of the best, if not the best, scumbag plaintiff lawyer in the nation. John McCain was a prime promoter of the surge and was the driving force behind McCain-Feingold. Obama, like Fred Thompson, just showed up at the Senate and cast some votes. He never even called into session the subcommittee of which he is the chairman. What did he do in his three years of private practice as a lawyer? What were his singular achievements as a "community organizer"? Was his term as Editor of the Harvard Law Review in any way remarkable? Give us something, anything, on which to base our judgment, besides a good smile and a better speech.
I am not sure how it serves the Dems well to be discussing whether their PRESIDENTIAL nominee or the REpublican VP nominee has less experience. In my view, they both come with very little experience - I think Palin's is more relevant because it was executive, but Obama's is a bit longer. The point is, Palin will learn while working as VP - if Obama wins, he is the man from day one, and I've never seen him actually DO anything, besides run for increasingly higher elective office (which he is very good at). The man gives a great speech, but nobody can point me to any great achievements besides landing prestigious jobs - what did he do at those jobs? John Edwards was a scumbag plaintiff lawyer, but is widely acknowledged to have been one of the best, if not the best, scumbag plaintiff lawyer in the nation. John McCain was a prime promoter of the surge and was the driving force behind McCain-Feingold. Obama, like Fred Thompson, just showed up at the Senate and cast some votes. He never even called into session the subcommittee of which he is the chairman. What did he do in his three years of private practice as a lawyer? What were his singular achievements as a "community organizer"? Was his term as Editor of the Harvard Law Review in any way remarkable? Give us something, anything, on which to base our judgment, besides a good smile and a better speech.
Excuse me for being less impressed with Obama's "noble" stance. Deniability is the oldest arrow in the quiver. "I'm shocked, shocked that my supporters are pointing out that my opponent is a total sleaze. It's entirely inappropriate for them to publish that information." He never said that the lies and smears are lies and smears. He just said that he doesn't think they should be made public.
Those who have posted that Palin, as a governor, has no foreign policy experience ignore the fact that four of our most recent five presidents (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 43) also were governors who had no foreign policy experience. This is not a disqualifier. Did those who are currently criticizing Palin on these grounds advocate for Bush 41 over Bill Clinton? The disparity in foreign policy experience in that match-up could not have been more stark.
Additionally, Palin has something that the other three major-party candidates this election cycle lack, viz., a political philosophy. She has thought about which jurisdictions the national government should be involved in and which jurisdictions it should avoid. She gets the notion of federalism.
O'Bama, Biden, and McCain are reflexively interventionist, whether in terms in foreign policy or domestic policy or both. None of them sees any limitations to what the feds should do, whether those limitations are based on the Constitution, personal liberty, or whether our imperfect knowledge would lead to making a bad situation worse.
You can pick at various things in Palin's resume and public record, but at least she is able to make distinctions as to the proper role of the national government in our lives. Would that this were true for most public officeholders.
Those who have posted that Palin, as a governor, has no foreign policy experience ignore the fact that four of our most recent five presidents (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 43) also were governors who had no foreign policy experience. This is not a disqualifier. Did those who are currently criticizing Palin on these grounds advocate for Bush 41 over Bill Clinton? The disparity in foreign policy experience in that match-up could not have been more stark.
Additionally, Palin has something that the other three major-party candidates this election cycle lack, viz., a political philosophy. She has thought about which jurisdictions the national government should be involved in and which jurisdictions it should avoid. She gets the notion of federalism.
O'Bama, Biden, and McCain are reflexively interventionist, whether in terms in foreign policy or domestic policy or both. None of them sees any limitations to what the feds should do, whether those limitations are based on the Constitution, personal liberty, or whether our imperfect knowledge would lead to making a bad situation worse.
You can pick at various things in Palin's resume and public record, but at least she is able to make distinctions as to the proper role of the national government in our lives. Would that this were true for most public officeholders.
Those who have posted that Palin, as a governor, has no foreign policy experience ignore the fact that four of our most recent five presidents (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 43) also were governors who had no foreign policy experience. This is not a disqualifier. Did those who are currently criticizing Palin on these grounds advocate for Bush 41 over Bill Clinton? The disparity in foreign policy experience in that match-up could not have been more stark.
