Looks like McCain has picked his VP...

Overheal

actually from what I read she is a good pick.

Switch to the news, McCains going live with the introduction now.

edit: Scandal? Did she shoot her best friend in the face while hunting quail?

Red Hand

I think that it's great that Dana is back in the running for a Presidency, even if its only a Vice Presidency.

is_that_so

norbert64 wrote: »

reading a few articles online, they seem to mention some recent scandal hanging over Ms Palins head?

An ethics investigation, which she said she is "cool" about. By the looks of it she's not even implicated.

RonMexico

McCain just blew it.

Political pandering at its worst.

She is the complete opposite of Hillary in every way. No way her supporters will vote McCain just because she is a woman.

There is an ethics investigation into her office. Her brother in law was in a custody battle and her office put pressure on his boss to fire him. He didn't so they fired his boss instead.

This throws McCains strongest argument against Obama out the window. If McCain croaks a year from now - if elected - then this woman is in charge. If she has enough experience to lead then so has Obama. Only Obama has Joe Biden as his back-up - who will tear her to shreds in the debates. As will Hillary.

Overheal

RonMexico wrote: »

She is the complete opposite of Hillary in every way. No way her supporters will vote McCain just because she is a woman.

Don't be so sure. The vast majority of Hillary supporters had already turned toward voting for McCain after Obama announced Joe Biden. This will really boil down to the debates in the next few weeks.

edit: hey youre right she is a bit of a milf

dublinmayflower

Is anyone else watching John McCain ad Sarah Palin live on the news? How cringeworthy is watching his facial expressions.

Overheal

She sounds half canadian.... EEEEEVVVIIILLLLLLLLL......

norbert64

Even with Palin on board, are Hillary supporters really gonna vote against there own interests/personally held beliefs, just to spite Obama, lol.

I think they'll just write in Hillary or refrain from voting.

the few that may actually do it, won't affect the big picture.

marco murphy

Overheal wrote: »

She sounds half canadian.... EEEEEVVVIIILLLLLLLLL......

NWO. The Candian/Mexican/US alliance has taken a step forward!

Red Hand

Overheal wrote: »

She sounds half canadian.... EEEEEVVVIIILLLLLLLLL......

Just what the hell are you talking aboot?

snow scorpion

Overheal wrote: »

She sounds half canadian.... EEEEEVVVIIILLLLLLLLL......

A joke I heard about Canada:

Canada - the land of 10 months of winter and 2 months of bad skating.

dublinmayflower

At least she could speak to the crowd a bit better than McCain who could hardly take his eyes off his notes, even looking down at them to remember her name!
The plan of upstaging Obama may not have worked too well though as all the news channels are still giving a lot of coverage to Obama's speech last night.

is_that_so

norbert64 wrote: »

Even with Palin on board, are Hillary supporters really gonna vote against there own interests/personally held beliefs, just to spite Obama, lol.

I think they'll just write in Hillary or refrain from voting.

the few that may actually do it, won't affect the big picture.

As I mentioned earlier polls show up to 25% of Hillary's supporters could go for the other guy. With current polls having them neck and neck, even a quarter of that number could materially affect the result.
EDIT: It appears to have got even worse.

...
But there is some bad news for Obama. The poll showed that 66 percent of Clinton supporters -- registered Democrats who want Clinton as the nominee -- are now backing Obama. That's down from 75 percent in the end of June. Twenty-seven percent of them now say they'll support McCain, up from 16 percent in late June.
...

Full Story

McCain is not Bush, even if some people still push the "McBush Lite" line. He is not wholly offensive to some Democrats and has been around a very long time. In my view he is far more bi-partisan than Obama and his senatorial record proves this.

