I appreciate how McCain has played the PUMA card in the run up to the DNC and, seeing it fail once, has decided the only thing left to do is play it again.  All I’m saying is that it worked soooo well for Mondale, that it can’t possibly fail now.

On the plus side, it completely undermines the experience argument McCain has been using against Obama.

This totally freaks me out.  True, she’s anti-feminist, but she’s also young and foxy and she’s actually sounds personable in interviews I’ve seen—and likeability is definitely not one of McCain’s strong suits.  I’m scared that she does two things a) makes McCain look like less of a dinosaur and b) courts less liberal women who are put out by Hillary’s loss.  I’m not sure how much it will help, but now it gives some of those women (the ones who wanted the symbolism of a woman in the White House, no matter what her policies) a reason to vote <em>for<em> McCain, rather than just reasons to spite the Democratic party. This was a very very savvy move, and I really hope it doesn’t derail Obama’s campaign.

Let’s review McCain’s attacks against Obama so far:

*Inexperienced
*More image than substance
*Celebrity
*Affirmative Action choice

ALL the points they have been making for the last three or four months have just turned into weapons to be used AGAINST them!

It’s nice that some of you remain hopeful, but I feel awfully screwed right now.

I don’t know whether to be nervous or giddy. I’m going to have to wait to see if she stumbles in her debut.

I am shaking, I’m so angry.  And incredibly scared.

Amanda, Biden will just pretend like Palin isn’t even in the room and take shots at McCain.

Good chance that this pick will go the way of the Eagleton nomination, given that she’s being investigated for corruption right now.  I can’t imagine what McC. was thinking, if that’s not giving him too much credit.

“I’m Fran and I’m a woman!”

No need to be nervous. McCain just invalidated all of his attacks…ALL of his attacks against Obama.

Oooops!

Just removing the experience argument alone IMO results in a huge Obama win I think.

“No need to be nervous. McCain just invalidated all of his attacks…ALL of his attacks against Obama.

Oooops!

Just removing the experience argument alone IMO results in a huge Obama win I think. “

All he has to say is that Palin, as VP, will ‘grow in office’, while a president has to be ‘ready from day one’.  The ‘Obama is inexperienced!’ meme was and is rubbish, of course, but I can’t imagine McCain would have picked Palin without being prepared to get his own experience arguments thrown back at her.

McCain has already pledged to save thousands in government spending by only paying Palin 80% of the VP salary a man would get. Fiscal conservatism is back!

http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/

at this moment a lot of people are focusing on the clinton voters and the womens vote. What will be interesting to see is how this pick will effect the far right within the right. Palin is a staunch NRA supporter but a lot of people, at least the ones I know here in Georgia, will simply not vote for a ticket with a woman on it. Not saying they’d vote for Obama but I think this kind of pick will weaken republican turnout, especially fundies.

Paln, eh?

She’s got beautiful plumage.

<u>Palin</u>.

The dead parrot sketch?

That’s McCain’s Python pick.

Smart pick. (Won’t save him though, veep picks have marginal impact at best.) Shores up the winger base (she’s a 100% grade-A wingnut) while simultaneously giving the impression of maverickyness. He’s not worried about undermining the experience argument because it plainly was getting him nowhere.

Also an utterly cynical pick by a guy who may not live out his first term because, while smart and a rising star in the Repug party, she’s clearly nowhere near ready to be President. Very Rovian- all for politics, to hell with good governance.

I think this was an awesome choice.  Economic problems are going to dominate the debate and Palin is one of the very few Republicans who “gets” the problems facing the American middle class.  She can fumble a bit while talking but I think that’s going to make her look more relatable.

This is a great pick. Shes tough too, a person of character, smart, executive experience.

and finally…

Obama: throws HRC under the bus with sexists attacks.

McCain: picks a strong woman with executive experience.

Obama: sides with abortionists over a down synrome baby.

Palin: delivers a down syndrome baby.

“I appreciate how McCain has played the PUMA card in the run up to the DNC and, seeing it fail once, has decided the only thing left to do is play it again.  All I’m saying is that it worked soooo well for Mondale, that it can’t possibly fail now. “

The difference is that all the feminists were already voting for Mondale - it’s not like there was some massive ‘Feminists for Reagan!’ movement going on - whereas there’s a certain number of feminists (and female racists) looking for some excuse to not vote for Obama and still keep their imagined ‘feminist’ credentials.

Of course, it’s also a fact that the power of the PUMAs has been blown way out of proportion by the media - by the conservative media, who have a stake in playing up opposition to Obama - and it would really be so awesome if McCain picked Palin to appeal to a demographic who only exists in Republican propaganda.  Talk about hoisting on one’s own petard…

Great post, Amanda!  What strikes me is the great depth of Palin’s hatred for women.  Consider how she engaged in a twenty-year, five-child conspiracy to achieve her misogynistic goals.  After she had her son Track (now in Iraq) she deliberately had three daughters (Bristol, Willow and Piper) for the sole purpose making sure there’d be that many more women to suffer the crushing sexism of this world.  And then she engaged in self-imposed forced childbirth to have a baby with Down syndrome (Trig Paxson Van Palin) so that even her daughters’ childhoods would be ruined by that terrible burden, mocking them with these words:

“I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection,” Palin said. “Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?”

Yes, Amanda, Sarah Palin is pure evil.  She’s a self-hating woman, a colluder, a traitor, and her every thought for the past forty years has been devoted to thinking of ways to hurt and enslave women.  I beg you:  devote every post from now until election day to convincing the women of America, particularly the moms, that Palin is a nasty, stupid, heartless tool of her patriarchal masters.

Steve, she’s *not* a wingnut.  She may suddenly morph into one but she’s been pretty reasonable as governor of Alaska, and that’s no small feat.

I’m not getting how this choice makes the experience argument against Obama go away. She’s the VP candidate, not top of the ticket. It’s not that weird to have a less experienced person in the second position. Perhaps some of you making that argument can explain to me how you’re reading this.

Right now, this is looking like a pretty savvy move to me.

You need to inform yourself a bit better, Melinda. Anybody who’s not only virulently anti-choice but has come out in favor of teaching creationism alongside science is a textbook wingnut.

Does he seriously think this will work? Will anyone think it’s anything less than an extremely cynical, calculated ploy? For that matter, are women just expected to like any-ole-woman who crosses our path? If a woman tells me she’s thinking of voting McCain on the grounds that it will get get a woman closer to the white house, I’ll just ask if they’d like Ann Coulter to be president, “because she’s a woman.”

This is bullshit, the same as when they ran Alan Keyes against Barack Obama in Illinois. “I can’t be a sexist, look, I’ve got a woman on the ticket with me” sounds way too much like “I can’t be a racist, some of my best friends are black!”

BobK,

Obama: sides with abortionists over a down synrome baby.

Palin: delivers a down syndrome baby.

