McCain Picks Palin
August 29th, 2008 by Spiteful Lars
Wow. Governor Sarah Palin from Alaska was elected in 2006. And now she’s on the McCain ticket.
I knew nothing about her before the pick, and a quick reading of her wiki reveals only the following:
Life long member of the NRA
Runner up for Ms. Alaska in 1984
Pro-Life
AK is one of the only states with a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Two terms on Wasilla City Council
Beloved in Alaska (80% approval rating)
Her oldest son named Track is set to be deployed to Iraq in September as a member of the U.S. Army Infantry.
She’s getting ready to speak on CNN. On one hand I’m thrilled that now whoever wins the streak of only white dudes will be broken. On the other hand I’m not sure strategically how Palin could be mistaken for Clinton.
But it will be interesting to see how it all plays out…
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Oh, & I find all of this very interesting, but I’m REALLY in need of some trashy, crappy, not my bussiness gossip!! :-)
If a Hillary supporter trades over and votes for this republican ticket, they are clearly only concerned with having a woman, ANY woman, in office. McCain used to be respectable in my mind and has thrown that all away for a chance at the White House. This woman stands in complete opposition of everything that Hillary Clinton has fought for her entire life. I just saw a comment from someone on CNN that completely wraps up my thoughts on this whole thing. She said “I’m sure that Hillary Clinton made 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling so some hockey mom, ex-pageant winning nobody could just slide in and take her place.”
@ ribbet: I’ve heard that strategy from a Clinton supporter who will vote McCain in the general election. What still boggles my mind is that this particular supporter is willing to sacrifice her liberal positions for 4 more years of Bush-like elegance, tie Clinton’s hands behind her back with a Republican president/barely Democratic Senate, and hope that the McCain administration is as bad/worse than the Bush administration (so Clinton can cake-walk the 2012 general.)
While the strategy is interesting, I still don’t fully understand how it benefits Hillary’s supporters.
(Whole separate note: I’m pretty sure Pat Buchanan just told me that Palin knows what’s best for my uterus because she has a child with Down Syndrome…..hmmmm.)
@ ribbet: I’ve heard that strategy from a Clinton supporter who will vote McCain in the general election. What still boggles my mind is that this particular supporter is willing to sacrifice her liberal positions for 4 more years of Bush-like elegance, tie Clinton’s hands behind her back with a Republican president/barely Democratic Senate, and hope that the McCain administration is as bad/worse than the Bush administration (so Clinton can cake-walk the 2012 general.)
While the strategy is interesting, I still don’t fully understand how it benefits Hillary’s supporters.
(Whole separate note: I’m pretty sure Pat Buchanan just told me that Palin knows what’s best for my uterus because she has a child with Down Syndrome…..hmmmm.)
As I foreign bystander I always feel some fascination for the US elections
especially because my country is small, population 10 million, 40% of the ones that can vote just don’t go to the polls
also we feel lack of alternatives to the ruling party as the reason for lack of motivation
it’s very strange to understand that someone should choose a person to be an hipothetic VP, if there was not a very good reason to support it, in the US, a country full of options and choices and people
what was the reason then?
money?
influence of some sort?
or?
can someone please unveil the mystery?
for some reason she makes me remind of Geena Davis playing the presidential role
:D
Wow! Lots of comments! We’re all so excited about the choice are we :). My HO is that even though some polls say it’s a tight race, Obama has this one pretty much under the bag. And Ribbet or whoever said this, yeah I think it would be pretty petty for Clinton voters to go Rep just b/c they’re angry. I mean, I’m angry too, but Barack clearly demonstrates better leadership skills than McCain, even with Cain’s veteran status and all.
I don’t think this woman in particular seems to fit the job well, but at least we’re getting more women involved, and I’m a tiny bit happy abou tthat. But still, Ms. Alaska?? Come on. we want a woman w/ balls :) or at least a baby dick hehe
sorry not “under the bag” but “in the bag”. I think I combined under wraps and in the bag.
I wonder if she’ll wear a white hood and burn a cross at the RNC to ensure the white supremacist voters, what a hideous resume this VP Candidate has. I guess it’s Obama for the win at this point.
