Just got back from drinks and dinner, which I thought would take an hour or two, but extended for a few hours because I ran into some old friends. At any rate, I am checking memeorandum, and I guess they were really serious about Sarah Palin. I guess I sort of thought by now they would have come out and said it was just a joke and nominated the real candidate.
Apparently, though, they are serious. The maverick really did nominate someone who is a darling of the Christian right, and I guess all we can gather is that they have learned from the past eight years. The Bush administration corrupted the Justice department, they corrupted NASA, they corrupted the FDA, hell- they polluted every aspect of the bureaucracy with hacks who simply adhere to the same bizarre views, and they never paid a price.
So, with that in mind, why the fuck not someone who shares Sarah Palin’s bizarre views. It isn’t like they have had to pay a price, and who knows, they may just win.
John Q.
Let’s see, who was the last “Washington Outsider” elected VP, who rose from obscurity to become a Governor of a small state before being pulled up into the national spotlight? Oh yeah, he had this small scandal following him when he went to Washington but it was no big deal….that’s right, Nixon’s man Spiro Agnew!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew
For the conspiracy minded, there’s 5 letters in both his first and last name. Look, she does too! S-A-R-A-H P-A-L-I-N. I’m calling it!
bwaage
On the bright side, this is going to make for some absolutely epic VP debates. Biden must be absolutely ecstatic about this news. I bet every time he looks at her all he sees is a big, juicy christmas ham with legs, looney tunes style.
Genine
I’ve heard quite a few people say the move was brilliant and they aren’t republicans. (Yikes!)
But I choose not to believe that. I think there are plenty of people who see through the move and won’t fall for it.
John H. Farr
They aren’t going to win. It’s the politics of the past — fakery, bullshit, and lies. People aren’t going to fall for it any longer.
The times, they have a-changed. Crank up the volume, full speed ahead.
bwaage
Damn, I shouldn’t use ‘absolutely’ the same way Biden uses ‘literally’.
Llelldorin
To be completely fair, they may very well have nominated the brightest star in the modern Republican party.
The problem is that that’s not really a complement to Governor Palin. It’s an indictment of the modern Republican party.
limbaugh's pilonidal cyst
I don’t see how it helps him to pick someone to his right. That gets him junior’s 25%, but he was going to get most of them anyway simply because they’re not going to vote for a Democrat, particularly a melanin-enhanced one. It doesn’t help him with the group he needs to win unless he thinks he’s now safe to tack back to the middle, even at this late date.
Joshua Norton
Via Maher – The Maverick and the MILF.
David
McCain is playing to the audience of 8 years ago. A bit too late for this sort of thing. If he was going to sell his soul, he should have done it in 2000, when he stood a chance of doing better than the dry-drunk that ran us into the ditch for the last 8 years.
I would rather have had McCain than Bush in 2000. But the days of Atwater are over – McCain isn’t going to get away with the tired playbook of crotch-kicking politics this time. The days of Democrats taking nut shots from Republicans looking to cash in with Abramoff are now over. Americans know who owns Republican failures and only those dead-enders with an end-of-the-world complex like what Bush/McCain have done.
Just Some Fuckhead
It doesn’t have to be brilliant or crazy or dumb. It could simply be the least objectionable option for a campaign without many good options.
Seitz
It gets them to the polls, which was no guarantee before. But he can’t win with just the base. He needs the base plus, and I don’t think he’s going to get it. Plus, the Democratic ground game is going to absolutely destroy the Republicans. Organizationally, it won’t be close.
If Biden’s smart, he won’t even acknowledge her presence. Attack McCain. Then attack him again, and again, and again. Who cares what answers she gives. Go after the big guy.
Most importantly, they need Wasserman-Schultz. They need McCaskill. They need Boxer. The men have to be on their best behavior. The women have to tear her a new one.
jimBOB
I noticed that Obama has gone from deriding McCain’s choice to saying bland respectful things. I think they’ve realized a couple of things:
1. This is a disastrously bad decision on McCain’s part. It shows contempt for the office and for the voters, and makes McCain look old (standing next to his young, beautiful running mate), out of touch (that he’d pick someone this unqualified and expect to appeal to Hillary voters) and both craven and corrupt (thanks to Palin’s ties to radical xtianists, and her brewing ethics problems).
2. The Obama campaign really doesn’t want to allow McCain to escape this failure of judgment. They WANT Palin to stay on the ticket (and have a probably devastating investigative report about troopergate come out days before the election). Too much pushing now and he might dump her and pick someone credible.
Mylegacy
America is the ONLY country in the Western World in which a creationist, fundie, pro-life PERSON would be even considered for such a post. America has long since lost the plot on religion. The fact she has the slightest of chances should be enough to have America removed from the list of civilized nations. A large portion of this nation are a half step from the Taliban – appalling, stupidity!
Just Some Fuckhead
Hopefully someone will put up a fake Sarah Palin blog. That Harriet Miers one back in the day was crying funny.
Brian
Well, I guess I’m never getting to bed, since now I’m going to read all of the responses to this thread. Anyway, John, I’m curious about your ideas on this Tyler Cowen post:
Around the blogosphere you will see many left-wing writers criticizing Palin for lack of experience. Maybe this criticism is correct, but these commentators are falling into The Trap. Most American voters do not themselves know much detail about foreign affairs and their vision of an experienced leader does not require such knowledge. Was it demanded from Reagan? Doesn’t everyone agree that Cheney and Rumsfeld knew plenty? Rightly or wrongly, many American voters will view Palin’s stint as mayor of small town, her background in sports, her role in a beauty contest (yes), her trials raising teenage children, and her decision to stick with her priinciples and have a Downs Syndrome baby as all very valuable and relevant forms of experience. The more the word “experience” is repeated, no matter what the context, the more it will hurt Obama. Palin needs to appear confident and capable on TV and in the debates, but her ticket is not going to lose votes if she cannot properly spell Kyrgyzstan or for that matter place it on a map.
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/08/the-experience.html#comments
This just seems like such bizarre reasoning to me. I don’t get where he is coming from.
br
Sarah Palin’s blog
That was fast, wasn’t it?
NonyNony
Meh. Biden knows who the real target is. He’s not going to get distracted by Palin – he’s going to hit McCain hard. That’s his job. VP debates are about making the Presidential candidate look bad, not necessarily the VP candidate.
(OTOH, if the VP candidate throws you an easy one right over the plate, there’s nothing wrong with swinging for the fences. Like Quayle comparing himself to Kennedy. But as long as Palin doesn’t completely blow it there’s not going to be much problem – we’ll see over the coming weeks if she’s dumb or just a n00b.)
McCain’s campaign is still playing the game with the 2000 playbook. They’re going for a 50+1% strategy here, and so they’re going hardcore with the base to try to drive up turnout. Unfortunately for them, that probably isn’t a great strategy this year and is likely to net them something more like 40+4% instead of 50+1%.
They probably actually lost a few sexist rednecks with this move. Not that those guys will turn out to vote for Obama, they’ll just stay home instead. Hopefully the Obama campaign won’t make the mistake of trying to chase the sexist redneck idiot vote – them staying home instead of voting for McCain is as good as a vote for Obama this time around anyway.
bwaage
The internet is a wonderful, wonderful place.
Just Some Fuckhead
If she answers “over there near Czechoslovakia” she’s proven to be just as qualified as McCain.
Corner Stone
Oh Joshua Norton…you really are the darling of this nascent thread.
Incertus
The really scary thing is why he picked her–because he thought she was a maverick, just like him. I mean, I know that anyone who runs for the Presidency has the ego of a small planet just to get on the campaign trail, but I was hoping for a little more cynicism from John McCain.
nightjar
It’s a distraction. That’s the first chapter of the wingnut handbook when things are going badly and the people are on to them. They chose a small time politician Governor of Moose and Squirrel and are daring us to challenge the credentials of a conservative woman who believes the earth was created 5 thousand years ago. It captures the conversation, which is they’re only hope of slithering back into the WH. It’s also so cynical even idiots are going to see through it.
Gemina13
On the one hand, I’m laughing my ass off at McCain’s choice of Veep. No matter who the Dead Enders vote for, the White House will have either a black man or a white woman in it in 2009.
On the other hand . . . McCain really couldn’t find anyone more qualified to be his running mate than Madam Nepotism from the State of Loot ‘Em And Run? Seriously?
John Cole
There is no trap for me. Whle I briefly mentioned experience earlier when I was surprised she was the pick, there is no reason to drive it home. Experience is not the issue for me.
On fundamental issues, such as her stance on abortion, her desire to teach creationism in classrooms, and other things, she is just flat out wrong, from my standpoint. it matters not whether she has been espousing those views as a governor of a small state for two years or from a US Senate seat for thirty.
She is wrong. Period.
Mrs. Peel
So? McSame is touting his “experience”. He’s selling Team McCain as the best people to run the country. He looks unhealthy and he could keel over any minute and he’d saddle the US with a soccer-mom/cougar who’s biggest problem to date was a moose digging up someone’s garden?
Suuure. Hey, we both have tits. I’ll vote for her – even though she’s against every god-damned thing I believe in.
Get a grip.
Just Some Fuckhead
From the blog:
“America is such a great country. Where else could someone like me, with less than two years of statewide governing experience, be put in a position where I’m one malignant freckle away from being PRESIDENT of the most POWERFUL country in the WORLD?!”
lolz. And, ya know, something to marvel at too.
Martin
You miss the dynamics of presidential elections.
There’s 3 variables to work with – that’s all.
1) Party identification
2) Turnout
3) Uncommitteds
Party identification strongly favors the Democrats. 90% of registered voters in each party that vote are expected to vote their party choice. That gives Obama a strong lead with no effort.
That leaves the uncommitted voters up for grabs. That’s really what the election that we see is all about – the debates, etc.
But the wildcard is the turnout. That’s where Kerry and Gore lost. They didn’t have a disadvantage in identification, but the GOP kicked ass on turnout by using churches as GOTV machines. The lowest turnout voters on the right have always been the fundies. They don’t vote because the campaigns have never been about their issues. Rove changed that. He turned Bush and the campaign toward their issues and got them to show up to vote.
McCain’s problem is that the fundies hate him, so the risk is that the fundies won’t show up to vote. They won’t vote Obama, they’ll just stay home, and McCain will surely lose without them, especially since Obama is going to put forward the mother of all GOTV machines. McCain has to win on 3 fronts to win this election. He needs to:
1) Depress Democratic turnout (brutally attack Obama and hope it sticks)
2) Uplift Republican turnout (appeal to the fundies)
3) Win the uncommitted voters (POW, POW, POW, Maverick!)
My suspicion is that #3 is the only one that McCain feels comfortable with, and he’s doing 1 and 2 against his better interests. Simply put, McCain can’t run his preferred campaign and win against Obama. He learned that back in Feb or so. Against Clinton, possibly, but no chance against Obama. McCain went into kitchen sink mode right around the Dem Texas/Ohio primaries.
Quite simply, McCain can’t win unless Obama implodes – even with the media on his side. He needs to run an unconventional election and hope that he stumbles on a winning strategy. Palin is part of that. It’s a hail-mary. Expect more. And forget about the national polls – they’ll be worthless even a day before the election. Obama’s GOTV will break every likely voter model out there.