Yeah.  That’s exactly what Obama did.  That was probably the most touching moment of all last night, when he told all those clueless women that they should have aborted their pregnancies rather than raise a child with Down’s Syndrome.  I almost cried then…

I’m not getting how this choice makes the experience argument against Obama go away. She’s the VP candidate, not top of the ticket. It’s not that weird to have a less experienced person in the second position. Perhaps some of you making that argument can explain to me how you’re reading this.

It won’t make the argument “go away” because Republicans are masters at arguing against something while doing it themselves.

However, it makes the impact much less effective.  Because, like it or not, the perception is that McCain may very well pull a William Henry Harrison and, if elected, his VP could be the next President of the good ol’ US of A.

So it won’t make the attack go away, but it does make the attack seem pretty damn stupid to anyone with two brain cells to rub together.

It’s nice that some of you remain hopeful, but I feel awfully screwed right now.

If this was such a savy move, McCain would have been crowing about it a long time ago.  Pawlin comes with her own political baggage and a rather looming scandal on her doorstep.  Not to mention the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation is eyeballs deep in scandal.

Romney would have been the ideal McCain choice to shore him up with his base and with his fund raising.  I don’t know how much mileage McCain will get out of Pawlin when it comes time to fill his war chest.  And besides, it won’t take long for the Obama campaign to label McCain / Pawlin as the Big Oil ticket -  not that he hasn’t gone a long way in doing that with McCain alone already.  Pawlin’s Alaskan ties just ground her more firmly in the old energy infrastructure system.  When people take a look at their gas bills, they’ll have a much harder time voting Republican.

I think come November McCain will regret not picking Lieberman, whatever Rove or other political advisors wanted him to do.  Lieberman may have angered various constituencies within the Republican party, but at the end of the day were they really going to stay home and not or vote for Obama?  On the flip side, picking Lieberman would allow McCain to continuously hammer Obama on lack of experience, and lack of bipartisanship necessary to actually get his ideas passed into law.  Those themes seem to have been relatively effective so far, the experience question likely was a prime factor in Obama his own VP, and I think if Obama is elected they will in fact play out in his presidency (that is, if he’s elected I think his term or terms will be eerily similar to Clinton’s where most of his more liberal plans get blocked by filibusters or voted down and only his more conservative / moderate plans get through).

Also, on the experience question, the message surely will be that Palin accomplished more in her short term as governor than Obama has as a state and US Senator.  But I’m not sure how far that goes, and at the end of the day McCain’s campaign will have to say she was chosen because she’s got great ideas and a bright future, which sounds a lot like how Obama is portrayed.

Palin would seem like a necessary choice if McCain was down by 20 points.  But he’s not, he’s basically even, and the choice just seems extraordinarily risky and unnecessary from the perspective of someone who wants to get elected.  She’ll probably help in short-term polling for a couple of weeks but cost McCain in the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak-rH0dCeA

Go to 2:50.

She will be a gaffe machine.

After she had her son Track (now in Iraq) she deliberately had three daughters (Bristol, Willow and Piper) for the sole purpose making sure there’d be that many more women to suffer the crushing sexism of this world.  And then she engaged in self-imposed forced childbirth to have a baby with Down syndrome (Trig Paxson Van Palin) so that even her daughters’ childhoods would be ruined by that terrible burden.

So giving birth is now qualification for elected office?  Why are you guys running her at the bottom of the ticket instead of the top, then?  After all, John McCain has never given birth.  She has five children, so clearly by your lights she’s far, far more qualified than McCain, who’s never even birthed one.

You still have time to switch the ticket and put the more clearly qualified candidate at the top:  Palin/McCain!

Raving Atheist, you tickle me in a hidden place!

I think Obama just lost the election.

Typical of McCain. Impulse VP selection. Pawlenty and Romney were longshot, pull the inside straight choices. This is hawking the car title and expecting to win it all back on the slots.

She’s a noob. Don’t be shocked if something blows up on opposition research.

I disagree with Amanda’s analysis. If McCain really wanted to go after those swing voters, he’d have picked Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Condoleeza Rice, or somebody with at least some national experience. This pick was out of sheer desperation, because everybody else turned him down.

We can all rest easy now. It’s going to be an Obama landslide.

McGramps’ internal polling must be absolutely dreadful. This is a classic Hail Mary stunt. The only worry I have is that Obama and Biden are going to have to avoid looking gleeful ripping into her for her corruption and wingnuttery.

Sister Punisher: Good band name, Bad VP pick

MikeEss,

The profound substance of your reply impresses me.  Are you a speechwriter for Obama?

I wonder how long it will take for the same libs who say a woman should be able to choose between motherhood and career to go after Palin for choosing to accept the VP nomination, leaving her children in their father’s care.

...so for VP, the best the GOP can come up with is a creationist under a pending corruption investigation? Apparently she dismissed the public safety commissioner for refusing to fire her brother-in-law, and tried to end run around the legislature by handing the investigation over to the state AG.

Wait, what am I saying? That’s just the kind of experience they need in the executive branch these days.

I wonder how long it will take for the same libs who say a woman should be able to choose between motherhood and career to go after Palin for choosing to accept the VP nomination, leaving her children in their father’s care.

Tell you what, Hunter—you go surf around on some websites and wait for that to happen.  Let us know when you finally see it, okay?  Oh, and remind us who you are when you finally get back with the information, because it’s gonna be a while before you return with your prize.

The wingnuts don’t seem too happy with the pick.  I guess they haven’t gotten their memo from Karl yet.

Hmph. It’s almost as if McCain threw the name of every Republican office-holder in the country into a hat and drew one completely at random.

When you have substance in your wingnut boilerplate, then maybe you’ll be able to have an actual discussion, Raving Republican.

But I digress: I’d like to believe that Ridnik and felagund are right.  Was McCain really turned down by Mittens, Holy Joe, and Pawlenty?  Very telling if its true.

Sweet Jesus. She’s already mentioned 9/11 twice.

Just a note on the corruption argument. She is under investigation for getting her brother-in-law fired, the contention is that her brother-in-law was beating the shit out of her sister and she used her office to have him fired. That might not be “ethical” but I don’t think it will hurt her in a national election.

How did she get that “Yah hey” accent I associate with Wisconsin and Minnesota?

Sweet Jesus. She’s already mentioned 9/11 twice.

How Mavericky of her.

It’s simply a political move made to trick some into thinking that the GOP actually cares about someone other than rich, white males.

FWIW, the Republican females in my office sound pretty upset. There’s noises about “My God, how could he pick someone with NO EXPERIENCE!” and “My mother said she can’t vote for either of them now.”

Good analysis. As Brian from “Family Guy” explains (in the context of the Bush era) “undecided voters are the biggest idiots on Earth.”

Another reason this is clever is that it allows the MSM to continue playing up the idiotic “black guy vs white woman” narrative that served them so well during primary season. That’ll make the lazy gits even more boot-lickingly grateful to McCain.

