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Sean Reply #1480 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 08:19:07 AM
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Yes, it is an interesting choice. Younger than Obama, and has been a mayor and governor. Reformer cred, but a recent little scandal took her off a lot of people's shortlists. unlike several of the other women (and men) reported as possible McCain picks, she is pro-life. She shouldn't piss of the Republican base too much and i'm sure McCain is trying to win over those Hillary voters who can't stomach Obama. We'll see where this goes.

VP debates will be interesting.
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jabbaciv Reply #1481 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 08:52:59 AM
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Basically McCain, 72 years old, lots of health problems, history of skin cancer, has said that if anything happens to him, a 44 year old with 2 years of experience as a governor and not a lot else before that is ready to step in and be President. Yeah, Obama doesn't have a lot of experience, but come on, she makes him look like a bloodied political veteran.

It's clear exactly what this pick is: Pandermonium. He's hoping the fundies will see past the woman and vote for the pro-life, and he's hoping the mythical 18 million angry women who supposedly wanted Hillary more then anything and will vote against Obama as a result will see past the pro-life and vote for the woman.

Doesn't bother me too much... if there actually are 18 million angry women out there who vote for pro-life McCain and his pro-life VP just because McCain isn't Obama and his VP is a woman, and they pick 3 conservative SCOTUS justices who overturn Roe V Wade, I'm not the one who will be losing reproductive rights. If those mythical 18 million angry feminists want to vote against their best interests, it's on their heads.

Like I said after the 2004 elections, the US, as a democracy, gets exactly the president it deserves. if people are dumb enough to vote for McCain, we as a country deserve whatever we get. If you don't like it, motivate yourself to change the government.
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Antero Reply #1482 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 12:34:28 PM
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McCain left himself wide open with this pick.  The first response from Obama's team:

Quote from: Bill Burton
Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

...highlighting her inexperience and, even worse for McCain, reminding everyone what a dried-up old bastard he is (slight editorializing there).  McCain made the mistake of choosing someone who will STRESS his age and potential frailty, and who doesn't even have the faith provided by name recognition.  He even disarmed himself by retroactively undoing criticisms of Obama's experience.

His side has essentially revealed their soft underbelly to Obama's team, and Axelrod does not fuck around at all.  They'll have Hillary hammer her on women's issues - I expect a comparison to Clarence Thomas at some point - and then Palin will have to go up against Biden in a debate?  Biden is not a fool, knows his stuff, and when he takes his foot out of his mouth he can drop some pretty sharp lines.
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Pixie Reply #1483 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 01:01:44 PM
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Hmm... reading the BBC profile on her, it seems they're going to use her for the "family" angle what with her being married 20 years and having 5 kids.

But she had a disabled child in April and is stepping up for a job now that will put her away from home for a long time.

That doesn't scream "family values" to me.
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MalaysianShrew Reply #1484 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 01:48:08 PM
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Oh man, Palin is TERRIBLE. She's been the governor for 2 years and before that she was the mayor of a town of less then 6000. People in Alaska love her because she's cutting them the biggest check ever, something like $3000 per resident. But she actually sued to have polar bears taken off the endangered species list so oil companies could expand into protected land. The abuse of power scandal was over her firing a guy for apparently no reason who had divorced her family member rather messily. On top of that she is pro-life and wants creationism taught in schools.

McCain can never again talk about Obama's "lack" of experience with this VP of his. Not with any sort of straight face. And honestly, how many pro-life, pro-oil, anti-gay marriage Hillary supporters were there? The one thing I think women will hate is this obvious pandering.

NOTE: Hillary hasn't said anything especially bad about Palin yet, just that McCain/Palin will be more of the same. Pelosi, on the other had, was pretty damning.
Last Edit: August 29, 2008, 01:51:01 PM by MalaysianShrew Logged
Bunner Reply #1485 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 01:53:34 PM
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NO. FUCKING. WAY.

*grins broadly* THIS. IS. AWESOME.  Hell Yes!
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Bunner Reply #1486 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 01:59:23 PM
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Wolpertinger > Bunnicula
Quote from: Bunner on August 23, 2008, 07:57:10 PM
I think, possibly, the most entertaining thing the Republicans could do, would be to put up a female VP with McCain. Oh, the LULZ that would provide.

..... *Looks around, clears throat*

I also think, possibly, the local area Redheaded Hotties Convention should be held at my house.

*waits, patiently*
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julia Reply #1487 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 02:27:25 PM
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I just don't know what's going to happen if somehow McCain/Palin (pah-lin? pay-lin?) gets elected and he kicks the bucket.
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jabbaciv Reply #1488 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 02:58:09 PM
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A conservative coworker at work that I have a lot of stimulating debate with said today that this was a brilliant pick and that McCain has leveled the playing field.

I said yeah, McCain leveled a field where he had the advantage. It's gone from Democrats having to explain how Obama has a fair amount of experience, to Republicans having to explain how even less experience is a good thing. From the way I see it, McCain voluntarily took a position where he was on the offensive, and put himself on the defensive.