Clio
Anyone who is in any way serious about foreign affairs can not possibly vote for this ticket now. I am absolutely astonished at the recklessness and cynicism behind this decision, not to mention being totally insulted as a female voter. This could be a real turning point, especially on the day after nearly fourty million watched barack lay out his case to the country. Serious old school conservatives like powell, baker, lugar and hagel have to see the ridiculous folly in this. I may be dreaming, but this might be what drives them irrevocably to barack, even if they dont come out and say it. I really think that this is now a landslide.
nightjar
Now Emma, you’re making me blush.
Just Some Fuckhead
Oh stop painting with the big brush and go to hell already.
Seitz
Exactly. What Cowen and his ilk miss is that the point isn’t to bring up Palin’s lack of experience. It’s to dismiss any Republican attempt to claim that experience counts.
Brian
“Biden knows who the real target is. He’s not going to get distracted by Palin – he’s going to hit McCain hard. That’s his job. VP debates are about making the Presidential candidate look bad, not necessarily the VP candidate.”
He simply has to find a way to tie her to McCain’s judgment. If she is going to be as much of a joke as we seem to think she will be, then she’ll show it. Perhaps with enough time, she could have been like Obama, who has prepared a series of policies and ideas for the nation. But she has eight weeks until the election. She’s going to have to present herself as both an effective surrogate for McCain and ready to assume the role of president. And she has eight weeks. Well, really, she has seven, since the next few days will be spent prepping her for the convention. I just can’t see her being effective in any way, other than an appeal to the Simpleton Vote, with statements like, “President Bush’s security policy is working, because we haven’t been attacked since 9/11.”
She will not be a focus of the campaign in the same way that McCain will be, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be a constant thorn in his side. Unless she’s cut off from the press entirely, she’s going to slip up. And if the Obama campaign is smart, it’ll tempt her into a trap slowly but surely. They’ll bring up topics that will be completely out of her depth. And then, when she makes a mistake, they’ll show that she’s a lightweight and that it reflects poorly on McCain. It won’t be done by Obama and Biden. It’ll be done by the people on television.
Or so I imagine. It seems like it’s a gift that’s too good to pass up. Overkill backfiring seems possible, but the guys behind Obama seem too skilled to let that happen.
phobos
I could have sworn that was Bobby Jindal, ’cause he personally battled a demon and stuff.
Jeff
In the please let this be a talking point so John can mock it category:
I heard on a right wing radio show that Sarah Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska shares a large border with Canada and Russia and therefore has to deal with foreign troops just across the border.
— Kennedy and Suits, KFI AM640 out of LA, between 7:15 and 7:30 pm
I had to turn it off for fear the stupid would be infectious
limbaugh's pilonidal cyst
Actually, McCranky seems to be running Dole’s 1996 playbook (dammit, I’m old and it’s my turn! And you kids get off my lawn!). I agree that their chances of getting that 50+1 are slim, given that everywhere they go in supposedly “safe” territory they’re going to find a well-organized and run Obama operation, which is going to eat up the resources they’ll need to pick off a swing state or two. That 50+1 strategy has been electoral death for the Democrats for years, it’s good to see them finally abandoning it. Howard Dean may have missed the nomination in 2004 but he’s the reason that the Democrats are poised to win in 2008.
Martin
Actually, when you have a candidate that nobody knows, you can’t go off and deride them immediately because nobody has a context of whether it’s accurate or not. If it was Rudy, sure, they could go with both barrels, but Palin needs to be built up as the public gets to know her.
Obama’s best response would have been something along the lines of:
“Based on feedback from our conservative friends were prepared for a lot of potential candidates, but we couldn’t find much of anything about Palin and didn’t consider her to be a credible option. I guess John McCain saw something in her that we overlooked.”
Mrs. Peel
I’m not. Even Clinton couldn’t get to use a great pick-up line like “Want to come back to my place and be my VP nominee, cutie?” Did all the Fox & Friends blonds turn him down?
Cindy better dust off the old pre-nup and start leaving around which ever house they happen to be in at the time.
Brian
I appreciate your quick response, but I was actually wondering about the electoral effects Cowen describes, like Obama not wanting experience being brought up.
Maybe I’ll post some more tomorrow. I’m falling asleep in front of my computer.
Crusty Dem
I’m surprised I haven’t heard more people making the obvious comparison here, Harriet Myers. Someone who meets the goals of the base (theoretically), is female, which could sap the will of those who might object (also theoretically), but who is woefully underqualified, overmatched, and just not ready. Obviously, unless I’m missing something, she lacks the close relationship with the “nominator”, but it just feels Myers-like…
Even with this, I don’t think it is any worse than his other choices. They’re all awful, she’s no worse than Romney, Pawlenty, or Jindal, and given how much air Sarah who? has sucked out of the room after last nights speech, she might’ve been better than any of the alternatives… Still a shockingly mediocre choice.
PC
She was out today, but was mostly ineffective. Rep. Wasserman-Schultz seemed like she couldn’t find words (insulted? surprised? who knows?)
I’ve seen odd signs before, like my Republican grandparents working for Kerry in 2004, but Kerry was about as inspirational as a wet sock.
The Mrs. told me a Republican committee chair that she works with said she was voting for Obama as of today. This is a 60+ woman that is a life long Republican and has worked in the local Republican machine for decades.
Apparently something pissed her off.
Incertus
Incertus
Funny, the first comparison that came to my mind was Geraldine Ferraro, but for pretty much the same reasons.
PC
I’ve seen it spread around. Keep spreading it. It’s full of teh awesome!!1elven
Just Some Fuckhead
Howard Dean’s plan woulda taken a couple (or more) election cycles with the normal slate of lackluster machine Democrats. Obama is the reason for Dean’s quick success.
Just Some Fuckhead
The first comparison that came to my mind was J. Danforth Quayle.
limbaugh's pilonidal cyst
True that.
cuzco
Perhaps not, but her anti abortion/creationism stances could easily be used to disqualify her if presented correctly.
On abortion:
A. Is the bible a set of guidelines for life that must be freely chosen by the believer?
B. Or is it a set of laws which must be imposed through legislation?
Regardless of how she answers she’s in a pickle.
Or on creationism:
Science has proven that the relationships between livings things can be measured by differences in their DNA. This understanding of our fundamental connection with all living things has lead to lifesaving drugs and treatments that ease suffering in millions. What breakthroughs do you believe creationism will, or could, result from teaching creationism?
That last one could probably be shortened/made more pithy to better address the “teach the controversy” aspect of creationism, but it gets the basic idea across.
Incertus
Well, that and the historically bad Republican governance from 2000-2006. I mean, partisan as I am, I know that we don’t pull off that Congressional win without some major help from Republican ineptitude.
JGabriel
Clio:
Well, how do think it feels for white guys to wake up each morning only to remember that their elected leader is George Bush?
Cringe-inducing, I tell ya’, fucking cringe-inducing.
.
Eural Joiner
You know, I’ve gone through a lot of feelings about this today. In the following order:
1) Hmmmmm. Interesting choice. Who is she? (about an hour while I worked on some background research at work)
2) Ahhhhh. Well played Mr. McCain, well played. A brilliant juxtaposition for the upcoming showdown.(About 2-3 hours while trapped at work surrounded by Republicans convincing me this was a great stroke of politics)
3) Heeeey. She’s kina thin on the credentials. Really thin. Really, really thin. (about 2 hours doing real research at home)
4) What a minute. What am I missing here. There’s gotta be something I’m missing. McCain’s not this dumb. (around dinner letting it all digest)
5) Is this a joke? Now I’m pissed. Its like he’s just crazy and nobody will call him on it. And some will vote for him and we could be more screwed than I ever thought imaginable. (the rest of the night while watching the most inane right wing pundits try to defend this enormously crappy choice)
6) WTF? (right now)
I really just don’t get it. Maybe tomorrow it will somehow make more sense.
POWSTFU, that’s why.
SamFromUtah
ow do think it feels for white guys to wake up each morning only to remember that their elected leader is George Bush?
Shit! Don’t remind me. I have to wake up again and remember that in seven hours or so.
PC
No u.
Phil
I absolutely love this pick. In fact, I suggested McCain should pick her before most of you had ever heard of her (as in 6 months ago). And I say this as someone who absolutely HATED the Harriet Miers selection. I must say it’s quite amusing to hear the reactions of the liberals:
Executive Director of MoveOn.org Eli Pariser: “On his 72nd birthday, Senator McCain has chosen a VP based on her political currency rather than her ability to lead our country in a crisis. If John McCain wins in November, he’ll be the oldest president in U.S. history, and Sarah Palin would be a heartbeat away from being our commander in chief. It’s not only fair, but critical in this case, to ask if she’s up for the job of commander in chief. We just can’t afford a gamble like this with our future.”
Let’s just change a couple of words around here: “On it’s 180TH birthday, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY has chosen a PRESIDENT based on political currency rather than HIS ability to lead our country in a crisis. If THE DEMOCRATS win in November, BARACK OBAMA will be the LEAST EXPERIENCED president in US History and BARACK OBAMA will be a heartbeat away from being our commander in chief. It’s not only fair, but critical in this case, to ask if HE’S up for the job of commander in chief. We just can’t afford a gamble like this with out future.
God, you sycophants will say anything to have your Messiah elected, won’t you? Pathetic. Keep bringing up inexperience. Please keep bringing up inexperience.
And by the way, I definitely concede that this doesn’t mean McCain will win the election – it will be close either way. But it’s going to be all sorts of fun to watch you sycophants do all sorts of mental gymnastics to explain your Messiah’s ridiculously obvious shortcomings. Not to mention how he’s going to enact his liberal laundry list of big government “solutions” when the government is running a budget deficit of over $400 billion dollars ALREADY. Best of luck with that.
Madlibs sure are fun, aren’t they?
pj
The entire web is atwitter about the her newborn: how she announced it @ 7 months into the pregnancy with no visible signs, how she expected a mid May birth, yet went into labor in mid April and then took the risk to fly home from a conference in Dallas to give birth; that her 16 year old daughter was out of school for months for mono.
While of course, it is all just rumor but when you know that you are expecting a Downs syndrome child, and you are 44 years old, and you start having contractions 1 month prematurely, the normal reaction is to to not take chances, certainly not get on a plane.
To think that she’s got a 4 month old Downs baby, and now she’s going to go on a 100% campaign for the next 60 days, and if they win, be totally absorbed there as well? Something doesn’t ring true.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all – as someone suggested over at dkos – that this is a head fake. That they use her to get past the convention, and she later bows out stating that the demand of her newborn are too great, leaving McCain to pick someone free and clear of the risks of showing them at the convention. Continue to dominate the news cycle, generate a whole ton of sympathy and further that Mavericky image with none of the long term downside which would eventually accrue if Palin stays on the team.
Yep, admittedly this is out there in the stratosphere, more cynical than anything I could possibly imagine, but after the past 8 years I truly wouldn’t be surprised.
Maggie
Yeah, the main thrust of the point works that way. But the other main thrust just has to do with the question of whether voters can see someone handling the job of being President. “Experience” is a short hand way of getting at that. Cowen may be right that the way the media might measure ‘readiness’ doesn’t match the way the public might measure it. But he’s wrong if he wants to suggest that there’s anything in Palin’s aura that is going to suggest to voters that they are comfortable with her negotiating with Putin or deciding whether or not to launch a pre-emptive strike on Teheran. McCain lost my Uncle Bob’s vote today precisely on this issue. And Uncle Bob has never ever not voted Republican.
Why the Republicans are cheering when their candidate just tossed away their party’s #1 ace in the hole (i.e. the presumption that Republicans are ‘readier’ than Democrats to handle the job) is beyond me. Maybe they are so used to the points they pick up on account of being the ‘daddy’ party that they don’t even see that they’ve been relying on it for decades.
