McCain Taps Alaska Governor Palin as Vice Presidential Running Mate

Aug 29

ABC News -

John McCain has made his vice presidential pick: the Republican contender will tap first-term Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

The 44-year-old Palin brings working class roots and appeal to female voters, becoming only the second female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket and a first for the GOP.

Being first is nothing to new to Palin (pronounced PALE-IN). She is the first female governor of the Last Frontier, the 49th state to join the Union in 1959 and the 48th most populous state.

Palin is also the youngest governor in Alaska's short statehood history, taking office in 2006 amidst attempts by Democrats to turn the reliably Republican state to their column.

Gov. Palin is married with five children, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.

Despite her strong conservative credentials, Palin is certainly a surprise pick. Not well known outside of Alaska, McCain picked Palin above several more prominent choices including former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and former Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa.


Tina August 29, 2008 - 10:45am

By MICHAEL COOPER and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: August 29, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio — Senator John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate on Friday, shaking up the political world with a surprise pick at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In choosing Ms. Palin — a 44-year-old conservative Christian and self-described “hockey mom” who has been governor for less than two years — the McCain campaign reached far outside the Beltway in an election where the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change.

The pick, confirmed by Republicans familiar with the decision, amounted to a roll of the dice, a gamble that an infusion of new leadership — and the novelty of the Republican party’s first female candidate for vice president — would more than compensate for the risk that Ms. Palin could undercut one of the McCain campaign’s central arguments, their claim that Mr. Obama is too inexperienced to be president.

more

Tina August 29, 2008 - 10:54am

One the one hand, I applaud McCain for (here's a first, eh??) thinking outside the box...but on the other hand, he's picked an unknown quantity while apparently having NO clue as to how she will hold up under the rigors of a national campaign spotlight.

Then again, McCain has to throw someone under the bus. Man, talk about your sacrificial lamb....


Last in line for a Nobel Prize, but first in line for pie

Jack Cluth August 29, 2008 - 10:55am

Palin is qualified to be president and commander-in-chief in case the 72 year old McSame doesn’t finish his term of office when McCain is arguing that Obama is not qualified? WTF!

If this isn't a purely political choice, aimed at disaffected Hillary supporters, I don't know what is — after McSame just (falsely) accused Obama of playing politics with his position on Iraq.

McSame is really going to get called out on this one. Of course, the Rovians will respond that it’s hitting a woman.

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 11:11am

Disaffected Clinton voters, the target.

I did inhale.

Don August 29, 2008 - 11:18am

she's anti abortion rights, just involved in a scandal, hasn't "worked for it" the way Clinton has etc.

The real Republicans will see it as icing on the cake "she's only VP" and not oppose it- Democratic women? We'll see, as they say in the papers.


"The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy" - Bob Herbert

nymole August 29, 2008 - 11:30am

it might appeal to republican crossovers and independents but I find it hard to believe a stanch pro lifer will appeal to dem women.

Tina August 29, 2008 - 11:32am

Women aren't stupid. Clinton supporters will run away as fast and as far as they can from this neocon duo. Geez, all of a sudden I like Obama.


"While not a Playboy reader, she invites a male acquaintance in for a quiet discussion of Chagall, Nietzsche, jazz, sex." - not a Hugh Hefner quote

adrena August 29, 2008 - 5:00pm

but the press will continue to act like Hillary supporters are sheep and will follow the few blustering so called supporters for McCain over the cliff. Fools.

Tina August 29, 2008 - 5:10pm

a lot of Hillary's supporters were conservative women.

Not all women are liberals and not all women support a woman's right to choose.

I did inhale.

Don August 29, 2008 - 6:09pm

I know but they know that Hillary is stanch pro choice so I don't see why they would swing to someone with even less experience than Obama just because she(Palin) is stanch prolife. I guess some will but the majority of Hillary's supporters are democrats. I think we will be seeing that 3am call ad reworked. :D

Tina August 29, 2008 - 6:28pm

Some interesting further analysis and elaboration of your point, from the very pro-choice Texan Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon.com

Truth does not do as much good in the world as the semblance of truth does evil.

Aaron Dellutri August 29, 2008 - 6:55pm

..all 60 of them.....

Tina's point below is solid--only conservative feminists disaffected by the recent Primary campaign would be likely Repub takes...their platform in general is so repugnant to the average Feminist that there'd be almost no chance at all for any but the Stepford Wife vote...