Last but not least, what’s even more important than Palin’s gender is that she’s about Obama’s age—a generational shift in voter demographics is a huge factor in this election, and ever since primary season started it didn’t look like the GOP was addressing it. Now they’ll have someone young and personable to counterbalance the angry white codger on the ticket.

Still won’t save them, especially as it seems it’s already backfiring with the base. But interesting to watch.

Sweet Jesus is she awful on the stump.

She even says new-ku-lar.

seems it’s already backfiring with the base

Sarah Palin: VP :: Harriet Miers: SCOTUS

On one hand, I think this is a clever move.  McCain adopts the party line on abortion, but it’s clear he doesn’t have strong convictions on the issue.  This is a very important issue to people on the right wing, and McCain evidently picked her to shore them up. 

At the same time, I don’t think she will alienate the moderate voters McCain needs to pick up. Moderates generally don’t want to attack the mother of a kid with down syndrome over abortion issues. Her abortion cred also gives McCain coverage from the right that will allow him to stick with his position to reverse the Bush position on embryonic stem cell research.

McCain also undercuts Obama’s “historic candidacy” angle, in a way that appeals to female Hillary voters who thought this year was supposed to be their historic candidacy.

On the other hand, McCain’s experience argument is undercut by the fact that he’s a 71 year-old cancer survivor, and if he dies in office, many Americans don’t want a soccer mom with a year of experience governing Alaska as commander in chief. 

Also, I suspect I am not the only one who prefers Republicans like McCain who pay lip service to the social conservatives during elections and ignore them the rest of the time.  Palin seems like she might be one of the kool-aid drinkers.  I don’t trust anyone who wants Jesus taught in high-school biology to make a right decision about anything.

I’m giddy with the anticipation of seeing her swat Biden’s ass during the debates.

Congretulations, Amanda, you’re the first progressive blogger I’ve read so far who doesn’t underestimate this decision, and understands why it’s pretty smart from a campaign strategy perspective. Sure, there’s one minor scandal, but that’s pretty clean by Republican standards. We’ve known for a while that this is most likely going to be yet another 51/49 election, and this pick might end up being the thing that makes sure that McCain becomes the guy with the 51.

Based on the reactions of the troglodyte contingent in my office, I’d say it’s a hit with the GOP base. Whether that extends to undecided voters is another story. She’s so transparently a lightweight that I don’t see how people concerned about their futures are going to buy into it.

On the other hand, look who’s in the White House now…

OK, what the hell do I know?

I think they just gave the election to Obama. It’s a bizarre choice. If McCain were younger and healthier, he could get away with hit, but having this attractive woman with little experience just makes him look older and more decrepit, and it should give some pause to people who are concerned about the experience a president should have. It’s clearly a desperate move to gain the supposed hordes of supposed Clinton supporters who want a uterus, any uterus, in the White House.

Bizarre.

She gave a great speech, she has a wealth of experience. No promises or platitudes… straight talk. She’s a member of the NRA and is a member of Feminists for Life.

guys, “lack of experience” “celebrity” “insubstantial”, these are all code words to obsure racism as a motivation for not voting for Obama.  McCain is not going to be impacted by the hypocrisy, even if the Republicans, by and large, are a “I know I am but what are you?” batch.  Attacks on Palin’s youth and experience is only going to help anti-feminists (who LOVE to prop up self-hating women) without diminishing the attacks on Obama because the actual attack is part of the whole, he’s a smooth talking *foreigner*! angle.

This ticket looks like an enormous joke right now.  She comes off so stupidly on the stump.  She’s talking about her PTA experience, for chrissakes.  She looks and sounds like someone they plucked out of her living room whilst she was sewing and watching Dr. Phil.  And she is completely bogarting Hillary’s history-making run.  God DAMN!  This pairing just looks really pathetic, even though I know Rove is behind it and obviously he’s up to no good.
It must take a shitload of cognitive dissonance for social conservatives to support a ticket that includes her.

FWIW John Roberts on CNN has already questioned how she is going to be able to take care of her son while she is running for VP…didn’t take long

she has a wealth of experience

City council, mayor of town of 9000, 18 months as mayor of a state with 650K citizens.

If thats the benchmark for experience, then Obama is up to his eyeballs in it.  Good to know that will no longer an issue in this election.

I’m giddy with the anticipation of seeing her swat Biden’s ass during the debates.

The VP debates just became a lot less interesting, because I don’t see Biden tearing into Mrs. Palin the way he would have torn into, say, Mitt Romney.

McCain undercut’s Obama’s “historic candidacy” angle

I believe the “historic” moment in which a woman was the VP nominee on a major party ticket occurred many years ago.

In any case, though, I agree that Amanda seems to have well-understood the cleverness of this pick in the way that a lot of other liberal bloggers haven’t.

Palin isn’t a good pick on the merits, or even in terms of someone McCain will work well with, but sometimes you need to take a gamble, and McCain probably did the right thing for his candidacy on this one.

When you spend the better part of a year scaring people about your opponent’s “lack of experience”, and then choosing a VP who far more accurately fits that description, you’re really setting yourself up for failure.  Not to mention looking like a hypocrite. 

Maybe by “he’s not ready to lead” he means “it’s not his turn”.

Sorry, I meant governor of said state.  Though there are probably 20 mayors with bigger constituencies than the governor of Alaska.

Having time to think it over, at best Palin neither helps nor hurts McCain’s chances.  Which, given the lot he had to choose from, was about the best he could hope for.  His Mavericky reputation will take a hit once it gets out that Palin is a Grade-A winger, but she’ll definitely be a big hit with the GOP base.

That said, its a risky choice.  Yeah, her brother-in-law was a toad, but there’s more to the story including firing the state public safety director when he failed to comply with her wishes followed by denials of that being the reason he was fired.  Oopsie, we all saw how popular Bush’s abuse of executive power was.  On top of that, the congressional investigation is still ongoing.

Now after hearing her speak, not only has McCain hit a home run…he has hit a grand slam.

And to all you pro-aborts out there: Your hate for women, children, and God is only exceeded by your love for a pro-abort, lying, and sexist Oback-Biden ticket.

Obama last night “I am my brothers keeper”

(Obama’s brother lives in a hut)

She was terrible on the stump. The yankee Upper Midwest accent won’t play well here in Virginia, I can tell you that.

The yankee Upper Midwest accent won’t play well here in Virginia, I can tell you that.

In context, shouldn’t that have read, “The yankee Upper Midwest accent won’t play well in Virginia, I tell you what” ?

I didn’t hear her on the stump, but isn’t the “yankee Upper Midwest” accent the “neutral” accent, of the sort we hear from news anchors and both Obama and McCain?

Sarah Palin made the choice that she felt she needed to make. The profoundity of her experience has nothing to do with whether or not other women should be allowed to make her choice or make different choices. In her position some women get abortions, some women give their children up for adoption and some women raise their children themselves.

