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US Republican line up for '08 McCain/Palin

 
  

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Ticker
16:32 / 29.08.08
In the wake of the Dems convention McCain has selected Sarah Palin as his VP.

Alaskan Gov Sarah Palin is selected GOP VP.

My first reaction was confusion over the phrase prolife feminist. I grok pro child pro choice feminism but prolife feminism? REALLY? (pro fetal life in this case but pro death penalty for the post birth crowd)

here be the wiki on Palin

McCain is 72, Palin has been the Gov of Alaska for what 2 years? She's prolife, pro drilling, hailed as a soccer mom entering politics to clean it up.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of comments out in the wild of the 'web of women saying they will vote for McCain/Palin out of resentment for lack of Hillary-ness. REALLY? Sweet Mother of Catses I hope these comments are being left by some McCain interns because I'm not sure how anyone who wants to see a woman in the White House would want to see McCain over turn Roe vs. Wade. Maybe I'm in a bubble though. Maybe there are such creatures as prolife feminists.
 
 
Ticker
16:42 / 29.08.08
Total tangent but yes not only are there pro life feminists but pro life atheists Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians.

Huh. Looks like I do live in a bubble after all.
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
17:33 / 29.08.08
This was pretty shocking. I mean, she wasn't even considered anywhere near the candidates the pundits had posited, was she?
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
17:40 / 29.08.08
Oh fuck you, Huckabee.

"Governor Palin is smart, authentic, tough, and a dynamic choice that will remind women that they may not be welcome on the Democrats ticket, but they have a place with Republicans.”
 
 
Ticker
17:43 / 29.08.08
Huckabee said that? What a douche.

Some interesting details about Palin being a prop for the GOP:
the Bilerico Project (via feministing.com)

So this is hi-larious positioning, if you are a *real* feminist you'll vote for the ticket with a uterus! How about the one that actually supports women in equal pay and choice?
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
19:06 / 29.08.08
What in the world is going on in the GOP coatroom today? Huckabee is completely off the rails with that comment. It's like the whole party decided to just give up and go crazy instead.

Barbara Boxer is on the offensive, though, so never fret.

And, here's something Dems should check out before going all PUMA:

 
 
FinderWolf
19:09 / 29.08.08
Yeah, Obama's campaign also said 'John McCain put someone who has been a mayor of a town of 9,000 people with zero foreign policy experience as a candidate to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.' Ouch. Kind of speaks for itself. The Governor of Alaska doesn't particularly seem tremendously connected with the 'lower 48.'
 
 
Ruobhe
19:20 / 29.08.08
Oh geez. I'm not sure if the republican candidate has a good reason to choose an underqualified and scandal-haunted person for a VP, but if the choice is made only because said candidate has a vagina, then it's quite some sexism hooey I've heard, against all kinds of equalitarism.

Who cares if a person is male or female, short or tall, christian or islamist when it comes to finding an appropiate person for a vicepresidential position? Those kinds of places should be granted by merit, not by sex or race or any matter other than their competence in their administrations. But hey, that's just my thoughts.
 
 
Mistoffelees
19:57 / 29.08.08
Who cares if a person is male or female, short or tall, christian or islamist when it comes to finding an appropiate person for a vicepresidential position?

Since islamists believe that islam can be the only source for a political system, you should care. Islamist beliefs and modern western democracy do not mix.
 
 
Ruobhe
20:34 / 29.08.08
Yeah, my mistake, I'm making the argument based on the fact that only the administrative capacity should be valid as a factor for an administrative charge, though there must be still a diferentiation from religion and state (and ideally from economy and state, but that's a different matter).
 
 
Mug Chum
20:37 / 29.08.08
Since islamists believe that islam can be the only source for a political system, you should care. Islamist beliefs and modern western democracy do not mix

Is that so?
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
20:40 / 29.08.08
I'm not to get overly involved with politics but based on the same remarks I read from the Obama camp about Palin's utter inadequacy regarding where she's governor, I have to agree.

It is glaringly apparent to me that she was not chosen on her achievements or her stances but on the simple fact she is a woman and a mother.

That's what gets me about politics. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Don't think for a second that Palin would be on the presidential ticket if Obama had chosen Clinton as his running mate. Had that scenario happened, it would've been all "Blacks and women can't lead this country" from the McCain camp. But now that that didn't happen it's all "McCain thinks women are able to help lead the country. Apparently Obama doesn't think women can."

Grrrrr.
 
 
Slim
22:01 / 29.08.08
It is glaringly apparent to me that she was not chosen on her achievements or her stances but on the simple fact she is a woman and a mother.