-5.75,-4.05
"God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." -- Robin Williams

justadood August 29, 2008 - 11:43am

Disaffected Clinton voters will not accept some ultra conservative replacement. Clinton was the deal. No substitute suffices.


"While not a Playboy reader, she invites a male acquaintance in for a quiet discussion of Chagall, Nietzsche, jazz, sex." - not a Hugh Hefner quote

adrena August 29, 2008 - 5:09pm

Yeah, regardless of who you are voting for, this is a brilliant move. Target the Hillary voters.

backwardselvis August 29, 2008 - 11:24am

WaPo
...
McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, playfully declined to provide any confirmation Friday morning. Speaking on CBS' "Early Show," she provided only a vague sense of the motivation that has driven McCain's decision. "John McCain is going to make the choice from his heart," she said.

"He's going to choose someone who can be a partner in governing. He's going to choose someone who brings character and principle to the table and who shares his priorities. And I'm confident that he's going to make a great pick."

But with less than two hours before McCain's official announcement in Dayton, a senior McCain adviser made official the speculation with a single word in an email.

"Confirmed," the adviser said.

The speculation reached fever pitch earlier Friday, when Atlantic blogger Marc Ambinder noted this morning that a private plane connected to a McCain fundraiser had traveled to an airport near Dayton yesterday from Anchorage. The plane's flight information and registration can be found using freely available flight tracking tools on the Internet. They show that the plane, a Gulfstream IV, landed at Hook Field municipal airport about a half-hour outside of Dayton at 10:07 pm last night.

Republicans struggled Friday morning to come to grips with what appeared to be McCain's surprise pick.

Former Romney spokesman Kevin Madden called the possibility of a Palin choice "quintessential John McCain. He's trying to make a play for independent voters . . . trying to bring in energy from outside Washington to try to reform Washington."

Karl Rove, President Bush's former top political advisers, said on Fox News that picking Palin would "shake up" the traditional coalitions in both parties. He called Palin a "breath of fresh air," and said picking her would be an indication that McCain is hoping to make a direct appeal to women voters, especially those who voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton, not Sen. Barack Obama, during the Democratic primary.

"It would be a clear sign by the McCain campaign that they would be making a bid" for women voters, Rove said. "In the last 24 hours, we've seen both campaigns refocus themselves in a powerful way on the Hillary Clinton supporters."

One GOP source who said McCain had chosen Palin call it a "stunning pick" and said he was still trying to get his arms around it. The source, who did not want to be named since McCain has not commented publicly, said conservatives will be pleased since she is an anti-abortion Republican.

But he acknowledged that Palin is "not really that well known."

Aides to Obama said they are salivating at the prospect of a Palin pick, readying talking points to question McCain's choice. With 18 months in office, little foreign policy experience -- or experience of any kind -- Palin would be, in the words of one senior Obama adviser, "a gift."

...

Tina August 29, 2008 - 11:30am

"she has as little experience as Obama"
"Joe better not be too tough on her"
"well, we know John has always gone for younger women"
"at least she's better looking than Lieberman"
:-)


"The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy" - Bob Herbert

nymole August 29, 2008 - 11:39am

And Atrios just posted this: "junior high cheerleaders at mccain rally? creepy"


"Frankly, we've lost a lot in recent years." - General Colin Powell

Raja August 29, 2008 - 12:01pm

See my "Dobson's Choice?" post.

Chickadee September 2, 2008 - 4:05pm

"He cannot say any more that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be commander in chief when he chooses a woman whose signature achievement two years ago was that they won an award from the National Arbor Day Foundation," a Democratic operative said.


"Frankly, we've lost a lot in recent years." - General Colin Powell

Raja August 29, 2008 - 11:41am

Does anyone think that she'll be doing most of the unscripted interviews for the campaign?

Petronius August 29, 2008 - 12:01pm

in general, I was really disappointed with obama's speech last night; it was 1/3 fatherly, 1/3 bragging and 1/3 talking about free lunch.

obama went as far as bashing McCain for 26 years of public service even though dick durbin, who obama praised, had 25 years and biden 38.

moreover, obama mentioned clean coal technology which means that we're going to liquify coal and use it like gas; thus, where's his concern about the environment?

ultimately, I hope that McCain stands by his remark that $5 million a year makes you rich; The Obama's brought in almost $5 million last year and the clintons typically bring in about $14 million a year ($110 over 8 years) and, on top of that, bill and hillary have solid pensions and health care too.

and if obama can't talk to inequality seriously now, I doubt he'll do tackle it in the whitehouse.