She is free to tell her story, she is free to educate people on down’s syndrome, to let them know it is not the life of blankness or misery many people, including doctors sometimes imagine it to be. She is not free to make me less free. She is not free to dictate the medical procedures of other women because she disagrees with them.

Other women having abortions do not invalidate the experiences and existences of people with disabilities. Especially when the side of our political spectrum that imperfectly supports rights for the disabled is the same party that (clumsily) supports the right to choose an abortion. The Americans with Disabilites Act is the work of Tom Harkin and signing it was one of the many actions by the first George Bush (and liberal Republicans in congress) that was taken by conservatives as a betrayal of them and evidence that he was a RINO. Reading that action as a betrayal is not the position of a movement so very concerned with people who have Down’s Syndrome.

That is the position of a movement that thinks the hard work of supporting people with disabilites should be borne by women and their families alone. Of course mostly by women.

I didn’t hear her on the stump, but isn’t the “yankee Upper Midwest” accent the “neutral” accent, of the sort we hear from news anchors and both Obama and McCain?

I think Ben was referring to the ‘Yah shure, by golly’ Scandinavianish accents of the really upper Midwest.  Think Fargo.

(Obama’s brother lives in a hut)

(Cindy’s sisters never get to ride in the family jet. Cindy has snubbed Kathy since their dad’s funeral, pretending to be an only child.)

Doug H. got it right.

Obama has the “general American” accent, sometimes barely slipping into a southern black accent just faintly. 

Palin does not.

Note:

I don’t care about accents. But a low information swing voter would.

If this was such a savvy move, McCain would have been crowing about it a long time ago.

I could not disagree more with this analysis. The timing is perfect for him. If he hadn’t announced today, all the cable news talking heads would still be talking about Obama’s speech. And even most of the conservatives gave it pretty good reviews. Now they’ll be talking about McCain’s pick.

I also think it will help with women who are more conservative and/or don’t identify strongly as feminists. Everytime folks here talk about the “PUMA” vote, I feel like you all operate under the assumption that every one who strongly supported Hillary Clinton must be liberal and must be a feminist. But people vote for all sorts of reasons, some of them hard to fathom. While the actual PUMA organization may be Republican rat-fuckery, there are actual, real-life voters out there who identified really strongly with Hillary Clinton but are not actually that liberal, don’t like Obama on either a personal level or a policy level and they just got that much more comfortable with McCain.

VP picks really only matter on the margins, but on those margins, I think she gets McCain more votes than Biden gets Obama. Biden helps reassure a certain kind of voter that was inclined to support Obama but had a few little doubts that needed easing. Palin gets McCain the type of voter I described above and reassures a lot of conservatives, because she is so conservative. Romney might have been the establishment choice, but he was such a flip-flopper and the wrong religion that I don’t think a lot of evangelicals would ever trust him. But Palin is the real deal.

I don’t care about accents. But a low information swing voter would.

I really need to move to the south. It seems to be the only place where it’s socially acceptable to regard the accents and states of origin of your fellow citizens as “unAmerican.”

Tyro-

You really think a Texan accent wouldn’t turn off low info voters in New York City?

Hell I’ve made fun of Bush’s Texas accent for YEARS, man. Relax, I didn’t say anything about being “un-American”.

I really need to move to the south. It seems to be the only place where it’s socially acceptable to regard the accents and states of origin of your fellow citizens as “unAmerican.”

To be fair, to other Americans a southern accent would grate. I don’t think the south is really that unique in its localism.

“Obama’s brother lives in a hut) “

Wasn’t this debunked as a republican lie awhile ago?

The timing is perfect for him. If he hadn’t announced today, all the cable news talking heads would still be talking about Obama’s speech. And even most of the conservatives gave it pretty good reviews. Now they’ll be talking about McCain’s pick.

True.  And that’s been the plan for a long time.  Besides, it’s not like McCain had much of a choice.  Assuming they don’t postpone for Gustav, the RNC starts Monday.

Anyone who decides to carry a Down pregnancy to term, doesn’t know what an IQ of 10 looks like in real life.

It’s her choice, period, of carrying that pregnancy to term.

MILF + VP = http://www.vpilf.com/

0_o

Maybe he thought he was asking her to be Mrs.  McCain #3, and got mixed up…. that’s so easy to do, ya know…

I just remembered when Maggie O’Connell was elected Mayor of Cicely. Sarah Palin—the candidate from Northern Exposure.

http://timstvshowcase.com/norther2.jpg

It’s her choice, yes.  But the one she made is, in my mind, not indicative of the outcome I’d like to see someone who is potentially going to be leading this country.

I think Melissa has just given us a glimpse of what a person with an IQ of 10 thinks like.

You can think that, but it’s not going to be a very effective line of attack. That issue is radioactive and it’s best not to touch it.

I think the roots of this VP choice lie in the Dem primary when some of Obama’s supporters were misogynist toward Clinton and her supporters, thereby strengthening support for Clinton, hurting Obama and dividing Dems; and Obama didn’t do anything about it.  So the Repubs nominate a woman for VP.  The inevitable sexism from supposed “liberals” and “progressives” will follow (plus racism directed at her husband).  Some moderates and undecideds and, yes, disgruntled Clinton supporters will be driven away by the misogyny; and the Dems will be divided and fighting among themselves.
This was a very clever choice.

This is not to say McSame/ Palin can’t be beaten, but it’s a landmine we need to avoid.  For the first, and I’m afraid not only, time- any sexist comments about her will only help McSame.

Hey, I have an idea! On a supposedly progressive feminist site, maybe we could refrain from judging this woman based on her reproductive choices or her fuckability. Just a thought.

Seriously, what chingona said.  Also, people with low IQs are no less human than the rest of us.  I once tutored a girl with an IQ of ~70 who had a much stronger moral compass than most people I’ve met.

The pasty wingnunts in my office are AGHAST at the choice! The fact the she is anti-woman does not compensate for the fact that she is A WOMAN! It reveals a the deep schizophrenia in their world view.

How the Obama campaign can point to “inexperience being a heartbeat away from the Presidency” when Obama’s candidacy is about inexperience being actually IN the presidency, I dunno.

Might not be too late to reverse the Democratic ticket.  Or get Hillary.

I’m becoming convinced the best strategy for us is to just ignore the pick and keep doing what we were doing before. This pick is just bait.

She is under investigation for getting her brother-in-law fired, the contention is that her brother-in-law was beating the shit out of her sister and she used her office to have him fired.

The problem is more that she fired the guy who refused to fire her brother-in-law, which takes it out of the realm of a family squabble.

It’s one thing to try and get your asshole brother-in-law fired—it’s another to fire your asshole brother-in-law’s boss because he doesn’t do what you tell him to do.

The inevitable sexism from supposed “liberals” and “progressives” will follow (plus racism directed at her husband).  Some moderates and undecideds and, yes, disgruntled Clinton supporters will be driven away by the misogyny; and the Dems will be divided and fighting among themselves.