No sane person, never mind disgruntled Hilary followers would ever vote, pro war, pro life, pro recession, pro no health insurance policy, no anything a democrat would be behind. Interesting that it appears his party has abandoned McCain – this is a ticket that cannot win.
ribbet, it’s quite easy to find out specifics about what obama plans to do in office. one good place to start looking is going to his website (barackobama.com) and read. what he has there is more detailed than any materials that john mccain has made available. also, you can go look at the video of his address last night. he went into some specifics, obviously not into minutiae, but he gave a pretty good outline of what he plans to do. at this point, anyone who doesn’t know enough about a candidate’s program or proposed program is only pointing to his or her lack of looking for the information because it is there.
obama is an intelligent and thoughtful and compassionate man who has a calling to do what he does. he is committed to helping this country re-achieve the greatness it once had and at the same time give every day Americans the standard of living they deserve. health care IS a right and NOT a privilege!!! being able to afford a decent roof over one’s head should not be a privilege in this country, being able to put a modest dinner on the table every night should NOT be a privilege, having access to quality education should NOT be a privilege. to put it in kucinich’s words: WAKE UP, AMERICA! WAKE UP, AMERICA! WAKE UP, AMERICA!
I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!! McCain 08!!!!!!!
@ Obama08! :
Can you please tell me exacty what bush “did”? I don’t understand any of this, he did what was necessary at the time to defend our nation! You people search for any excuse to hate him. It’s so sad.
I consider myself a liberally-conservative independent. I was a registered deomocrat for many, many years having been raised in the north east as a democrat, in a blue state. I am pro-choice, fiscally conservative, and supportive of HUMAN RIGHTS (believing we should treat ALL people equally in personal and professional affiars…re-enforced by living n the south for a few years, and as a female executive, and being the target of blatant discrimination). I consider mysef someone who became a “Reagan Republican”, though I am not a registered republican, I am a regiserted independent….I believe in PEOPLE, and vote for CANDIDATES, not POLITICAL PARTIES and machines.
I will likely vote McCain/Palin 2008
PS – to V Pete Eye…I travel internationally extensively for business. My company operates in 59 coutries, and throughout the US. Therefore, I am thoroughly qualfied to suggest that your comment “It is safe to say that 90% of all the people on the globe hate the US government. They call the American people naive, but they really are trying not to say stupid or blind” is VERY flawed. If you pulled that 90% statistic out of the air (as you did in this case) and attributed it to those abroad who wish they enjoyed the American way of life and freedoms, I’d still call your data bullshit, but, anecdotally, probablly accurate.
You know, I used to vaguely admire McCain because I thought he was a war hero. I am not a very political person, but this coming presidential election is so pivotal that I decided to do some research on McCain.
I was shocked to find that he is no war hero, and is literally despised by many Vietnam veterans. And for damn good reason. I never supported the Vietnam war…but after several hours of researching McCain on the Internet, the word that comes to my mind is ‘traitor,’ ‘rank opportunist,’ and ‘deceiver.’ The man is simply a vile amoral prick. Check it out for yourself. Google “McCain’s military history,” and then follow all the links. The links take you to the real deal.
And yes, he came home from Vietnam to find his wife severly injured and disfigured from a terrible auto accident, and lost no time in dumping her. Get this, even Nancy Reagan can barely tolerate him. I am so DISGUSTED that he is the Republican party’s nominee for president.
And the really scary thing, for me at least, is that I have a deep and abiding fear that he will win.
Obama will never deliver on his promises. Not that he doesn’t want to, it’s just that one can’t build a house without having the right materials. Obama is just a puppet for the ol’ democrats wanting to get back to the manger and he will have no real say on any important issue. Obama doesn’t strike me as a particularly genuine person but he is at least tolerable. Unfortunately, his wife’s speech at the convention made me really dislike her. I am trying to get over that but I don’t think I can.
The sad thing is that we are all subjected to manipulation by media and we eat whatever they feed us. The best part is that we actually think that we arrive at our own conclusions..ha ha. We are being lured by the promises of great change but do we ask ourselves the question if the candidates have the means to accomplish what they promise? I honestly don’t know….
oh people, please…this is exactly what i mean by us being a nation of utter morons! to be a well-informed citizen of a democratic nation, one must take the time to contemplate thoroughly and with some clarity what kind of society one wants to live in. this requires a certain amount of thought being put into moral values, socio-political models, economic systems, justice, etc. one must come up with what i like to call one’s “personal philosophy.” that personal philosophy should guide one in one’s choices of party platform, for example. anyone who brags about voting for a person and not a party is not a fully functioning nor a well-informed citizen of a democracy. anyone who votes based on opinions spoon-fed by the media is also not a well-informed citizen. way too many people in this country let rush limbaugh or keith olbermann make their choice for them.
ask yourselves seriously, “have i sat and thought about what my perfect society would look like? do i know how we will get there? do i have proposals for how such a society could be not only be sustained but made to prosper?”
then look carefully at the parties up for election. will this party strive to accomplish a society in which i would want to live? will the person representing this party strive to accomplish and sustain the society in which i would want to live?