Posted this link some time back on another thread but it is a timely reminder of how hard it can be to get people to vote for the party winner.

dublinmayflower

Those 30% of Hillary supporters were just swing voters anyway. If they are willing to vote McCain over Obama then they never had any belief in the Democratic party's basic ideals. Palin is a pro life, lifetime member off the NRA and aggressively pushing for drilling in the Arctic region. She is the antithesis of Hillary. As Hillary asked on Wednesday night, Were they voting for her or what she believed in and stood for? These people were obviously just in it for Hillary Clinton.

is_that_so

dublinmayflower wrote: »

Those 30% of Hillary supporters were just swing voters anyway. If they are willing to vote McCain over Obama then they never had any belief in the Democratic party's basic ideals. Palin is a pro life, lifetime member off the NRA and aggressively pushing for drilling in the Arctic region. She is the antithesis of Hillary. As Hillary asked on Wednesday night, Were they voting for her or what she believed in and stood for? These people were obviously just in it for Hillary Clinton.

I think you are being both unfair to Clinton supporters and don't seem to understand the type of passion that goes into supporting candidates in Dems primary elections, or in fact any political selection process.
The Dems are a catch-all for all kinds of left-leaning and liberal interests and unity is not something they are typically good at.

As for Clinton, well she did her bit but it may not be enough.
I'd suggest you read that Times article and that new CNN link I posted.

Pocono Joe

Still don’t know much about the surprise pick of Palin… will have to get educated over the weekend.
BUT AT FIRST GLANCE… LOOKS LIKE A WINNER TO ME!

dublinmayflower

is_that_so wrote: »

I think you are being both unfair to Clinton supporters and don't seem to understand the type of passion that goes into supporting candidates in Dems primary elections, or in fact any political selection process.

Oh I understand the passion but do the 70% of Clinton supporters who have switched to Obama somehow have less passion than the other 30%?

ixoy

is_that_so wrote: »

I think you are being both unfair to Clinton supporters and don't seem to understand the type of passion that goes into supporting candidates in Dems primary elections, or in fact any political selection process.
The Dems are a catch-all for all kinds of left-leaning and liberal interests and unity is not something they are typically good at.

So why not abstain from voting at all rather than voting for a party that doesn't represent your ideals? Particularly as Clinton has endorsed Obama.

Sand

Really clever move by McCains campaign team. Looks like an excellent political figure in her own right [ a leader, not afraid to blow the whistle on wrongdoers in her own party - strong anti-corruption credentials, ticks all the typical Republican boxes - NRA, pro life, low taxes etc etc]. Re-asserts the maverick appeal of the McCain ticket.

Shes also younger than Obama and can actually cite real examples of change - her taxation reduction, clearing out corrupt politicians, selling off pointless assets, taking a salary cut. The sort of stuff that will sound more substanstial than just talking about change as a vague concept.

Obama will probably have been planning to deal with a Romney, and now will have to scramble on how theyre going to attack McCains VP for being inexperienced without looking foolish...

McCain might just have won the election with that decision - Biden underwhelmed, but this choice will surprise people.

Manic Moran

Curious choice it has to be said as there was much recent speculation around a woman running mate it certainly was not for Palin (Bailey- Hutchinson was spoken of).

Palin's name had come up a couple of months ago, I just didn't think she'd get picked.

NTM

cooker3

CtrlSource wrote: »

On the face of it, this appears to be a very shrewd move by the McCain campaign

I agree. I think this is a very clever move by McCain, I never heard her name mention at all for the job so big surprise factor. Her gender will give more of a reason for disillusioned Hillary voters to vote for the republican ticket. She is pro life and pro guns will helps appease some of the christian right are are not huge fans of McCain. There will also be a lot of media coverage and take some of the sails after Obamas speech. The clincher to all this is her husband world champion at snow machine racing!!!!

On the downside, I found her voice quite whiny. Am I the only one?

Manic Moran

You certainly can't accuse a McCain/Palin ticket of not putting their money where their mouth is as regards Iraq. McCain's got two kids in the military (One Marine Infantry, Iraq vet, the other Navy, not yet deployed), and Palin's son is an infantryman who's going to Iraq next month.

This against Obama's no-military-connections-at-all-except for a great-uncle in WWII, and Biden's son, who's an Army lawyer and is going to Iraq.

