McCain Picks A Woman

[JadeDragon3]

A return to Jeffersonianism, a smaller government, that protects my rights, doesn't look for reasons to justify a camera on every corner, and that actually follows the Constitution.
Oh, and that buys me ice creme.

Aint that the truth. It seems like big brother is watching us at all times. Whats next, a camera in our house?

 

[FearlessFreep]

sitting governor

That's an interesting point. Typically, senators don't do as well as state governors (in getting elected President) as they lack Executive experience, so I was actually a bit surprised to see that both nominees ended up being senators.

So have Palin on the ticket as a current governor I think adds an interesting angle to the situation

 

[CoryKS]

Her Wiki seems pretty positive overall:

Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged and defeated the incumbent mayor, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes. The ex-mayor and sheriff tried to organize a recall campaign, but failed. Palin kept her campaign promises by reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%.

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest. After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.

Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. After federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending was lost, Palin decided against filling the over $200 million gap with state money. "Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,' as the state does today."

More in the same vein. She's pro-life and opposed to same-sex marriage, which will appeal to/offend those who line up on either side of those topics, and she's for drilling in ANWR. I like the part where she sold the state-purchased private jet on eBay.

 

[Andrew Green]

Does that matter? At least she takes a positive stand on something (pro life) and doesn't flip flop back and forth just to get votes like Obama did. She could have aborted her down syndrome child but she didn't. I respect her for that. And she is VERY much for alaska oil drilling.

To some extent yes, kids take time, especially when they are that young, and especially when they have special needs. Campaigning for VP is not exactly a 9-5 job that you can hire a babysitter for when you are out. In a couple years it might not matter as much, but a 4 month old? Can you honestly say that with a 4-month old special needs child you would be up to touring the country campaigning and working 70+ hour weeks?

And how on earth did abortion get into this?

Edit: Are you suggesting that the only reason she did not abort the pregnancy is because she is pro-life? As if that was a good thing? No love for her child regardless, just because she has to stick to her pro-life claims? I would "hope" she would slap anyone that made that suggestion to her face, as would any other mother with a special needs child.

 

[MA-Caver]

McCain's veep choice is historic and hardly known

By STEVE QUINN and CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_veepstakes_palin
JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now — making history — to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket.

She has more experience catching fish than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs.
Talk about a rocketing ascent.
In turning to her, McCain picked an independent figure in his own mold, one who has taken on Alaska's powerful oil industry and, at age 44, is three years younger than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and a generation younger than McCain, 72.
Palin's selection was a jaw-dropper, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months. "Holy cow," said her father, Chuck Heath, who got word something was up while driving to his remote hunting camp.
Palin had been in the running-mate field but as a distinct long shot.
She brings a strong anti-abortion stance to the ticket and opposes gay marriage — constitutionally banned in Alaska before her time — but exercised a veto that essentially granted benefits to gay state employees and their partners.

Wonder if that last part is going to hurt McCain or not due to her anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion stance?

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Wonderful.

So if one side gets in, the white supremacist types will assassinate Obama, and the other way, the jilted Hillary supporters assassinate McCain.


Either way life's about to get real interesting.


And remember the old Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times".

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Turns out, it's not that historic.

Greens are running an all female team this year, in 1984 Walter Mondale ran against Reagan/Bush with Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and in 1972 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee Tonie Nathan was the first woman ever to receive an electoral vote. In 1972, Roger MacBride, a Republican elector from Virginia, cast his electoral vote for the Hospers/Nathan ticket.

So, not historic, unless they win.

 

[JadeDragon3]

"She has more experience catching fish than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs."


All I can say is she has more experience than Obama.

 

[arnisador]

Interesting...she's open to the inexperience charge, of course, and will bring all 3 of Alaska's electoral votes. Well, we'll see!

 

[ArmorOfGod]

McCain Picks A Woman Almost as predictable as Obama picks a Career Politician...

Was it predictable? Do you think women have been picked often for VP?

 

[MA-Caver]

as a tactical move it could be brilliant

I was hoping for Romney myself.

Doesnt matter tho.

it is easy to get people to vote for the admittedly charming Barrak when the alternative is Hillary

Getting people to vote for him whent he alternative is actually not a spawn of the devil?

thats a bit harder.