That it’s a move made out of fear of Obama’s candidacy is a first sign of just how transformative this presidency is going to be.
cuzco
Same thing happened to a friend of mine’s father. Guy has been hard core Republican his whole life, ex military, avid hunter, the whole nine yards. Today, he tells my friend, he thought the Palin choice was brain dead and that he was very impressed with Obama’s speech and was seriously considering voting for him.
Hopefully there will be enough of these sorts of defections to counter the worst of the PUMAs and a little of the christianist pickups from Palin’s selection.
Phil
This is actually quite fun:
New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer: “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.”
While OBAMA is a fine person, HIS lack of experience makes the thought of HIM assuming the presidency troubling. I particularly look forward to the MCCAIN-OBAMA debate in MISSISSIPPI.
Joshua Norton
So does this mean that Alaska may actually get their bridge?
On a more serious note, has any governor ever campaigned for federal office citing their position as nominal commander of the national guard as a military credential? Or have we hit a new low for disingenuity in politics?
Like living near an airport makes you a pilot. Right?
iluvsummr
Some are now saying Palin might end up removing herself from the ticket if the Trooper/abuse of power scandal really blows up. Interestinger and interestinger.
Dottie
I really like Sarah Palin. I live in Alaska, and I didn’t vote for her, but I have to say, she kicks ass. She seems to have no fear about (successfully) taking on the good old boys network that runs rampant up here. Assuming McCain doesn’t win, and she completes her term and runs again I’d vote for her in a second.
She is a devoted christian (which I’m NOT), but that hasn’t stopped her from signing bills supporting same sex benefits for state workers and other legislation that she personally doesn’t like–that tells me something about her.
However, I don’t think she’s ready for prime time. Her inexperience on the national (and international) stage is pretty frightening. I *really* hope McCain doesn’t win because I’d like to keep her up here, cleaning up the messes that her predecessor left.
Jeff
She’d have to do it sooner than later otherwise she would be on the ballot anyway because those are printed in advance and cannot be changed.
Phil
And another:
Barack Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: “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.”
Today, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY put A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER with FOREIGN POLICY EXPERIENCE AMOUNTING TO A PHOTO-OP IN IRAQ AND BERLIN a heartbeat away from the presidency. SENATOR OBAMA shares SAUL ALINSKY’S commitment to COMMUNITY ORGANIZING, GENERAL RABBLE ROUSING, AND WELL…WHO THE HELL KNOWS REALLY? – that’s not the CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE…HAVE I SAID CHANGE YET? we need, it’s just more of the same.”
cuzco
Unless you have learned something from your “experience” and can apply that knowledge toward making wise decisions, it is essentially meaningless.
Despite your grade school “messiah” taunt, people don’t support Obama because we’re starry-eyed airhead groupies, we support him because when you do a side by side comparison of Obama’s and McCain’s positions on the most important issues of the last 6 years, Obama beats McCain hands down on the number of things he got right. McCain’s “experience” is pretty much worthless because he has made consistently bad decisions.
PC
Alaska borders Russia. RUSSIA GODDAMIT! We should have made Georgia an immediate member of NATO so we could have started a shooting war with RUSSIA!
That’s CHANGE I can believe in.
I’m John McCain and I approve this message.
Joshua Norton
These people do know that it’s only about 100 miles farther to Moscow from NYC than from Juneau, don’t they?
Jeff
Comparing Palin’s lack of experience to Obama’s is apples and oranges.
Obama’s been on the world stage for four years successfully working on nuclear non-proliferation, transparency in government and building up a national coalition that defeated one of the toughest political families in the country with barely a scratch on him. Palin in less than two years as govenor of a state that has a population just 3x bigger than Obama’s Illinois state senate district is already embroiled in a scandal that is due entirely to family issues in direct contrast to her promise to clean up politics in Alaska.
Mylegacy
Phil
Obama is a once in a generation transformational leader. Palin is a very nice “hockey mother,” “what does the VP do every day?”
Who SAYS so? The American people say so – the 38 million that heard his amazing speech SAY so – the ground organization and the over 1 million new registered voters the Obama team have collected SAY so – Phil, stay tuned for the election results, bring a crying towel.
She’s a creationist, pro-life (even in the case of rape!) person with an ethics problem bigger than a dozen Anchorage whorehouses – in other words – a fringe looney – the ideal Republican.
John Cole
This is “Obama is a stealth muslim/Obama is not a real American” bullshit.
I will not tolerate it. Take it somewhere else. We say fuck a lot, but we have fucking standards here.
KRK
No kidding! I can’t believe that the people who raise this as a serious credential aren’t being taunted and ridiculed until they run away in tears. What a farce.
Aaron
Qualin.
/she’s the new dan quale!
Phil
Let’s do a local one:
Joshua Norton: “On a more serious note, has any governor ever campaigned for federal office citing their position as nominal commander of the national guard as a military credential? Or have we hit a new low for disingenuity in politics?”
On a more serious note, has any COMMUNITY ORGANIZER ever campaigned for federal office citing their position as A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER as PRESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCE? Or have we hit a new low for disingenuity in politics?”
And the following comment pretty much lets the mask slip completely:
“He simply has to find a way to tie her to McCain’s judgment. If she is going to be as much of a joke as we seem to think she will be, then she’ll show it. Perhaps with enough time, she could have been like Obama, who has prepared a series of policies and ideas for the nation.”
So what separates Obama’s non-existent executive experience (Obama sycophants – GOOD!) from Palin’s limited but actual executive experience (Obama sycophants – BAD!) is that “Obama has prepared a series of policies and ideas for the nation.” So Sarah Palin has never thought of policies or ideas she’d like to see the nation enact, even though she’s an elected politician? And wow!, is that all it takes to become qualified for President? Sign all of us here up!
You’re simply embarrassing yourselves now. McCain is almost begging you to bring up Palin’s lack of experience….to highlight that she actually has more experience than Barack Obama. Is McCain just smarter than I thought or are liberals just dumber than I thought? Probably both.
JGabriel
Phil:
As an honest to god New York Liberal, I love this pick too. I mean… this is comedy gold.
I love the way Palin pronounces “about” as “a-bote”.
I love the new direction in which Palin wants to take the Vice-Presidency:
I’m sure using the office of the Vice-President to be more “fruitful” for Alaskans is a message for change that will resonate with the entirety of the American public.
And we’re just getting started. This is gonna be hi-larious!
I’m lovin’ every minute of it.
.
Just Some Fuckhead
No, not really. This is “Obama fathered a baby outta wedlock/Obama had sex with some dude” bullshit. No one is questioning her patriotism or accusing her of being a terrorist.
Perhaps rephrehensible but nowhere near THAT reprehensible.
pj
Sorry, John. Won’t happen again.
Joshua Norton
Wow. Dittohead Phil thinks “cut and paste” is the height of originality. Typical wingnut. Right down to the ALL CAPS.
FReeperville must be missing him tonite.
Like people really want another 4 years of you all.
Martin
You do realize that your state supreme court ruled that it was unconstitutional to not offer same sex benefits? IOW, she had to sign the bills. She even indicated as such. That’s not moral courage – it’s having your hand forced. Unfortunately, that particular case says rather little about her.
Llelldorin
You have to love the crazy “executive experience” trope the right seems to have abruptly discovered, particularly as it neatly reduces John McCain to the commander of a training squadron in Florida over thirty years ago.
Phil
Dottie said:
“However, I don’t think she’s ready for prime time. Her inexperience on the national (and international) stage is pretty frightening.
However, I don’t think HE’S ready for prime time. HIS inexperience on the national (and international) stage is pretty frightening.
C’mon Dottie, now you’re just making it easy for me.
And here’s another slipping of the mask:
“Comparing Palin’s lack of experience to Obama’s is apples and oranges.
Obama’s been on the world stage for four years successfully working on…”
Blah blah blah. Stop right there. Obama didn’t actually enter office until 2005 so it’s been 3 years, not 4. And he’s spent the vast majority of that on the campaign trail. And signing onto a nuclear non-proliferation bill is about as bipartisan as fucking – and certainly doesn’t serious qualify as experienced.
Face it, you picked your candidate and now you’ve got to live with his baggage, or rather lack thereof – there’s very little baggage because there’s very little experience. Stick with the CHANGE bullshit (hey it worked for Carter before he crashed and burned).
Davis X. Machina
Chance favors the prepared
mindparty.Just Some Fuckhead
Yer cracking me up Phil! I might have to steal the “blah blah blah” line.
Joshua Norton
Hey FReeper Phil. Cut and paste this:
Sarah Palin is profoundly, staggeringly ignorant about foreign policy. It’s impossible overstate this. When “President” McCain strokes out over some third-tier international crisis, the erstwhile Mayor of Wasilla will be responsible for bombing Iran, maintaining his 100 year project in Mesopotamia, and delivering the severed heads to Vladimir Putin’s bed.
She’s not going to yank any women from the Democrats, she’s there to mobilize you – the nutter base of the Republican party. But since the nutter base of the Republican party already claims that Barack Obama drinks human blood each morning before throwing himself prostrate to Mecca, I don’t see how Palin is going to accomplish anything more along these lines.
This is one of the great throwaway VP picks in recent American history.
slightly_peeved
And as a bonus, it provides cover for everyone – including right-wing pundits like Krauthammer – to reiterate how old McCain is. McCain’s age is the reason that Palin’s inexperience becomes an issue.
I’m just waiting for the response from the Democrats when they find out her husband works for an oil company (I only heard it on the internet, but from a couple of sources). The VP pick for the Republicans is literally in bed with Big Oil.
zuzu's petals
Actually, that would be George W. Bush, who spent a total of 6 years in public office…exactly half as long as Obama.
And I’m pretty sure Obama can name the president of Pakistan.
Duh
Jeff
Hey nutter Phil… Did you see the names on that non-proliferation bill. Did you see who traveled to the former Soviet nations, you know the area John McCain wants to blow up next, but Obama helped diplomatically so that:
Phil
“I love the way Palin pronounces “about” as “a-bote”.”
And I find it amusing (but not all that surprising) that a douchebag from NYC would actually think this is a liability in Middle America. You are clueless.
“You have to love the crazy “executive experience” trope the right seems to have abruptly discovered, particularly as it neatly reduces John McCain to the commander of a training squadron in Florida over thirty years ago.”
Actually, it’s not something the Right just abruptly discovered. It’s something that American voters seem to be comfortable with the Commander in Chief having, given that no Senator has been elected as President since JFK. Executive experience seems to count for something to voters, unless you think that’s just one hell of a coincidence.
Anyway, Palin was only nominated this morning and the mental gymnastics the Left is performing in trying to portray McCain’s ticket as “inexperienced” while having Obama lead his own ticket is frankly hysterical.
Win or lose, this is going to be a lot of fun for our side.
Conservatively Liberal
Someone at RedState called the wingnuts out on this very point and they were promptly banned for having the audacity to ask such a question. Someone there said that she has more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined, and someone else noted that if this was the case then that means she also has more executive experience than McCain.
Pointing out stuff like this to the right just ruins their day. They are used to people taking their marching orders, and they don’t like it when someone in the peanut gallery speaks up to voice a difference or an objection. Wingnuts sure like to control the flow of information so that if they hear something they don’t like, they just turn it off. Problem solved! If they can’t do that then they insert themselves into the flow and try to disrupt it, though they usually fail. Miserably.
Accurate information is the enemy of the right. Truth and reason have a well known liberal bias, ya know.