Also, if the Cylons attack, we should be good.





NTM

KJ_2008

is_that_so wrote: »

Now that is smart, very smart indeed. Aside from the 27% of Clintonites who claimed they might go for him, now they have a woman, even if she is pro-life. It looks like he intends to go after the centre and let the GOP conservatives either put up or shut up. He may mollify them to an extent given that she is Pro-life but his choice suggests that this is indeed a "time of change". Nice balance of youth and experience. Plus the timing may well knock the expected Obama bump.

You couldn't be more wrong, this is a comical choice by McCain - and that's not even taking in to account the as yet unresolved 'state trooper' difficulty she had in Alaska, when she and/or her people tried to get her ex-brother in law sacked.

The notion that Hillary's 18 million supporters will now vote Republican because Palin is on the ticket is, well, moronic. She's anti-choice in the abortion issue, she loves her guns, and she's not all that big in to gay marriages. In other words, she's on one extreme, Hillary and her supporters are on the other. Just because Palin doesn't have a willy doesn't mean they'll vote for her, honest

As one wag on a Democrat forum put it today, "we have a PTA hockey Mom a heartbeat from the presidency"....remember, if McCain wins two terms he'll be 80 in his final year.

A week ago Palin asked: "what is it exactly that the VP does?" She's an accident waiting to happen, Dan Quayle's worthy successor.

A smart move?

PS Seems I'm not alone...from Freerepublic.com....yep, Free Republic.....

The Unfortunate Palin Gamble
GOPublius.com ^ | August 29, 2008 | GOPublius.com

Posted on Fri Aug 29 18:31:47 2008 by americanophile

Don’t kid yourself…John McCain just put all his chips on the table and rolled the dice.

Over the past many months, McCain’s team had skillfully underscored the natural impressions of Americans – that Barak Obama was the lightweight in the race; the candidate of risk. Now, with a single stroke McCain has undercut his most effective argument. He has weakened his case for wisdom and experience, and elevated a one-term governor of a small-population state based on her gender.

McCain had plenty of safe choices. Choices that would have bolstered Americans’ inherent understanding of McCain’s competency and ability; choices that would have underscored the longstanding notion that whatever gimmick the Democrats try, the Republican Party remains the serious one.

With the electorate evenly split, McCain’s first job was to pick a competent running mate that would not undermine his standing, and would reassure voters that should something happen to the oldest man ever to be nominated for president, a competent, experienced leader, ready to serve as commander-in-chief in a time of war, was waiting in the wings.

The former Miss Congeniality, and hockey mom from “the last frontier” is a bizarre choice.

McCain’s pick today has all the hallmarks of a political gimmick and a hail-Mary pass. While it is likely to excite some conservatives, his choice will refocus the entire campaign away from Obama’s status as a political neophyte and will reshuffle the risk calculus in the favor of the increasingly familiar, and always-eloquent Obama. With Biden on the ticket, Obama has lessened the sense that he poses a serious danger to the electorate. McCain’s selection by contrast is likely to shake voters and cast uncertainty on the wisdom and safety of a McCain presidency.

With competent and proven individuals waiting in the wings such as Governor Mitt Romney, the selection of Sarah Palin is a most unfortunate choice.

John McCain may have just lost the 2008 election…cue the hurricane.

Manic Moran

KJ_2008 wrote: »

You couldn't be more wrong, this is a comical choice by McCain - and that's not even taking in to account the as yet unresolved 'state trooper' difficulty she had in Alaska, when she and/or her people tried to get her ex-brother in law sacked.

Without addressing the merits of the 'difficulty' itself, as I'm not up to speed on it, this rather detailed article in the Anchorage Daily News from a few months ago indicates that if true, Palin/Palin's people were probably right.

http://www.adn.com/politics/story/476430.html

I'm not sure a Trooper who threatened to kill his father-in-law, tasered his stepson and drinks beer in his patrol car (amongst a slew of other transgressions) is exactly an asset to the State Police.