someone above asked what bush did wrong. are you freaking kidding me? if you can’t figure that one out on your own, you ought to be ashamed and if possible banned from voting! (just kidding – but that would be kind of cool if we made people prove they were well-informed before they voted!!!!)
i’m not coming out of left-field here, nor out of right. i just believe to be a true democrat you must care enough to stay informed about the issues and you must take the trouble, not to muddle along with the bandwagon, but rather to think long and hard and deeply about what you want your own democracy to be.
i spent many years studying this (i happen to have an undergraduate degree with high honors in political science) and i have spent a considerable amount of time living in other countries (denmark and germany) so i do have other systems by which i can measure our own and our own is coming up awfully damn short at the moment.
but just like barack obama, i love this country and i believe in all that it once was and what it can be again! let us all think long and hard and make a choice this november for turning this country into what it SHOULD BE!
THIS IS JUICY! I have just been surfing around to find out more about what the Alaskans think of Palin. Some don’t think so much of her. She is involved in a scandal. She allegedly fired one of her underlings because he would not carry out her order to fire her brother-in-law who was a state trooper involved in a custody battle with her sister. She does not seem so sweet and this next cut and pasted bit is unsubstantiated but very juicy. The link where I found it is there is anyone wants to read more. It is titled “This Makes Me Sick”
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/palin_tapped_as_mccains_vp_choice#comment
“This makes me sick.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2008-08-29 10:53.
Has McCain not been keeping up on his Alaska news? Does he not know about all of Palin’s shenanigans? And there’s so many, one of which people seem completely oblivious to. That baby. This makes me particularly sick. It seems so obvious to me that Palin’s child is actually not her child, but her teenage daughter’s child. Why did Palin NEVER look pregnant? Why did she announce she was pregnant at 7 months? Why, now that Sarah has given birth, is Bristol’s belly much smaller? Claiming someone else’s child as your own, for whatever reason, IS SICK. And I’m not even going to get into the recent investigation involving her ethics. Maybe McCain is just having a senior moment.”
jojo Says: “To be a well-informed citizen of a democratic nation, one must take the time to contemplate thoroughly and with some clarity what kind of society one wants to live in.”…”anyone who brags about voting for a person and not a party is not a fully functioning nor a well-informed citizen of a democracy”
So, any on who doesnt share YOUR views, or want “your” kind of scociety is uninformed?
jojo Says: .”…”anyone who brags about voting for a person and not a party is not a fully functioning nor a well-informed citizen of a democracy”
Refusing to make decsions on group thought/go along with the gang mentality of YOUR PARTY vs an individual candidate’s qulaifications / values / character / experience /personal feelings & gut reactions is “not informed???”
jojo Says: “many years studying this (i happen to have an undergraduate degree with high honors in political science)”
Lynn Says….(because she happens to have undergraduate degrees with highEST honors in both Public Administration AND Politcal Science as well as an MPA and and MBA and 12 years of service in Goverment employ (FOR A DEMOCRATIC ADMINSITRATION) before a career in private industry with significant international exposure…. JOJO Needs to go back to school, learn to think for herself, instead of spitting out party rhetoric and calling opposing views to hers in a public dicussion uninformed.
Personal politics aside, I’m stoked that we are about to have either the first black president or first female VP. I never thought I’d see it! :)
Amy, we cannot afford to put “politics aside”. As a woman, and a mother and an Educator, I am ANYTHING but stoked to see the “first female” VP, I’d rather see my 3 year old run our country. There is nothing to be stoked about that notion.
Let that be a lesson to you Amy!!!
So here’s a question: how do people feel about a mother of five, whose youngest is 4 months old and has special needs, being in a demanding job like Vice President? I consider myself a feminist but I’m having a hard time with that. (Not that I’m voting for McCain/Palin anyway–this is just a philosophical dilemma.) If all the kids were even school age I might feel differently.
jojo- yes I am from Wasilla! I grew up there, although I haven’t lived there for the past two years or so.
To the rest of you- Yes there are many things that I have to say about Sarah, but given the fact that she is a family friend, and I am virtually a nobody in the whole spectrum of politics, Who’s going to listen?
And Hello to all my fellow Alaskans.
wow, what was i thinking working for a while? this has gotten interesting! although, more mindless gossip would be good too!
@jojo: i’ve seen obama’s site and watched the entire convention – well the portions that were televised. i guess i must want the extreme details because i still have questions about how he will specifically handle several issues. i’m a behaviorist and believe a person’s past actions are the best predictor of future behavior; i’m going to have to dig into his voting records.
i’m loving the dialogue here. i have to agree with lynn that voting for an individual candidate rather than towing a party line is often times the most intelligent decision to make, particularly at a local/ state level.
many of us just can’t tow a party line. i know i can’t.