That’s certainly what the GOP is banking on, and I’ve got no doubts that they’ll try to ratchet up the rhetoric and paint Obama as a scary black man.  But, ultimately, it’s McCain and Palin who are running.  If McCain keeps gaffing at his current rate and Palin leaps on the bandwagon or - better still - starts contradicting McCain who is already doing a damn good job of contradicting himself, it doesn’t matter what their races or genders might be.  They’ll come off looking like goofballs either way.

Palin doesn’t magically win McCain any new support just by fitting an archtype.  Eventually she’s going to have to open her mouth and state her policy positions.  I’m willing to bet that they diverge radically from the mainstream.

Get Palin talking about oil imports or mortgage rates or timetables for troop redeployment.  Standing side-by-side with Biden, she’ll be absolutely massacred.

Hey, I have an idea! On a supposedly progressive feminist site, maybe we could refrain from judging this woman based on her reproductive choices or her fuckability. Just a thought.

You lost me.

Down’s Syndrom results in mild to moderate retardation, giving an IQ of 35-70. What Melissa said is somewhat insulting to those with Down’s Syndrome and gives a distorted perspective of what parents who make the choice to raise a Down’s Syndrome child are signing up for.

You know, this would normally be the sort of situation where you’d see a pro-lifer make an exception for herself and choose to have an abortion, because her case was “special.”

Zifnab25, we have Melissa saying Palin’s decision to not have an abortion shows she’s too stupid to do the job and we have Chico with vp+milf. There is enough to criticize without stooping to that level.

You know, this would normally be the sort of situation where you’d see a pro-lifer make an exception for herself and choose to have an abortion, because her case was “special.”

Nah, usually pro-lifers make an exception for themselves for MUCH less weighty reasons. Or especially tasty ones like, ‘well, the baby is my lover’s, not my good christian husband’s, so it’s OK.” (true story!)

Anyway. Her appearance AND reproductive choices aside (those same choices she’d like to deny other women, but whatev)...

She’s a thoroughly, appallingly, ridiculously bad candidate. And given our current POTUS, I’d say that guarantees McTaint/Appalin’ a win.

Yes, she is probably a MILF to McCain’s eyes.
Yes, she is less experienced and less qualified than almost any VP choice in history.
Yes, she makes McCain look even older than he really is.
Yes, some non-researching independent women might see her as a plus.
Yes, some Republican middle and lower class men are going to be in a pickle: black guy vs beauty queen.
Yes, she’s going to play the “waaah, mean politicians and press” card.
Yes, it’s going to be harder to keep some Dems from denigrating her person.
Yes, it’s going to be a ball catching her in some unguarded moment and likely eliciting pure ignorance.
Yes, she will answer every question in a scripted manner.

I’m not saying she is stupid, I’m just saying her decision is not one that I personally agree with.  I’m also not suggesting it as a line of attack.  And, a person with a 70 IQ is very, very different from the lowest ranges that Down’s can reach - which is certainly lower than 35.  That is the average range for Down syndrom.  There is a reason that the majority of women who undergo an anmnio that results in a Down confirmation terminate that preganacy.  Generally after they speak to a genetic counselor.  That is why her decision bothers me - because it indicates to me that she does not demonstrate an ability to make an informed decision.  And happily for her, it turned out she had a child with an IQ in the higher Down range.  That’s all I’m saying.

Sarah Palin: Pro-Guns, Pro-Babies, Pro-Jesus. 

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Pro-the rules don’t apply to me bc I’m governor (sound familiar?)

“Anyone who decides to carry a Down pregnancy to term, doesn’t know what an IQ of 10 looks like in real life.”

Melissa this is exactly what I was referring to when I said most people do not understand Down’s Syndrome. Also there are people who genuinely believe that intelligence and disabilty do not dimish an individuals humanity.

Her choice to take a job like the VP is either abandonment of a minimal parental duty or negligence on the job. Househubby will raise the kids, but really, wouldn’t it be prudent not to assume a massive amount of new duties now that she and her husband have a 4 month old with Downs’, as well as 3 other at-home kids. She’s exercised the choice to have the child, and I support her right to choose to bear the child and to expect some societal support (ie, special education). Now she needs to get realistic.

Melissa,

Plus, her decision not to abort is not improving her carbon footprint.  I agree, very irresponsible.

We can all rest easy now. It’s going to be an Obama landslide.

No, no. No. We cannot rest easy. Nothing is guaranteed.

Zifnab25, we have Melissa saying Palin’s decision to not have an abortion shows she’s too stupid to do the job and we have Chico with vp+milf. There is enough to criticize without stooping to that level.

Well, right.  That’s pretty shallow stuff.  I’ll admit I snickered at the VPMILF bit, but it really doesn’t have much sway in the political arena.  Dennis Kuccinich and Fred Thompson didn’t exactly seize their nominations, despite their attractive spouses getting top billing in the news for weeks.  Palin is running for Vice President, not Miss Buffalo Chip.  No significant demographic is going to vote GOP in the fall strictly because they want to “hit that”.

As for the abortion snipe, that’s forty flavors of stupid.  The platform is “pro-choice” not “pro-abort-stupid-people”.  If you don’t like Palin’s choice to give birth to a Down’s Syndrome child, you can go sit on a pole.  When Gov Palin’s uterus is in your belly, then someone might ask you to weigh in.

That said, its blatantly obvious why McCain was forced to pick Palin.  He’s desperate.  He’s so desperate that he’s forced to stop acting like a reckless ideology and actually make a smart move for a change.  And McCain didn’t make this decision after a long, comprehensive vetting process.  He picked Palin as a counter to Obama’s rejection of Hillary for the nomination.  Had Obama chosen Hillary or Sebillus, Palin would have remained forgotten.  Democrats have three months to vet Palin for McCain, and I’m confident that they’ll find plenty of dirt given her state’s Congressional Delegation’s notorious history.  This was a huge gamble made in a desperate attempt just to remain competitive.  I’m not worried yet.

Yes, I thoroughly understand Down Syndrome, and a myriad of other genetic mutations that the human genome can undergo.  I don’t think that people with Down Syndrome are less than human.  I have worked with some wonderful people with Down Syndrome. 

I think that most people, when they think of Down Syndrome, think of people in the 50-70 IQ range.  Which is high functioning.  The general public does not have experience with the other end of the spectrum, which is absolutely heartbreaking and not something I would wish anyone endure.  Much less a baby.

If you don’t like Palin’s choice to give birth to a Down’s Syndrome child, you can go sit on a pole.  When Gov Palin’s uterus is in your belly, then someone might ask you to weigh in.

Zifnab, I’d just like to momentarily hijack to note that you’ve gotten, like, ten kinds of smarter since you started posting. And I’m really (seriously, non snarkily) proud of you!

Sarah Palin: Pro-Guns, Pro-Babies, Pro-Jesus.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Whoever’s impersonating BobK @2:14 PM: it’s a wasted effort—he’s perfectly capable of presenting himself as a Jeebus-freak hillbilly without your help.