JGabriel
Sarah Palin:
C’mon, Phil. You’re not even a little worried about the parochialism that statement betrays?
I mean, it made her sound like an idiot. Oh, wait, you supported George Bush. I keep forgetting, in Republican circles, sounding like an idiot is a feature, not a bug.
.
Jeff
Sorry quoted the wrong part:
AnneLaurie
To think that she’s got a 4 month old Downs baby, and now she’s going to go on a 100% campaign for the next 60 days, and if they win, be totally absorbed there as well? Something doesn’t ring true.
This is a pretty clear indication that the Permanent Republican Party expects to spend the next four years in the peanut gallery obstructing President Obama’s every effort to solve the giant stinking mess they’ve made. Mrs. Family-Values Palin has a newborn whose best chances of being a functional member of society are based on the kind of one-on-one attention he gets during the next five years. Being governor of a low-population, high-federal-input state with a part-time legislature is quite different than being “one malignant freckle away” from the Presidency. Giving Palin credit for her professed beliefs, she can’t take four years in DC away from her family right now. But she can take eight weeks as a smiling
Talibangelicalconservative backdrop to McCain’s campaign, and then retire back to her day job (and presumably a fat Wingnut Welfare guarantee) while preserving the “electibility” of the *real* (male) Repub candidates for 2012 (when the Empire strikes back!!!).If the Obama campaign has half the smarts they’ve demonstrated to date, they’ve just been given the perfect weapon to encourage leaning-Republican voters to stay home & sit on their hands: The GOP knows it’s made such a mess of everything that they can’t get any “serious” candidates into the arena, so they’ve been reduced to dragging Old Lame McCain and Mrs. Hockey Mom off the porch & out of the family room. The lazy wastrels currently in charge of the Republican Party just don’t deserve a third chance to mess things up any further.
zuzu's petals
Does anyone know if she’s ever had to actually call out the National Guard? Aside from search and rescue missions?
JGabriel
Phil:
Ha! I grew up in Middle America.
And there are plenty of middle-Americans who are going to think, “You know, I’m not sure I want the VP to sound like the woman who brings the marshmellow jello salad to the office reception.”
.
Just Some Fuckhead
That would be a doubly fruitful thought!
Johnny Pez
Fun fact: there are only five states in the US with fewer people than Delaware. McCain managed to pick a running mate from one of them.
Well played, sir!
Joe Lisboa
“Palin was only nominated this morning and the mental gymnastics the Left is performing in trying to portray McCain’s ticket as “inexperienced” while having Obama lead his own ticket is frankly hysterical.”
(1) You *do* know that this was a last-minute, recklessly impulsive VP pick, right? I mean, the fact that (a) there wasn’t a single “McCain-Palin” sign to be seen in Dayton today and that (b) even the die-hard GOP cable-harpies were left fumbling to defend Johnny’s pick both point to this, no? The only other plausible explanation is that this is a mediocre-to-terrible candidate with a terrible-to-mediocre campaign staff. I report: you decide.
(2) You also know that Pat mf-ing Buchaman is on record criticizing the hell out of a Palin pick as political suicide on the grounds of her inexperience as of, oh, 9:00 AM EST or so this morning before her name was released, right? I mean, if you want to talk about mental gymnastics, I’m sure YouTube would be happy to help you with that schtick, but for those of us paying attention that just ain’t gonna work.
The fact is this, “my friends.” McCain picked a woefully underprepared running mate. No amount of willful ignorance regarding Palin’s laughable lack of political experience — go ahead and make the “executive” versus “legislative” argument when you’ve nominated a small-town mayor for VP, I dare you — can alter the fact that the GOP (or Rove or Schmidt or McCain or whoever the feck is pulling the strings this go-around) just shot themselves in their woman-hating feet. This is the sort of the transparently faux identity-politic pandering that “the Right” (see, we both can play the bogey man game!) oh so loves to traffic in accusing Dems of playing: only those of us who *have* been paying attention know that the GOP has had a monopoly (*cough* BP *cough*) on all along.
Good luck with your hockey mom President of the Senate, nimrods. Somewhere the ghost of Barry Goldwater is stabbing a photo of John Sidney McCain III with a solid gold voodoo pin whilst crying his restless soul to whatever it is the shades in Hades call sleep. You should rest on this pick, too, son. And realize you’ve been played for a fool. Again.
Phil
“I’m just waiting for the response from the Democrats when they find out her husband works for an oil company (I only heard it on the internet, but from a couple of sources). The VP pick for the Republicans is literally in bed with Big Oil.”
You libs really need to get out of the echo chamber. Guess what? Republicans are KICKING YOUR ASS on the drilling issue. Check a poll lately? And you want to talk about experience on an issue that Republicans are going to feature PROMINENTLY in this campaign because they know it’s one area they simply destroy Obama on…ie offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR?
Well guess what, Palin probably has more experience on this issue than any politician in Washington right now. She was the Ethics Commissioner on the Oil and Gas Commission in her state…and promptly fired the corrupt Republican who was milking the system. If there’s anyone who understands how badly the federal government has fucked over the average Alaskan by forbidding drilling in Alaska (even though vast bipartisan majorities in Alaska favor it), it’s the Governor of Alaska. So yuck it up about her lack of experience. She’s got more of it than your Messiah does. And she’s got the most experience in the area that will be a HUGE campaign issue this fall – make no mistake about it.
As a personal example, I work in the aviation industry – care to tell me what part Obama’s magical “alternative energy” pixie dust is going to power an airplane? Solar? Wind? Hey, let’s use some more ethanol because that’s worked so well for food prices, hasn’t it? Because if you like jetting off to Europe, you better start supporting increased drilling everywhere, because pretty soon you will not be able to afford to go there.
Johnny Pez
I knew Darrell. I worked with Darrell. Phil, you’re no Darrell.
Joe Lisboa
“Palin was only nominated this morning and the mental gymnastics the Left is performing in trying to portray McCain’s ticket as “inexperienced” while having Obama lead his own ticket is frankly hysterical.”
(1) You *do* know that this was a last-minute, recklessly impulsive VP pick, right? I mean, the fact that (a) there wasn’t a single “McCain-Palin” sign to be seen in Dayton today and that (b) even the die-hard GOP cable-harpies were left fumbling to defend Johnny’s pick both point to this, no? The only other plausible explanation is that this is a mediocre-to-terrible candidate with a terrible-to-mediocre campaign staff. I report: you decide.
(2) You also know that Pat mf-ing Buchaman is on record criticizing the hell out of a Palin pick as political suicide on the grounds of her inexperience as of, oh, 9:00 AM EST or so this morning before her name was released, right? I mean, if you want to talk about mental gymnastics, I’m sure YouTube would be happy to help you with that schtick, but for those of us paying attention that just ain’t gonna work.
The fact is this, “my friends.” McCain picked a woefully underprepared running mate. No amount of willful ignorance regarding Palin’s laughable lack of political experience — go ahead and make the “executive” versus “legislative” argument when you’ve nominated a small-town mayor for VP, I dare you — can alter the fact that the GOP (or Rove or Schmidt or McCain or whoever the feck is pulling the strings this go-around) just shot themselves in their woman-hating feet. This is the sort of the transparently faux identity-politic pandering that “the Right” (see, we both can play the bogey man game!) oh so loves to traffic in accusing Dems of playing: only those of us who *have* been paying attention know that the GOP has had a monopoly (*cough* BP *cough*) on all along.
Good luck with your hockey mom President of the Senate, nimrods. Somewhere the ghost of Barry Goldwater is stabbing a photo of John Sidney McCain III with a solid gold voodoo pin whilst crying his restless soul to whatever it is the shades in Hades call sleep. You should rest on this pick, too, son. And realize you’ve been played for a fool. Again.
(If this triple-posts then maybe after you’ve criminalized reproductive health for American women you can brandish your limp pitchforks’n’torches somewhere in the direction of WordPress. Then again, I imagine you’ve got your hands full on the crusade front.)
zuzu's petals
And here you are admitting that McCain in fact doesn’t have the “executive experience” you so value.
On the other hand, let’s consider some of the Senators or Congressmembers with little or no “executive experience” who have more recently been elected Vice President: Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, George H.W. Bush.
Here’s a fun fact for you, Phil. Sarah Palin got most of her “executive experience” running a town that was part of the “meth capital of Alaska”.
Calouste
I guess she waved them off when they were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
zuzu's petals
Well look, I think folks can only go so far with that. Would such a question ever be asked about a male candidate with a family?
oh really
John McCain and Sarah Palin aren’t running for president and vice president of Balloon Juice. They’re running in the Benighted States of Christendom (or Christendumb).
How many elections do Democrats have to lose before it sinks in that rational analysis is irrelevant to most American voters?
John, I take it you’ve re-evaluated your earlier dismissal of the Palin nomination. In the short-term it was brilliant. Whether it will be successful in November remains to be seen, but in one brief announcement McCain shoved Obama off the front page, sent the media scurrying after its latest fetish, and crushed any momentum the Democrats had built up in their convention. It put Biden on the defensive (whether he knows it or not), made McCain look like the daring innovator and Obama like the conventional insider.
I wish I could advise Obama about how to defeat the Republicans, but I haven’t the slightest idea. I’m a believer in rationality, so what appeals to me never works in a campaign with Republican sleazebags and American voters.
Diane Riehm airs at midnight where I live and it’s on right now. I just heard Eleanor Clift utterly dismiss the idea that a John McCain vice presidential pick could have any impact on Democrats after last night’s great speech. Ridiculous says Eleanor, once again revealing just how incredibly stupid the punditocracy is. Her disdainful dismissal came shortly before McCain announced his choice and sucked all of the air out of the Obama post-convention bubble.
On a more positive note, I heard Palin speak for the first time and she sounded like an idiot. (Full disclosure: I hate the modern Republican Party and virtually every Republican, so I’m biased.) Who knows, maybe the effervescence will work for most voters. She sounded to me like Reese Witherspoon in Election — only not as smart.
Martin
Only if you accept the lie that the earth is round. But the joke is on you because Jesus made the earth flat so that Palin could have foreign policy experience. Suck on that!
Conservatively Liberal
People! We are all supposed to be quaking in our boots because Phil has the absolute edge on everything that is right in the world, and we are supposed to be in awe of his brilliant grasp of the facts on the ground and the political nuance in the air. Phil is the information master and we are supposed to be scared shitless when he starts stating facts from PhilWorld (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ChimpCo).
Phil is a full-time turd polisher, but he does real sloppy work. He ends up with a rough finish because there isn’t enough saliva on his tongue.
ched
John is right. They are, indeed, serious.
Do not misunderestimate her. She could be a very formidable candidate. Hell, she already IS a formidable candidate.
The smug hereabouts smells very much like whistling past the graveyard. Fact is, it looks like the crazy jeezus people have been rousted from their sleep.
Get afraid. Go register somebody, quick.
Joe Lisboa
You libs really need to get out of the echo chamber. Guess what? Republicans are KICKING YOUR ASS on the drilling issue. Check a poll lately? And you want to talk about experience on an issue that Republicans are going to feature PROMINENTLY in this campaign because they know it’s one area they simply destroy Obama on…ie offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR?
