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…
This has OFFICIALLY become the most boring blog in the world!
Then why do you keep coming back?
It’s Official… McCain is Satan incarnate!!!!!!!!
He thinks he can get the female vote because of this!?!?!
Nice to see their resumé’s are so diverse, NOT!
McCain is an ass and this woman is an ass. NOT the type of “track record” we want in a VP Candidate. Just because you can answer beauty pageant questions does NOT qualify you to hold the second most important position in our country. Assholes, the both of them.
dude…. “whomever?” You can only use “whomever” as an object, not as a subject in a sentence, as you did above. Beet….you’re normally such a good writer, what’s up? I’m sorry, normally I wouldn’t even call you on that, but it is just so glaring.
Oh, I just noticed it wasn’t Beet who wrote that. Well, then I don’t have to worry about you, Beet.
I am ashamed to say that she is my mothers best friend and former maid of honor…. She is definitely not in any way, shape, or form capable of handling Alaska affairs, let alone national and international affairs.
Sigh. Who would have thunk it eh? The woman who used to babysit me is now being looked at as our next VP.
Shoot me.
Sigh. I’ll fix whomever. Also, Brittany, I want to see you on CNN! :)
I really think this will effect a lot of Hillary supporters.
This is an absolutely blatant attempt to win over the fence riding Hillary supporters. It is OBVIOUS that McCain did not pick this woman for her track record, and this is a COMPLETE mockery of our political system. McCain is completely using her to win a vote. A while back, someone on here posted a link to McCain’s top sexist rants and it seems ironic to me that a man who publicly called his wife a c**t would chose a female as his second in command. If McCain wins the election, he will drive this country into the ground.
wow. i hate to say it but there are women out there who are truly pissed that clinton did not get her party’s nomination. many of these people have stated prior to this selection that they are considering voting for mccain. you have to wonder if selecting a female candidate might push them over to mccain’s side completely? it’s an interesting move and better, i think, than romney or giuliani would have been.
it puts someone younger, more attractive and virtually unknown on his ticket – several of the qualities that obama has. mccain won’t have ads like he is running against obama with biden criticizing him. he won’t have to defend any national or foreign policy decisions she has made because there aren’t any.
it also allows him to highlight the fact that the gop believes it has always been first when it comes to promoting women into higher offices, e.g. reagan’s nomination for o’connor to the supreme court.
her hardline right wing stances balance out what many of the hardline right wing gop’ers perceive as mccain’s liberal views on immigration, religion and abortion and will help bring that core part of the party to has side.
there are some serious pros to this move for him. the only better move i think he could have made was if he had chosen a women who had similar characteristics, but who is latina. (she may not exist!) that would have caused some real cracks in obama’s base and would have definitely played upon some serious race divisions in our culture – black v. brown.
overall, an interesting move. this campaign might have just become fun for a jaded independent to watch.
Why would that be Lars? Because I posess insider information? Bring it on. =).
I totally agree with you Beet. This is a big WTF. They couldn’t have found a more qualified female for the job?
Lol. I love how people criticize his choice because she is a woman. And Cris to your “beauty pageant” comment. This isn’t someone he picked off the street with a nice smile and five inch heels. There’s a little more to it, sweetheart.
McCain ’08 ;)
I hate republicans, but seriously, this woman might prove me wrong. She actually does the things she says she’s going to do.
Who from any other party can actually claim that?
What’s funny is all those saying she is not qualified…. she’s much more qualified than Obama. Obama wants to change washington yet he choose someone who represents everything that is wrong with washington. He had a real shot if he would’ve picked Hillary but he didn’t even Vett her and that’s just a slap in the face to her and all of her millions of supporters. Obama even said during the debates that he would make Hillary his VP and she said visa versa. He even made a joke about how it’ll make a huge difference though who is the one doing the picking.
I think choosing Gov. Palin was not only really smart but it’s hilarious as fuck.
Lars, you are a total sport! Thank you so much for obliging, it is a much smoother read now. :-)
So, now I can comment on the content….