mrmx August 29, 2008 - 12:13pm

Shocking!!!

creativelcro August 29, 2008 - 12:31pm

:(

Tina August 29, 2008 - 12:37pm

I just want someone with substance.

unfortunately, bill clinton signed NAFTA and normalized trade agreements with china despite having no enforceable enviromental or labor agreements in place; this let businesses get around the stronger laws we have here. Moreover, Pelosi has done nothing to challenge bush even though he wants to make our environmental laws the same as the third world.

and, while al gore puts on a good act, his mansion still uses 200 times more energy than an average home so all his emotional sobbing in inconvienient truth looks faked through that lens.

so, given all this, I think that the dems support the current culture...

when I traveled around minnesota for dennis kucinich-- and more recently for ron paul, both democrats and republicans told me that the republicans were more likely to do something substantial with alternative energy since, when big business wants something, they go after it!

and, personally, I'm no longer sure that our archaic education and health care systems are worth saving. and this isn't a fox news thing since even obama noted that "several generations of students have been lost." (paraphrased) so, perhaps, if we let things collapse there will be pain but forests regrow after a forest fire.

mrmx August 29, 2008 - 9:25pm

uses about *20* times as much as the average person's, not *200* (as you'll note in that link, the AP researched it and found it used *12* times as much).

And I bet the place where you got that info didn't offer any meaningful comparisons like what any *past* VP's energy use was. They just used the number in isolation as if an ex-VP had precisely the same obligations as any other person in the US - you know, like running a global business or entertaining foreign dignitaries; the sort of thing you see the average person living in rural Arkansas doing all the time.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 29, 2008 - 11:25pm

basically, al gore's annual energy consumption could "power 232 average homes for a month" or, as you put it, his mansion consumes 20 times more energy than the average home [SOURCE].

this article also makes another interesting observation:

Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

thus, the energy required for his "green upgrades" failed to reduce his subsequent energy usage. Hence, Al Gore can't go around suggesting that "being green" is easy since his attempts, so far, have only made things worse.

Moreover, Gore has at least three homes: one in Nashville; one in Carthage; and one in Arlington so he's a true resource hog.

thus, I stand by my conviction that "Al Gore is a poser and a profiter" and, after watching his movie, I'd say that, like his father, whose addiction to profit kept him farming tobacco, Gore Jr. continues to live large despite knowing that second hand carbon is bad for our planet.

mrmx August 30, 2008 - 1:57pm

With respect I'll go with the AP estimate myself.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703020001


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 30, 2008 - 7:50pm

I repeat: there both the same number, just scaled differently.

i.e. while most people only need 12 units of energy per year, gore needs 232 units per year.

the 20 you posted is simply 232/12 or about 20 per month.

so-- either way you look at it, he's mocking us since, if he was worried, he'd cut back.

mrmx August 30, 2008 - 8:46pm

But that's not true. The article *manipulated you*. They were counting on you not looking critically at how they were presenting the numbers, and they played you for a sucker.

This is how they played you:

"In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month. "

See the magic here?

Why are they comparing the amount that Gore's house used in a year with what the average person used in a month? Would we be interested in comparing the amount John eats in a month to the amount Chuck eats in a week?

Well, that would be so the unwary who didn't read the article closely or critically - in this example, that's you - would rush out and tell everyone they know that "Gore uses over two hundred times as much energy as the average person!".

Which you obligingly did.

And you're using that number today despite having been corrected on it once before less than a month ago.

"...he still uses more electricity than 230 typical homeowners even though he implies that he's worried about the environment..."

Although - frankly - most people on the planet couldn't really care less how much his personal electrical bill is; at least not any more than most people would care that Jefferson talked about Liberty while owning slaves. Gore's got an Oscar and a Nobel Prize, and enjoys a pretty remarkable amount of goodwill in the larger world outside the US. Most folks on the planet seem to think he's one of the better leaders America never had, with the exception of a tiny cadre scattered amongst the 5% of the planet that happens to be American. As far as the rest of the planet's concerned, he can use as much electricity as he thinks he needs as long as it doesn't make the sun grow dim; he can stick a bulb in his mouth and a 220 volt cable up his ass and play "Santa On The Chimney Top" at Christmas as long as his work leads to advances in awareness and policy.

