Sarah Palin

Can someone please tell me what the deal is with "the bull dog with lipstick" beyond her MILF status? What does she stand for beyond allowing the drilling for oil in Alaska and her creationist views?
Infact what do either of them stand for?

What does she stand for beyond allowing the drilling for oil in Alaska and her creationist views?

Nothing is hidden, nothing ulterior, she is a right wing Christian Conservative, she stands for all the things those people think are important.

If she is just like the others why are our media tripping all over themselves?

sex appeal?

If she is just like the others why are our media tripping all over themselves?

She is an unknown and she is female + the recent controversy over her daughter.

When Barrack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate the press where largely indifferent as he is male and well known in American politics.

sex appeal?

I'd rather mount McCain, with his giant grey haired 95 year old batty.

sex appeal?

cool. want power get a milf on the case

She is an unknown and she is female + the recent controversy over her daughter.

nought to do with her views or policies.

When Barrack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate the press where largely indifferent as he is male and well known in American politics.

the main claim here was that Barrack was very inexperienced, I thought the mating of him with a "safe pair of hands" would be a decent balance?

I guess that's what the republicans are trying to do with Sarah Palin (only the other way around).

I dont quite see the true analogy: Mr Biden is not in great health (to put it mildly). The election takes place in 2009? He will be 78/79 years of age by then. If he dies in office then she rocks to the top table. I think I'd like to hear little more of her and less doublle page spreads, I guess,

Figures state (and take these with a pinch of salt as I have heard figures from 4% to 11% so am averaging) that - simply due to his age (72) - John McCain has around a 7% chance of dying during his first term and a 26% of dying in his second term (he would be 80 as his 2nd term closes).

Although this in itself doesn't sound particularly interesting, it does mean that in the (not unlikely) event of McCain's death - a right wing inexperienced fundamentalist Christian mother - who considers the war in Iraq to be a holy war, believes in creationism and that on death she is amongst those chosen by god and will ascend to heaven - would have her hand on the Nuclear button.

nought to do with her views or policies.

Of course.

the main claim here was that Barrack was very inexperienced, I thought the mating of him with a "safe pair of hands" would be a decent balance?

That's the line the Democrats are running with, yes.

I have no issue with his age at all. He has seen far more than I ever will but he is not in good health...

Certainly based on the radio that I've listened to recently, I've heard blatant Obahma shot downs but for this lady nothing but praise? She mentioned something about a total victory in Iraq, yet this has not been picked up n much

Figures state (and take these with a pinch of salt as I have heard figures from 4% to 11% so am averaging) that - simply due to his age (72) - John McCain has around a 7% chance of dying during his first term and a 26% of dying in his second term (he would be 80 as his 2nd term closes).

Although this in itself doesn't sound particularly interesting, it does mean that in the (not unlikely) event of McCain's death - a right wing inexperienced fundamentalist Christian mother - who considers the war in Iraq to be a holy war, believes in creationism and that on death she is amongst those chosen by god and will ascend to heaven - would have her hand on the Nuclear button.

shudder

My friend Taryn summed it up thus:

Wow. I don't even know where to begin.. I guess I will start from the moment of desperation that McCain made the surprise announcement that Sarah Palin would be his running mate. My immediate thought was, well sure he wants a woman to shake up the ticket and possibly attract some of those so-called PUMAS that seem to be more of a Republican troll phenomenon, than an actual movement. But really isn't the Republican party filled with many more qualified women?

As a result, it was obvious to me that he was picking her as the token running mate, who would be appear to be an asset on the campaign trail, but not challenge his leadership or burden his administration with policy ideas, powerful friends, and a formidable reputation. All of those bothersome bits that a pick like Condoleeza Rice, Liddy Dole, Carly Fiorina, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Christine Todd Whitman would have brought to the table. He doesn't want to have to govern with a woman as a partner, he wants to use a woman in the campaign.

Therefore, in his fit of pique and desperation to focus the post Democratic Convention news cycle/lovefest back to his campaign, he obviously didn't vet his choice as carefully as he should have. He has already lied about the vetting process in saying that the FBI had looked into her, when in fact they had not. Not really a big deal, but I think it speaks volumes about his campaign's desperate quest to cover up the mess and vet his pick now. This also speaks volumes about his judgment and temperment, and gives us a window into what we can expect from a McCain presidency. Seeing as how it is probable that three Supreme Court Justices may be picked during his administration, this should give pause to both liberals and conservatives: This was his first political appointment and he failed quite spectacularly!

As soon as I heard her first speech, I realized he had thrown this woman to the wolves, that she was completely unprepared for the world that she was being thrust into, and that it was only a matter of time before she said something naive and unsophisticated, that her place on the ticket would become a laughingstock. I did not think she would be inadvertently throwing her own family under the bus though.