I spent six formative years living in Alaska – from the time I was 11 until I was 17. I imagine things may have changed a bit since then, but Alaska is still an “outback” kind of place and a real haven for the rugged individual associated with the rightest wing of the Republican party. I’d be interested, Brittany, to hear if you are from Wasilla. I grew up in SE AK and can’t imagine that someone who came from being the mayor of Wrangell, AK just a short time ago could step in as President of the United States.
@ Anonymous Says: August 29th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I agree with you compeltely…. except the rep-hate ;)
Rita-
Of the people who have responded to this post thus far, not one has criticized McCain’s choice simply because she is a woman. Even as someone who is planning on voting for Obama, I would have understood and even felt pride, (being a woman myself) of the fact that a woman could potentially be our next VP. (She is, after all, only the second woman to be chosen to run on a major party ticket as Vice President.) People are not questioning his choice based upon the fact that she is a woman, but rather at how unqualified she actually is. There are many, many other women leaders in this country that would have been perfect for this job-having a laundry list of credentials behind their name. He chose a completely unexperienced, unqualified PERSON. And Cris wasn’t implying that McCain picked her off of the street…I took it as Cris was simply stating that perhaps there are other women in this country that have more solid, POLITICAL credentials than being in a beauty pageant. As the Vice President, it is a realistic possibility that YOU could be the one suddenly running the country-should something happen to the President, (especially one who is 72 years old). I just know that I absolutely do NOT want someone potentially being forced to lead this country when they have not even led Alaska for two years.
I think there’s a little more to it than you know, perhaps.
I have more experience than her with my BA in history…. She knows how to sell herself because she has a BA in journalism. Wow.
Um. Last time I checked Obama has the same experience as Lincoln and nearly the same experience as Clinton. So, how does 2 years as governor in a state that lacks diversity really qualify her again? It’s great that she is tough on social issues that have little impact on American family’s everyday life but what’s she going to do about the midwest and the lack of jobs? How about the housing market which is a mess? How about the fact that my family is middle class and yet, we are having a difficult time and we can’t save for our 3 children to go to college? What is she going to do about that? I could give a rat’s ass if she is a lifelong member of the NRA. I am not but my husband is police officer…. what will she do because I have heard McCain and he isn’t going to do much.
This pick is a game changer. She has more executive experience than Obama, Biden and even McCain. She has strong blue collar roots v. elite Obama. She has an interest in the outcome of the war in Iraq because she has a son serving. She stood up to and is disliked by the Alaskan GOP establishment, so it’s not the same sh*t different day. She may appeal to the disgruntle PUMAS. She’s helped to improve the economy in Alaska and cut property tax. She’s young, so if anything happens to McCan…the GOP would deliver the first female VP. She a genuine speaker. She has been in Washington for 30 years like Biden.
The media should love her. The novelty of Obama is wearing thin. For months, the media was fascinated by its new Christmas toy (the thought of a minority running for office) ….now they have a new toy to play with (a personable qualified accomplished woman who might be the Nation’s first VP).
McCain/Palin 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t understand why Hillary’s supporters would choose to vote Republican. Are they really that upset that they would switch to a party whose ideals are so different from hers?
If her supporters are that petty…it just makes my brain hurt.
Brittany, screw CNN, we want the down and dirty inside info right here. Dish, please! Links to wedding photos would be awesome. Why do you feel she is unfit to lead?
I like ribbit’s stance. This does seem like an unexpected, forward-thinking move from McCain. If the only reason you were sticking with Obama was for the young, not-old-white-man thing, here’s something else for you to consider.
Qualified or not, Palin’s conservative stance will attract voters who saw McCain as too moderate. And that is truly scary. Personally, I like having rights.
PLEASE, die-hard Hillary supporters: look at the politics, not the gender!!
I have to say, however, that the inevitability of a non-male or non-white person in the white house is pretty exciting.
I’m with Jinx totally here.