It would be very nice to see America taking global warming seriously instead of pretending it doesn't actually exist. Bush's ranch is a paragon of energy conservation, but Bush spent the last eight years telling the planet global warming doesn't exist (there's some seriously weird disconnect going on in that guy's head). So a fellow's personal energy profile isn't the first (or second, or third) thing I look to for guidance on things like this - particularly when hysterical claims of "230 times average!" start shrinking under closer scrutiny into "erm, well, he could probably do a little better".


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 31, 2008 - 3:10am

To me, the presentation was on target since it said, in essence:

"a normal person eats 12 hamburgers a year while al gore eats 232 of them."

Hence, if Al Gore really cared, there's a lot of room for improvement.

Moreover, in the future, I'll use the language of my hamburger story in order to avoid ambiguity since I agree with you that my initial presentations needed crisper language; on the other hand, the "inconvient truth" it suggests about gore remains and my opinion remains steadfast that gore has a wishbone, but no backbone, and talk, but no walk.

of course, you seem intent on apologizing for gore since you wrote: why anyone would compare a former Vice President with 'typical homeowners?' and the answer is: "Al Gore himself made carbon footprint a moral measurement." Thus, he continues to betray himself and looks like a fraudulent poser.

You also commented that "[bush] spent the last eight years telling the planet global warming doesn't exist" yet, as vice president, Al Gore sent our manufacturing capacity to China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, etc... in order to hide our carbon footprint within their per capita numbers. Hence, I say again, he's a fraudulent poser. At least with bush, his actions and words are consistent.

The most damning thing about Al Gore is that, while he tried to blaim the republicans for the poor environmental regulations found in his own adminstration's trade agreements, these same shortcomings have been evident in his own personal life and he has direct control over that!

FYI: From the Harvard Crimson: "Americans want to emulate the stars, not just obey them! [SOURCE]

mrmx August 31, 2008 - 10:35am

I lost interest in discussing this with you a while back - right around the time I realized you'd already been given this information before and ignored it. I posted for a specific purpose, which was to debunk a common falsehood, which I have now done. Good luck with hating Gore, I hope it works out for you.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 31, 2008 - 6:20pm

you're funny. it's totally true that the man used 220 more homes worth of energy last year than the average american.

IMO, the reason why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is because they choose pied piper candiates and al gore is one of those candidates.

enjoy your faithfulness!

mrmx August 31, 2008 - 6:51pm

you sure you really want to double down and go for broke when anyone else reading this thread can simply read the original statement from your own source and do the math themselves?


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 31, 2008 - 7:22pm

your math was 20 a month; my math was 20x12 which comes to 240 per year and I subtracted 12-- the use of those who care.

BTW: I'll consider myself debunked if al gore explains why elite celebrities can do as they please despite his predictions. as far as I know, communism collapsed because the elite ultimately suffocated the system; based on what I see, folks like Gore are doing that to our system.

mrmx August 31, 2008 - 8:18pm



"What we have here is, failure to communicate"

Rick September 1, 2008 - 12:50am

I didn't think god had anything to do with this thread.

mrmx September 1, 2008 - 2:22am

the dems certainly lacked compassion here:

The hurricane is going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. The timing is, at least it appears now, it will be there Monday. That just demonstrates God is on our side,” Fowler said, while laughing. Fowler also told Spratt that “everything’s cool.” [SOURCE]

the evidence on the heartlessness of the dems, and why they sided with bush, and why they didn't impeach, keeps piling up.

mrmx September 1, 2008 - 3:30am

McCain adviser says terrorist attack would boost campaign
Tuesday June 24 2008 09:13

A senior adviser to the US presidential hopeful John McCain has apologised after saying a terrorist attack on American soil would be a "big advantage" to the Republican candidate's election campaign.

Charlie Black later expressed regret over his "inappropriate" comments, and McCain said he disagreed with the claim.

McCain's presidential rival Barack Obama called the remark a "complete disgrace".

Discussing national security in an interview with Fortune magazine, Black was asked about the impact that another terrorist attack on US soil might have on McCain's campaign.

"Certainly it would be a big advantage to him," said Black

(...)

If your point is that both teams have idiots amongst them that open their mouths before engaging their brains, I'd agree with you. There's a lot of that going around.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 1, 2008 - 3:46am

I think that their brains were engaged but they forgot to filter its output.

Madeline Albright, for example, once said: "500,000 dead iraqi children were worth the price" when asked about Iraqi sanctions so the clinton/gore adminstration wasn't very benevolent.

mrmx September 1, 2008 - 4:03am

OK. Slowly. In very small words.

>>>
Example 1)

Jim eats one egg a month. Ted eats twenty eggs a month. Ted eats twenty times as many eggs as Jim.