Additionally, Palin has something that the other three major-party candidates this election cycle lack, viz., a political philosophy. She has thought about which jurisdictions the national government should be involved in and which jurisdictions it should avoid. She gets the notion of federalism.
O'Bama, Biden, and McCain are reflexively interventionist, whether in terms in foreign policy or domestic policy or both. None of them sees any limitations to what the feds should do, whether those limitations are based on the Constitution, personal liberty, or whether our imperfect knowledge would lead to making a bad situation worse.
You can pick at various things in Palin's resume and public record, but at least she is able to make distinctions as to the proper role of the national government in our lives. Would that this were true for most public officeholders.
Just a short comment. Mr. Obama's standard practice has been to allow the attacks to proceed for 24-48 hours and then stop it. Researching his activities in Chicago politics, this is just more of the same. Are we to be treated as naive fools....it would appear so.
Hey, Clive, maybe you should go tell it to the nasty, effete little creep with whom you share these pages as I do believe his cork is at long last completely popped.
You'll note that when Obama talks about Palin, he refers to her as a mayor of a small town. Perhaps he's ignorant of her very successful, albeit short, tenure as Governor of Alaska, her 80% approval rating, her accomplishments as an anti-establishment corruption buster, her libertarian leanings, her successful negotiations to get that gas pipeline going after 30 years of stasis, her expertise in matters of energy and energy independence and a list of real life exploits and achievements that most MEN would kill for. Could be he's unaware of all that given how he's been oblivious to the true natures of so many of his associates, colleagues, supporters, advisers, mentors and "guys around the neighborhood". Obama needs to study up.
With whom do you suppose the average American identifies? The person who embraces newly conceived life even when it's less than perfect and no matter how inconveniently timed? Or the one who considers it a "punishment"?
When his nutroots supporters (who, when it comes to vitriolic, noxious hate-mongering, are in a class by themselves--one feels the need of a shower after encountering them) and sycophant media are licking their wounds in November wondering where it all went wrong, they'll need only to look in the nearest available mirror.
"...that she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party who advocate succession from the union. The press has turned all of this up in just a few days! It's obvious that she was vetted little if at all."
No Deb, clearly you and your beloved reporters who did not "vet" their supposed facts.
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/09/palin-and-the-a.html
This is what has become of journalism, facts be damned be the first to sling mud. I hope you will change your mind and let Sarah answer for Sarah instead of listening to bad journalists.
I am not sure how it serves the Dems well to be discussing whether their PRESIDENTIAL nominee or the REpublican VP nominee has less experience. In my view, they both come with very little experience - I think Palin's is more relevant because it was executive, but Obama's is a bit longer. The point is, Palin will learn while working as VP - if Obama wins, he is the man from day one, and I've never seen him actually DO anything, besides run for increasingly higher elective office (which he is very good at). The man gives a great speech, but nobody can point me to any great achievements besides landing prestigious jobs - what did he do at those jobs? John Edwards was a scumbag plaintiff lawyer, but is widely acknowledged to have been one of the best, if not the best, scumbag plaintiff lawyer in the nation. John McCain was a prime promoter of the surge and was the driving force behind McCain-Feingold. Obama, like Fred Thompson, just showed up at the Senate and cast some votes. He never even called into session the subcommittee of which he is the chairman. What did he do in his three years of private practice as a lawyer? What were his singular achievements as a "community organizer"? Was his term as Editor of the Harvard Law Review in any way remarkable? Give us something, anything, on which to base our judgment, besides a good smile and a better speech.
These comments are almost uniformly outrageous, ridiculous, premature and laughable. While part of me wishes this aspect of "Web 2.0" had never gained traction, it is also humorous to read you people frothing at the mouth about this woman. Why are you so obsessed with her if you think she is bound to fail? Just let it happen. My gut feeling is that she will make Biden look like an idiot in their debate and that Mccain will take this thing when people realize that Obama has absolutely no valid reason to be president.
My God! I can't believe there are that many morons, excuse me liberals in this county!
Palin is a bad mother because she didn't kill her down syndrome son? Because her daughter who is of the age of consent and old enough to get an abortion on her own, got pregnant and is choosing to marry the father and not kill the kid? Or is it because she is not playing the dim role by not having 5 kids by age 20 with 5 different men, all of them in and out of jail and none who will stick around and become a permanent welfare parasite? The dims need a new crop of voters since they can't get sane, sober, productive people to actually vote for them. Got to keep producing new parasites for future elections. Hey, Palin's daughter should have said Johny Edwards was her baby's daddy. After all he was vetted by the dims. A bad girl at 17 but he is an alright guy in his 50's, having a baby with his employee while his lawfully married wife is dying of cancer and he is running for president. The democrats are nothing but compassionate.