@cj: well, i imagine that if she became vice president and even now as governor she could/ can afford to have her husband stay home with the kids. i know that would make my husband happy and my kids (ages 6 & 3) would love it too. i have difficulty NOT letting a woman pursue a successful career just because she has young children. i think it sets an amazing example for her children particularly her daughters. you can’t rely upon anyone else to support you girls, go out and get it done yourself and help others along the way.
@lah-dee-dah- love your name!! i don’t understand the clinton supporters’ rationale either – other than that they are incredibly loyal to her and willing to sacrifice their ideals for 4 more years to see her win. but ann coulter stated that she would vote for clinton, if she were the nominee, and if mccain were the gop nominee. it’s a crazazy world. oh and pat buchannan is certifiable loon, isn’t he? HE is truly frightening.
@tigerlille- i think a lot of republicans are secretly appalled that mccain is their nominee for the reasons you cited. they also believe he is far too moderate in his abortion opinions which is one of the reasons he chose palin. it’s kind of ironic to me that so many republicans think he is too liberal and so many democrats think he is the conservative anti-christ. he really manages to offend everyone and yet here he is! i know several republicans that actually think he might be mentally ill.
It is far too simplistic to vote along race and/or gender lines. I kinda, sorta liked McCain until now. If I were an American I would be insulted by McCain’s blatantly manipulative choice for VP. This makes a joke out of feminism. I’m worried. The way this women uses her family (i.e. her military son, who enlisted on Sept. 11) for her political gain is very chilling to me. Her Reader’s Digest calibre speech will haunt me in my dreams.
@Lynn..wow, i pushed a button with you… so sorry… just fyi…i also have advanced degrees MEd and Master’s in English and a Master’s in Applied Linguistics, 10 years teaching experience at the university level and 13 years of living in foreign countries which have different forms of governments than our own. The only reason I mentioned my background was to show that I had some basis for my opinoins on the matter.
All of that aside, i’m surprised that with your background my comment: “To be a well-informed citizen of a democratic nation, one must take the time to contemplate thoroughly and with some clarity what kind of society one wants to live in.â€â€¦â€anyone who brags about voting for a person and not a party is not a fully functioning nor a well-informed citizen of a democracyâ€
drew this response from you:
“So, any on who doesnt share YOUR views, or want “your†kind of scociety is uninformed?”
HUH??? There’s no connection there at all. I got the feeling from some comments above that people were NOT necessarily well-informed, nor that they had done their research. I encourage everyone to think deeply and seriously about the kind of society they want. If that is an affront to you, I am sorry. I think it is a prudent modus operandi when voting for the most powerful leader in the world.
You say: “Refusing to make decsions on group thought/go along with the gang mentality of YOUR PARTY vs an individual candidate’s qulaifications / values / character / experience /personal feelings & gut reactions is “not informed???â€
I ask: where did I say anything about the fact that one should be following a group or a mentality? On the contrary, I challenged people not to jump on the bandwagon but instead said you must decide and be informed… I just don’t think that “gut feelings” are indicative of being “informed” and I don’t think it takes a degree with “highest” honors to know that.
I didn’t say anyone should ignore qualifications or values or character. Not sure where you got that…?
Lynn said: “JOJO Needs to go back to school, learn to think for herself, instead of spitting out party rhetoric and calling opposing views to hers in a public dicussion uninformed.”
I ask: what kind of party “rhetoric” was I spouting? I was only calling uninformed views uninformed (remarks such as: “i don’t know what he stands for” or “i only vote for a person not a party”) and saying that we should be the best possible country we can be. I don’t think we are the best country we can be right now – we’re waging an unjust and illegal war, too many of our citizens are without basic health care, it is next to impossible for families – such as ribbet’s who earn too much for financial aid but maybe not enough to pay for the entire tuition for several kids on their own – to put kids through college, we have soaring gas and food and basic staple prices and a real decrease in income in the past 8 years, we have hundreds of thousands of people losing their homes. That is not party rhetoric, that is a FACT.
And, V. Eye Pete is right – we are certainly not regarded very highly in European countries (and that’s an understatement). I don’t see that someone, who will carry on with basically the same policies as the Bush administration will help restore this country to the magnificent land it could be. Again, this is not party rhetoric, it is a simple fact. In my opinion, we really need a new FDR at this point.
