2008 Vice-Presidential Thread

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Barack Obama Campaign Spokesman Bill Burton responds to John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate:

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

Sen. Chuck Schumer says:

"After the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass. It is a real roll of the dice and shows how John McCain, Karl Rove et al realize what a strong position the Obama-Biden team and Democrats in general are in in this election. Certainly the choice of Palin puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team and while Palin is a fine person, her lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling. I particularly look forward to the Biden-Palin debate in Missouri."

Rep. Rahm Emanuel:

"Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin's lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn't show judgment: it shows political panic."

Rep. Jim Clyburn on South Carolina ETV Radio:

"I do believe that McCain has to do something to reshuffle the cards, shake up the establishment, do something unexpected and Governor Palin has all the kinds of things that McCain might see as a way to shake things up. I think [her selection] would be something similar to Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle proved to be sort of an embarrassment as a campaigner. Being thrust on a national stage like that could be very tough. Now Mondale tried to shake things up by going with Geraldine Ferraro.she proved to be a disaster as a running mate. And as a campaigner, she was absolutely awful. And so I just think that it is very risky for McCain to do this, but it may be all he has left."

Meanwhile, the non-partisan group Campaign Money Watch responded that the pick underscores McCain's loss of maverick reformer credentials:

"In choosing Governor Palin, Senator McCain is clearly trying to shore up his past maverick reformer image - an image that is now in tatters due to the type of campaign he's run and the big money lobbyists he depends on every day of the week," Donnelly said.


"This selection raises plenty of questions," Donnelly continued. "She bills herself as a reformer, but has been silent on whether she supports public financing of elections in her own state. As governor of an oil-producing state, she's been a friend to Big Oil. Given John McCain's extensive fundraising from Big Oil, her selection raises concerns of whether the McCain-Palin ticket will promise the same access for oil companies and their lobbyists that we've seen for nearly eight years from the Bush-Cheney administration."
 
that said, i think it's fair to say that sarah palin doesn't care about polar bears.



she might as well kick pandas.

thinkingpanda.jpg
 
yet, being Creationist-friendly, i'm sure she has lots to say about how humans and dinosaurs can peacefully co-exist. :heart:

jesus_and_the_dinosaurs.jpg
 
time.com

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008
Why McCain Picked Palin

By Michael Grunwald and Jay Newton-Small

John McCain needs to persuade swing voters that he's willing to take on the Republican establishment. He needs to persuade conservatives that he isn't squishy about social issues. And he needs to close the gender gap. When you think about it, the real surprise about Sarah Palin's selection as his running mate is that it's such a surprise.

Palin may be an obscure 44-year-old first-term governor and mother of five from tiny Wasilla, Alaska, but in many ways she reinforces John McCain's narrative of a maverick conservative crusader. She's risen to power by battling corruption in her own state's Republican establishment, exposing misconduct by the state GOP chairman and challenging the incumbent GOP governor. She's a committed Christian who's pro-life in practice as well as in theory; she recently gave birth to a son that she knew would have Down Syndrome.

But Palin can help McCain through biography as well as resume. She'll be the first woman on a Republican ticket, which the campaign is surely hoping will appeal to Hillary Clinton voters and help reduce Barack Obama's advantage among women. She's a fresh face to counteract Obama's message of change, and she's about as far outside the Beltway as you can get. A child of the middle class with a friendly face and big hair, she is so affable that she once won Miss Congeniality in a beauty pageant. Her son is about to deploy to Iraq. She's an ice fisherman, a moose hunter, a small business owner and a lifetime NRA member. And she shelved her state's pork-laden Bridge to Nowhere that McCain has ridiculed on the trail.

One more point in her favor: In the topsy-turvy election of 2008, the Last Frontier is actually a battleground state — and Palin is Alaska's most popular politician.

There are certainly risks to the choice. Palin's presence will make it awkward for McCain to harp on Obama's inexperience, much less play that attack-dog role herself. She's only served as governor one month longer than Obama's been running for president, and she's argued that her youth helped her clean out corruption in Juneau, echoing an Obama talking point. "The age issue, I think, was more significant in my career than the gender issue; your resume isn't as fat as your opponent's, that kind of thing," Palin told TIME last month. "I don't have 30 years of political experience under my belt but that's a good thing. I've never been part of a good-ol'-boys club."