As dubious as I am of national polls at this point in a GE cycle, Phil, I’m not so sure you want to play that game. I mean, why is that your candidate(s) are down 8-9 points nationally if drilling is the trump card you claim it is? And please, please, please don’t let me be the first to tell you that “we libs” have a Speaker of the House AND a presidential candidate who both are willing to discuss pursuing domestic drilling IF it’s part of a balanced energy approach? I mean, you’d have to be a talking point robot to ignore that “we libs” have been vigorously debating (and — in fairness — largely contesting, if the blogosphere is to be trusted) the compromises by/of our party’s leadership (see, e.g., Reid, Pelosi, Obama) on JUST SUCH a willingness to discuss domestic drilling as one facet of a comprehensive solution?
There are a few facts that are beyond debate, here, so you’re either being disingenuous or played for a fool or likely both:
(A) The oil monopolies are sitting on vast swaths of leased American land with no apparent desire to drill. If this is such a practical – nay, urgent! – solution to our pressing energy needs, why aren’t they drilling here and now after all? Could it be that …
(B) The settled economic/industrial/scientific consensus is that an increase in domestic drilling would have both a ZERO short-term and a MINIMAL long-term effect on the price of gasoline here in the States. Even McCain himself was forced to mouth the sort of namby-pamby “explanation” that you guys have reveled putting in the mouths of Democrats for decades, now: I mean, do you really want to structure your entire energy plan around providing “mental relief” to our “whining” over objectively demonstrable and family-crushing surges in the price of gasoline and home-heating oil? I may not have a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, but I know when I’m being played like a violin: the selfsame one that will serenade the festering political corpse of McCain/Palin come November 5th.
(C) Your proposed VP likely believes the Earth is approximately 6000 years old and that dinosaur bones — the very bones that even the terminally stupid and theologically retarded acknowledge are the source of the liquid black gold idol you folks so crassly worship — were placed in the ground to test our faith in the existence of a God with nothing better to do, apparently, then host the cosmic equivalet of Punk’d. Do you really want to get into the Energy Expert (TM) game when your handpicked crypto-cultist cheerleader of a VP is married (literally! and not just in the Biden sense) to the oil industry?
I have to hand it to you guys. You’ve transcended self-parody. This is a whole new fucking ballgame. Option the rights, cancel the convention and at least rake in some royalties on this bullshit. God knows you’ve “earned” it.
myiq2xu
Oh come on! Why the sad faces?
The He-Man Woman Haters Club was gonna be bored without Hillary to kick around anymore.
Now you have a new woman to hate on.
Mrs. Peel
Only a knuckle dragging McSame lover would think all women are just interchangeable body parts who all think the same thing. Get lost.
Martin
Actually, yes, but that’s not really the issue. As my wife stated to me today: “What mother could bear to be away from their newborn like that?” The situation actually is different for men because we don’t have a 9 month long relationship already set up. It’s still hard for dads, but I don’t pretend it’s nearly as hard as it would be for a mom.
And that’s really the issue. Remember, this is the candidate that knew she had a Down’s Syndrome child and chose to not abort and be responsible for that child. Some people will wonder why, now that the child was born, she’s choosing to abdicate some of that responsibility for care. I’m not pushing that angle, but I’ve already heard it a fair bit today by women that I work with. Hell, I expect to hear some variation of it from every stay-at-home mom that I know. After all, they all chose differently than Palin has, and there is some personal basis for that choice.
My guess is that polling will show that Palin worsens support by women for the ticket. I don’t believe that they could have properly polled for this situation.
Phil
“John McCain and Sarah Palin aren’t running for president and vice president of Balloon Juice.”
Bingo. Of course you had to put in a whole bunch of nonsense about how if you don’t vote for Obama, you’re an a) racist, b) irrational, c) stupid, etc. but I’ll at least give you credit for being intellectually honest somewhat throughout your paragraphs.
The fact of the matter is that most of you live within the Balloon Juice cocoon. Maybe once in a while you’ll stray off the reservation and check out Daily Kos. You might think Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman are truly non-partisan commentators when not doing their own shows (wink wink). Well, guess what? You’re an Obama sycophant. This pick isn’t designed to win your vote. Hell, Obama could try to criminalize criticism of him (a tactic reminiscent of banana republics) and you wouldn’t bat an eye. Woops, he already did!
“Sen. Barack Obama has launched an all-out effort to block a Republican billionaire’s efforts to tie him to domestic and foreign terrorists in a wave of negative television ads. Obama’s campaign has written the Department of Justice demanding a criminal investigation of the “American Issues Project,” the vehicle through which Dallas investor Harold Simmons is financing the advertisements.”
Since you think the Bush administration shredded the Constitution but don’t even flinch when Obama takes a shit on the first Amendment, you might just be an Obama sycophant. The Palin pick was not designed to appeal to you. It’s designed to appeal to independents. And it will.
It’s just hysterical watching the Left try to criticize her lack of experience when Obama leads your ticket. The irony is simply delicious.
TenguPhule
What’s that Phil? You object to being tied to American hating terrorists?
Phil
Look, by all means, please underestimate her. We’d love nothing better.
“In the roughly three years since she quit as the state’s chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the “body count” of Palin’s rivals. “The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah,” says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and a section of the Daily News called “Voice of the Times,” which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.”
TenguPhule
Because nothing solves energy problems like making oil companies richer…oh wait…
I submit Phil as proof that Intelligent Design does not exist. Also, Phil is doing his damn best to refute Evolution through personal example as well.
zzyzx
Massively pro-life to the point of no rape exceptions? Check.
Creationist? Check.
Supporter of Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential bid? Check.
I don’t give a crap about what gender she is or if she’s a good mother. I care about the fact that an ultra rightwinger will be a stroke away from the presidency. This needs to start being pushed now lest her stealth candidacy (she didn’t mention one policy in Dayton) take hold.
TenguPhule
The landscape is littered with those who underestimated Obama.
The sausage grinder is hungry, feed it more Republicans.
TenguPhule
Not being an asshole counts for a lot.
Too bad this disqualifies the entire Republican party.
ched
And another thing: Oh Really is right, too, that the lefty MSM is totally missing this is, with their haughty premature dismissiveness. Righty MSM is actually right; jeezus america loves them some Sarah. We just don’t get it yet because their pre-programmed punditators aren’t yet able to express it via their abridged pre-approved vocabulary.
Good news is, “oh really” is also right that sarah will not wear well. I heard, not saw, her acceptance speech, and she definitely suffers without the visual. Grating combo of faux ditzy and the supreme, albeit often misplaced self-confidence of one whose complete familiarity with her small world has convinced her that she’s got the whole universe figured out. If ADN readers are any indication, her 80% approval numbers are outdated.
On the other hand, there are only 60-some days to go. Let’s hope she gets plenty of exposure and attention in the meantime, so she can wear out like a bad britney spears song (or even better, as quickly as a britney flashing incident). Otherwise, all the teenagers who aren’t paying attention (and therefore voting/working for Obama) will get suckered because she’s so milfy (boys) or christiany-mommish (girls).
CharlesF
Phil-
At least you are energetic in your spinning, I will give you that. I sure hope you are getting paid for this excellent display of republican bullshit at its most fragrant. You are aware that we are immune here? You know you just sound like a drooling dupe to us?
Let me ask you one question that should cut through your fetid smoke: Do you think that Palin and Obama are equally qualified by experience, political skill, and character to run this country?
Johnny Pez
Okay, I’ve got this pick figured out. McCain actually believes that Obama’s popularity is due to him being just like Paris Hilton, so McCain decided to get one of his own.
JGabriel
Phil:
This is a strawman, Phil.
Hardly anyone here, or on “the Left”, is criticizing Palin’s lack of experience.
We’re criticizing her policy positions, her governance, her actions, and her apparent stupidity – creationism, for instance.
Obviously, you can neither acknowledge those arguments nor respond to them, because you would lose. Thus you create an “experience” strawman to argue against.
.
Joe Max
How about two for the price of one?
Martin
Really?
Alaska is doing just fine, TYVM. And Palin is hardly an expert. Today she said that the US needed domestic production to lower oil prices, but the ban on exporting oil is no longer in effect and as it is now, 30% of Alaska oil is exported. Given that we have global, and not national oil markets, it means fuck-all whether the oil is domestic or foreign as far as pricing is concerned. 200K barrels per day won’t do shit for pricing in a 80M barrel per day market (yeah, it’ll lower it .25%. Jackpot!). It matters somewhat from a national and economic security standpoint, but the free market destroys that argument by eliminating the very mechanisms that would make it work. If we just end up exporting that 200K barrels (highly likely) then how have US consumers benefitted?
But your argument underscores the very problem with Palin. It’s not that she is inexperienced per se. It’s that she has zero experience of any kind on a national level. Sure, she knows what’s in Alaska’s best interests, but what she calls for aren’t in California or Florida’s best interests. She can overcome that in time as Obama has, but she only has 2 months, not 2 years like Obama had. Of course she’s happy with drilling in ANWR because Alaska gets a much bigger cut from lease profits than other states do, and other states are pretty pissed about that – especially California which is in a major budget crisis.
Drilling may poll well, but it’s because the public is ignorant on the topic:
The drilling isn’t happening offshore because offshore drilling is expensive and unwanted. Hell, they aren’t even drilling onshore on their leases. They don’t want to drop more oil on the market because they like their profits and why invest money in drilling when you can sit back and let the calls to bomb Iran drive profits up for you without doing anything more than hiring a lobbyist. They want to sit on those leases to be used when their existing production runs low. You fucktards seem to think that Exxon wants to drill more to lower prices because they love you. They like their profits just fine and so long as you keep driving to work at $4 a gallon they’ll work pretty goddamn hard to keep the price there. Instead, they’ll save those leases for 10 or 20 or 50 years from now when their existing leases are tapped dry.
If anyone in the GOP actually cared about lowering domestic oil prices, they’d call for a ban on oil exports and threaten to recall the existing oil leases for resale if the oil companies didn’t drill them. Of course, they wouldn’t dare do that because that would be anti-business and anti-free market. So, instead they call for handing out more leases to go unused and let Exxon export oil instead. Of course, drilling that oil now would also mean that when these leases run dry, we won’t have any new sources to go to, and if lower prices prevents us from migrating to new energy sources, then we’ll be even more dependent on imports than we are now. The GOP is selling out our kids energy security for cheaper gas today, which is idiotic.
None. And nobody is suggesting that any will, if you’d bother to read. But why is 20% of domestic electricity production oil based when it could easily be shifted to alternatives, freeing up that oil to be refined instead? Why were there 20 automobiles on the market in 1980 that got 50 MPG or higher and there are none today? Did we lose some technology over the last 30 years?
There’s a whole raft of things that can’t be shifted off of oil, so why are we using it for things that can be done without oil or be done with less? If petroleum is so important that we have a strategic reserve aiming for 1B barrels, wouldn’t reducing oil consumption by 50% make that reserve twice as large? Wouldn’t that be a fantastic national and economic security move?
slightly_peeved
The issue isn’t drilling, genius. The issue is cronyism – one of the fundamental issues which led to the Democratic victory in 2006.
Americans may like oil, but they aren’t too keen on oil companies.
“Listen to Palin – her husband works for an oil company!” would be about as popular a move as “Listen to Cheney on war – he works for Halliburton!”
JGabriel
Martin:
Hard to see how that would lower oil prices. If we ban oil exports, there’s no reason for other countries to not do the same.
That would leave us reliant on our own reserves – about 3% of world reserves in a country that uses 25% or world production — i.e., less supply, more demand, higher prices.
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Conservatively Liberal
Yes Mikey, we have known that you are a McCain lover for some time now but the ‘old goat’ bit makes it a bit clearer as to why you luv you some McCain.
Oh, Phil?