I am sorry if you felt attacked. Really, I am. I am simply challenging people to be well-informed and thoughtful voters this fall and if you are well-informed and thoughtful and want to vote for McCain, then do so. I just hope that people don’t vote on “gut feelings” or “personality”…
That’s all….
Hey Ribbet!
You comment that you know many Republicans who think McCain is mentally ill. It seems that there is some validity for that point of view. He has an explosive temper, which some attribute to post-traumatic stress. His military records are not available for review, but apparently at some point in his Vietnam career he was evaluated by a psychiatrist who made a reference to his having a histrionic personality.
Scary.
I am no McCain fan, but really this American thing about people not be able to get angry really rubs me the wrong way. Humans get angry, they blow. It passes. It is not wrong. It is just part of being human. Implying it is aberrant behavior is not living in the real world. If people are not permitted to get angry–then you have problems. This may be why one in three Americans is on a drug like Prosac. I suppose it is better for a nation to have a drugged out populace. If McCain is considered mentally ill by some Republicans I would say they are all mentally ill because they elected Bush TWICE!
I am a registered democrat and I am voting for McCain. Love his choice for VP. McCain 2008!
to V. Eye Pete:
I didn’t mean to suggest that people suspect that McCain may be mentally ill because he gets angry sometimes. The issue is that he has an explosive temper. That means that he sometimes gets angry irrationally, and that his anger often rapidly excelerates to the point where he appears to have little self-control. In one instance he almost overturned the wheel chair of the elderly mother of a Vietnam veteran.
Which brings up another point. There have been frequent instances of his lashing out at groups that have and are attempting to secure the return of all US soldiers who were MIA or POW (the very same people who, like his ex-wife, worked tirelessly to secure his return) from North Vietnamese prisons.
The concerns are NOT about his being a maverick, refreshingly outspoken, or not following party lines. They are about irrational outbursts of anger that sometimes border on physical assault. The concerns are about an emotionally unstable individual with an explosive anger problem being suitable for the highest political office in our country.
@mom2mateo
No Democrat would love McCain’s choice for VP. She is the antithesis of a Democrat. I call BS.
McCain picked Palin to help him win the Presidency.
Obama picked Biden to help him be a better President.
I think this says a lot.
hilary must be fuminnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg. i hope this bites mcain in the ass. she looks fake. like tina fey pretending to be a politician.
CAFE MASTER:
And what evidence is there to believe that McCain will follow through with his prmoises? There is plenty of evidence that he won’t.
I AGREE C.
I noticed she looks like TIna Fey as well
Kelso: it seems that McCain is promising much less ;)
@ ribbet: Thanks! You may have already viewed this info on Obama’s political positions, but I believe he has updated it extensively since I last read up on it during the primaries. How I did my research:
1. Go to: http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/ and download “The Blueprint for Change” (33 page pdf that gives a pretty extensive overview of his plan on topics ranging from Healthcare and Education to Immigration, Civil Rights, and Foreign Policy.
2. For each topic of interest (i.e. Economy, Education, etc.) that you want to read about in more detail, go back to http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/ then click on the topic heading of interest, scroll down to “For More Information about Barack’s Plan,” and click on the information links below it that interest you (i.e. “Read the Full Plan,” etc.)
3. If you still have questions on some of the issues that are important to you, you can actually email the campaign (go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/) and ask specific questions. I have done this twice on separate issues and received satisfactory (rather than vague or cliche) responses.
I also am a fan of extreme details and I have to say that the above method (found through trial and error on my part when I was supposed to be working!) was pretty satiating. I am from AZ so I didn’t really need to research McCain quite as thoroughly. Good luck on your research and I hope that helps!
@Lah-Dee-Dah! kudos to you!!! You are exactly what I’m talking about. You are awesome for going to the source to find the answers and for taking the time to inform yourself and also others. :-) Thanks for letting everyone know where to go to get some details!!!!!
I missed a lot of the discussion, but I wanted to thank Jojo (and others) for bringing us some thoughtful and insightful comments. I completely agree with your statements about thinking about the philosophy and overall view of what our country should be like. The president can promise anything he wants to get elected, but in the end it’s congress who writes the legislation and he’s only going to be signing on the dotted line (to put it as simply as possible). We need to think about our ideals and choose the candidate that we think can make that happen.
@ jojo: *blush* You are very welcome and thank you for the glowing compliment!
I am a woman and will not vote for Palin. We are not that stupid..
What a joke.
I am voting for Obama..
Ready to move out of the United States if we do not win..
“Beloved in Alaska (80% approval rating)” Strokes the big oil execs the right way (handouts) so they give every Alaskan a few bucks. Sure – we all love her! Yay!