Melissa you should brush up on your Berube.

He has a good deal to say about genetic counseling and its flaws.

as already said many times, I think one of the central reasons behind this pick was to throw the left into a bit of disarray. It’s already working quite well. As this news cycle moves on people will be freaked out less but it will still have quite an impact. It will blunt a lot of the attacks from the left and having a VP candidate who is pretty much untouchable in a lot of ways will help McSame tremendously. I can already see the well meaning leftist pundit being ripped to shreds, by the left, for a poorly thought out comment and the repubs feasting gloriously on it adding both to McSames maverick and underdog cred.

They are intelligent and will have learned from the feminists/progressives as to how to defend their candidate. Attacks from the left will have to be more carefully worded and even staunch allies on the left will be conflicted about tearing Palin down and the manner in which to do it. Smart pick on many levels, even if what I’ve learned of her policy positions are horrible.

The ethics charge is largely b.s. From what I’ve read today she’s been a bit of an ethics in government hero in her rise.  She’s got more gonads than Dan Quayle ever had but so did/does Geraldine, so that’s not saying a lot on electability. 

It’s way to early for her to be on a national ticket.  I see it as a Hail Mary play, too.  Now if she takes Stevens’ seat in the Senate and gets some national office experience, she could be formidable in the future.

Last night I was thinking that if McSame chose Lieberman, we would know that he is really running scared—it would be a hail mary attempt at changing the game.  The way I read the Palin pick is that he needed a potential game changer but couldn’t upset the base with a pro-choice running mate.  So basically, Palin = Xtianist Lieberman.  It’s a big sign of weakness from the McCain camp.  They must have some really frightening numbers, especially considering Obama’s registration drives and the enthusiasm gap.

Hail mary passes tend not to work, but you do have to play some smart defense against them.  I think Ben D. is right to call this bait and we must not fall for it.  Attack McCain relentlessly, ignore Palin nearly entirely.  Let her do her own damage to the ticket without drawing a lot of attention to it.  The only way she helps McCain is by exacerbating manufactured and distracting divisions.

as far as downs syndrome goes, people only know as much about it as they remember corky from life goes on or some other highly functioning person with downs syndrome they remember from a show or movie. I believe her youngest child will serve to exemplify how strong she is within the pro-life circles, a definite boon for McSame and one of the only ways, combined with a woman as VP, that he would have been able to motivate his base to get out and vote.

Off to work I go but I was wondering, I wish pain, injury or death on no one but I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if McSame wins and then dies a few months after taking office. Would be interesting for someone to go from the pta to mayor of an 8000 person town to governor of a very small state to president.

If we had a different MSM than we do now, I would say this was a wonderful thing. A PoC and a woman, both on major party tickets. The racism and the sexism will be pulled out of the darkness and finally, actually, honestly examined. These two tickets could really move us forward as a nation, getting out in the open those things that are the stuff of snide comments and jokes you tell your buddies when no one else hears.

But, we have the media we have and it is going to be the Oppression Olympics yet again. The arguments are going to be “who has it worse” instead of “isn’t it terrible these false concepts still exist.” Tokenism claimed by both sides instead of saying, “Finally, we are at the point where we recognize that both people of color and women are just as capable of leading our country as any old, white man.”

We are going to hear sexism from the left. NOT from the Obama campaign: I’m pretty sure they’ve learned their lesson. But we, on sites like this, can do our part to point out when something sexist is said and work to remove that sexism from the debate. Sexism is a such a casual -ism. Everything from sitcoms to stand up is rife with it and frankly, most people who don’t read blogs like this DON’T notice it when they see it. So, let’s point it and help create the awakening that is needed in this country

I’m not sure how much we can do with our adversaries when we already know our own allies are going to be launching wrong-headed attacks. But we can attempt to point out the racism from the right and explain why such statements fail on the merits.

By November, we’re either going to have person of color or a woman in the White House. It’s about time.

I was worried for about 3 seconds. I do think McCain will pick up some low info voters with this, but I also think that the big issue this election is the economy. So as long as people are even trying to be mildly informed, I don’t think it hurts. The Hillary voters who weren’t just in it for Hillary won’t like Palin.

AnI actually think it levels the playing field in Obama for a good way in terms of all kinds of voters. She’s not just anti-choice, shes anti-contraception which comes of as weird to people who aren’t religious. But she also identifies as feminist which is weird to religous people.

RH Potfry: She has even less expereince than Obama. Obama’s “lack of expereince” has been the GOPs big attack over and over. That was the point of the Obama camp’s response when they said “inexperience being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.” If the GOP has such a problem with it why have they put it so close to the Oval Office when they have a candidate that is so old (for the job) with a history of health problems?

I think it helps McCain a lot with a very specific group of people. I don’t think it helps with the large group of people who are specifically worried about gas, economy, jobs, and security (or any smaller combination of those) at all.

Her choice to take a job like the VP is either abandonment of a minimal parental duty or negligence on the job. Househubby will raise the kids, but really, wouldn’t it be prudent not to assume a massive amount of new duties now that she and her husband have a 4 month old with Downs’, as well as 3 other at-home kids.

Please, please, NancyP—please tell me you’re not playing the “She can’t effectively raise/parent her kids and hold a job” card.

Or did I stumble in to Free Republic?

Dear stupid old fuddy-duddy:

First, if you have any political moxie the VP announcement should have been made in the middle of the DNC to steal some of their thunder.  Secondly, a woman, any woman, as a VP isn’t going to get you any Clinton supporters.  They were after the gold medal, not the silver one.  And, Johnny boy, picking a rabid anti-choicer isn’t going to get you the “Clinton Gurlz.”  Last but not least, I can’t wait to see what Hillary is going do to this poor woman when she campaigns against her after she stupidly campaigns toward her former supporters.  Johnny, its going be like a shark attacking a minnow.  How much thought did you put into this?  About as much as you did with the “Hundre Year” remark.  Do yourself a favor, go to the home now before they put you there.

ellenbrenna,

go read a genentics textbook.  better yet, go visit the family of a newborn with a serious genetic defect and try to explain why jesus didn’t “fix” the results of the amnio before the baby was born.

I can say this pick worked very well at dividing the left.

Jesus? When did I say a damn thing about my religious beliefs? Oh wait I didn’t because I don’t have any but it was nice chatting with you.

Hmm, a hail mary, but also perhaps a long term scheme.  The GOP brains have to know this one is not going to be so easy to fix.  So getting her some national attention might be a play for future elections.

I can say this pick worked very well at dividing the left.

Discussion isn’t division. We’re discussing how this will impact the race and why the choice was made at all. Other than a few trolls, I haven’t read anyone saying “Oh, goody! I was on the fence before, but NOW I’ll vote for Maverick McSame!”

Vir-

True. I just have a sneaking suspicion they want to re-open wounds from the primary.

I’m in a fragile state today. I am very pro-choice but I was really getting excited about Mitt Romney being on the ticket.

