Who? Palin? Is that her family name?

"Ms. Palin then took the stage with her husband, Todd, who owns a commercial fishing business. They were accompanied by four of their five children; she said the eldest child, a son, is in the Army, and he is heading to Iraq on Sept. 11.

She described herself as “just your average hockey mom,” who joined the P.T.A., was elected to the City Council and then served as mayor and as governor, adding that she did not get into government to take the safe course.

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not why the ship is built,” Ms. Palin said, adding that she would “challenge the status quo to serve the common good.”

Ms. Palin praised the achievements of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost a long and bitter primary race against Senator Obama, saying that she had left “18 million cracks” in the highest glass ceiling in the land.

Then, making an explicit appeal to Ms. Clinton’s disappointed supporters, she said, “It turns out that the women in America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling.”

Ms. Palin, a former mayor of the small town of Wasilla, an Anchorage suburb, and one-time beauty pageant queen, first rose to prominence as a whistle-blower uncovering ethical misconduct in state government. "  NY Times

--------------------------------------------------------------

Mrs. Smith goes to Washington?

Let's see - What else is there?  Oh, yes, evangelical Christian, handicapped infant child, probably only a couple of houses so far.

Well, hell.  At least she isn't pushing "peak oil."  How bad can it be?

Alexandria, Virginia is full of people just like her.  As driver for "she who must be obeyed," I go to meetings chock full of them.  There are always people there who are on the school board or who want to be on the school board, city council members, planning commission members...  You get the idea.  By and large, they nearly all secretly hope that one thing will lead to another and someday they will be standing in the sun somewhere telling a crowd that "women in America aren't finished yet" or some other inanity. 

This fantasy life is not so funny today.  It actually happened for this "hockey mom," married to a part Eskimo fishing boat captain.  Hell, we may see this man on "Deadliest Catch" next season.  That's a thought.  Is this guy going to have to give up fishing?  No way!

"Is this a great country or what?"  pl

PS  Jose points out that I left out all the "Natty Bumppo" stuff about moose hunting, NRA life membership, etc.  I never gutted anything bigger than a white tail deer.  A moose must be an "awesome" job.  pl

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html?hp

Comments

[Matthew]

As the problems get more serious, we get sillier.

P.S. Nice Rumpole reference.

[Jose]

Col, you missed the best part of her, she is Moose hunter.

[charlottemom]

Off-handedly I'd say that this smells of desparation by McCain. Gimmicky, yes. They've met only once, so who is it who cosigned on this risky "investment" for McCain? I wonder...anyway, I can't see the few Hillary diehards gravitating to her (ideologies miles apart, too much of older woman does heavy lifting and then young, attractive woman slips in to reap benefits narrative). One Rep suggested that this is not really about McCain grabbing the women's vote, but of solidifying the blue collar men, perhaps.

Anyway the three point shot is attempted by McCain, will he score or is it an airball? We'll see.

Yes, I'd love to know her surname. Really anything really. No one really knows about her or Alaska politics, so McCain can frame it as he'd like and really who'd know.
I chuckled when MSNBC described Biden as "Catholic" and Palin as "Christian"

[frank durkee]

I have been in Alaska for the opening of moose season. It was some years ago and I was driving across the then dirt "Denali Road" [ it may still be that ]. Hunters were lined up to essentially massacare the Moose who were grazing between 15 feet to 1500 feet of the roas, on open tundra, with no impediments untill you got to the base of the Alaska Range. Rifles were being rested on the hoods of vehicles to steady the shoots. I had coffee from my camper eith a couple who's real decision was whether they wanted to drag the body the 150 feet of the nearest bull. it was not "hunting" as much as culling and providing for the Winter. Understandable and o.k., but not a highskill project, at least on that day in that place.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Bio data indicates she is from an outdoors oriented Idaho family which moved to Alaska. I like to hunt and fish myself but I am still voting for Obama to register my opposition to the past eight catastrophic years of W and The Evil One.

" Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Sarah (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach.[2][3] She has English, Irish, and German ancestry.[2] Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.[3] The Heaths were avid outdoors enthusiasts; Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.[3]

At Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was the head of the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes.[3] She was the point guard and captain for the basketball team. She helped the team win the Alaska small-school championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds, despite a stress fracture in her ankle.[3] She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play,[3] and was the leader of team prayer before games.[3]

In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla contest earlier, then finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant,[4] which won her a scholarship to help pay her way through college.[3] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.[5][6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

One indicator would be her association with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. McCain strategists would calculate her as firming up the Christian Right vote. About 70 percent of US evangelicals are on the conservative side, experts say. With her on the ticket they will indeed come out Election Day.

FCA says: "We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God."
This indicates a fundamentalist literalist orientation. In turn this could, but not necessarily, indicate a Christian Zionist perspective on her part.
http://www.fca.org/

[Hudson]

And Palin, just a month ago, stated that she wasn't aware of what the job of Vice President entailed.