I’m ready for change, not just in gender but in the content. I honestly looked into Palin and I feel she doesn’t have enough qualification to be V.P. Like others said, there are so many more women who deserve this. I am a die hard liberal and Obama supporter but she does seem to look good and I do like the “home grown, working mother, husbands in a union type thing. Just my 2 cents
i have to say i’m pretty excited for my personal political career.
i was first runner up for miss california and have a masters in communications. i guess i can run for office now too! yippee!
btw, anyone who has ever competed in a pageant will tell you there is no other venue that will prepare you more to run for political office. those women are vicious backstabbers and will take you out. running for national office will be child’s play for her! ;-)
on a serious note, could mccain’s timing be any better? obama really isn’t getting a bounce from the convention and this nomination is totally stealing his press. for someone who has no flipping idea for whom they are going to vote, this drama is fabulous!
it will be interesting to see how obama handles her inexperience – glass houses and all. i bet biden is sent after her. but anyone that can duct tape her boobs to create clevage and superglue her ass into a swimsuit to prevent a wedgie will totally be able to handle him. hahahahaha!
Two Words: Evil Incarnate
Don’t you think it’s a little early, ribbet, to tell whether or not Obama’s getting any “bounce” from his speech and from the convention? Let’s let things die down from the DNC and from this announcement today. After the RNC is over and we get into debates, we’ll see how things stand. I don’t think you can make a huge distinction with the “executive” business either, Anonymous. Sorry, but almost 2 years as the Governor of AK is not even nearly equivalent to the years of legislative experience Obama had in IL and to his 4 years as US Senator. So yeah, no glass house there! Have you ever been to AK? Seriously, the state is awesomely beautiful, but has a very small population and very narrow issues (environmental mostly, due to the natural resources, including fish, timber and oil). So yeah, that argument won’t stick for any half-way intelligent voters. Sorry. Also, I can’t believe too many Hillary supporters, bitter or not, could be swayed by someone who is so decidedly not pro-choice. If so, then they weren’t true Democrats to begin with.
I ran for president back in 1892 and my running mate was cross-eyed weasel named Jimiminy. Ahhh the good old days.
Well well
McCain isn’t exactly in the best of health…I wonder what’s going to happen if he does get elected and dies during his term. I don’t think this lady is going to do to well. If it was up to her (or McCain for that matter) we’d probably all be carrying guns and shooting gay people in the street…and there would also be a lot of unwanted babies and pathetic teenage mothers when abortion isn’t legal. And then there won’t be any hope of getting universal health care so the country will keep getting worse….and the dollar will keep getting lower, and the unemployment rate will keep getting higher.
Obama being elected is the only possible hope for America to redeem itself for being so terrible for so many years.
hi jojo, we get to write again. i enjoy reading your comments.
pre-convention obama and mccain were in a statistical dead heat. gallup has released its results and obama’s bump in the polls was 6 points. so, yes, there was an increase for him.
my point was that at the 1992 democratic convention, bill clinton’s lead climbed as much as 30 points in some polls. obama was hoping for a bigger bounce than 6 points to pad a lead before the gop convention. he just didn’t get it.
it’s going to be an extremely tight and interesting to watch race.
Well well well, things have gone adult since the Beet is away. Someone tell me… really.. has she been fired because of her twat and piss fetish? New Guys on the block. Don’t be afraid to be a tad bit outrageous and shocking. It goes with the territory, your high school teachers are not watching.
I am minutes into this new news–been under a rock outside the country–Don’t not tell me the Republicans give a care about women. This is a 100% strategy. She has been pulled out of a hat and the stars are still twinkling in her eyes. She has the blissed out look of someone who does not know what hit her.
The remarks above have given me a lot of good info and I have some reading to do. I will never vote Republican. I will NEVER forgive them for destroying this country’s reputation around the world. If you never leave you never hear about it. 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.
We need a change and I am going to vote for it! That would be Obama
Likewise, ribbet! And I will give you that much…it will be an interesting and unfortunately, tight race. Though, I am loathe to believe any polls out there! Those polls only make me come to the conclusion that we are a nation of complete morons. In my opinion, the choice should be painfully clear and therefore the race should not be so tight.