>>>
Example 2)

Jim eats twelve eggs a year. Ted eats two hundred and forty eggs a year. Ted now eats _____ times as many eggs as Jim.

>>>

Compare examples 1) and 2) and identify which of the following statements, A) or B), is correct. Use the result to fill in the blank above.

(I have inserted a small hint. I have marked the incorrect statement using the words "incorrect statement" in bold text and the correct statement using the words "correct statement" in bold text.)

>>>

A) Incorrect statement: In the time between examples 1 and 2, Ted's consumption of eggs seems to have soared! Ted now eats two hundred and forty times as many eggs as Jim! The answer is "228" after you deduct twelve for normal egg eating.

B) Correct statement: Ted still eats exactly twenty times as many eggs as Jim.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 1, 2008 - 2:37pm

since my mcdonalds story never uses the word "times."

I said: "a normal person eats 12 hamburgers and al gore eats 240 in a year." when I budget, I use $7,000 a year for rent since I budget annually, not monthly.

anyway, since al gore is tall, maybe he needs 48 hamburgers a year.

of course al gore has other homes and jets everywhere; thus, he's gobbling up hamburgers all over the place!

Gandhi said: "be the change you seek" not a fraudulant poser.

mrmx September 1, 2008 - 5:43pm


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 1, 2008 - 7:13pm

for al gore's intelligence since "the best informed man" ain't the wisest.

mrmx September 3, 2008 - 10:11am

From your source:
"In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity"
and:
"the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year"

So, Gore's home uses 213,210 / 11,040 = 19.3 times as much as the average American household. A little less than 230 times...

Or, to look at it a different way, we could say:
In the past year, the average American's home burned through 11,040 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 12 average American households for a month. (Wow, that sure sounds like a lot). Even more astonishingly, in the past year, the average American's home burned through 11,040 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 365 average American households for a day!!!! (Now that definitely is a lot - someone wants to speak to those average households).

See??

sean September 1, 2008 - 6:23am

he literally eats over 200 more hamburgers than the average person even though he professes that eating those hamburgers will destroy the world!

perhaps he met alice in wonderland!

mrmx September 1, 2008 - 5:48pm

[both images linked with *profound* gratitude - ES]


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 1, 2008 - 7:13pm

I agree with Mr T.

sean September 2, 2008 - 6:11am

is one of my favorite sites :)

http://despair.com/viewall.html

Tina September 3, 2008 - 10:34am

it's not big deal that you found the facts inconvienient about gore. truly, when I see ignorance like that, on the left, I understand why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

mrmx September 2, 2008 - 1:00pm

your elegantly reasoned insights on the widening gulf between rich and poor, the failure of communism, and why our willful ignorance makes it so very hard for you to sell completely bullshit stories here.

I've little doubt that your demonstrated prowess in critical thinking has left the entire readership as eager as I for any pearls you might deign to cast before us.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 2, 2008 - 2:37pm

perhaps you have a crush on him or something? it's not about willful ignorance but, as I wrote, wishbone but not backbone. People want painless change via popping a pill.

mrmx September 3, 2008 - 10:09am

give it up already. Please put the rest of us out of this misery and move on to another subject that maybe us members of ignorant left will understand to your satisfaction.

Tina September 3, 2008 - 10:23am

here's an image for you:

mrmx September 2, 2008 - 1:04pm


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 2, 2008 - 2:40pm

what a nice shot!

mrmx September 3, 2008 - 10:05am

It is very important not to lower expectations on this one. Palin is very sharp, very disciplined.

Jonathan Singer has it right, "Spirow Agnew."

Stirling Newberry August 29, 2008 - 12:33pm
tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 12:59pm

Jonathan Singer has it right, "Spirow Agnew."

Yeah, "remember Spiro." Alaska is already prominently in the news for its Rethug corruption. Hope they vetted her well. I wonder what she'll be saying about the corruption in her state's party. She is the governor, after all.

Kind of makes you think of "the Keating Five," doesn't it.

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 12:59pm

"abuse of Office"--firing the commissioner for Public Safety because they wouldn't fire her brother-in-law (in the midst of a messy divorce case).

Honestly, is there a Republican *anywhere* with a clean record? I'm starting to think no.....