A journalism major from the University of Idaho, Palin started her political career in 1992 as a Wasilla city councilor. She was elected to the first of her two terms as mayor in 1996, and earned a reputation as "Sarah Barracuda" -- also her nickname as a feisty point guard on her high school basketball team -- for taking on entrenched bureaucrats. After running a strong race for lieutenant governor as an unknown in 2002, she made her mark on Alaska politics as a commissioner of a state oil and gas commission, when she tried to expose GOP officials with improper ties to the industry, and eventually resigned in 2004 after her complaints were ignored.

Palin challenged Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, and crushed the incumbent on a platform of change and reform. She then defeated the formidable former governor Tony Knowles in the general. But it's a long leap from Juneau to the White House. It's not clear what Palin thinks about foreign policy or many other national issues, though she has criticized the lack of a long-term plan for Iraq. And the top consideration for any candidate for the number-two job is readiness for the number-one job, an issue that may weigh more on voters' minds when the potential number one has just turned 72 years old.

Meanwhile, Palin's strong support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will contrast with McCain's muted opposition; she's said she expects McCain to change his mind on the issue, which will create an awkward dynamic no matter what he does. She also surprised Alaska's conservatives by vetoing a bill that would have denied state benefits to same-sex couples (though that might help her appeal to less socially conservative independents). Her profile as a good government crusader may not be such an easy sell, either. She was endorsed in an ad by Senator Ted Stevens, who is now under indictment in a Republican corruption scandal. And she's already embroiled in a mini-scandal that's under investigation by the state senate; Palin's former public safety director has claimed he was fired because he refused to fire a state trooper who was involved in a custody dispute with her sister.

Still, Palin boasts an 80% approval rating. She lived the first three months of her life in Idaho, but Alaskans clearly see this self-described "hockey mom" as one of them, a former Miss Wasilla who worked as a TV sports announcer and helping to run a commercial fishing business before entering politics. Her husband, Todd Palin, is part native Eskimo who works in the oil fields in addition to his fishing business, and is also a champion snowmobiler known in Alaska as the First Dude. In a state where Big Oil is king, Palin has been a staunch drilling supporter while maintaining her independence from the industry. And she impressed a lot of conservative Christians when she carried her son Trig to term despite his genetic tests indicating Down Syndrome. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," she said after returning to work.

Politically, in a year where the Republican brand is so tarnished, Palin will help McCain make the case that he's a different kind of Republican. It might be his best shot to be America's First Dude.
 
Hey isn't Karl Rove their main man??

(CBS) Republican strategist Karl Rove said on Face The Nation Sunday that he expects presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama to choose a running mate based on political calculations, not the person's readiness for the job.

"I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."

Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."

Rove continued: "So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"

CBS.

Hilarious!
 
I'm astounded by this pick. McCain just signed his own death sentence.

EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE...This pick is astounding in it's brilliance - to the point of being scary. I really didn't think McCain had it in him (actually I was hoping he didn't). I thought he'd pick some boring boob like Romney or Pawlenty or even worse Lieberman or Ridge. This is not good for the democrats. Sarah Palin is...a woman. A mother of five. Pro-Life. A lifelong hunter. A popular Governor. Liked by evangelicals. Liked by fiscal conservatives. I really thought Obama had it in the bag but now I'm not so sure. It's like McCain transformed the race instantly. Kinda scary.:ohmy:
 
EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE...This pick is astounding in it's brilliance - to the point of being scary. I really didn't think McCain had it in him (actually I was hoping he didn't). I thought he'd pick some boring boob like Romney or Pawlenty or even worse Lieberman or Ridge. This is not good for the democrats. Sarah Palin is...a woman. A mother of five. Pro-Life. A lifelong hunter. A popular Governor. Liked by evangelicals. Liked by fiscal conservatives. I really thought Obama had it in the bag but now I'm not so sure. It's like McCain transformed the race instantly. Kinda scary.:ohmy:



yeah, i don't agree.
 
EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE...This pick is astounding in it's brilliance - to the point of being scary. I really didn't think McCain had it in him (actually I was hoping he didn't). I thought he'd pick some boring boob like Romney or Pawlenty or even worse Lieberman or Ridge. This is not good for the democrats. Sarah Palin is...a woman. A mother of five. Pro-Life. A lifelong hunter. A popular Governor. Liked by evangelicals. Liked by fiscal conservatives. I really thought Obama had it in the bag but now I'm not so sure. It's like McCain transformed the race instantly. Kinda scary.:ohmy:

And who does she get that Romney wouldn't? This isn't brilliant at all...
 
And who does she get that Romney wouldn't? This isn't brilliant at all...

Geez. Some of you folks just don't get it do you. The same FYM'ers that scoffed when I began the thread on Sarah Palin are now in shock that I foresaw her being McCain's pick. Word of warning: I know of what I speak (at least on this subject) and I'm telling you this is the vice-presidential pick of our lifetime...and I don't want the Republican's to win!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, sorry, to answer your question on who she brings to McCain that Romney couldn't...
At least half the evangelicals!!
Soccer Mom's!!!!
Good ol' boys!!!!!!
Reagan Democrats!!!!!!
and probably all kinds of centrist independents.
 
And who does she get that Romney wouldn't? This isn't brilliant at all...

The evening news spent nearly the first 15 minutes on McCain/ Palin and only 2 minutes on the last night of Democratic convention.

I think you'll change your mind if McCain wins the election.
 
Geez. Some of you folks just don't get it do you. The same FYM'ers that scoffed when I began the thread on Sarah Palin are now in shock that I foresaw her being McCain's pick. Word of warning: I know of what I speak (at least on this subject) and I'm telling you this is the vice-presidential pick of our lifetime...and I don't want the Republican's to win!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't get it? That's funny...

You've made some really out of touch posts in your time, but this one makes your top 5.

Oh, sorry, to answer your question on who she brings to McCain that Romney couldn't...
At least half the evangelicals!!
Soccer Mom's!!!!
Good ol' boys!!!!!!
Reagan Democrats!!!!!!
and probably all kinds of centrist independents.

Actually Evengelicals were coming around to Romney, so you are wrong there.

Soccer Moms? Bush got a huge soccer mom turn out last time, a woman isn't going to change that much, it's not going to make soccer moms switch party.

Good ol' Boys? I don't even know what this means, but I'm pretty sure SHE may "attract" them, but she doesn't bring them to the ticket.

Reagan Democrats? This may be the only one you have partially right, but it's not overwhelming.
 
The evening news spent nearly the first 15 minutes on McCain/ Palin and only 2 minutes on the last night of Democratic convention.

I think you'll change your mind if McCain wins the election.

Last night had a bigger audience than the opening night of the Olympics, do you really think that 13 minutes is BRILLIANT?

One night of media is worth a four even possibly eight year decision? Wow, your priorities need some work.
 
It's interesting that McCain picks someone he's only even met twice before.

At least he met her twice before he used his judgement to select her.


Obama had been in the Senate 4 years and never went to Iraq
and somehow had the judgment to be against the surge (based on what?)
this leads credence to the argument that he just wanted to "lock in" failure
to boost his election prospects


so much for his good judgment
 
It's interesting that McCain picks someone he's only even met twice before.

Yeah. Just saw this on CNN:

(CNN) — John McCain first met Sarah Palin only six months ago and had just one conversation with the Alaska governor before offering her the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket, the Arizona senator's campaign said Friday.

....

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis had several conversations with Palin throughout the vetting process, but McCain himself didn't speak with the Alaska governor until last Sunday — one day after Barack Obama named Joe Biden to his ticket. It was then McCain reached Palin by phone while she was at the Alaska State Fair to discuss the possibility of joining the ticket.

Palin then traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona Wednesday evening, where she met with top McCain advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter. On Thursday Palin traveled to McCain's Sedona, Arizona home where the Arizona senator had another conversation with her, and formally asked her to be his running mate.

:ohmy:
 
I am still undecided


there are things about both candidates I don't like

and things I do


If the GOP had control of Congress
I would be going for Obama, for sure.
 
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