Well SOMEONE has to be a spawn of the devil...
( I think I posted this pic somewhere else before) :uhyeah:

 

[MA-Caver]

Aint that the truth. It seems like big brother is watching us at all times. Whats next, a camera in our house?

Don't be surprised... time to get out the tinfoil hats folks!

 

[FearlessFreep]

Interesting...she's open to the inexperience charge, of course, and will bring all 3 of Alaska's electoral votes. Well, we'll see!

Interesting that with McCain/Palin you have "Experience/Inexperience" whereby with Obama/Biden, the dynamic is exactly the opposite with the guy wanting the big chair being the one with little experience.

And I keep thinking about the issue of her being the sole governor in a race full of senators. Being a legislator is lot different than being an executive; different expectations, different dynamics and responsibilities. She's not that experienced, it's true, but what experience she's had is all based on being the executive position, the one in charge. So I don't really think McCain gives up much on the experience angle to Obama on this one.

Obama is a junior senator with very little experience, Palin is a governor with very little experience. He would be president, she would be vice-president. I say the 'inexperience' angle is still valid, and I think McCain wins on this point.

Also, of note, that Obama lurched to the "politics as usual" picking long-time senator Biden, which on the face of it takes a lot of the edge of his message of "change". McCain unexpectedly jumped back into the "maverick/independent" direction with the choice of Palin, a relatively young politician from outside the beltway circles.


I think once the noise has settled a bit, I think this choice is high risk/high reward and will play out in some interesting ways

 

[crushing]

Well SOMEONE has to be a spawn of the devil...
( I think I posted this pic somewhere else before) :uhyeah:

That scary Obama picture kind of reminds me of the Gingrich Time magazine cover treatment from 1995. The difference being that Time magazine is a respected new periodical and the Obama picture was clearly a joke.

Also, Obama may not be so historic

Black woman details ties to Warren G. Harding

While others may view the stories about Warren G. Harding's black ancestry as rumor, Marsha Stewart sees it as fact.

Not to mention the possible ancestories of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and Coolidge. I must claim ignorance, as I am confused as to what really makes a person a certain color. Are there rules for that? I've heard of the one-drop rule, which seems to me outdated and outright racist. I'm not entirely clear on what exactly makes Sen. Obama Black. At least the male/female thing seems pretty straight. . .so far. I haven't heard rumors of any mixed sex candidates for president yet. I wonder if the Republican or Democratic party will be the first to break down that wall?

 

[IcemanSK]

Plus,
she's a total MILF............

meow!!!

Well, it didn't take long for that to come up.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Well, it didn't take long for that to come up.

GILF?

 

[hardheadjarhead]

McCain's choice of Palin is interesting. It has Democrats snorting, and a number of Republicans gushing about her conservative values. Still other conservative writers, like Charles Krauthammer and David Frum, are left scratching their heads.

It is clear that McCain picked her to solidify his evangelical/social conservative base. Some speculate that he also picked her to woo disaffected women voters bitter about Clinton's loss to Obama. Democrats note that regardless of her qualifications and gender, Sarah Palin is one heartbeat away from the Presidency and could quite conceivably be our Commander In Chief. McCain just turned 72, is a skin cancer survivor, and has two children older than Palin. In our nation's history we have seen nine Vice Presidents take the reigns when the President has died or left office in disgrace. This has happened twice in my lifetime, and three times in the lifetimes of Joe Biden and John McCain.

Sarah Palin is indeed a social conservative. She is pro-life evangelical christian, a life member of the NRA and an avid hunter. She believes that creationism should be taught in the schools alongside evolution. She says she has gay friends but has openly opposed gay marriage and has attempted unsuccessfully to overturn legislation allowing gays health benefits for domestic partners. She doesn't believe global warming is man made and has attempted to block efforts to put polar bears on the endangered species list. She has admitted to smoking marijuana, but is against it being legal. She is against stem cell research. She favors drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and feels this will help release us from our dependency on foreign oil. She is, as writer Sheldon Alberts observed, "...the real life version of the blue collar woman that Hillary Clinton pretends to be."