I've seen some Republicans saying that Palin must be a good choice because the Democrats are in an uproar over it. Thing is, they're mistaking roars of laughter for roars of outrage. To add to the irony, the RNC is still running ads claiming Obama is inexperienced and isn't ready to lead.

The only sense I can make from this is that the RNC has figured that they're losing this thing in November, and a very conservative pro-life pro-gun anti-gay pick is a move to keep religious conservatives in the fold and energized until 2012.
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Coyote Reply #1489 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 03:34:36 PM
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Yeah, I figured once I heard it was her that it was just McCain cozying up to the oil lobby.  Shit, she's been the biggest proponent of drilling since Dubya.
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jabbaciv Reply #1490 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 04:04:33 PM
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Her husband was, until recently (probably about 2 years ago), a production operator for BP. Her husband was an oil field worker for BP for 18 years. Admittedly there's not a lot of other jobs out there in Alaska, but it can't help her that she is literally married to the oil industry.
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Bunner Reply #1491 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 05:13:18 PM
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Wolpertinger > Bunnicula
Obamania: It's like Trudeaumania for Americans.

I can't believe it took me this long to draw that comparison.
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jabbaciv Reply #1492 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 05:39:22 PM
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McCain introduces Palin as his running mate

Watch McCain during that.
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Jemini Reply #1493 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 07:51:55 PM
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On CNN where I first saw this, the news anchor said that Palin is a perfect choice for VP, but is not ready to be president, and that it was a good choice for McCain. Shouldnt a VP be chosen that could become the president should the tragic happen?

I think he is just grasping for straws because Obama didnt choose Hillary. Maybe he thinks he can get the sympathetic women voters on his side.
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jabbaciv Reply #1494 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 08:01:56 PM
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I think it would be somewhat less of an issue if McCain wasn't 72 with a history of cancer and other health issues. It makes Palin a very risky choice, especially when he could have picked Huckabee, who has way more experience, identical political views, but also has a penis.

Edit: Or he could have picked Susan Collins, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Olympia Snowe, all of whom are Republican female senators with way more experience then Palin, but who are not as socially conservative as Palin.
Last Edit: August 29, 2008, 08:04:16 PM by jabbaciv Logged
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jabbaciv Reply #1495 in And then there were two — Posted August 29, 2008, 08:41:38 PM
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McCain chooses Palin as running mate

Quote
“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,” said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain’s health

Quote
As recently as last month, Ms. Palin appeared to dismiss the importance of the vice presidency in an interview with Larry Kudlow of CNBC, who asked her about her prospects for the job.

“I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me, what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?” Ms. Palin told Mr. Kudlow. “I’m used to being very productive and working real hard.”

Good move McCain. Very solid.
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Sean Reply #1496 in And then there were two — Posted August 30, 2008, 10:00:25 AM
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Karl Rove had some interesting predictions regarding Obama's VP choice a few weeks ago. In retrospect, they appear even more interesting.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/10/ftn/main4336134.shtml

Quote
(CBS) Republican strategist Karl Rove said on Face The Nation Sunday that he expects presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama to choose a running mate based on political calculations, not the person's readiness for the job.

"I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."

Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."

Rove continued: "So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"
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jabbaciv Reply #1497 in And then there were two — Posted August 30, 2008, 06:57:09 PM
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Went to the Obama rally in Dublin today. I have pictures and video. Good times. Thousands of people there, and everyone was cheerful and friendly. Good weather as well. Also somebody in the crowd fainted from standing up too long, and Obama gave her his water bottle that had been up on the podium with him.

The hierarchy of speakers was
candidate for state representative
candidate for U.S. House representative
Sherrod Brown
John Glenn (yes, the John Glenn)
Biden
Obama

If anyone is curious, I've heard and seen claims over the past couple months or so that Obama is only good at speeches because of the teleprompter, and various people have claimed to have seen him speak without a teleprompter and that in those situations he "sound just like Bush". Well, I can say from the evidence of my own eyes and ears that those rumors are outright fabrications. All the speakers prior to him used notes, and spoke from behind the podium, he did neither. And there were no teleprompters. He based on the stage, back and forth in front of the podium, delivering a really great speech that spoke to our interests and concerns. Which we all knew anyway.

Two things in particular that I liked:
1. National and community service will result in a college education. If you serve in the military, the peace corps, an understaffed hospital, an understaffed school, for four years, you get 4 years of college.
2. We're going to get on green power, and we're going to rebuild our manufacturing at the same time. Reopen factories across the country and get to work building solar panels and wind turbines.
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jabbaciv Reply #1498 in And then there were two — Posted August 30, 2008, 08:31:37 PM
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Media estimates of crowd size at the Dublin rally range from 17k to 20k.

In other words, a routine whistle stop rally drew more people then McCain got when he announced his VP.
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"The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times." -SCOTUS Justice Kennedy
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