-5.75,-4.05
"God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." -- Robin Williams

justadood August 29, 2008 - 1:05pm

it makes me think about obama's support for ethanol, liquified coal, mountain top coal removal (i'm assuming this since that's the cheap way to get coal), his FISA vote and giving telecoms legal cover, etc...

only fanbois are blind to this boatload, and others, of washington insider gerrymandering.

mrmx August 30, 2008 - 2:55pm

Not to put too fine a point on it, but where did you uncover this information? Sharper than.....? More disciplined than....? Listen I've been to Alaska.

Chickadee August 30, 2008 - 2:53am

I agree with you 100%. Obama's speech seemed slapped together, triangularized and a bunch of mushed together sentimentalities and platitudes whereas Palin's speech was very witty, original and compelling.

i.e. she sounded like the original obama before he started trying to broaden his support through speech writers and advisers.

I'll be watching Palin some more and hope that her "compositions" seem like her own.

mrmx August 30, 2008 - 2:52pm

The Times thinks so: "John McCain’s choice of running mate was a surprise, and — as designed by Mr. McCain’s advisers — eclipsed the acceptance speech delivered by Barack Obama."

I didn't find that to be so, though it certainly moved the Obama speech off the NYT front page.

(I assume one of the main reasons she was picked, aside from PUMA and no-maverick conservatism , is McCain is going to do a cornerstone pitch for home-grown oil to sate the thirst.) Obama will have to nail energy solutions.He will need to use Gore as much as possible, instead of floundering around on home-grown drilling as he has so far)


"The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy" - Bob Herbert

nymole August 29, 2008 - 1:33pm

Thirty-eight million people watched Obama's speech — more than took in the Olympic opening ceremony, itself a record tune-in.

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 6:56pm

I watched the speech last night and not only did I think it was much ado about nothing but I also felt nauseous when obama was compared to MLK since, in my mind, Obama is neither an MLK nor a JFK.

I say this based on a quote from DemocracyNow:

JEREMY SCAHILL: We heard Senator Obama invoke the name and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King tonight. At the same time, he called for an escalation of a war against another country. Martin Luther King was a pacifist and didn’t believe that war was just. Do you see a contradiction there?

REP. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE: There is—these are tough times, and Martin Luther King did oppose the Vietnam War. I worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and I knew him as a man that did not bow down to pressure. I think what Senator Obama is saying, that in this climate of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan is where the crux of the crisis started, as it relates to 9/11 and where Osama bin Laden is. And I think he simply said tonight that we need to finish the job so that we can gain again the moral level and the moral angel of being able to speak, if you will, to diplomacy and peace.

Specifically: I lost a little more faith in the dems since "violence begets violence"-- according to MLK, and wars can never heal since they're based on racism and povery-- according to MLK, and I agree. Instead, wars have become the crack cocaine which drives our crazy, unsustainable economy into a dysfunctional funk and the democrats aren't calling a spade a spade.

At the very least, supporting the McCain/Palin ticket is simply siding with a man who's honest about where america's culture is headed-- with or without the democracts in charge and with or without the republicans in charge.

Moreover, JFK said this:

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

-John F. Kennedy

and I think that bush will be remembered for bringing about change even when the nation kicked and screamed against it.

mrmx August 29, 2008 - 9:58pm

I'm a ...believer?

That'll get the editors who've dealt with my nitpicking for years rolling in the aisles.:-)

But your post is about your beliefs not mine, so go right ahead......


"The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy" - Bob Herbert

nymole August 30, 2008 - 11:45pm

yeah; you said: "I didn't find that to be so."

my infatuation with obama's speech lasted for, ohhhh, about 30 seconds.

In general, I liked Stirling's observation that obama's speech was mostly "kerry rehash" but presented better; thankuflly, mr "i'm reporting for duty kerry" set the bar low for obama.

mrmx August 31, 2008 - 1:38am

All the usual candidates split the party one way or the other - offending the country club crowd or the evangelicals. She has so little experience and no national recognition whatever, so that no one is going to get too offended. She seems tolerant of gay people, but completely against abortion of any kind. She wants to drill in ANWR, and she wants creationism taught in the classroom. Dobson will for the most part love her, as will big oil. She's young while McCain is old, and she apparently has "charisma" in Alaska, whatever that means. Plus she's a she, so that is supposed to offset the novelty of an African-American on the other ticket.

But so far all of this seems to be designed to hold the Republican coalition together. It seems highly unlikely she is going to appeal to Democrats, even disaffected Clinton supporters, and for independents it is probably a big ho-hum.

I see it as a sign of weakness that McCain has to go with someone who basically appeals to Republicans.

