The Palin roll-out started with a bang, but has taken a bad turn in the last few hours. Much of the coverage is focusing in on Palin’s lack of experience and what that does to McCain’s central argument against Obama (hint: completely destroys it). On top of that, some major news outlets are digging into Palin’s troopergate controversy and the results aren’t great for the campaign. Cue Charlie Black, McCain’s senior adviser and lobbyist extraordinaire, who makes things a lot worse with this quote:
Mr. McCain’s advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.
“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,” said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain’s health, which Mr. McCain’s doctors reported as excellent in May.
Nice job Charlie, admit Palin is not qualified AND draw attention to McCain’s age in one sentence.
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“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?….Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”
Alaska state senate president Lyda Green (R) (From Palin’s home town.)
Plus ya gotta love the image of Palin kneeling at the feet of McCain. Wow…
But logasmo aren’t you selling her short? Surely you are impressed by the fact that as governor Sarah Palin served the people, got pregnant, gave birth, and was back to work in a mere four days? Think what she could do as VP or President! She could probably produce another couple of children, bag and clean a moose, and bring about peace in the Middle East. Where’s IS your imagination?
I missed the kneeling… That’s a little weird.
Talk about doubly odd symbolism.
Palin was mayor of a town of 9000 - as her justification to run for gov?
The scary part is, does ANY of this qualify her for a VP spot - and given McCain’s age & potential health, POTUS?
Its less valid than Geraldine Ferraro as a VP candidate with Mondale 20 years ago.
So its the Hail Mary desperation toss that McCain is throwing. He thinks he’s Two Minute Tommy?
He KNOWS he is going to lose without some real wild hair moves.
IF ever there was an argument for SOME measure of competence on the national scene, this woman is it.
Having breasts is simply not enough. A woman can be eminently qualified, but what should make me think SHE is it?
He COULD have asked Hillary - who at least was genuinely qualified! If ever there was a woman with the all the chops, to go head-to-head, it is Hillary.
And she was not my first or second pick.
He could have asked Olympia Snowe - GOP Senator from Maine. But this isn’t about finding the most qualified woman. The fact that Snowe wasn’t on this list is really revealing. She is on the senate foreign relations committee.
As for drawing attention to McCain’s age…
That is going to happen, hell, even if its Romney.
I have to wonder if this isn’t almost like a concession speech by McCain!
They are trying to appear less misogynistic by forwarding a woman - and its building for the future?
If Hillary has a shot in 4 or 8 years, then they better get a stable of women who look as though they are competitive
in training. Its clear that Condi wasn’t remotely ready for what she got thrust into. Certainly not as an apologist!
I just assumed Palin would be kneeling - perhaps she will be completely supine…
I guess it’s good to be clear early on she will not be working “along side” as an equal…eh…probably just a little slip up in word choice.
But seriously do you have any idea how amazing it would have been to have Biden debate Snowe? Ugh! What a missed opportunity to really showcase political strength. And it would have been a clearer message - we are backing one of our really talented US women in the Senate - and you are promoting a guy in the senate. I really am not clear what the message is with Palin - perhaps it’s “I am desperate and that Obama acceptance speech event totally freaked me out”
Snowe vs Biden - it would have been an intense, intelligent, historic debate. Seriously. That’s a total loss.
Olympia Snowe would’ve been an excellent choice and actually would’ve put some interest into the race. As it is, McCain has no chance and I feel his choice was a capitulation to the extreme right wing religious right. Look for Mittens in 2012, by then the American voter may have forgotten the massive screwup that the GOP has become.
Olympia Snowe gets respect. But she is the MAVERICK that McCain pretends to be these days.
How many people do they shuffle through to pick someone silly?
Not to say this woman couldn’t some day have the qualifications. Today, she is a downgrade from what Hillary proved:
that there are some women who are eminently qualified.
I thought Bush ran as the “adults are taking over!”
What’s next? Putting Ice Cream Truck Drivers in charge of Iraq?????
Do you guys have any idea how elitist you are sounding? So she likes mooseburgers. So she claims she is a hockey mom. That will appeal to many — the ones it doesn’t appeal to made up their mind on who to vote for long ago. The majority of Americans consider themselves regular people, not elitist.
I’ll be the first to admit this is a risky pick, especially when the issue with your opponent is his lack of experience. But above all else, the thing I like about Palin is that she has risen to where she is — through the ranks of Alaska Oil Commissioner and Governor — by going against the Republican establishment. The quote above from the Alaska Senate President is case in point: A fellow Republican who dislikes how Palin has done the right thing instead of abide by unspoken party rules.
For as much as I respect Barack Obama as a person, he has gotten to where he is by appeasing the Chicago political machine and then shaping himself as a quintessential democratic persona. Palin has gotten to where she is by kicking the bad guys out of office, even if they are in the same party. Party product vs. maverick mover-and-shaker.
1) Make democrats hate you
2) Make republicans hate you
3) Make moderates hate you
3) ??????
4) Profit.
Sounds like a surefire recipe for political success. WTG, DtM
Ah yes DtM hurl the elitist charge. For the past eight years it has worked incredibly well against anyone who has tried to point out that science and understanding the rest of the world make sense. But DtM people are tired of Bush’s eight years of leading with a fake Texas drawl and slaughtering the english language. His “Bumpkins R’Us” messaging for the United States is wearing thin. Of course it is to his advantage to discourage science and world understanding (if Americans knew how pathetic their healthcare and education is in comparison to the rest of the industrialized world there would be rioting in the streets).