To be fair, there has been a lot of talk about McCain not appealing to "true" conservatives. This should help immensely in that regard.

That said, picking a running mate is a combination of beliefs and votes- what the person believes and how many votes it can get you.

I am unable to determine at this point if John McCain is crazy, or crazy like a fox.
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
22:39 / 29.08.08
And yet she appears to be quite unqualified. I'm wondering if it's my own insularity but while I don't rabidly follow every bit of minutiae and scuttlebutt that comes out of Washington, I have never even heard of this woman until today, and I don't consider myself ignorant. Though I may very well be.
 
 
Mr Tricks
23:10 / 29.08.08
Well here's something I read from a poster on another forum all together. I thought it might be an insight into the thinking involved in this choice.
    "Slamdunk!!

    Man I am so stoked today. Sara Palin is a great pick and this could not get any better. A real tribute for what a young girl can look up to.

    This is the type of canidate that will lead my party into the future, a total next gen conservative gift. To get rid of the old Washington politics. A real Maverick in her own party.

    What I like, a straight talking woman, highly moral, mother of five young kids, one of them fighting in Iraq, a supporter of big family, pro-American, very much pro-life with her youngest child of four months being born with Down Syndrome.

    Lifelong hunter, god I just came in my pants with that one, gun rights advocate, avid ice fisherman and outdoor sportsman. 80% approval rating and ethical as it gets having outed her own party in the past for bad conduct, her husband is a simple guy, a real family.

    When she was governer she even reduced her own salary....lol....so good.

    She's got a record of brining Democrats and Republicans together in Alaska. She has approval ratings of over 80 per cent because people recognise her skills as a bipartisan leader. A lot of Democrats like her and respect her stance.

    This just made my vote that much more sweeter."
 
 
Tsuga
23:34 / 29.08.08
Overall, this makes me feel better about Obama's chances, that McCain is working the angles so hard to choose this person. He did somewhat cut himself off from the "no experience" criticism of Obama, though they'll play up her "executive" experience as a governor. Her solid conservative credentials are chosen to give him a boost among the right, while the fact that she's a woman is meant to help him in that department; but the sheer calculation of it may come back to bite him in the end. Obama's choice was calculated as well, but it's supposed to be reassuring to have a solid VP to step in, where McCain's choice is so political, and age will come into play in the discussion of how possible it is that Palin might actually become president.
 
 
Anna de Logardiere
00:34 / 30.08.08
This election just doesn't hold off on the interesting. I think you're right that McCain's age is going to be a concern with an inexperienced VP. The more subtly the Democrats can play that up the better. It isn't too difficult to quietly suggest that McCain is quite old and Palin quite naive without launching a hate campaign so the Dems have a sudden and real advantage that they did not have before. The Democrats choice actually looks a little more socially (not politically) conservative now. They have two men, one of them is Joe Biden who is an American rock and an imperialistic old goat, the other is a man who strikes a comfortable balance between radical and safe. I think some US swing voters might be more comfortable with the Democrat's ticket.
 
 
grant
02:17 / 30.08.08
Apparently the same year Geraldine Ferraro was a VP candidate, Sarah Palin came in second at the Miss Alaska pageant.
 
 
grant
02:36 / 30.08.08
Sweet Jesus. Reddit is all over Sarah Palin. Someone even registered VPILF.com and loaded it with content (it might even be a sincere Palin fan.. or a member of the McCain campaign), and there's a Google cache of a disappeared page that quotes Palin's enthusiasm for Obama's energy plan.

Note: the second link goes to a reddit comment thread. I can't be held accountable for what all people say in there. It's no *chan, but there's an overlap.
 
 
Jot Evil Rules During Weddings
03:00 / 30.08.08
It is a very strange choice in my mind. While I understand that McCain partly picked her because of her genitals and her Conservative background, it completely undermines McCain's whole argument. McCain is attacking Obama on the fact that he does not have enough experience. Picking a vice-president who was the mayor of a town of 9,000 people for 6 years and Governor of Alaska for two years does not sound like experience to me. It is like picking Michael Brown to be the head of FEMA because he was the head of the Arabian Horse racing commission. She is unqualified to be vice-president just like Brown was unqualified to be the head of FEMA.

Another reason why it was a puzzling move is because Palin is under investigation of her ethics in Alaska in the "Troopergate" scandal, a bizarre controversy involving the firing of a state police chief and his reluctance to fire an Alaska state trooper, Palin's former brother-in-law who has been involved in a bitter custody fight with her younger sister." (here is the link about "Troopergate" here is the link about "Troopergate"
 
 
frenchfilmblurred
08:39 / 30.08.08
The McCain/Palin fun appears to have started:

link
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
09:43 / 30.08.08
That is sweet.
 
 
grant
13:32 / 30.08.08
Another reddit comment thread:
Was she 7 months pregnant in March? Was her 16-y-o daughter?
 