You live in your own world where you assume everything that you say is right so trying to have a conversation with you is impossible. But I do have to say that while you are not the brightest troll I have seen here, you are one of the more entertaining. You have taken the ‘if you can’t baffle them with brilliance then bury them in bullshit’ to a whole new level. Now all you have to do is improve the quality of your bullshit!
For some conservative Alaskan views on Palin, take a gander at this. It seems to me that Sarah and her family have been obsessed with making her ex-brother-in-law miserable by using her authority to ruin his life.
Great, another petty Republican who likes to abuse their authority by ruining the lives of those they have a grudge against. I love the part about her complaining about his illegally bagging a moose that her father gutted and cut up and that he shared with her and her family. Never mind that she shared in the meat (MooseBurgers!), she filed the complaint two years after it happened, and that she only did so because of his divorcing her sister.
What a winner! I think they chose Palin because they know they are losing this fall and nobody else wants to ruin their political future by being on the losing ticket.
slightly_peeved
It seems a lot of the people criticizing Palin’s lack of experience are on the Right – see Buchanan, Pat.
Lidane
How can anyone possibly take McCain’s selection of Palin as VP seriously? He didn’t even choose her until Thursday night, and did so for two reasons: (1) He wanted Lieberman, but knew the wingnuts on the right would revolt if he did, and (2) He’d settled on Pawlenty, but decied it wasn’t an exciting enough choice:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/how-palin-came.html
It’s not about governing, or meeting all the global challenges he’s been yammering about on the campaign trail for months. He just did it because he couldn’t have Lieberman and he wanted some attention.
Unbelievable.
JGabriel
Slightly_Peeved:
Yes, I meant to point that out – exactly as it was during the Harriet Miers imbroglio.
That said, I think our friend Phil is confusing the media with “the Left”. That’ll happen if you watch too much Fox News.
.
Martin
We banned exports until the 90s. Didn’t have a major impact on the global market. Clinton lifted the ban when oil was down around $10/bbl.
bago
Ok, word from an alaskan, we know when we are being self serving pricks. We get paid by the oil companies to tow the line. However the line has been crossed. When you lose 2 inches of permafrost a year you know something is up.
Conservatively Liberal
How about a quote from a July 19th blog entry at Alaska Pride regarding her being investigated for abuse of her power and the possibility of Palin being McCain’s veep:
Here are some public responses to her selection in the Anchorage Daily News. I like what this former Clinton supporter (who now supports Obama) said:
Palin is no Hillary, that’s for damn sure. Any true Hillary supporter would be offended by anyone even trying to make such a comparison.
nightjar
Well, it looks like we’re seeing the new wingnut strategy to defeat Obama. Forget about the old smelly fart. It’s Palin V. Obama head to head. After all, both have about the same experience, so that puts them on an equal terms at the starting gate.
LOL, wingers have gone insane if their going this route. But I say “bring it on”, Palin should dispense with the uppity no talent neophyte pol Obama without breaking a sweat.
Quiddity
Who would Sarah Palin put on the Supreme Court?
That’s a question that really gets you thinking.
Xenos
The crypto-teen pregnancy rumours make a pretty interesting subject at a meta level. They go back to the Republican vs. Republican infighting from last spring, not some sort of Democratic ratfucking enterprise. I would like to think that Democrats would not promote a smear that really unfairly focuses on a teenage girl. Googling the issue last night, one of the top sources was a Kos diary that had already been expunged.
More importantly, they are part of a larger set of cultural crises within the evangelical/fundamentalist wing of the Republican party. She can’t be a hero activist for the cause without opening herself up to the same backlash that feminists get. You can see that in the angst about the disabled infant… Surely there is professional intervention being done for a Governor’s child, and there is a father who is present to pick up any slack. As a stay-at-home Dad for five kids, I fail to find any issue here.
Only people who obsess about traditional gender roles being essential to spiritual goodness and national survival are going to be freaked out about what sort of care little Trig is getting. Unfortunately for Palin, those folks are exactly the people her candidacy is supposed to mollify.
Balconespolitics
The rate of Downs Syndrome babies increase 6x for couples over 40, versus couples under 35.
http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/news/20030701/dad-age-down-syndrome
Now, I guess if you believe everything should be up to God’s will, and science be damned, these things shouldn’t be a concern. But this is a family that already had 4 kids … and a mother in her 40’s on a very high stress career track … and Downs is only one of many syndromes linked to women in their 40’s giving birth.
Is it gauche to ask if they plan on using birth control in the future?
Brett
Technically, there was one who was even less experienced. I doubt you’d bring him up, though, seeing as how it was Abraham Lincoln. Of course, like Obama, Lincoln had the ability to pick good advisors (if not good VPs) to compensate for his weakness. Biden is an example of that.
Can you seriously name a single reason for picking Palin that is NOT a Campaign Prop? She built her “reputation” fighting against corruption in Alaska – tell her to get in line behind McCain of the “end pork barrel spending” club. Executive experience is a no-go; she’s been governor for less than two years, and before that she was the mayor of a small town (and not a great one, either, seeing as how she send the town into a ballooning budget deficit and mismanaged a town real estate deal that ended up costing the town millions). The only real reason to pick her is that she’s an outsider, a conservative, and a woman – in other words, Campaign Prop.
So, in other words, she went after critics and her opponents who happened to be members of a highly ossified, unpopular, and corrupt hierarchy in a small, oil-rich muddle puddle of a non-mainstream state. Color me unimpressed – and amused at that fact that you think her destroying critical voices a good thing. Not that it’s a surprise coming from her; she supposedly fired a public official as Mayor simply because he was from the other party, got sued, and then stayed on because the judge ruled that her firing powers as mayor were absolute, even if the reasoning was total partisan bullshit.
By the way, I’d suggest you stop turning all the nouns and adjectives into CAPLOCKS MODE!!!! This is an intelligent blog, not a Republitard slandering e-mail list.
Dave_Violence
When I look at Barak Obama, I do not see an African-American; I see a politician running for president.
When I see McCain, I see a hot chick next to him. Man, that’s distracting.
harlana pepper
Why do you have to be a mother to even be considered fuckable at her age?
harlana pepper
So if I was dumb enough to have a child at my age and risk future health problems, including cancer, and a Down’s syndrome child (surprise!!) that would make me fuckable. Men are so weird.
harlana pepper
PS, if this ain’t the most egregious affirmative action at work, I don’t know what is.
JGabriel
Martin:
Thanks, Martin. I did not know that.
Still, I suspect that banning exports would not affect domestic prices, given the smaller reserves we have today. However, I’m willing to concede that I may be wrong on that point. In any event, it seems like such a price reduction in the current environment would not be very large and would be short-lived.
.
JGabriel
Harlana Pepper:
You don’t.
I’ve known a number of women that were “fuckable” at that age.
Where did this come from anyway? How did it become a relevant topic? Did I miss a post where someone asserted that?
.
Conservatively Liberal
Yeah, just like she understands that the deal she made on the gas pipeline means a Canadian firm will build it (not an Alaskan or American firm) and that it will not be started until 2015, which just happens to be after the Canadian company finishes building their lines into Alaska which will in turn reduce the value of the Alaskan gas. In the meantime, people just do without natural gas in that area.
Yup, she sure knows what she is doing!
Her and her family harassing a state trooper because he divorced her sister sure looks bad too. Seems the trooper had a clean record of no complaints until Sarah took up her sister’s cause. Out of the numerous allegations and complaints filed by her against the trooper, two were found to have been true and the trooper readily admitted to them. One was his killing a moose using a tag his (then) wife held, which the trooper then paid Sarah’s father to clean and cut. Also, Sarah and her family got a share of the moose, and then she filed the complaint two years later.
Conveniently leaving out certain details. This is executive material? Maybe in blood red Alaska, but I doubt the rest of the country is going to be impressed.
Do not make a mistake and underestimate her though, she got where she is because she has something that people like. She should be carefully weighed before a line of attack is opened.
My personal opinion of her is that the Peter Principle kicked in when she was mayor. That real estate deal cost the people of her town dearly. They ended up spending more than 10 times what they would have if it would have been handled properly. That is incompetent, but she made governor with that on her back.
Maybe Alaska just likes their politicians corrupt, and if they are up from about it then all the better! Nothing to hide! ;)
Conservatively Liberal
Oops, in the last sentence “from” should be “front”… ;)
Also, great diary at Kos about Rove and feeding his own words back to in regards to Palin. Great catch by the diarist!
jake
When the 28% find out about that little nugget they will stay away in droves.
Absolutists are so much fun.
JL
Good Morning, James Dobson flip flopped yesterday on his support for John McCain and that says it all. I’m not concerned about McCain’s VP lack of experience but I am concerned about her apparent lack of knowledge. She does not believe that global warming is man-made. She gave an interview about Iraq that was confusing at best. She hasn’t yet given signs that she understands the banking crisis that we have in this country. You can not disagree with the depth of her character but you can question, whether or not, she has the knowledge to lead our country out of the economic mess that we are in.
JGabriel
Conservatively Liberal:
Something that people in Alaska like – a place on the other side of Canada.
Let’s not overestimate Palin either. Alaska is one of the most conservative and sparsely settled states in the country. I doubt she’ll play all that well in the lower 48 except for the few states that are similiarly conservative and sparse – like Wyoming and Idaho.
.
John S.
And you still have your favorite negro to hate on.
Fuck off, ratfucker.
Elvis Elvisberg
Fortunately for Palin, most of them won’t know about it, because the GOP and its media outlets are completely uninterested in any principles. The GOP elite will rile up the base with stuff like this about Democrats, but they don’t actually care about it, and they’ll actually attack people for mentioning it.
It won’t be an issue, which is a good thing. But it won’t be an issue simply because all the dirtiest fighters are on the right, which is a bad thing.
Conservatively Liberal
Absolutely. Actually, overestimating her would be pretty easy to do if you don’t look too far into her history. But we all know that the press likes dirt, and if there is any ‘good’ stuff, they will find it. Reporting about it is another matter…lol
So Dobson is all pro-McCain now and all it took was Palin? Shit, it don’t take much to impress that old guy, does it? That’s pretty scary when you think about it.
John S.
Good ol’ Freeper Phil.
Last time we saw him in here flinging the poo was when some Obama field office encountered a photo of Che on the wall when they moved in.
Hillarity ensued.
t jasper parnell
Here is a long post on Palin’s style of governing and related info. It doesn’t look good.
JL
t jasper, Thanks for the post. She is scary. I found this part interesting.
douglasfactors
McCain was going to win the news cycle regardless of whom he picked. If it had been Pawlenty, the talking heads would have been atwitter about Pawlenty. The only brilliant strategy on McCain’s part was making the announcement the day after Obama’s acceptance speech.
Suicidal Zebra
Anyone else feel as if the Presidential Race just turned into a Made-For-TV Movie, featuring the plucky all-American gal from modest backgrounds as she struggles against family crises, glass ceilings and corruption to take the Presidential race by storm? And just before he is sworn in the grandfatherly President-elect croaks, leading to a final scene of her taking the Oath in front of the Washington Monument.
*shudder*
Eural Joiner
Martin:
You’ve got a lot of good posts/info concerning the oil industry and its markets. Any chance you can recommend some quick one-stop links for getting the rest of us up to speed?
Thanks!
dewberry
There’s a difference between America loving Sarah, liking Sarah, and thinking she’s ready to be president. I think you’ll see that play out. Especially when it becomes clear how out of the mainstream she is.