Not ready on Day One.

[dcgaffer]

I had assumed the following McCain quote was made up, an Onion satire - but no...

"...As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself," the statement said, "Gov. Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops."

I suppose that it is good she doesn't have a Dick Cheney complex, see link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtilB1teksc

[Cold War Zoomie]

Hmmm, sledgehammer vs. beauty queen in the VP debates!

Will it resemble this midnight movie classic "short" from my youth?

[John Shreffler]

Rash. McCain is the latest reincarnation of Gen, John Bell Hood, whom Gen. Lee described as “All of the lion, none of the fox.” Seems like a desperation play to me. On to Nashville and glory. Well, so much for General Petraeus.

[J]

Colonel,

IMO moose-burgers are awesome

[Mad Dogs]

I've been reading that McSame's choice choice of Palin is "good, bad, brilliant, incredibly stupid, etc."

The MSM, as expected for a gaggle of gotcha gossips, is beside itself with joy over fresh meat.

This too will pass.

After all the circus hoopla has died down, 48-72 hours for Palin, and for McSame, no later than the end of next week with the end of the Republican convention, the rubber will finally hit the road.

As the final stretch campaigning gets underway then, Palin will prove to be the lightest of light-weights. Cue the flashbacks to Dan Quayle.

And John-boy McSame will, in essence, be campaigning all by his lonesome.

The "judgement" and "experience" issues that were to be the central thrusts of the McSame playbook will instead be inexorably turned back against him.

And the most important point? This will be by McSame's very own hand.

Judgement? Poor will be charitable.

Experience? John-boy McSame should've known better.

He didn't, and he doesn't.

[Maureen Lang]

Not to put too fine a point on Mrs. Palin's extensive political background/run-up, but can we look forward to those beauty pageant photos surfacing sometime soon...

[Clifford Kiracofe]

S'more data on Palin the Pentecostal/Assemblies of God follower:

1. Jewish Telegraph Agency is naturally on it reporting Christian Coalition endorsement:
"Christian Coalition of America commends Senator John McCain for his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a pro-life conservative mother"

2. But for the real indicator consult Doug Wead the Karl Rove of the Christian Right. Wead coached Bush Sr, then Bush Jr. so as to lock in the Christian Right-evangelical vote for their campaigns. Bush Sr. introduced Wead to Jr.

Says Wead:
" What is Sarah Palin’s religion and why does it matter?
What is Sarah Palin’s Religion?

She is Assemblies of God.

Ted Boatsman, the former Alaskan District Superintendent for the Assemblies of God, was her junior high pastor at Wasilla Assemblies of God Church. She is currently attending Juneau Christian Center whose pastor is pastor is Mike Rose.

In high school she was the local leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

McCain does more than balance the ticket with a woman. He solves his complicated religious problem with Pentecostals, who according to a recent Barna survey make up almost half of all born again Christians. McCain’s on again off again relationships with John Hagee and Rod Parsley, as well as the ill timed Charles Grassley attack on six Pentecostal television ministries are now moot points.

But wait until MSNBC find out. Expect all hell to break loose. She will be portrayed as a pro creationist - Neanderthal. Just wait. And, as well intentioned as they will be, thinking that they are doing Obama a good deed, it will drive the Evangelicals into the McCain camp. All of Senator Obama’s kind overtures to people of faith will be for naught."
http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/what-is-sarah-palins-religion/

3. Next up, is what Rev. Hagee's Pentecostal (Neo-Pentecostal) reaction will be.

Foreign policy wise, Christian Zionists believe in a biblically prophesied "Armageddon scenario" involving evil powers such as: the European Union, the head of which is considered the Anti-Christ; Russia, China, Iraq (Babylon); and the Medo-Persians (Iran). The scenario includes nuclear war which they welcome as part of the unfolding of the "End Times" and "God's Plan".

To document Hagee's Christian Zionist position refer to CUFI "Christians United for Israel" website at:
http://www.cufi.org/site/PageServer

4. It is critically significant that Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Church strongly recommended Palin to McCain. Land, a Christian Zionist Armageddonist, was a key supporter of the Iraq War (against the evil one from Babylon..)
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/richard_lands_v.html

It will not be too long before world capitals draw conclusions about the Republican ticket. Interesting times indeed.

[Leila Abu-Saba]

Let the scientists report on her support for teaching creationism in the public schools:
http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/2006/10/27/intelligent_design_and_the_ala/

[alnval]

Col.Lang:

We may not have a fix on who this governor of Alaska is but it's clear that the social, fiscal and religious conservatives of the Republican party do.

Within minutes of Senator McCain's announcement, Phyllis Schlafly, Richard Viguerie, James Dobson and whoever is running the Club for Growth these days, gave Gov. Palin and Senator McCain their unequivocal support: something they had been averse to doing prior to the announcement.