Numerian August 29, 2008 - 1:34pm

McSame is turning himself into a hypocritical flip-flopper and making incredibly bad decisions trying to hold the Reagan coalition together. It isn't working because that coalition has already been coming apart for some time. The issues on which it was founded have changed.

Given McSame's age and health history, even the most died in the wool Rethugs are going to be thinking about the possibility of a President Palin — and the consequences thereof. Probably before she could be sworn in, America's enemies around the globe would launching prepared pans to test her, knowing she has zero experience as "the decider" and probably little tolerance for high pressure, having only been the major of a small isolated town and governor of a backwater state for but a year.

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 7:03pm

Politico
Palin, to a roaring crowd in Dayton, praises Geraldine Ferraro and, particularly, Hillary Clinton's "determination and grace in her presidential campaign."

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest hardest class ceiling in America, but it turns out that the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," she said.

Clinton's spokespeople, whom I e-mailed this morning, haven't yet responded to the pick.

Tina August 29, 2008 - 2:26pm

Palin courts Hillary backers?

ROTFLMAO!

Must be because of their fire and water resemblance!

Oops...my bad--should have read some of the comments following the article! L0L

The article didn't stipulate why the crowd in Dayton was roaring...might it have been from laughter?

canuck August 29, 2008 - 3:37pm

Can't wait for her "youthful mistake" nudie pics to surface....

The Spoiler August 29, 2008 - 4:37pm

She was in lots of beauty contests so the rumor goes. And those E-vangelicals are seeking forgiveness for something!

Scotjen61 August 29, 2008 - 4:46pm

The fertilizer will hit the fan if/when they find anything untoward.

Getcha popcorn ready.....

The Spoiler August 29, 2008 - 4:56pm

not palin...but her daughter...the moderate voice spreads the rumor that palin's down syndrome baby is really the child of the eldest teenage daughter...

skippy August 30, 2008 - 1:01am

Palin is qualified to step into the presidency? I think not. She's been governor of Alaska less than a year and already is embroiled in scandal. She's even using some of Bush's own tactics to block the truth.

No. Attempting something as craven as attracting Hillary voters will not win any close states. Even worse, having picked someone practicing the exact same legal maneuvers as the most unpopular president in history is pure stupidity. The gasbags of the Legacy Media will probably attempt to put some lipstick on this pig of a choice, but my guess is their hearts will not be in it and the electorate will be unimpressed.

If I had wanted cream and sugar, then why order the damn coffee?

Rook August 29, 2008 - 6:24pm
Don August 29, 2008 - 6:44pm

he could have chosen Liddy Dole. She probably going to lose her Senate seat anyway.

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 7:06pm

The GOP bench is astoundingly thin - let alone the "first string". It amazes me that the choices winnowed down to McCain. As far as bringing in conservative votes, I thought his team would have given Huckabee strong consideration. WRT Palin, with whom I have no history and no quarrel, I just have to say - there's no there there. If the supposed hordes of PUMAs want to vote for a woman, any woman, despite her anti-choice and pro-creationist positions...well, please do so. I think the McCain ticket nets perhaps 100K votes on this selection.

After the GOOPvention, the level of discourse will get even nastier and slimier. I hope Governor Palin brought her foul weather gear along.



"What we have here is, failure to communicate"

Rick August 30, 2008 - 12:05am

If this VP pick doesn't prevent a nice Obama bounce and the Clinton supporters don't take the bait. Then McCain is saddled with Palin for the duration and she becomes a massive liability.

This was desperation by McCain, we'll know by Monday if this the juice was worth the squeeze or not.

zot23 August 29, 2008 - 7:13pm

the GOP convention is put off until after Gustav hits and then Palin will have family issues and will be replaced. However Operation Chaos continues until then ;)

Tina August 29, 2008 - 7:27pm

San Francisco Chronicle, By Debra J. Saunders, August 29

Minneapolis-St. Paul -- Bingo.

For weeks, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been the Republican whom conservatives barely dared to hope could become John McCain's pick as his running mate.

For Republicans angry at Washington's big-spending bonanza when Republicans controlled the White House and Congress, Palin, like McCain, is an antidote. She is the Alaskan who pulled state support for the infamous Bridge to Nowhere and bucked Alaska's congressional and state Republican leaders.

For social conservatives, the mother of five has impeccable credentials. She's a member of Feminists for Life who walked the walk in April when she gave birth to a son, shown by genetic testing to have Down syndrome. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," she said of her son, Trig. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"

For conservatives who felt that McCain at times has been too cozy with the Washington left, Palin is a conservative's conservative - a moose hunter and co-owner of a commercial fishing operation.