Obama's mother was pregnant at 17 and impregnated by a married man. So was she a bad mother as well? Bigamy is illegal in this country so was she ever even legally married to Obama Sr?. Speaking of bad parenting, maybe the bloviating hair plug could clue us in to his son's and brother's investments frauds. Or is a 17 year girl getting pregnant more important than a massive swindle? I guess so if your a dim.
It would be helpful if Obama actually revealed his true birth certificate and childhood passport applications. Humor us Barry, show us that your actually a legitimate natural born citizen, lawfully able to take the oath of office. Is that too much to ask? And while your at it, how about showing us you college records, your voting record as a part time state senator and your records as a director of the trust that dispersed 49 million dollars to unrepentant terrorists and their associates? Are you hiding something? If you are so squeaky clean, why not bring it out in to the open? Tell us again who vetted this guy? What are they hiding? That he is an empty suit, a theatrical prop? That the mob through its front piece the Chicago Democratic machine is pulling the puppets strings? Massive new federal spending and mandatory unionization, with the outfit getting its cut every step of the way. That folks, is the Chicago Way.
Tell us about your convicted criminal pal Rezko. About your sweetheart deal to buy your house. About the little ear mark to your wife's employer and how instantaneously she received a 150% pay raise from a non profit. When this clown was a failed poverty pimp, Palin was a successful mayor. Imagine that, the guy can't even rise to the level of an Al Sharpton. Only liberals and commies could vote for the Obama bin Biden ticket. No ordinary person could be that big a fool.
When this guy Obama, who never won a clean election to office, but had to resort to having legal tricks to get his opponents disqualified, the Chicago Way, Palin was winning legitimate elections. Obama is unwittingly admitting by being compared to Palin that he is the mannequin and Biden is the third rate wannabe Cheney who in turn is going to have his strings pulled. Who will become president if the bloviating hair plug dies? The Empty Suit? God help us all.
Governor Palin at her worst is light years more qualified to be President than those two dimwit jokers can ever be.
Hey, someone tell Campbell Brown to find a street corner cause that ho is nearing her sell by date. And to think her husband was a republican. Some guys will sell their souls for a cheap piece of tail.
NBC, nothing but crap.
*Obama was using cocaine, according to his book when Mr Palin had a DUI
*Pelosi had 5 kids -is she unqualifed to be Speaker?
*Gores son arrested with drugs
*Bidens daughter arrested for obstruction
*Edwards has a love child - I guess sex ed does NOT work.
*Ted Kennedy killed a girl while drinking and driving
*Another Kennedy wrapped his car around a post, but never checked for drugs or booze.
*Another Kennedy was charge with rape as Teddy ran around in his underwear - at least indecent exposure for a man of his weight.
*With abortion, compared to a baby, there is never any proof if any Democrat political family member had them - how many kids were killed by Democrats in office.
All of us were told to stay away from these issues because it was regarding a statesman above reproach or because you left family members out. As usual the Democrats stoop to new lows. I thought they wanted to talk about real issues not hearsay. The same MSM that says blogs are not to be trusted are running with the whole Downs child is Bristols...what a joke.
You're absolutely right, Clive.
I should add, the ingorance of facts by most of the commenters here is exceeded only by their hypocricy.
Let's see:
Bristol Palin's pregnancy bears on Palin's fitness, but Obama's relationships with an unrepentant bomb thrower, a racist preacher and a convicted influence peddler are just "distractions."
Todd Palin's 22-year-old DUI is a factor, but Biden's lobbyist son and brother, both of whom are being sued for fraud, are off limits.
etc., etc., etc.
Oh yes, and from the party of the feminists: "Who will take care of the kids?"
The beauty of being moral relativists is that "anything goes" as long as you win -- the credo of Obama's Chicago machine politics and his media surrogates. That's why character and family values are only issues if the candidate is Republican.
Kind words from Obama mean nothing, if he doesn't put a stop to this and get back to the issues. I hold him responsible for his lunatic followers.