The only thing I am not yet sure on is her stance on illegal immigration and the horrid Law of the Seas Treaty. The R-Senator Alaska Lisa Murkowski is a traitor for supporitng it.

Anyway stone me away I am just shocked today at the choice. I am not sure what to make of it. I truly don’t belive that anyone would ever be stupid enough to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Americans overwhelmingly support choice so I am hoping all this abortion ranting is ust a smoke screen to keep the far right nutters occupied and out of mischief.

I’ll be interested to hear the reactions on XM today left, right and center.

i’m not saying you think jesus will fix the baby - THEY think jesus will fix the fetus.  bc the do, quite often, think that is what will happen.  and it doesn’t.

Well, we could stop them from re-opening those wounds by not using sexist tropes and instead criticizing her for her stance on issues.

Palin: delivers a down syndrome baby.

And then abandons it in order to run for vice president.  How does that make you feel, Bob?  That a woman is sacrificing her Down Syndrome baby and other minor children for her career.

Just for the record, I don’t have a problem with it, but I’ll be very interested to see how that fact plays out in the Republican base over the next two months.

Discussion isn’t division. We’re discussing how this will impact the race and why the choice was made at all. Other than a few trolls, I haven’t read anyone saying “Oh, goody! I was on the fence before, but NOW I’ll vote for Maverick McSame!”

Because undecided voters are all over political blogs…

Here’s to hoping the tone from the candidates stays this way:

As reported by Salon:

joint statement from Obama and Joe Biden:

  We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the Republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.

It is of no consequence, from a feminist policy perspective, why someone chooses to give birth or not give birth. The only issue is whether we have the freedom to make these decisions ourselves.

Scare tactics stemming from the most extreme genetic abnormalities do nothing to increase women’s freedom and only serve to reinforce faulty notions of the disabled, notions about their perceptions and the quality of their existence, that dehumanize them.

“I think this was an awesome choice.  Economic problems are going to dominate the debate and Palin is one of the very few Republicans who “gets” the problems facing the American middle class.  She can fumble a bit while talking but I think that’s going to make her look more relatable. “

Melinda—is that why Alaska has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country?

She’s still got more exec expthan Obama.

Palin is a failure as a politician, inexperienced, anti-woman, anti-science, pro-Big Oil, pro-corporations, plus she’s corrupt to boot.  By all rights, she ought to be a speed bump on this campaign.  Instead, Bamboo-Cage Butthead McSame decided to pick her because he figured women must obviously all be bitter than Obama’s VP isn’t a woman and that’ll win the election for him.

In a just country, he’d be laughed out of the race for this.

Sadly, there are a few people out there who will immediately start falling all over themselves to gush about how super-dee-dooper-fantastical it is that POW McShame picked a woman for a VP and mean ol’ obviously-sexist Obama didn’t so they’re not voting for him.

If you’re more concerned with what’s in a candidate’s pants than what’s in their platform, you should just stay home on election day.  We don’t need you ruining this country, thanks.

Ms Kate: You have to understand; To trolls like Shithead Sharon, any experince that any liberal, Democrat, or non-white-rich-straight-Republican-man holds is invalid, while any experience held by a Rethug is worth ten times as much as it should be.  That’s why half-term Palin has more experience than Obama.

I think people are missing the point of the pick: it doesn’t have to get ALL of the PUMAs—not even a majority of them.  It has to just not put off people already in the McCain camp and grab just a few more votes. But if 20% of former Clintonistas say they’re going to stay home or vote for John McCain, and if McCain and Obama are running neck and neck, this need only convince maybe a tenth of those dissatisfied in order to swing some the odds towards McCain.  That’s what freaks me out—I have no doubt that a tenth of the dissatisfied Clinton supporters who are talkinga bout staying home were really in it for the symbolic prize of seeing a woman in the white house.  And I think Clinton had many supporters who weren’t liberal, and liked her because of things more liberal people think are deficits (her hawkish stance for instance). 

So anyways, I’m worried. I think in general the VP can’t do all that much to hurt a candidate, but they can help with a small percentage of voters.  And the race is close enough that it could make a difference.

LEt’s hope she says some really wacky things that put off the sentient.

Yeah, ms kate. She’s been the executive. You know, the person that makes the decision, not the person voting “present”.

Melissa and NancyP: Please, please do shut the fuck up. 

We do not need fauxgressives like you telling us that a woman may only choose to continue a pregnancy with an ostensibly healthy fetus (or risk being called stupid) or that a mother is incapable of being VP if she has small children (completely negating that men are just as good at parenting when they take the role seriously, which Palin’s husband apparently does).

Sad to see that you actually just validated BobK’s dumbshittery.

I don’t get how this is groundbreaking ... the Democrats offered up a female veep candidate some 20 odd years ago.  Nice to see the GOP catching up I guess.

Or is it groundbreaking cuz McCain is now at the age where the average American male dies ... potentially making her the first female president?

Shithead: Yep, ‘cuz all that egg-zec-u-teev experience helped Shroob, didn’t it?

Seriously, just shut the fuck up.

She’s still got more exec expthan Obama.

She also has more executive experience than McCain.  You’d better put her at the top of the ticket and put McCain as the VP since voting “present” doesn’t count as political experience.

My brother has Down Syndrome and an IQ of a bout 35.  He doesn’t test well, and he rarely talks, since he also has Oral Motor Apraxia.  Healthy as a horse, though, with no esophagal or heart problems.  Just about as retarded as a person with Down Syndrome gets.

He’s awesome.  Can tell a Beatles song in 3 notes.  Lives in a group home.  Does art.  Is the only one I’ve ever met who truly gives unconditional love.

If more people knew that Ryan was about as bad as it gets, I think more people would take a chance on a child with Down Syndrome, but I think it’s better to let people choose what they think they can handle rather than force them into an unwanted situation.  That’s why I’m pro-choice.

Palin chose to continue her pregnancy, and that’s great.  Educating people about the realities of handicaps is also great.

Forcing women to gestate babies when they don’t want to—is and should be illegal.  I may not agree with the choices 80% of people who discover their fetus has DS make, but I’ll fight to the death for their rights to make that decision on their own.

I say Melissa’s a ratfucker.  Got your McCain points yet?

As for Palin, I was surprised that McCain picked a woman.  But in a way it reminds me of Illinois GOP importing Alan Keys to put black man against black man—they just don’t get it.  They think they negate Blackazoid’s historic run by putting another “affirmative action” pick on their side.

Plus, I think they’re forgetting that PUMA is a ratfuck of their own design and think that there really are feminists who will vote an anti-woman agenda b/c Hillary lost and McCain at least put a woman on the ticket.  Never mind that Hillary threw her support behind Obama and has asked people who supported her to do the same.  PUMAs have never made sense from the point of view of people who ever supported Hillary for any reason other than she has a vagina.  They obviously don’t care about what she thinks, and in that case, Palin is probably a good choice.