So forgive me DtM but when McCain makes THE most patronizing VP appointment in the history of our country it’s hard not to point out how provincial his pick really happens to be - does Palin even have a passport? Has she travelled outside of the US and Canada. If so where? Cancun?
McCain clearly will surround himself with people who aren’t qualified for their posts - he doesn’t have the guts to run with an Olympia Snowe.
The thought that we could have another 4 years of leadership that proudly promotes inadequacy hits a nerve. So Brownie - er Danny you’re doin’ a heck of a job…and uh….so is McCain in his appointments. Barf!
Say what you want, Demure One. But I stand by my defense of Palin. For a group that is drooling at the idea of “change”, you sure have an issue with a new face being in this race.
Perhaps you wanted someone tied a little closer to Bush so you could define them as same old same old? Sorry McCain disappointed you.
DantheMan, I agree 100%,
It is a great strategy to try to vaguely define Sarah Palin as a different ideology than Bush, but something feels like it’s not working very well.
I think more moonbats would be taken down if you defined how her ideology would be different than George W. Bush’s ideology.
Keep on stalking the blogs of people you disagree with so frequently, and Mega Dittos DantheMan
Great Job!
No — McCain with selected Palin with all the care that Bush went to war with Iraq. It was about emotions not intelligence. And Palin is pretty Bush in terms of social issues. She is Bush in terms of not being qualified…
Am I disappointed - yeah, because it would be much more comforting if the GOP endorsed candidate actually valued the well-being of the country more highly than his really warped sense of how to scrape votes off the floor. How desperate can he get?
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2008
McCain, Palin, and the Important Difference Between Boldness and Riskiness
At this perilous juncture, America needs boldness. But it does not need to take unnecessary risks. The distinction between boldness and riskiness is critical, as evidenced by the events of the last two days.
Barack Obama has laid out a bold plan for reforming the economy and redirecting foreign policy — a plan whose boldness is directly proportional to the scale of the problems we face. On Thursday night he restated it in detail. As someone who has had a very modest role in developing it, and who served as a cabinet officer under Bill Clinton and therefore knows something about public policy and about the challenges we face, I can attest to the appropriateness and boldness of Obama’s plan.
John McCain’s plan, on the other hand, is the reverse of boldness. Whatever you think of it, there is little disputing that McCain would continue Bush’s economic and foreign policies and even enlarge upon them – adding even more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, injecting even more belligerence into foreign policy.
From Robert Reich’s blog… a very reasoned look at the difference between bold and risky
McCain, Palin, and the Important Difference Between Boldness and Riskiness
McCain’s choice of vice president is termed “bold” in today’s headlines but it is not at all bold, if we understand boldness to be the equivalent of courageous and appropriate to the times. To the contrary, the choice suggests that McCain caved to the religious right within the Republican Party, using his pick as a political ploy to stir their enthusiasm while perhaps attracting a few women who are attracted to a female on a ticket regardless of her views.
Yet his choice is risky – not just for McCain’s campaign but for America’s future. Yesterday McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday; he has a history of skin cancer; if elected, he would be the oldest American ever to serve. Hence, his choice of vice president is critically important because the odds are much higher than normal that such a person would have assume the office of the presidency.
Sarah Palin has been a governor of state inhabited by more moose than people for twenty months, and before that mayor of a town with a population smaller than two blocks of downtown Manhattan. Although she has barely exercised power, she is already under federal investigation for abuse of it. And while Ms. Palin is perfectly entitled to believe that evolution is a myth, that women should be barred from choosing to have abortions, and that global warming has yet to be proven, these views all run counter to the views of mainstream America.
Palin’s defenders say that she is no less experienced than Obama, but that is false. Barack Obama has served as a United States Senator and an Illinois state legislator; he has also been a community organizer in Chicago. He knows how Washington works and does not work; he knows the ways our cities and metropolitan regions function and do not; his breadth and depth of experience around the world – both personally and officially – is impressive. Obama can lead the nation at a time of crisis; Sarah Palin cannot. Until very recently she did not even know what a vice president does. (Last month, on Larry Kudlow’s CNBC program – a predictable den of conservative Republican thought on which I am a token Democrat – Palin asked “what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?”)
In choosing Sarah Palin, John McCain has subjected the nation to an unnecessary risk, at the very time when America can least afford to take unnecessary risks. His choice of vice president should not be mistaken for boldness. It is irresponsible.
The above is from Robert Reich’s blog…
Do you guys have any idea how elitist you are sounding?
That’s hilarious. Almost as funny as advocating for the teaching of creationism in science classes. DtM, when you’re on the operating table, going through your inevitable bypass surgery, make sure the surgeon is a regular guy and not some high falooting medical school graduate.
Guys, look at it this way.
My husband is convinced that Sarah Palin was the only choice left.
I believe it was Alex Castellanos ( a Republican Strategist) that I heard- after the OBAMA Convention speech- on CNN/FoX giving a little story about a Republican campaign manager who was active in the last elections and decided to lay low this year. Alex commented that the campaign manager was probably overjoyed that he had made that decision.
The simple fact is that All the others PULLED!
YES, NO ONE wanted to stand with MCCAIN.
He was on his own.
Sarah Palin, was a last-minute, desperate pick. That’s it. All the other choices are still young enough to try running again. Who wants to be the VP pick on a losing ticket?