Palin is exactly the Washington outsider we've all been waiting for.
NoS-|-MD wrote:
[ Let's see.. Sarah should've strapped a GPS locator to Bristol and made sure she didn't get pregnant. Oh yeah ..and she should've aborted her Down's Syndrome child. Should she have waited 'til the third trimester or done one of those post-birth Obama-type abortions? Maybe Bristol should abort and tell Levi to take a hike. Maybe Sarah should retroactively post-birth abort all five of her kids so they won't interfere with her veep duties. Is this all you morons have? She has more executive experience than McCain, Biden, and Obama put together. She has real life family issues precisely because she's not been living in the Washington incubator. McCain didn't take a gamble, he made the best possible choice in light of the country's current needs and the fact that he probably knew the Democlod media machine would end up gnawing off their own foot the moment they found out about Bristol.
The media and Demoblogs are arming Palin with everything she needs to crush Obama's camp soundly. You don't mess with a woman's children.. especially one that runs a state bigger than Texas and California combined ..and supplies America with 20% of her energy needs. ]
Hilarious! Not that Palin needs all this ammunition, but I think she'll blow right past all the accusations and start getting down to issues. The O'Biden media machine has shot off its own foot.
"What a class act he (Obama) is." - Clive Crook
Oh, really. Then why did he and all the other Dem candidates meet with the Daily Kos Kossacks this spring to beg for their support and "strategize" with the vile wackos how to best attack the Rep candidates this fall.
The amount of disinformation that's been spread in such a short time -- as evidenced by the comments in this thread -- is nothing short of amazing.
-- Palin did not fake her own pregancy to cover for her daughter's pregnancy (you're all class, Mr. Sullivan)
-- Palin was never a member of AIP; she's always been registered as a Republican
-- Palin did not cut funding for teen moms; she tripled it.
-- Palin did not endanger her (fake?) baby by flying back to Alaska while leaking amniotic fluid; she was in her 8th month of pregnancy, she was flying back to visit her doctor, her water hadn't broken yet, and she gave birth the next day after her doctor decided to induce labor.
Those of you who are so eager to attack and humiliate a 17 year old teenage mother need to look in a mirror, take a deep breath, splash some water on your faces, maybe even go outside for a little while. Because if the situation was reversed and Palin was a Democrat, you'd all be incensed at the attacks being leveled at her right now.
Not to mention that you're essentially humiliating a teenager mother as a cheap political stunt. It's not like the election is going to turn on this issue. In fact, you're remarkably unlikely to win any voters by slamming Palin's daughter. So seriously, people, sit down, read a book, have some lemonade. Find some sort of base.
Commish: Sources and links please?
What was McCain thinking? Sarah Palin doesn't have any Family Values, if she did, her children would come Before her Desire to become the Vice President. She has a special needs baby that needs a Gentle Loving Mother to take care of him in his daily needs. If Religious Leaders support such as this, they need not say anything to young people, by telling them, it's a SIN before Holy God to have sexual relationships before marriage! I'm in total shock that Rick Warren has taken a stands for John McCain, and Now, Palin. He needs to Remove himself from the Pulpit! If he doesn't, I pray God will Remove him.
John McCain picked a fine candidate for his VP. She is experienced, tough, smart and has that connection with the people. Her family is like everyone else in America. If she was a man you would not be saying this about her family values. I remember when Hillary Clinton came into the political arena; everyone was telling her to go home and bake cookies. She has a right to want to serve this country with her family beside her. There are plenty of voters who will support her and her family values. There should always be a separation between church and state in politics. Her religion and family values is her business only.
Dear friends,
So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks. :)
You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
Thanks,
Anne
ABOUT SARAH PALIN
I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.
She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She's smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.
She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.
She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.
Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.
As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.
Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar bears as threatened species.
McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.
There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.
However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.
CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
WHY AM I WRITING THIS?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.
Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.
Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.
Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.
Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.
CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.
Anne Kilkenny
annekilkenny@hotmail.com
August 31, 2008
_________________________________________________________________
As an Alaskan, I think Ms. kilkenny's email is true in part but contains much opinion of Palin's motives and actions. She is obviously a political opponent that wishes to paint a picture against Governor Palin. But, however you slice it, Governor Palin is very popular in Alaska. More so than any Governor we have had in a long time.