Thing is, there are NOT 18 million PUMAs.  There are about 1000.  Palin will bring in more votes from Alaska than from PUMAs.

Shes tough too, a person of character, smart, executive experience.

I’m sorry, but what experience? The mayor of a town the size of the one I grew up in? She’s barely been governor long enough to unpack her U-Haul.

No experience, a (recent) history of political corruption, extreme fringe views - this is an idiot pick, even for McCain. And now we find she’s been making vanity edits to her own Wikipedia page? That’s going to play well.

Nothing about this bodes well for McCain.

It’s the timing of this that betrays what a bad decision it is - right after Obama’s incredible speech, to steal some of that thunder.

See, John McCain is trying to win news cycles. Obama is winning an election. McCain’s running Hillary’s campaign over again. You’re an idiot if you think the result will be any different.

I’m worried.  She is a dog whistle to the right.  So far Daddy Dobson, Ralph Reed, and Mike Huckabee have been gushing over her.  But the average voter doesn’t know enough about her to know she’s a creationist anti-choice wingnut.  It just looks mavericky.  She is the Bush social issues extremism to match McCain’s foreign policy extremism.

But the average voter doesn’t know enough about her to know she’s a creationist anti-choice wingnut.

The average voter doesn’t know anything about her at all. She’s a complete cypher. Hell, McCain’s only ever met her once.

The people to whom she’s an attractive pick are the people that were going to vote McCain anyway. This is a pick for his base, and the base isn’t big enough to give him the election.

It’s still Obama’s election to lose, and he’s been running a campaign that, just of last month, gave him a projected advantage of more than 50 electoral votes. Obama’s in this to win the election. McCain’s just proven that the only thing he’s smart enough to win is a weekend or so of media attention.

The swiftness and viciousness of the attacks on Palin prove that the left is scared shitless. I mean they are showing her highschool pictures on Huff-. Real classy…..why not just say she is ugly and her mommy dresses her funny. 67 days…we shall see but I predict a McCain win…not big but big enough.

The swiftness and viciousness of the attacks on Palin prove that the left is scared shitless.

Or that we find it funny that the Republicans would put up and empty suit and try to convince us she’s more qualified to be president than their own presidential candidate.

Do you understand the difference between people laughing with you and laughing at you yet?

I mean they are showing her highschool pictures on Huff-.

What, from like, last year?

Kind of like going from Kobol’s education secretary to President of the Twelve Colonies.

Governor, I served with Laura Roslin. I knew Laura Roslin; Laura Roslin was a friend of mine. Governor, you’re no Laura Roslin.

I bet if Palin was brought up on Marxist theory, had a racist church, served on a board for years with a terrorist who said to David Horowitz “guilty as sin ...free as a bird…isnt America great” Did business with a convicted felon, claimed they would clean up politics yet grew up in the cespool of Chicago politics. She would be A-ok round these parts. Face it…. Obama is in for a rough 67 days. Teh Ayers thing will be hitting the MSM soon…OH THE HORROR. maybe Barak can tell us again how he knew him as “just a guy who lives down the street” What a joke.

I bet if Palin was brought up on Marxist theory, had a racist church

What makes you think she doesn’t have a racist church? She’s an evangelical Christian, right?

Oh, wait, I get it. You meant “racist against white people”, which is the only racism the Republicans actually object to.

Teh Ayers thing will be hitting the MSM soon…

What Ayers thing, exactly? That they were once in the same room? I think you’ll be surprised what kind of rooms we can put Palin inside of.

OH THE HORROR.

This is basically just like the “Whitey” tape, right?

Casp, take your pills.  All of them.

Kind of like going from Kobol’s education secretary to President of the Twelve Colonies.

Caprica, not Kobol.  Idiot.

“What Ayers thing, exactly? That they were once in the same room? I think you’ll be surprised what kind of rooms we can put Palin inside of.”

you know, there is a WHOLE world outside of Pandagon. If you honestly believe his line that they were only in the same room, you are delusional. They were very close, on the same board dishing out millions for years on a worthless school program that failed. Keep your eye on National Review.com . The fun is just starting with Ayers. And do you deny that Wright is a racist? But its actually the left with the double standard on race. If you are black you get a pass right? Had that been McCains church he would have NEVER been the nominee.

And what about the Whitey tape? I dont see your point. There was no tape. It was a rumor.

My wife is so pleased with the choice, that I actually have permission to give money to the McCain campaign now.  Prior to this, I was asked not to and was respecting her request.

She’s a male fantasy. The Tough Chick Who’s Still A Great Wife & Mom—switch Alaska to Mars (after a few decades of can-do terraforming) and you’ve got a Heinlein heroine.

The pick is intended to get more male votes from Republicans who otherwise wouldn’t vote, as well as the female Christianists.

The fun is just starting with Ayers.

You guys have been promising that since February, and so far you’ve come up with approximately zippo.  When you have the pictures of 8-year-old Obama planting bombs with the Weathermen, let us know.

They were very close, on the same board dishing out millions for years on a worthless school program that failed.

So, the same room, then. Check. With a man so terrible, so evil, such an unrepentant and unhinged terrorist that he’s… fully employed by the University of Illinois to this very day.

Hrm. Are you sure there’s a there, there? The Greenwich explosion happened when Obama was, what, eight? Good luck pinning Ayers on him. No, really. Please, hit with everything you’ve got. Sooner rather than later. Go national with it.

I beg you.

And do you deny that Wright is a racist?

Of course not. He is a Christian. I’d expect a whole litany of sexism, racism, and bigotry from him.

I’m just not sure why that’s a problem in a black church, but the kind of racism and homophobia that goes on in McCain’s church and Palin’s church is fine, just fine.

joanne,
ouch, for some reason that smarts, perhaps Palin would be as badass as BG but her policy positions preclude me from thinking that.

You know, what I’m hoping for here, and many of you might paint me as insane for saying this, but I think here there is at least one, perhaps small, issue feminists and the non-insane MRA types (there are a few) can agree on and bring more centrist men and women into the fold on: This talk that a woman can’t be a VP due to having to take care of her young child. This is insulting to women but also insulting to men. I hope in the next few days more men wake up to that fact. I don’t know anything about Palin’s husband other than his occupation and the fact that he is in the picture. Seems like a good opportunity to just annihilate this bullshit “she needs to take care of her young one” argument and to bring many people under the tent in doing so.

stephanie,
  This is groundbreaing, what I really hope for is that the rightwingers explain exactly why it is so groundbreaking for the republican party to choose a woman to run on the ticket, a lot of low-info voters might find that explanation quite interesting….........

And I wonder—how much of the pick came down to this:  Obama is the first candidate from Hawaii, so McCain’s erratic attention swerved to Alaska?

I have to admit, that occurred to me, too.  Especially since McCain and Palin apparently met in person once and talked on the phone once before he named her.  Obama and Biden have been Senate colleagues for four years, so at least each of them knows how the other works and if they can work well together.