Palin

[»Ducky]

Thoughts?

 

I heard the news midway through work this morning when I got a text from a friend.

I could think nothing but WOW the entire day.

 

Not because it was a bold move, but because I thought it a completely senseless one.

I understand the motivation behind a woman, that's fine. But did anyone else see it coming?

 

What I really want to know is, who on the republican side actually supports this?

You've spent the last year putting Clinton down as some radical nut case feminist who couldn't possibly lead a nation and now you have a woman half the age of the GOP who could kick at any moment; and she has what experience exactly?

Governing a state with the population of any major city and pushing some papers around?

 

I just need a republican to explain to me why this isn't political suicide.

[NBVegita]

There are a few reasons I can see behind it:

 

1) She is a woman.

2) She is the conservative that McCain is not.

3) She is fairly attractive (yes charisma and attractiveness tend to go hand in hand)

4) It's hard to use the inexperience argument against her as Obama only has slightly more, which he is running for the big show. (Note that this also works against McCain)

5) She fits in perfectly with McCain's claim to launch a Crusade against Washington.

6) She is appealing to the blue collars

7) She is the most popular governor in the United States, something that seems lacking in the Republican party.

She is a fresh republican face with no ties what so ever to Bush or the Bush administration.

 

In a post earlier I said as of now I would vote for Obama and I still stand by that. There are plenty of negatives, but also plenty of positives involved in this also. This is a big gamble, but McCain needs just that. If they win, this will be labeled a brilliant strategy. If they lose he will be labeled and idiot. It's pretty much like anything else.

[AstroProdigy]

I would vote for Obama

Oh snap say it again.

I would vote for Obama

faster

I'd vote Obama

I came.

[FMBI]

Up until today I loved the woman - nothing wrong with a very-conservative-yet-flexible governor in a liberal-yet-conservative state, right? However, today, the "ticker question" has really come up for the first time (when Romney was the presumptive VP, it wasn't really an issue) - I think that's going to be his biggest liability from picking her.

 

Overall, though, I think that, regardless of her merits (none of which apply as a VP candidate), this was one !@#$%^&* of a choice for McCain. Reasons below: (Note that mine are far sexier than Veg's)

 

#1 - She was a surprise. In the same way people !@#$%^&*umed Putin would hold on to power, but then they stopped believing it once he set up the party bigwigs as his successors, only to be shocked when he went with Medvedev, McCain put Palin on the list, then slowly let her drift off until nobody cared anymore - this was especially enhanced when the Lieberman rumors started coming out last week. People figured, Hey, it might not be Romney, but it's definitely going to be Lieberman, right?

 

#2 - She's pro-life. This is the absolutely biggest boost he could give to his campaign. She went through with her fifth kid, which has earned her the respect of many, many right-wingers and fundies. That should give him a very large boost among the fundie demographics - and it also proves me right in another topic, by the way, but don't let Hoch hear that. Also, this isn't a big negative to him, because at this point he's running 95% within the Republican party - even if he hasn't officially given up on Independents, it's very much a sideshow for him now, as far as I can tell. Besides, liberals (in the vast majority of cases) don't make abortion into an all-troops-mobilized issue the way conservatives do. I personally would have supported her right to abort that baby, but I would never say she should have been forced to. After all, that's what pro-choice is about, right? So ultimately, he cements his grip on the right while giving up very little ground to the left. Good move for him.

 

#3 - She's a female (as Veg said). However, contrary to what I saw in most blog posts today, this has nothing to do with "winning the female vote" - he doesn't have a chance in !@#$%^&* of doing that, and he knows it. The core crowd of Hillary supporters could be described as working class liberal / middle-class educated white feminists, and they have no reason to shift support from a guy they don't specifically like to a guy that has promised to take a completely opposing stance on the majority of the issues they care about. The real reason this benefits him is because it simply keeps the Hillary question open at all. The news that the roll call vote could possibly reopen some old wounds briefly gave those supporters more hope, and returned her to the front pages. Now, a few days after she finally gave support to Obama, McCain's getting someone who will keep those women wondering, "Why didn't Obama give her VP?" So, even though McCain won't win those voters, he could at least discourage them from voting, or, in the most implausible scenario, swing them to McKinney or Nader.