As an Alaskan, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Her husband works for BP on an Alaska oil field. Yet, as the Almanac of American Politics has reported, she stood up to Big Oil when she supported a natural gas pipeline instead of an oil pipeline backed by the state's major petroleum interests. McCain has been too much of a wishful thinker when it comes to energy policy. Palin could champion a more grounded approach to energy.


"Frankly, we've lost a lot in recent years." - General Colin Powell

Raja August 29, 2008 - 9:20pm

tho i know you are quoting the sfchron, i will point out that palin did not fight the bridge to nowhere until it was obvious that the fed wasn't giving enough money for the project.

and then, she (as alaska's gov) kept what fed money had come their way.

skippy August 30, 2008 - 1:06am

Just meant to point out that not everybody thinks it was a bad decision. Maybe we should have Senatorial oversight so that such Harriet Miers choices don't get made.

That she pulled support for the bridge only late in the game, then claimed to have stood up to Washington proves that she's a politician, "ready to lead".


"Frankly, we've lost a lot in recent years." - General Colin Powell

Raja August 30, 2008 - 9:06am

"She is the Alaskan who pulled state support for the infamous Bridge to Nowhere and bucked Alaska's congressional and state Republican leaders."

But that was AFTER she was FOR it.

LINK

" 5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

She's perfect for mccain. He's just like her.
[edit: except he's not hot.]

Snapdad2112 August 29, 2008 - 10:13pm

except he's not hot

tjfxh August 29, 2008 - 10:59pm

eom

Numerian August 30, 2008 - 6:04am

I see a lot of very tactical comments in the blogs - like this is a big game.

While everyone is debating age, swimsuits, guns, pro-choice, sex, etc..., like if this was some sort of reality show, I do not see a single comment/analysis about how a potential McCain/Palin administration would interact with the rest of the world.

Do you think the leaders of most major industrial nations/world powers, whose political rise to power took decades, will look at this ticket as the leaders they should follow? That Palin will be taken seriously when she makes threats or promises?

Would you send Palin to defuse a tense situation in the Balkans? I just have to imagine a Palin / Putin meeting in my mind and the picture is not pretty. Is this the image of US strength? An unknown mother of 5, former beauty queen, governing one of the smallest and most remote states for a couple of years? Imagine a meeting with Iran.

The US is also sitting on the most lethal stockpile of weapons ever devised by man, with the power to kill every man, woman and child on the planet many times over. I think I want an experienced person in charge. Intelligence is not the issue, here. In my life, I've seen tons of very intelligent people who were totally incapable of acting intelligently under extreme pressure, becoming totally useless and helpless. I would love to have the warm, happy feeling that the people in charge have proven their ability to keep their cool when industrial-grade heat comes their way, maintaining their ability to keep things under control. Unfortunately, for most people, that comes with decades of experience taking extreme heat. Being mayor of a rural town and governing Alaska does not qualify as a test of that capability, and is certainly not sufficient to build the nerves that we need in control of the nuclear arsenal.

And with all the havoc the Bush administration has wreaked onto the world in the last 8 years, you can bet there will be a million opportunities to test that capability. We're encroaching on Russia's historical boudaries, firing up their secular fears of isolation and invasion, we're threatening Iran with total destruction, and we're still well entrenched in Irak and Afghanistan. All continents and most regions have permanent US bases.

I'm really scared...

petegadget August 30, 2008 - 12:20am

Honestly this is the most shocking mistake. I truly have to wonder about McCain's mental stability. McCain is a loose cannon and poorly thought out snap decisions like this are potentially extremely dangerous. How absurdly insulting to Hillary Clinton and to everyone who supported her to suggest that this woman is her equal in any way whatsoever. If (perish the thought) another two terms of Republican government lie ahead, the chances are extremely high that in Ms Palin one is looking at the next president of the United States. Good grief!

Chickadee August 30, 2008 - 2:47am

Is he cured, or is it in remission? Was it melanoma? If it recurs, is it likely to be more deadly and swift-acting? Will the stress of running for president, and then the stress of being president, possibly trigger a recurrence of his cancer?

And this doesn't even go into Alzheimers. Shouldn't McCain do the proper thing and take a test for Alzheimers now?

Suddenly I'm a lot more curious about McCain's health.

Numerian August 30, 2008 - 6:03am

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.