I thought I would add some background on the Alaska Independence Party. In 1992 (I believe) Walter Hickel was elected Governor as a member of that party - because they had a spot on the ticket and he disagreed with the Republican candidate who had been nominated. Though the party platform was to have a vote on secession from the US because of violations of the Alaska Statehood Compact by the federal government, there were many more mainstream politicians that used the AIP as a third party to oppose the established parties policies. While the sentiment has diminished some in recent years with the passage of time, there is still a lot of resentment from long time Alaskans about the set aside by the feds in 1980 of huge areas of the state as national parks and preserves - closing them to hunting, trapping and mining - which had not been contemplated when Alaska was admitted to the union. The statehood agreement though almost 50 years ago has still not been fully implemented. Anyone who asserts that membership in the AIP (and it appears that Sarah Palin was not a member) was treasonous or the like is ignorant of the true nature of what that party was in the 1990s in Alaska.
As for someone who has followed Troopergate since the beginning, I do not believe that there will be found any abuse of power. As far as can be learned (including todays story in the Washington Post about the emails sent by Palin to Commissioner Monighan - sp?), there was never a threat of termination made. It is only Monighan's belief that he was terminated because he would not fire Trooper Wooten. While he is entitled to his belief, this does not amount ot an abuse of power as Palin's politiical opponents would have everyone believe. I am predicitng that this will prove to be much ado about nothing - kind of like the Starr report (but without a blue dress). As a lawyer, I and convinced that, while the liberals may try and seize upon this, there just isn't anything there.
It appears to me that the Dems (not the campaign but the talk show hosts and bloggers) will try and throw a lot of mud against the wall and hope some of it sticks, but I think it is unlikely that there is anything that will.
There's not a single social conservative parent of a girl that has not contemplated their daughter coming home one day with the announcement that she is pregnant. It is a real possibility that any thinking parent has to consider and plan for. We don't think that our kids are angels. We don't pretend that they will never make mistakes both big and little. To act as though the news about Sarah Palin's daughter will turn more than a small percentage of social conservatives against her is laughable
um. I think you have it a bit wrong in your post, here.
Obama was not the son of an unmarried mom. His mother and father were married!!! Big difference here, and a point that you should correct in your original post!!
Posted by Decaturmom
=====
Are you kidding? Obama's mom was impregnated at 17 by a married Kenyan, and then they supposedly got married. We've never seen the divorce and marriage certificates, so we don't even know if Obama Sr. was committing bigamy when he supposedly married Stanley Ann.
Regardless, it is the very same situation. Both 17 year olds got pregnant, and then planned to marry the baby daddies.
Imagine if the press had talked about those family values and made remarks about Obama's grandma because she couldn't stop her daughter's promiscuity?
Hmmmm.....
How hypocritcal of the left.....
No matter how you cut it the attacks against Mrs. Palin because she dare think she can work and raise a fmily too are just too pathetic, arrogant, hypocritical and disingenuous to lend any credence too... but please , I beg you please all you dems and left wing robots... please keep it up and pile it on..... every time you do it means more support for Mrs. Palin and more votes for the McCain/Palin ticket
Folks - check out Dominionism and the Republican Texas Party Platform, Theocracywatch.org and Talk2action.
Bottom line is that Dominionists will do whatever is necessary to gain control of the legal system in order to institute their very rigid version of a Christian nation. Sarah Palin exemplifies this and for this reason has her current popularity among the ultra conservatives. The danger is if McCain dies and she is left calling the shots. Christian Taliban will rear a very ugly head.
It is the snob factor.
All the Eastern snot-casters look down their nose, and so there is something in that..
The public says, hell no you are not going to do that---and it draws in people to go for Palin.
So, the more they rip her, the more the Dem operatives go off the charts, it attract more voters due to Palin.
Did you see Palin note Ab Lincoln.. back to the ABC Head snot-caster.
He probably had no clue that Ab lincoln never graduated from grade school.
The VP pick was a stroke of genius, not sure what calculus CAIN used, but it is going to dance him to 1600 Penn Ave, and Obama still has no clue--wahhhhhhhh, happened.
Then, all the backroom D C lobbyists will take over, and run things into the ground for ordinary American citizens, and Sarah can nurse and take care of her special needs child, and attend cermonial functions, when time permits.
Cain will give her no Cheney like role...
But, you are taken by Sarah, aren't you... almost a People flavor of the month