 

#4 - Nobody knows anything about her. Unlike with Obama, where picking Sebelius would have been the death knell of his campaign, McCain's choice of a total outsider will help his campaign redefine the terms of the race - if she's working from a blank slate, then she can become (until the election, at least) anything he wants her to be.

 

#5 - The mountain west. While Obama isn't looking as strong there as he was a couple months back, he still has a shot at Nevada, Montana, North Dakota, and, though it was always unlikely, Arizona - I'm personally anticipating a stronger-than-predicted Barr performance in the general election, which could knock McCain down several points in those states - a disaster that would not only make it much harder for him to close the EV gap, but also permanently alter the "Red/Blue" landscape. Well, maybe not permanently, but for at least the next 3 or 4 elections. Without Palin, McCain would have a hard time ensuring their safety, but with her - a pro-gun, (supposedly) pro-individual rights, small state leader (not much difference between someone from Alaska and Montana, when you get right down to it), he should be able to sink his claws in and hold them a lot more easily.

 

 

But, even after applauding his (or his adviser's, again, who knows) political savvy, I must admit I'm disappointed in the choice. I was honestly hoping he'd pick Lieberman and end up 40-60 in the popular vote. Oh well.

[Aceflyer]

There are a few reasons I can see behind it:

 

1) She is a woman.

2) She is the conservative that McCain is not.

3) She is fairly attractive (yes charisma and attractiveness tend to go hand in hand)

4) It's hard to use the inexperience argument against her as Obama only has slightly more, which he is running for the big show. (Note that this also works against McCain)

5) She fits in perfectly with McCain's claim to launch a Crusade against Washington.

6) She is appealing to the blue collars

7) She is the most popular governor in the United States, something that seems lacking in the Republican party.

She is a fresh republican face with no ties what so ever to Bush or the Bush administration.

 

In a post earlier I said as of now I would vote for Obama and I still stand by that. There are plenty of negatives, but also plenty of positives involved in this also. This is a big gamble, but McCain needs just that. If they win, this will be labeled a brilliant strategy. If they lose he will be labeled and idiot. It's pretty much like anything else.

 

I agree with most everything in the above. Although, I'm not so sure I'd consider her "fairly attractive" - I think she's pretty average-looking for a 40-something year old, honestly.

[tcsoccerman]

I think she is a great pick, and i support most of what she does.

 

She supports gun rights.

She believes global-warming is not man-made.

I BELIEVE she supports iraq.

I BELIEVE she supports drilling for oil in america.

 

I'm not into politics what so ever so i don't know/remember the rest of her policies.

 

 

It's hard not to laugh how McCain was staring at her !@#$%^&* the during the speech or w/e they both gave earlier.

Edited August 31, 2008 by tcsoccerman

[Cancer+]

I don't know what she does, or how she will be as a vice pres...

 

But she is hot. It is ok by me to have a hot vice pres.

 

Other than that, I could care less about politics. Unless I'm really drunk talking to Ducky.

[SeVeR]

I listened to a speech from Palin. I think she'll be quite a weapon for the Republicans and I'm beginning to think Obama should have recruited Hillary now (even though she is the spawn of Satan's !@#$%^&*hole).

 

She talks in the vein of a strong mother with a righteous at!@#$%^&*ude, but not so much that it would be preachy. She is going to guarantee the votes of a large swath of the women who hear her speak. You can't help but think she is right on everything she says, it's almost annoying, she has the "mother's way".

 

She also softens McCains maverick image, and McCain looks like the proud grandfather to Palin's family now.

 

I almost think she should be running for President instead of ol' senile McCain. This election just got a lot closer.

[»Ducky]

I disagree that is softens McCain's maverick image when she herself is one.

[FMBI]

She's not a maverick. She was actually for the "Bridge to Nowhere," and as far as the "crusading against corruption," that was just to take out threats to her power.