PS Seems I'm not alone...from Freerepublic.com....yep, Free Republic.....

On the other hand, one can also find posts like

Originally Posted By 1Andy2:
Wow. Sounds like she's more conservative than the Presidential nominee.

So why isn't she getting top billing instead of McCain?

and

Originally Posted By kaiheitai17:
I was seriously comtemplating sitting out this election. I just read the Wiki entry on Mrs. Palin and by God, John McCain has convinced me to vote for his ticket with his choice of Mrs. Palin. I will be voting republican this November. I'm not voting for McCain, I'm voting for his VP choice. McCain has finally done something right as a politician.

[ETA: She seems to have the Viking vote.


Got to love 'small-town politics.']

NTM

Sand

that's not even taking in to account the as yet unresolved 'state trooper' difficulty she had in Alaska, when she and/or her people tried to get her ex-brother in law sacked.

Without knowing the case, this would have been dissected by McCains team and their lawyers. Theyre not idiots. Or at least its unproven. They wouldnt have picked her unless they were 100% certain she wouldnt have any baggage from that issue.

Pocono Joe

After a little research on her, here now is my November 5, 2008 prediction:

Happy days are here again
McCain’s the prez, Sarah’s a ten
Obama lost, time to say amen
So we get it right every now and then
Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

stretchtex

kenco wrote: »

Curious choice it has to be said as there was much recent speculation around a woman running mate it certainly was not for Palin (Bailey- Hutchinson was spoken of).

The fact she has been a Governor gives her the executive experience that Obama or Biden dont have and therefore she is a credible VP. However given the likelyhood that an elected McCain may well not make the full four years (check out his medical history and you will know what I mean) is America going to vote for this ticket? Will it make any difference at all to the key swing states? Depends on how the media play this out. While Obama has not gone for any great excitement with his choice there is substantial (albeit legislative) experience there.....

There are some that will lead you to believe that John McCain should be picking out a tombstone at the age of 72. I enjoyed reading the story about his 95 year old mother, who while on a trip to Paris last year was denied the option of renting a car because of her age, so she said to hell with it and bought her own. "Mrs McCain later shipped the car, a BMW, back to America and drove it 3000 miles from the east coast to San Francisco."

Black Swan

I would like to see more women in high political office, but...

Is Palin qualified? She has held only two offices in government?

• Mayor of a city of 9,000 people in Alaska?
• Governor of Alaska for 2 years? (small population, with a simple economy, largely dependent upon oil revenues)

Inexperience...

• She has zero diplomatic experience in foreign affairs, and if 72 year old McCain dies or becomes ill to where he cannot continue in his office, she becomes President of the United States to represent them before the 200 or so countries of the world?
  
• If elected, she is required to chair the US Senate, 100 of the most experienced and powerful people in the US. Where are her qualifications to lead one of the most complex, political organisations in the US?

Further...
She is currently under investigation by the ethics committee for abuse of her power as Governor by firing a commissioner that would not obey her orders to fire her state trooper brother-in-law (who fought Gov. Palin's sister in divorce court).

snow scorpion

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

She has zero diplomatic experience in foreign affairs, and if 72 year old McCain dies or becomes ill to where he cannot continue in his office, she becomes President of the United States to represent them before the 200 or so countries of the world?

If elected, she is required to chair the US Senate, 100 of the most experienced and powerful people in the US. Where are her qualifications to lead one of the most complex, political organisations in the US?

But doesn't that criticism apply to all governors? How much foreign policy experience did the former governor of Texas have? Or the former governor of Arkansas? Or the former governor of California? Or the former governor of Georgia?

CtrlSource

Pocono Joe wrote: »

After a little research on her, here now is my November 5, 2008 prediction:

Happy days are here again
McCain’s the prez, Sarah’s a ten
Obama lost, time to say amen
So we get it right every now and then
Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

Somebody's been smoking a little too much of the wacky tobaccy methinks!