Tag: Sarah Palin (page 17)

Toby Harshaw, co-author of the New York Times Opinionator blog, writes up my post suggesting John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate will turn out to be another George McGovern-Thomas Eagleton scenario. He notes Ann Althouse's disagreement with me, calling it a "blogspat." Toby writes:

The Opinionator is enjoying an enlightening little blogspat between two of his favorites, Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft and Ann Althouse.

Merritt is taking bets on when Sarah Palin will drop out, Thomas Eagleton-style, saying of the historical parallel that: “It had nothing to do with Eagleton’s particular problems, but how [George] McGovern came to choose him, failed to adequately vet him, and then waffled when the problems arose, effectively costing him the election.”

“John McCain picked Sarah Palin to get the enthusiastic support of the evangelical, radical right,” she argues. He didn’t think it would matter that she has no national experience because he perceived he could argue Obama didn’t either.”

On Ann, he writes, in part:

The day John McCain appointed Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee, I wrote:

Did John McCain just repeat George McGovern's fatal mistake? How long will Palin stay on the ticket? Will McCain recover any better than McGovern?

It had nothing to do with Eagleton's particular problems, but how McGovern came to choose him, failed to adequately vet him, and then waffled when the problems arose, effectively costing him the election. I wrote about this recently when reviewing the new Gonzo film about Hunter S. Thompson:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has retained counsel to represent her in an legislative investigation into whether she abused her power in Troopergate.

Anchorage attorney Thomas V. Van Flein has requested a copy of all witness statements and documentary evidence from the Legislature's investigator, Stephen Branchflower.

Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat, responded on behalf of Branchflower, saying he instructed Branchflower not to comply with the request.

Lawyering up is the smart thing to do. She probably should have done it months ago. Retaining a lawyer bears no connection to guilt. No inference of wrong-doing should be drawn from it. [More...]

Again, we are not discussing Gov. Sarah Palin's family issues. Zero tolerance policy.

But, I won't be silenced from discussing reasons to oppose her and the Republican party.

• Max Blumenthal in The Nation: Ultra-Right Wing Christian Cabal Vetted Palin In MN Last Week

• Katha Pollit, The Nation, Wrong Woman for the Job

• Arianna Huffington: Saving the GOP and the Unbearable Lightness of Being Sarah Palin:

More...

Hillary Clinton's advisers tell the New York Times she will increase her campaigning for the Obama/Biden ticket. One reason: McCain's choice of Sarah Palin and Palin's co-opting of her campaign theme.

Mrs. Clinton’s friends said she was galled that Ms. Palin might try to capitalize on a movement that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, built among women in the primaries....Guy Cecil, the former political director of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, said it was “insulting” for Republicans to compare Ms. Palin to Mrs. Clinton.

Hillary's advisers have no problem making the inexperience argument against Palin: [More...]

The Washington Post writes that the McCain campaigned explained the detailed and thorough vetting process it used for Gov. Sarah McCain.

Nor, he said, was Palin selected without having gone through the full vetting process that was done for other finalists. That process included reviews of financial and other personal data, an FBI background check and considerable discussion among the handful of McCain advisers involved in the deliberations.

"Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages, and John had access to all that information and made the decision," Davis said. "It's really not much more complicated than that."

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Want to know why James Dobson is so fired up about McCain/Palin when he refused to support McCain before her addition to the Republican ticket?

I've opined before it's to get the evangelical vote, but Harper's has done a little more research.

Since becoming governor in 2006, Palin has attended the Juneau Christian Center, where Mike Rose serves as senior pastor. Her previous pastor was David Pepper of the Church on the Rock in Palin’s hometown of Wasilla — a church that “was kind of a foundation for her.”

Here's a sample of their sermons: [More...]

Maureen Dowd's Vice in Go-Go Boots spares no one. There's plenty of shots at Obama and Michelle and McCain as well. The least offensive snippet:

This chick flick, naturally, features a wild stroke of fate, when the two-year governor of an oversized igloo becomes commander in chief after the president-elect chokes on a pretzel on day one.

You want to complain about sexist treatment of Palin by the media? Here's your chance. It's not the blogs, or at least this one, that is writing this stuff.

Joe Conasen at Salon:

It is hard to think of a more cynical and contemptuous political act this year than John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. Having served as governor of Alaska for less than two years -- and as mayor of a small town before that -- her qualifications for national office are minimal.

Palin is the epitome of tokenism, exactly what conservative Republicans have always claimed to scorn, until today, as the politics of quotas and political correctness.

John Kerry this morning on why women Hillary supporters won't flock to McCain/Palin: [More...]

USA Today has released the results of its first poll on Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice of a Republican vice-presidential running mate.

39% say she is ready to serve as president if needed, 33% say she isn't, and 29% have no opinion.

That's the lowest vote of confidence in a running mate since the elder George Bush chose then-Indiana senator Dan Quayle to join his ticket in 1988. In comparison, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was seen as qualified by 57%-18% after Democrat Barack Obama chose him as a running mate last week.

There's other numbers in the poll that are favorable to the McCain-Palin ticket, particularly those related to the lack of importance of the VP candidate of both parties to their decision as to whom to vote for. And while Obama's speech was viewed favorably, it doesn't seem to have resulted in gaining him a lot of new voters.

Sarah Palin's mother-in-law hasn't decided who she will vote for in November.

Faye Palin admitted she enjoys hearing Barack Obama speak, and still hasn't decided which way she'll vote. "We don't agree on everything. But I respect her passion," she said. "Being pro-life is who Sarah is."

Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday. "I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative.

One of the residents of Wasila told the News: [More...]

Yesterday we noted the Washington Post picked up on Troopergate. Tonight, it's McClatchy.

Is Gov. Sarah Palin ready for what's coming her way?