 

She's about as much of a maverick as Brezhnev.

[AstroProdigy]

If you call yourself a maverick enough times eventually people will believe you. That's especially easy when 95% of your party votes identically on every single issue. Republicans should just cut the !@#$%^&* and push for a parliamentary democracy because that's how they act. If Democrats in Congress voted down the line like drones the way Republicans due then Republicans would be completely screwed. Edited August 31, 2008 by AstroProdigy

[X`terrania]

Pak-rH0dCeAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak-rH0dCeA

 

2:50.

Awesome pick.

[NBVegita]

Personally I don't think that hurts her.

 

How many of you can honestly say you know what the President, Vice President or other do on a day to day basis?

[AstroProdigy]

If I don't know what the Vice President does then I shouldn't be the Vice President. We've got infrastructure in shambles on all levels and in all ways and a useless VP doesn't help. If anyone thinks Obama's inexperienced then think how inexperienced Palin is and with a very real possibility of taking over from 72 year old McCain. She was mayor of a town of 6000 followed by the luck of getting to run a sparsely populated, oil rich state with automatic budget surpluses.

 

By the way has anyone heard that her Downs baby might be her daughters illegitimate child?

[NBVegita]

And Obama was a Senator for 4 years, 2 of which he's spent campaigning where he has no executive experience at all. In fact the one appointment (as Chairman) he was given in the senate he neglected his duties to campaign. (On a side note I'm kinda confused how he was given the Chair of the European affairs (I believe) when he has no foreign affairs experience) I agree that Palin is inexperienced, but so is Obama. What I do find funny is that unless something terrible happens, Palin will have a year or two as VP, before it would be likely that she would become President. Thus at that time making her more qualified to be President than Obama is currently. If you go by the average male life expectancy, then she has just about 4 years as VP to be ready to be President.

 

This works in both ways, you cannot say that Palin is more than ready to be VP (unless you're trying to use the argument above) and say that Obama isn't ready to be President. Yet you can't say that Obama is ready to be President, but Palin isn't ready to be VP.

 

And are you serious with this baby talk? I mean that's about as credible as Ail coming on here stating that Obama is secretly the nephew of Osama. !@#$%^&* my mom was 5'1" 90lbs when she had both my brother and I. The most weight she gained for either of us was 17 lbs. One of the women at work had the same thing, she finally let her boss know at 7 months and no one knew.

 

Man gotta love election year politics.

[Bak]

yeah that downs thing is pretty re!@#$%^&*ed, along the lines of obama being a muslim

 

but her 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant

[Aceflyer]

yeah that downs thing is pretty re!@#$%^&*ed, along the lines of obama being a muslim

 

Agreed.

 

but her 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant

 

I figure Palin's family must be opposed to contraception, seeing as how Palin herself has had 5 children, her latest child coming in her 40's, and her daughter got pregnant, at 17, out-of-wedlock (which, intriguingly, isn't something ultraconservatives should like all that much).

 

I'm not so sure I respect Palin all that much given all this.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Aceflyer

[FMBI]

And are you serious with this baby talk? I mean that's about as credible as Ail coming on here stating that Obama is secretly the nephew of Osama. !@#$%^&* my mom was 5'1" 90lbs when she had both my brother and I. The most weight she gained for either of us was 17 lbs. One of the women at work had the same thing, she finally let her boss know at 7 months and no one knew.

 

Actually, it's more credible because Ail also believes that muslims are engaged in a vast conspiracy to kill all the Catholics in Russia and England, that France and Germany heavily back terrorists, and that, while the government (excluding Bush) is totally evil, corporations are almost always totally benevolent and helpful - whereas Astro, if a bit nutty on occasion, tends to avoid going off the deep end. Also, the fact that her daughter is currently pregnant certainly lends credence to the idea that she could have done it before, and they could be breaking the news early to avoid letting the other scandal come to the surface. I'm not saying it's necessarily true, but there's a decent chance it is.

 

- Fin

 

 

Edit - She's looking worse by the day. Is joining an Alaskan secessionist party considered a scandal, especially when she talked about "state's rights" in her acceptance speech?