Being a governor is one of the hardest jobs in the country right now as thanks in part to the economic policies of the Bush administration most states are struggling with deficits. It’s not the easy, star-making job it was 8 or 10 years ago. But, I think Alaska, thanks to its Permanent Fund, may be exempt from some of those same struggles. Honestly, I have to admit, I know nothing about Alaskan politics.
It’s fun watching people turn into pretzels trying to buff up her record.
And kinda cool that half of those on the ticket are from Alaska and Hawaii.
Jeff
The Alaska next to Russia foreign policy talking points got to Fox News.
Notorious P.A.T.
Yeah, Obama and Palin are the same. Obama realized the IRaq war would be a fiasco; Palin thinks our planet is 6,000 years old. Obama build a national campaign juggernaut from scratch; Palin was mayor of a 1,500 person town. Obama correctly predicted the Iraqi people’s desire for a withdrawal timeline, Palin has 5 kids. Wow, so similar.
Gus
You’re forgetting that’s the largest voting bloc in the country.
Notorious P.A.T.
Exactly *which* party do you want to see win in November?
You’re going to vote for war against Iran and the end of Roe v Wade because Obama said “periodically”? Really?!?!?
grandpajohn
Actually not unbelievable for those who have followed the process from its beginnings, .
For those who have been around for a while, no lie, no flipflop, no action that mcsame would say or do is unbelievable. All it requires is someone who has no character, no integrity and no morals but an insane desire to be president and that describes McCain
Notorious P.A.T.
1. Wow, I would love to have an oil industry tool as Vice President!
2. And yet she still hasn’t managed to “crush” that state trooper she wanted to fire.
3. Congratulations: Sarah Palin is the toughest politician in Alaska. Kind of like being the best bobsledder in Jamaica. I’m sure it takes a lot more chops to make it to the top of Nanook’s North than to ascend in Chicago.
Notorious P.A.T.
Sarah Palin is anti-corruption. We know this for a fact because Ted Stevens endorsed her:
Link
Gus
Hey, Phil. “I know you are, but what am I?” doesn’t work except among 8 year olds.
Notorious P.A.T.
If more people travelled by electric-powered rail, we would need a lot less airplane fuel.
Notorious P.A.T.
http://www.vpilf.com/
Notorious P.A.T.
I can’t stress this enough: large segments of the American population are staggeringly, depressingly, irreversibly stupid. I don’t mean ill-informed, I mean the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor morons. It was hard for me to fathom that until I worked in customer service for 3 years. The guy who brings a cart full of soup cans into the “8 items or less lane” is the rule, not the exception.
Kobe Kid
from Matt Yglesias comments page;
jake
The fact that someone this fucking stupid is allowed with in spitting distance of a plane should send shudders up and down the spines of all you frequent flyers.
Here’s a thought exercise: Right now everyone goes to the same source for energy to make their cars and trucks and trains planes go. The more people who go to the source, the higher the price for everyone.
Now (pay attention), if more people turn to alternative energy pixie dust to make their cars and trucks and trains go, that will mean there is more [fill in the blank] for planes?
Bonus question: If there is more [fill in the blank] just for planes will the price go up, or down?
Dear God, please say you’re a baggage handler. That would explain a lot and make me feel better the next time I fly.
b. hussein canuckistani
Simple math.. half of the poeple are of below average intelligence.
Notorious P.A.T.
No, running the Dangler ride at a travelling carnival is not the “aviation industry”.
w vincentz
I sure hope Phil comes back to read this. Here’s a quote taken from one of his “arguments” above:
” Obama could try to criminalize criticism of him.”
Seems to me that this is a tactic that’s been tried by the current regime. (See Dixie Chicks, “Free Speech Zones”, FISA immunity, on and on).
Now, given a good night’s sleep, I think the reason for McIdiot’s VP pick comes down to this…a distraction from the REAL issues to a referendum on abortion. Afterall, the failing economy, two failed wars, Constitution shredding, etc. really don’t matter to American voters. Johnnie and Sarah want the focus to be on “Pro-life” or “Anti-Choice”.
That’s what matters.
I’ll simply point out that a woman can decide to birth a Down’s Syndrome child or not. If her “religious” convictions compel her to do so, it’s fine with me.
However, if she feels the need to IMPOSE her religious convictions on others, it is evident that the seperation between “Church” and “State” no longer exists.
It’s TIME to criticize that kind of “thinking”, Phil, and you can call me a “criminal” all you want.
Heck, if the past eight years of the bush regime haven’t shown you what REAL criminals look like, far be from me to educate you.
Kirk
I think the McCain crew did a poor job of vetting, or they’d be ready to answer the questions about her interesting time as mayor. Oh, sure, everyone knows about troopergate now, but it’s not a new thing.
Two mayoral actions will surface: the sports complex, and the firing of the library director and police chief.
On the former, because she had a land development company buy the land on behalf of the city instead of (as per both rules and council advice) purchasing directly, she ended up costing the city about ten times what it should have cost.
The latter – in her 1996 mayoral election campaign, the police chief and library director worked (off-duty) for her opponent. The council put up a bill in January that would require any firing of city employees be for cause. She got it tabled, and fired the police chief and library director. The police chief sued and the library director got behind a recall initiative. Palin reversed herself on the library director. The police chief wound up losing the lawsuit with the federal judge saying (paraphrased) that the action was legal but unethical.
Yep, these will play well.
JGabriel
B. Hussein Canuckistani:
Corrected.
.
Notorious P.A.T.
Actually, I truly suspect that 75% of the country are below average intelligence. How is that possible? Well, how is it possible that someone could break into a liquor store to rob it, slip and hurt themself, and sue the store for negligence? How is it possible that someone could buy a car based upon how many cupholders it has?
t jasper parnell
Nice support for Palin back home:
mark
Anyone here understand the “drilling moratorium” better than I do? If the oil companies don’t really want to drill, isn’t it just an albatross for the Dems? What if they called the Repubs’ bluff and said “fine, let’s see you drill” and later “told you so”?
ANWR is a completely different matter, of course.
Koz
I think the experience rap is legit, but I just don’t think it’s going to matter. This picks helps McCain, and helps the Republicans, on so many levels let’s just write a few of them.
Us Republicans, we want to be represented by her, as somebody who’s culturally tuned into Middle America instead of the bureaucrats and perk-hoarders we have too many of now.
Younger women want to be her, superficially because she’s hot, but also for more subtle reasons (and I think more important ones). Clearly she’s been able to balance her career and her personal life, and did it in a way where she could express her real aspirations.
Older women won’t resent her, because she didn’t sleep her way to the top, and they’ll also want to pull for a woman who won at the boys’ game.
She’ll also pull support from Westerners and libertarians (lower-case l and capital L). I could make this two separate groups, but there’s a large overlap. She’s likely to keep New Mexico and Colorado in the R column, and if we’re lucky put Washington and Oregon into play.
She’ll help with orthodox Christians of any denomination, especially Mass-going Catholics (thank you Nancy Pelosi for your exegesis on St. Augustine).
She’ll bring prolifers back home and return abortion in general to a Republican winning issue. She’ll keep the gun voters in the fold. That’s just about it.
I’m sure in Ann Arbor or Baltimore somewhere there’s a couple of Marxist-syndicalist neo-vegan Palestinian grad students in 18th century lesbian literature who won’t be voting Republican. I’d be sure and ask for their votes when President McCain runs for reelection.
Svensker
By the way, what happened to myIQ?
Didn’t he/she used to be moderately entertaining before the Dem primary?
Didn’t he/she say he/she didn’t like Obama but would vote for him if the Hill lost?
Did he/she have an unfortunate cranial accident which resulted in a psychotic personality change?
That must be the reason that myiq and phil sound like twins, right?
w vincentz
Koz,
What the heck are you smoking? Must be good stuff!
b. hussein canuckistani
I can be careless about terms like median and average, because I know the internet is full of people ready to correct me.
Thanks
liberal
Dottie wrote,
LOL!
And what does it tell you about her, that she thinks rape victims should bear their assailant’s child?
Martin
Yeah, it doesn’t have an effect on price, but most of the blather is about ‘ending our reliance on foreign oil’, which won’t happen if you export your domestic production. If you do happen to eliminate imports (something that I support, but only the Dems, and barely even them are presenting credible paths to do that), then you can kick the global market to the curb and develop a purely domestic market that won’t be impacted by China’s development.
Fundamentally, oil prices won’t come down until consumption goes down. There is no way that production can go up in a meaningful way. When Saudi Arabia can’t meet their production goals, then we are truly fucked on production.
Yeah, the Dems are in a political pickle here. The moratorium is rather limited and only applies to leases that are close enough to shore that states actually have some say in the lease. Leases farther out are still being sold (and barely being bought). What it comes down to right now is whether we should let oil companies drill close to shore when they aren’t interested in drilling further out. The Republicans make it sound like we’ve banned all new drilling, which is patently false. In addition to the leases we’re currently putting up to bid, there are leases that predate the moratorium that can be drilled that aren’t being drilled.
The problem is this: ending the moratorium isn’t something that requires action. Keeping it requires action. It expires automatically if the Dems don’t get a vote on it – and there will be no vote. The Republicans can block that pretty easily, so the moratorium is almost guaranteed to be lifted. The Dems played their hand poorly here because they pushed for something largely out of their control.
Ultimately, I think it will play out as you describe, that the moratorium will end, oil prices won’t budge, and the Dems say ‘great plan, now what?’. Obama did the right thing to open the door to drilling – he diffused the issue and when the moratorium ends, it won’t look like a failure on his part.
I have a bunch of friends that work in the industry that I chat with, but reading The Oil Drum is highly recommended.
jake
Tune in tomorrow when Koz presents: “5 inches, 5 seconds. Or: What chicks really dig in bed. Unless they’re ball-busting lesbian harpies.”
Seanly
Actually, she vetoed a bill denying same sex benefits to state workers. Did she think it was a bad bill or did she think it wasn’t sufficiently mean & petty to same sex couples?
I like the note I saw either in another thread here or some other site. She’s in the same vein as other little known VP picks added to doomed campaigns. Like Jack Kemp for instance, she has a little name recognition in certain partisan circles but none nationally, solidifies the base, locks her home state which is electorally small but in the end won’t help the campaign.
However, I don’t care how much they say it, Palin does not have anything close to the experience to be able to be an effective chief executive should they win & then McCain become incapacitated.
Oh and it is a pandering & sexist pick. If anything, it seals some of those 18 million cracks, not widen them.
NR
Not only that, she opposes birth control pills and condoms even for married couples.
It doesn’t get much more extreme than that, people. I’m almost expecting her to kick off her acceptance speech by singing “Every Sperm Is Sacred.”
JGabriel
Koz:
I don’t see how Palin helps with all the lower-case libertarians in Montana. Frankly, I think you’re talking out of yer ass.
.
JGabriel
Seanly:
Neither.
Palin was told by her administration’s lawyers that it wouldn’t psas constitutional muster, and she didn’t want to waste the funds or political capital defending it.
.
ksmiami
Koz – you must be the most offensive mother-fucker on this blog. Young women will like her cause she is hot? WTF? She is one of the most utterly irresponsible VP picks ever and she believes the earth is 6000 years old. Fuck her, Fuck McCain and fuck you for spinning this and for showing your utter contempt for women.
Phil
“Let me ask you one question that should cut through your fetid smoke: Do you think that Palin and Obama are equally qualified by experience, political skill, and character to run this country?”