Palin has a bachelors degree in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Idaho. Her grades have not been released yet, but one professor who most certainly had her as a student doesn't recall her.

A self described "hockey mom," former beauty queen, and sportscaster, Palin has no experience of governance at the national level and no foreign policy experience. She has served 22 months in office for a state whose total population is less than that of Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to that she was mayor of a town (Wasilla) of roughly 7,000 that encompasses twelve square miles. The town's police force has thirteen patrol officers working the street...if one includes "Bravo," the K-9.

McCain is portraying her as a maverick in order to restore his diminished reputation as one. She has bucked the Republican establishment in Alaska--and a number of power brokers in the party of her state detest her. She is popular with the electorate, having given Alaskans a $1,500 rebate after having raised taxes on the oil companies...whom she noted were raking in the cash with the increase in prices and their windfall profits.

Her ethics are being questioned, as has been noted by others on this forum. She allegedly pushed to have her ex-brother in law fired from the State Police. The investigation into these charges may or may not be wrapped up prior to the election. Earlier, as Mayor of Wasilla, she fired the police chief...allegedly for supporting her opposition during the election. This latter action-if true-is questionable, but not illegal.

The notion of her drawing Hillary supporters has been largely shrugged off. Most who would vote for Hillary are pro-choice liberals. It is unlikely that many will vote for a woman with Palin's conservative bent, particularly if they're made aware of McCain's history of vulgar misogynistic humor. His record on women's rights is viewed as terrible by liberals and moderates, given that he favors the overturning of Roe v. Wade (a position he reversed to within the last two years), doesn't support contraception coverage in health plans, and favors "abstinence only" education.

Palin may help offset McCain's less than squeaky clean image. She is perky, (as noted correctly here) beautiful, and has been married to the same man for a number of years. McCain dumped his first wife (who had been maimed and disabled in a car accident) for a stunning heiress to a $100 million dollar fortune and with whom he'd been having an affair. This is not behavior looked on with favor by the religious right.

But it remains that Palin is arguably the most unqualified Vice Presidential pick in a hundred years. If elected, she would appear to have the least experience of any Vice Presidential nominee since William Jennings Bryan selected John Kern as a running mate in 1908.

Bryan and Kern lost, as may McCain and Palin if the public counts experience as being a prime factor in this election. Indeed, this is a point McCain has used against Obama all summer, and one whose weight he has completely undercut with his selection of Palin. Obama and Biden together have forty years of experience to McCain and Palin's 26 years. None of the McCain/Palin ticket's experience comes from Palin herself. Obama has over four times the experience at the state level...and in a state that is the 5th largest in terms of population.

This next two months is going to be very, very interesting.


Regards,


Steve

 

[hardheadjarhead]

Here's the article by David Frum, the link to which I discovered on The National Review Online. Frum is one of the conservatives who question McCain's appointment:

http://www.nationalpost.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=756704

An interesting piece.


Regards,


Steve

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Interesting read. Makes a few points I hadn't thought of.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Another interesting read.

Should Libertarians be happy with Palin?
posted by Andrew Davis on Aug 30, 2008

Should Libertarian be happy with Sarah Palin, the current Alaskan governor and now Sen. John McCain's running mate in his presidential bid? The gut reaction is yes, Libertarians should be excited about Palin. Palin has a reputation for fighting government corruption, wears fur, shoots guns, eats moose and has earned the respect of our state affiliate in Alaska.

Palin's reputation as a reformer—standing up to politicians in one of the most corrupt states in the nation—appeals strongly to the anti-establishment tendencies of Libertarians. Additionally, she was one of the leading figures in stopping the infamous Sen. Ted Stevens' "Bridge to Nowhere."

On the surface, Palin looks like she could be the future of the GOP, especially where McCain fails to live up to the image Republicans hoped to recreate following an embarrassing self-defeat in the 2006 election. Her appeal to the religious right for her strong pro-life stance, and her appeal to fiscal conservatives for taking down the Alaska-regime brighten McCain's prospects in winning the hearts of the GOP base.

But like the permafrost that lies a few inches beneath Alaska's soil, is there a troubling layer to Palin that has yet to be exposed?

Personally, I don't like her. My views and hers are quite opposite on a number of key issues.