As a fellow Alaskan -Hi Brittany!- I have to say I am still voting for Obama. Sarah is a fun govenor, but not presidental. I am excited to see her run because she has been knocking it out of the park as far as being a new mom in office goes. She did a press conference where she announced her son (#5) has down syndrome so as not to make it the focus of speculation in the media and then launched into her proposal for the new gas pipeline without letting the media derail her with fluff.
As a girly-girl feminist I can say that I admire her ability to be assert herself even if her track record on choice and lgbt issues makes me weep.
I’m not critisizing his choice because she is a woman, I have issues with the fact that she is a former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience. McCain is old, really old and she would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
That scares me. I don’t care if the VP was black or white, male or female, they need to have the expierence to lead this country and turn it around.
Also the fact that she’s from an oil state makes me cringe! G1 & G2 are Texans, oil by trade and look at the state that we are in?
We need a progessive, forward thinking team to lead this country and make it what it should be and prepare us for the generations to come.
I wouldn’t trust a woman that wasn’t pro-choice, but that’s only my opinion.
We are in for a bumpy ride kids…… educate yourself on the issues, make a solid decison based on facts and go out and vote in November. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about the state of affairs.
Rita, I think you may have misconstrued my comment. I am not criticizing his choice because she is a woman, but because she is not qualified. Period. She is not equipped to run our country. No way. No how. Not in the least. I am just floored at how many Americans have not been paying attention for the past eight LONG years. If you aren’t disgusted, you haven’t been paying attention, and as the Governor of my state said at a convention I attended last weekend, John McCain is the Bush administration on steroids. Enough is enough already! We need CHANGE.
Obama/Biden 08!!!!!
I’m from Delaware and I have always been a Biden fan, that being said, it doesn’t take a genius to see that Palin vs Biden is a no brainer. IT IS NOT man vs woman, it’s the agenda, the expierence and the ability. Anyone, man or woman who turns this into a pissing match about boys and girls really should keep their opinions to themselves. It will only weaken you stand, not strengthen it.
Obama/Biden 2008….. for change in the RIGHT direction!
Amen, Chris!
oops, I mean, “Amen, Cris!” LOL
BRITTANY! If you are telling the truth…why aren’t you telling all of the news companies?!
And I am so sorry for this country if the McCain party is elected. EW
i am a truly undecided independent. i really don’t like either party: i make too much money to benefit from democratic social programs and enough for them to tax the hell out of me. i am a woman and don’t believe that a bunch of old white male republicans have the right to dictate my morality or my uterus.
that said, i appreciate many of the opinions that people have expressed in this blog. i can look at mccain’s track record as a pretty reliable predictor of what his presidency would look like. however, obama is a bit of a mystery.
egg pointed out some interesting problems that the u.s. is facing: specifically the economy: dollar & unemployment (i would add trade deficit) and healthcare.
i’m hoping that the obama supporters might be able to point me to the concrete plans that he has outlined for how he would address these issues. it’s one thing to point out a problem and demand change. it is quite another to be able to come up with and implement a solution. i’m looking for solutions. i am asking this sincerely because one of the best things i’ve read on this blog is lilly’s last paragraph on August 29th, 2008 at 12:08 paraphrased: if you don’t vote, you can’t bitch. i don’t ever want to lose my opportunity to bitch, so i will be voting. i’m just not sure how yet. thanks!
this is a totally stupid pick from a messaging standpoint. McCain’s going to have to throw out all of his talking points on obama because he’s picked someone less experienced to be only a heartbeat away from the presidency. and people say obama lacks judgement?? Biden might not be awesome, but at least he didn’t destroy the message of the campaign!
OBAMA 08
@Asta: the women with whom i have spoken have stated that they would vote for mccain this election year, so that they could send hillary up against him in 2012. they think she could take him then especially if it truly is a 4 year extension of the Bush presidency. it is an interesting strategy and one that i’m not so sure that hillary is discouraging. it would be very difficult for her to run and win at the age of 69, if obama wins and serves two terms. hillary is walking quite a tight rope. she has to be just supportive enough of obama so that she can’t be accused of being a reason why obama loses, but she wants this job so bad she can taste it and would love another shot at it in 4 years.