No, I have never suggested this. In fact, Palin has a LOT more executive experience than Obama does, given that his executive experience seems to consist of being a “community organizer” and well…nothing else. Her character is vastly superior as well, given that Obama saw nothing wrong hanging out with an insane preacher for 20 years who thought 9/11 was “chickens coming home to roost” and doesn’t see anything wrong with being a close associate (he started his political career in William Ayers own house – love it, live it, own it sycophants), if not friend of an unrepentant domestic terrorist who blew up police stations and killed cops. Does Obama give better speeches? Probably, I haven’t seen Palin actually give a national speech so I don’t really know. I don’t base my votes on speeches, but rather what’s in them. The last time Americans voted for feel good rhetoric rather than substance, we got Jimmy Carter and a Misery Index to follow.
So to sum up, she’s got more experience than he does and it doesn’t take much character to have more of it than someone who associates with cop killers. But you’re right, he probably gives better speeches. And apparently this is all it takes for liberal sycophants to deem someone worthy of President. I guess when you dumb down public schools as much as liberals have, these are the eventual outcomes.
“Hardly anyone here, or on “the Left”, is criticizing Palin’s lack of experience.
We’re criticizing her policy positions, her governance, her actions, and her apparent stupidity – creationism, for instance.
Obviously, you can neither acknowledge those arguments nor respond to them, because you would lose. Thus you create an “experience” strawman to argue against.”
Silly me, I could have sworn the Obama campaign said this:
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said that McCain was willing to put “the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign-policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”
Yeah, no one on the Left is bringing up the experience issue…except the guy running for President and all of his sycophants.
Obama supporters are sounding more and more like Bush hangers-on each and every day. It’s like Andrew Sullivan on steroids.
junkiebrewster
Ayers killed cops? Really?
You’re so full of shit.
Desmond
The only people the Weather Underground killed were themselvs.
Desmond
The only people the Weather Underground killed were themselves.
Zuzu's Petals
I am.
She’s simply unqualified. Period.
Koz
Come election day, McCain was going to win Montana anyway. But Gov Palin absolutely will help him there, both who she is as a person and what she’s done in public life. And bigger than that probably, is that the GOP is reestablished as the party of civil liberties in the minds of people from the Western States.
PC
Palin looks like a batshitinsane Dominionist.
JGabriel
Zuzu’s Petals, I agree Palin’s unqualifed, but there’s a lot more to that assessment than just experience.
Palin has shown no previous interest or curiousity about foreign policy; she believes creationism should get equal billing with evolution in public school science curriculums; she’s anti-choice, even in cases of rape or incest; her governing history in Alaska shows an autocratic tendency to simply fire anyone who disagrees with her rather than seeking compromise or common ground; her political judgement – e.g., supporting Pat Buchanan for President in ’96 and 2000 – is extreme right wing and unsound; etc., etc.
All of these are far more compelling reasons to oppose Palin’s candidacy as unqualified than her level of experience – a neutral measure which, by itself, tells us nothing of her judgement or other qualities that might suit her, or disqualify her, from office.
.
Koz
Phil wrote his answer for this, but I don’t want to miss a chance to get the boot in for myself.
Bearing in mind experience, political skill and character, Palin would be a much better President than Obama, by miles. Forget about this executvie vs. nonexecutive experience business, Gov Palin has shown that she’s willing to stake her credibility on the line to get anything remotely challenging done.
Sen Obama has never in his whole career done that, not in Chicago, not in the Illinois Legislature, not in the Senate, not as a Presidential candidate. Obama is seen as a different candidate now than in February. That’s when he maxed out on the Peter Principle, but now we can all see it.
nightjar
Phil is like the neglected child who gets a promising Christmas present, the first in a long time. It’s wrapped in nice paper and a lovely bow. But as he opens it, he is crushed and bewildered, staring into an empty box.
Christmas is very rare in politics and is often confused with Halloween.
nightjar
And KOZ.
SGEW
Ahem.
Submitted without further comment.
(Ok, one comment: I just might miss G.O.P. troll humor once the Democratic party controls all three branches of government. It will just be rather sad then, rather than laden with bone-chilling irony. )
CharlesF
Phil-
So you think Palin at least matches, or even exceeds, Obama’s grasp of domestic policy and foreign affairs? I doubt you even really believe that, but it sure is fun seeing you say it. McCain sure has put you idiots in a box.
As far as the experience thing you keep harping on, you don’t seem to understand, or more likely don’t want to understand, that the problem isn’t Obama attacking Palin’s experience, it’s that McCain has overnight neutered people like you trying to argue it about Obama. What a great tactician you have there. But seems a good match for witless thugs like you.
Even if she’s the quickest study in the world, and they give her a 24/7 crash course up to the night of the debate, will she avoid embarrassing herself. And I doubt they will be able to shield her from questions until she even has a rudimentary grasp of how this country and the world works.
It’s not going to be pretty.
CharlesF
And Phil, is seems that you think all you have to do is type Ayers, and that has some sort of weight on its own. Perhaps in Rushland that’s enough, but in the real world things are different. How did Obama, at 8 years old, aid Ayers? And since then, has Obama ever expressed even the slightest support of Ayers past activity? If not, then just shut up about it, that propaganda only works on the weak-minded.
dbrown
Eye-candyGov Palin is hip deep in shit for unjustly firing people to help her family members – that is not a good character trait in anyone’s book. As for experience, Palin has eighteen months in a state with under 670,000 people which is not the same as being a US Senator in congress with all the foreign policy issues that are run of the mill, meat and potato’s day in and out. Your right, there is no comparison – Palin is a joke and Obama has proven himself very well (visited Iraq and extensively talked to the top commanders on policy issues for starters; addressed many tens of thousands in Germany; and Palin, ???)CharlesF
From TPM:
Good Call
McCain official: “I think we’re going to have to examine our tag line, ‘dangerously inexperienced.'”
Koz
Uhhhh, no.
Obama was inexperienced before McCain picked Palin, and he’s still inexperienced now. I for one don’t see any reason at all to drop the subject.
A large part of Obama’s worldview is like a high-school
liberal, before he grew up and got a job in the real world. His “policy” ideas, such as they are simplistic exercises in wish fulfillment. And at no time, at any point in his career, has he ever had to face accountability for any of them. Somehow the D’s have deluded themselves into thinking this is the guy they want to have sit opposite Vladimir Putin.
I’d take Sarah Palin straight up.
nightjar
My “wish fulfillment” for KOZ the spoof troll — a new brain.
vaux-rien
Look Phil, you’ve got a couple good points buried in that mountain of “delusion or deception?”, the Dems can’t really bring up the experience issue without highlighting one of Obama’s biggest negatives. The beautiful part, as many others have said, is that McCain is really restricted in bringing it up as well; by putting Palin a heartbeat away he’s conceded the Commander in Chief test while highlighting his own poor judgment and his political cravenness, thereby undercutting his biggest strengths (but I forgot, drilling will deliver the election, good luck on that).
Since I’m a sycophant I’ll go ahead and make the Lincoln comparison again. Here’s a young guy from Illinois who’s been debating the issues of the day in a long, high profile primary campaign. I’ve heard him speak a lot and I’m convinced. It’s not so much the specific proposals but Obama spoke about the issues in a way that was informed, thoughtful and that didn’t insult my intelligence. That’s rare in politics and to me it’s the most important change that our society needs.
Now you may disagree with him or you may just think he’s full of shit. That’s your judgment to make and it’s why we have elections. Heck, maybe what America really needs is an intelligent, principled conservative president. Well you’ll get the chance to run one in four years and I honestly hope that you do. There was a time when I believed that McCain could be that guy but he’s really shown his true colors over the last 4-5 years and now I’m ashamed that I ever bought his maverick act.
In my optimistic heart I believe that one of the most important changes that an Obama presidency can help bring about is the emergence of a generation of conservative politicians that actually believe what they say and are willing to talk about issues honestly. The problem is not conservatism, the problem is that the GOP is a group of crooks and thugs who have hidden behind Reagan’s smiling face and Nixon’s strategies of distract, deceive and divide while they’ve degraded and diminished this country to an extent that’s almost more unbelievable than it is shameful.
So go ahead and insult us, this is your last gasp and I hope you enjoy it. You’re not on the wrong side of history because you oppose Obama, you’re on the wrong side of history because you’d rather cling to a 40 year legacy of failure than join the honorable conservative opposition that this country needs and deserves. Go ahead and have your fun while you can, the next few decades are going to be tough for you.
Soylent Green
Palin’s selection is well on its way to fulfilling its designed purpose — to keep the evangelicals, without whom McCain has no chance, from staying home in November.
Nobody in this target group is going to care a bit about troopergate or her lack of qualifications or anything else. We can already see the wheels turning in their minds: Old Man McCain is going to die in office or retire after one term, after which fellow dominionist Sarah gets a good shot at the top job and a chance to bring their theocratic dictatorship into being.
Rome Again
Her decision to have a Down Syndrome baby and then dump it off on someone else to raise during the child’s most important bonding period while she plays First Female VP is NOT a principled position, sorry. Try again!
Oh, wait, I guess perhaps she thinks VP is a 9-5 position with little travel involved? Yeah, right!
That poor child!!
Rome Again
This is something I’m seriously pushing. This woman cannot get enough cramming in to figure it all out in time to shine on this campaign timetable. Meanwhile, she still has five children to parent and a state to govern until her replacement arrives.
The quote above should be written in the form of a question, and the answer is emphatically NO!
Haha, I can’t wait until the VP debate.
Medicine Man
The mouthpiece right, (trolls) here and elsewhere, are sounding so desperate right now. McCain just ran over his campaign’s three most carefully constructed memes against Obama to win a news cycle. Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we.
RH Potfry
The Palin pick has generated a debate about the relative experience of the Republican VP nominee to that of the Democratic presidential nominee, which is exactly what was wanted. And, other than sputtering blather about hope, change and vision, I’ve yet to hear a credible defense by the left that Obama’s got more experience.
And–even better– she represents a minefield for bumbling Joe Biden during the debates. That ought to be fun to watch.
TenguPhule
slightly_peeved
Emphasised for Republicans that can’t read English. Maybe “My Pet Goat” is more your style.
She has NO foreign policy experience, whereas Obama has already done significant work on nuclear security in the former Soviet Union – a fairly important issue for anyone who wants to see nukes stay out of the hands of terrorists. Furthermore, Obama has been in the public eye in the field of foreign policy ever since 2002, whereas Palin had no official position on the Iraq war until 2007.
As a side note, the focus of the attack isn’t Palin. It’s McCain. It’s an attack on McCain for having poor judgement, rather than on Palin’s lack of foreign-policy experience. I don’t think we’ll see Obama attack Palin much at all; he will use her as a basis for attacks on McCain’s judgement, while also using his choice to remind everyone that McCain should have retired already.
slightly_peeved
Sorry about using a double post to feed trolls, but trying to find jobs for a bunch of older, retrenched factory workers in the south side of Chicago would probably educate you far more about the real world than driving your kids to hockey practice.
wruscle
Here’s McCain’s thinking in this choice: To hell with experience. I want to be president before I die. That’s all that matters. After I die, this country and its problems are no longer my concern. And if I punk enough of you that you have to end up watching in horror as Palin tries to muddle through dealing with the aftermath of the next big terror attack, then you deserve what you get and you’re on your own.”
McCain has clearly demonstrated that becoming president is more important to him than the future security of this country. He is unfit to lead.
Koz
Great, what did Obama accomplish as a “community organizer”? Precious little, according to two Obama–friendly sources.
As far as I’m concerned, we absolutely can hammer Obama on inexperience even with Palin on the ticket. I personally like it better that way.