In efforts to rebut the rumors circulating that her youngest son was actually her grandson, Palin responded by answering a question that WASN'T EVEN ASKED, and ended up committing the worst act of parental humiliation to ever be aimed at a teenager. She, without prompting, dropped the bombshell that her unmarried underage daughter Bristol was five months pregnant. I don't understand how that answers the first question (perhaps providing a record of the birth at the hospital would have been a better idea) or how it even puts those rumors to rest. What it does is entirely derail the campaign with a plot worthy of a daytime soap.

This is why the McCain campaign is now tightly restricting access to Palin. She will not be making any appearances except under the tightest controlled conditions. You will not see reporters given the opportunity to interview her, unless they are deemed to be "friendly" and have their questions vetted in advance.

While I agree that Bristol herself should not be made an issue in this campaign, the tangential issues are important to discuss Sarah Palin is on the extreme fringes of the anti-choice movement, not even supporting abortion rights in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life is in danger, meaning she wants to take away the choices that other women may want to make when confronted with an unwanted, coerced, or dangerous pregnancy. Sarah Palin is a proponent of abstinence only sex education despite the fact she knows it is not a viable solution to teen pregnancy, because, as the campaign says "Life Happens." Sarah Palin has voted to reduce funding for programs to provide services to unwed teenaged mothers. Which is a completely irresponsible, if not cruel position to take, given her support of abstinence-only education. This reinforces Barack Obama's point about the Republican's ownership society: You find yourself pregnant, underaged, unmarried, well you're having that baby and YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN.

Her support for these political positions need to be made an issue in this campaign, and need to be hammered hard in addition to all of the other baggage she brings to the ticket: Troopergate, Librariangate, and all of her other recorded abuses of executive power; her support for a secessionist party; her connections to Ted Stevens and her role in running a 527 fund for his benefit; her record on earmarks and wasteful spending, including the "Bridge to Nowhere" debacle.

I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

nought to do with her views or policies.

Since when have the US elections been anything to do with policies?

Certainly based on the radio that I've listened to recently, I've heard blatant Obahma shot downs but for this lady nothing but praise?

What radio have you listened to? I've heard a lot of non-praise for her recently.

I dont quite see the true analogy: Mr Biden is not in great health (to put it mildly). The election takes place in 2009? He will be 78/79 years of age by then. If he dies in office then she rocks to the top table. I think I'd like to hear little more of her and less doublle page spreads, I guess,

You mean McCain. He had skin cancer a couple of times but it hasn't recurred since. It takes place in November. He'll still be 72.

How many double page spreads did you hear on the radio?

If she is just like the others why are our media tripping all over themselves?

Because if they didn't, how would they fill all the column inches?

I'm a journalist, btw.

I suspect that this is intended to bolster McCain's 'maverick' credentials and that they think they can contain any issues from her history - she's not whiter than white, but she's accessible and for many of the poorer folks who vote Republican out of mis-directed aspiration she will probably make a good aspirational figure.

I think he's played a smarter hand than the media realises, basically, but it's hard to shake off the dominant narrative once one in established.

Figures state (and take these with a pinch of salt as I have heard figures from 4% to 11% so am averaging) that - simply due to his age (72) - John McCain has around a 7% chance of dying during his first term and a 26% of dying in his second term (he would be 80 as his 2nd term closes).

Although this in itself doesn't sound particularly interesting, it does mean that in the (not unlikely) event of McCain's death - a right wing inexperienced fundamentalist Christian mother - who considers the war in Iraq to be a holy war, believes in creationism and that on death she is amongst those chosen by god and will ascend to heaven - would have her hand on the Nuclear button.

+1

Worth noting that the Repulicans have lost support and interest from the evangelical right and middle to far right areas of the voting demographic with John McCain lacking some of the forthrightness of Bush. Add to that a need to counter the strong female profile that Hillary Clinton added to the Democratic Campaign and Sarah Palin starts ticking a lot of handy boxes.

She also ticks the connection with the smaller straight talking communities box and a cynic might suggest the pregnant teen daughter marrying the father will be spun into tolerance, forgiveness and redemption. One almost expects a breakdown in relationship that will be used to fuel the abstinence campaign and prop up Palin as a good, caring mother. You could write better politics, but it would be dangerously difficult to choreograph.

Although this in itself doesn't sound particularly interesting, it does mean that in the (not unlikely) event of McCain's death - a right wing inexperienced fundamentalist Christian mother - who considers the war in Iraq to be a holy war, believes in creationism and that on death she is amongst those chosen by god and will ascend to heaven - would have her hand on the Nuclear button.

Well, isn't that what we have now? (Apart from the mother bit)

am i right in thinking she's the one who's had seven months of political experience in alaska?

so here's the thing - US politics are not about who's policies are best - in order to get the populist vote both parties have to be broadly centre-right on immigration, abortion, the "war", welfare etc. differences are about degrees of variance on a theme.

So the only remaining battleground is "who do you trust". And that's about personality, team dynamic, etc. People know that the real power is with corporations, not with politicians.

Interesting times for America - has it had enough of fear, uncertainty and doubt?