McCain’s pick of Palin as his running mate is a typically cynical Republican ploy that should be viewed as a insult to any voter with an IQ even in double digits. Wait a minute! That’s the IQ range that Republicans prefer for their cadidates for public office. I give you George W. Bush as exhibit “A”.
Why didn’t McCain just go to his local PTA and pick some soccer mom with the faded prettiness of an ex-beauty contestant to be his running mate. This is ALL about her being a woman and the crass, opportunistic methods that Republicans use to win elections. Palin wasn’t picked because McCain believes she is in anyway qualified to be President,but, rather, because he believes he can skim just enough disgruntled women who wanted Hillary on the ticket to push him over the top. Republicans believe in winning at all costs just to see a warm body with a Republican lable sitting in the oval office. It is a sad thing to see a man such as McCain give himself over so completely to the dark side of Republican (Karl Rove) politics.
It is not really that hard to believe, when you consider that McCain cheated on his wife, who had been seriously injured in a traffic accident, and married a woman with a one hundred million dollar beer fortune before the ink on his divorce papers was dry. Behind his perpetually smiling face and his hero image, there may lurk the heart and soul of a real prick.
All you people who are supporting McCain are all ignorant. I bet you were all Bush supporters too and look what great stuff he did for this country! Morons.
Obama/Biden 2008!!!!
I will not reiterate what a lot of the other blog commenter’s have stated about Palin being a bad choice. However for the record, it was an interesting choice albeit a very bad one. To be quite honest, it makes me very happy he made such a ridiculous move…all the better for the Obama/Biden ticket! What I would like to mention: McCain has been riding the Obama lacks experience wave, Obama is not in touch with the average American, etc yet he picked a PERSON (yes, I’m removing gender b/c it’s irrelevant) to be on his ticket which has less experience than Obama and represents a state which is far from a representation of “the average American”. Talk about hypocritical! If we compare apples to apples (i.e. Obama’s experience and Palin’s experience) Obama wins – hands down!
Obama/Biden ’08!!!!!!!!!!
This move is so Republican. So McCain hopes to rope in Hillary supporters left bitter and abandoned now that Sen. Clinton has joined the OBama brigade simply by choosing a woman candidate (note: this also competes shamelessly with the history-in-making edge of the Obama campaign.)
Sigh.
Why are Republicans so two-dimensional, and why do they consistently insult the intelligence of the American people?
I have to say, Obama was right, “John McCain doesn’t GET IT.”
I swear, these rich, clueless old men and their plastic, brainwashed female counterparts living in ivory palaces (and for those in middle clas bungalows, these could be figurative MENTAL ivory palaces) all their lives think they are (righteous and superior AND) darn clever when, in reality, they’re a joke. A JOKE.
I don’t know anyone who’s REALLY Republican…..I know a lot of people that vote based on moral issues, nearly superstitiously, because their parents do or whatnot, but seriously, Pro Life? Fine. BE PRO LIFE in YOUR OWN LIFE, be whoever you want to be but look at the politics here. Sighhhhh.
McCain (like he cares, but I’ll address him here in some fantastical notion): Hillary supporters are die-hard because Sen. Clinton is foreward thinking and fair and pro-PEOPLE and has totally proven herself a contender…. not because she is “A Woman.” Sigh. I feel like McCain took a phone call from George W. on this one or something. Why can’t they get an idea of who the American people are? This party is seriously making a fool of itself. Antiquated and nearly theatrical. Gross. Good riddens.
OBAMA BIDEN 08.
@ Alan:
Very well stated my firend! You were right on the money and your delivery was of a comedic nature. Loved it! :-)
I’m kind-a with ribbet, I too am an undecided indepentant. Some things I agree with the dems & others with the repubs. It seems to me that both Obama & Palin lack a lot of experiance & that McCain & Biden are both been in Washington forever old white guys.
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!