 

Edit2 - Also, More about the "Bridge to Nowhere." I can't help laughing at this. The media has been sucking McCain's !@#$%^&* for months now by avoiding mentioning anything that might hurt a feeble, senile old man *COUGH* REAGAN PRESS CONFERENCES *COUGH*, but they seem to be really getting into the anti-Palin thing. Just goes to show you how biased the press is towards anyone that seems likely to win - now that Obama's further increased his lead, they've finally jumped McCain's ship.

 

Edit3 - I find it hilarious that you quoted McCain on Obama "being absent for half his time as a Senator" - perhaps we're forgetting that Bush spent something like 3 years on vacation during his period as president? Which is especially disturbing when one considers that many of his vacations occurred just after drastic events which one would expect the president to care about. I don't see how that pattern would change if McCain were elected, because he'd always be off at the health spa. "Dear, could you turn it up a little?" "The temperature, Mr. President?" "No, the voltage on my defibrillator."

Edited September 2, 2008 by Finland My BorgInvasion

[Bak]

I find it hilarious that you quoted McCain on Obama "being absent for half his time as a Senator" - perhaps we're forgetting that Bush spent something like 3 years on vacation during his period as president?

Bush != McCain, as much as the democrats would like that to be the case

[SeVeR]

Someone needs to find out just how much of a Bible bashing ultra conservative this Palin is. It's ok to be pro-life, but it does seem she is anti-contraception too, like Aceflyer said.

 

The Bridge to Nowhere just shows she does shat she can to benefit her agenda and not the people's. She used the money for something the people wanted, to not only gain political points, but to have more money for her state to spend. I suppose this idea fits with her gaffes over ultra-Alaskan-allegiance; In the video X'terrania posted she says "VP should be a fruitful position, especially for Alaskans", supporting the claim that she was once a member of the whacky Independence party. Why "especially Alaskans"... there is something wrong there and something wrong with her.

[Hoch]

What's wrong with her?

 

-Hoch

[Aceflyer]

What's wrong with her?

 

-Hoch

 

Let's see...

• She's opposed to reliable contraception (either that or she seriously lacks common sense). Reference: her fifth pregnancy, in her 40s, and her daughter's out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy at 17.
  
• She's most likely politically corrupt. Reference: Troopergate incident.
  
• She has worked tirelessly as a lifetime NRA member to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska.
  
• She's spent millions of dollars of (Alaska) state funds on aerial hunting of wolves and bears, dollars that should have been spent on, for example, Alaska's failing school system.
  
• She is a strong supporter of increased fossil fuel use, having consistently supported drilling in the ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants, strip mining, etc.
  
• The most accurate description of her is "redneck".
  
• She is a religious ultraconservative. According to her, U.S. forces are in Iraq on a "task that is from God."
  

 

^^ In no particular order.

Edited September 8, 2008 by Aceflyer

[Cancer+]

Sources for all of those facts please Ace...

[»Purge]

Sources for all of those facts please Ace...

 

Watch your words.

 

I don't think Palin's views on energy align with McCain's... interesting.

[Aceflyer]

Sources for all of those facts please Ace...

 

How come I'm about the only person here who gets asked for sources? Maybe it's because I usually provide comprehensive references, but couldn't be bothered to do so this time? <_<

 

Anyhow...

 

Point 1): Palin's fifth pregnancy [1] and daughter Bristol's out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy at 17 [2] are established facts. From these facts it is not difficult to infer that Palin is either opposed to reliable contraception (which would have prevented both her fifth pregnancy, which resulted in a Down baby, and her daughter's out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy), or lacks common sense (since it's a bad idea, due to medical reasons, to get pregnant (especially for the fifth time) in your 40s, and it's a bad idea, due to numerous reasons, to get pregnant out-of-wedlock at 17).

 

Point 2): Palin is under investigation for possibly being corrupt [3],[4].

 

New Point: Palin is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape or incest. [5]

 

Meh, I'll finish the rest later.