 
Char Aina
06:13 / 31.08.08
Saw this today:

 
 
Tsuga
21:08 / 01.09.08
This has been such an eventful week, I didn't know if I should post here or in the Race for the White House thread. After the actually interesting Democratic convention, I heard yesterday that 38 million people listened to Barack Obama's speech on Thursday night, more than the finale of American Idol or the Olympic opening ceremony. Followed the next day by McCain's choice of Palin. Now the Republican Convention is starting today, but is being truncated because of Hurricane Gustav hitting Louisiana at the same time. Not to be cynical, but this may be a political opportunity for the Republicans, in that George Bush is not going to speak now, which was a risky proposition itself— and the Republicans can try and distill their convention and be sensitive to those on the Gulf Coast at the same time. The hurricane, while obviously a terrible disaster, may be propitious in providing some distraction from Palin's revelation of her daughter's pregnancy, another semi-bombshell, along with the disclosure that she has hired an attorney for the trooper business.
I was watching CNN just now, they had sent a reporter to Alaska to dig into Palin dirt, apparently, and the reporter was relishing it a bit too much. Bill Bennett, one of their "political team" covering the convention, had a fit about her bias, and unfortunately it was rightly so. He pointed to Obama's statements about the matter, which really were about perfect:
This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to Governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president, and so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories.
Of course, that doesn't mean that nobody will think about it.
I'm very interested to see how the Republican convention goes now.
 
 
Quantum
12:27 / 02.09.08
(As an aside while everyone is scrutinising her family, Palin's husband Todd sounds pretty cool on paper - there is a possible future in which the US president's partner is four times winner of the Iron Dog championship. And their son Track is scheduled for deployment to Iraq on September 11, 2008, unlucky timing.)

I think a lot of the veep hoohaw is just an excuse for electioneering. Even Palin wondered what a VP does all day long before she was chosen (I'll try and dig for the quote) and for example Cheney seems to exist to take flak and rubberstamp policies to invade and destroy the environment.

Does it matter who the VP is? Americans, help me out.
 
 
Anna de Logardiere
13:33 / 02.09.08
Presidential Line of Succession. If McCain is elected and is out of action or resigns then Palin becomes the President. Section 1 of the 25th Amendment specifies that: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

It has happened nine times.
 
 
grant
14:39 / 02.09.08
When's the daughter's due date?

January? Inauguration day, maybe?
 
 
hachiman
14:46 / 02.09.08
What other dutiesdo they perform other than waiting in the wings though?

Is it a rubeerstamp position with ceremonial reponsibilty, or is there actual executive responsibility?
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
15:15 / 02.09.08
Well, they do cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, if I recall correctly. Also they're in charge of maintaining the space/time continuum (if Al Gore is to be believed).
 
 
grant
15:37 / 02.09.08
Yeah, the acting leader of the Senate is titled "President Pro Tem," short for "President Pro Tempore" - because the actual president of the Senate is the VP of the United States.

I have a hunch there's also a lot of stuff credited to "White House staff" that actually gets done by the VP and his (or her) crew. Like Scooter Libby was working for Cheney when the manure hit the air circulation unit.

Oh, and the daughter's pregnancy is starting to remind me of a specific Northern Exposure plotline. The one with Shelley's husband. I'm not sure if this coverage is good or bad for them - it makes for a sympathetic story, I think, for a good wodge of "the base" of the party.
 
 
grant
15:41 / 02.09.08
Oh, dude! She used to be an Alaskan secessionist! Awesome!!

49 stars on her flag!
 
 
Quantum
15:53 / 02.09.08
So what's the difference between a veep and an understudy? I mean, in the same way here in the UK John Prescott is deputy PM, he had some responsibility (which was then taken away and given to Ruth Kelly) but what the feck does he actually do all day apart from wait for the guy in charge to die?
 
 
Quantum
15:55 / 02.09.08
Grant that's awesome, ALASKA FIRST ALASKA ALWAYS! and I agree about Northern Exposure- every day life gets more like TV.
 
 
grant
19:16 / 02.09.08
Time reports on Mayor Palin's interest book banning:


Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.


It's reaching the point where I'm terrified about the debates (if there are any worth the name) because Biden will butcher this poor woman like a baby seal and she'll get an overwhelming sympathy vote. I mean, could that even be the conscious strategy? The clumsy puppy vs. the attack dog?
 
  

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