I got the sense that they might have already known about the decision and maybe even had a hand in making it suggesting to me that their real goal is the grooming of Governor Palin to become the Republican candidate for president in 2012 assuming, of course, that Senator McCain wins.

Certainly, they will enrich McCain's coffers with money which he's likely to need. The McCain campaign announced today that they will be putting up new and additional ads in states that heretofore had been considered Republican territory.

Thoughts also come to mind such as how best to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and a prayer that a new Charles Dodgson will rise up from the ranks of lonely mathematicians and capture in palatable form the essence of the fantastic nonsense that is this era.

[David W.]

It's a nice folksy narrative, however, I have read elsewhere that her husband works for BP, and she is described in the Weekly Standard as "the nation's most prominent advocate of drilling in ANWR."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/palin_could_prompt_mccain_flip.php

I wonder if her creationist leanings are telling her that God put that oil there for Us to use?

[zanzibar]

It seems the moose hunting "hockey mom" could also be the next Dick Cheney.

[Cold War Zoomie]

After watching Obama's speech last night and considering McCain's VP choice, I'm rethinking my prediction that McCain will win in November. Usually the VP choice seems pretty inconsequential...but that's for younger candidates.

Let's see how McCain looks at his convention next week.

[Cold War Zoomie]

Oh, and I forgot. I was hoping she was married to this "Palin!"

[ked]

let's fight the Russkies in Alaska so we don't have to fight 'em over here.

[dlb]

Palin selection: Part gimmick, part pandering and 100% from Planet Zog. On the other hand, I strongly recommend the moose stroganoff my daughter-in-law made last fall.

[robt willmann]

Wow ... the remainder of this presidential campaign is going to be fabulous!

A friend called for lunch who, after a full career in the U.S. Air Force (including 137 missions over North Vietnam), won a couple of judicial races here (Texas elects judges in full-blown partisan elections) before losing one. He felt McCain had made a terrible choice and had sunk his campaign. At that time, I had only heard some of Sarah Palin's speech on the car radio.

Now that I have seen what she looks like and have read a little, I can see exactly what is going on.

This is Dog Whistle Politics, version 2.0.

Here, the subtext is not code language to activate prejudices and bigotry; it is a lifestyle and physical appearance that will touch a chord in relevant groups. It is not just the overt religion and opposition to abortion. This is more subtle than that.

There was McCain, standing as if at attention to Sarah Palin's right, after introducing her in his droning voice, looking almost bashful or maybe like a proud father, as she literally "took over".

As we say down here, she is a "good lookin' gal" (and Hillary Clinton ain't). Her voice and projection, so critically important, are more genuine than Hillary's, although fortunately for the Democrats she does not have the visceral verbal connection that former Texas Governor Ann Richards had.

Palin may be an "outdoorsy" person, but dressed up she can look just like the stereotypical Republican country club woman in Dallas or any Big City.

No one should scoff at or trivialize her National Rifle Association (NRA) membership, her fishing and hunting, her "blue collar" husband, and so forth.

Let me explain with a true story. A friend worked in Texas Governor Ann Richards' office and became part of her "inner circle". In 1990 Ann defeated a Republican oilman who began his campaign by riding a horse at the Texas Capitol building in Austin. But Richards was the quintessential Southern Matriarch, with the white hair, a splendid, natural, commanding voice with a slow cadence, and was tough as a boot. She became popular nationally. Then she made a fatal mistake--incomprehensible for someone as political as she was--and vetoed a law that established the right to carry a concealed handgun in Texas after you take a little course and get a license to do so.

In 1994, along came someone named George W. Bush, who announced that if elected, he would sign a concealed handgun bill. After Bush jr. won, my friend called me and said, "we lost the white men over 40". Unfortunately, the rest is still not history.

I wonder if Pastor Rick Warren will suggest a little question and answer session with the vice-presidential candidates at the church in San Diego?

Two critical questions present themselves about Sarah Palin:

1. Is she a quick study?

2. Can you jerk her chain easily by baiting her, or can she keep her cool?

If she is a quick learner and has composure, McCain, or I should say, his "handlers", chose well, and Joe Biden might find his head on a platter.

Sadly, she is hopelessly naive and wrong about the Iraq war and the other current military adventures.

If the public's opposition to the wars turns into voting action, and the electronic voting machines (which both vote for us and count the votes) do not rig the election, Palin's jingoistic position on the wars may save Obama's campaign.

But if Obama and Biden, who have not fought to reduce the war funding one dollar, mealy-mouth around about the wars, and fail to address the out-of-control national debt and do not clearly vow to restore civil liberties, Sarah Palin may just make their lives miserable.

[Paul]

"Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before."

Can ye hear it? I'm in Europe and that music can be heard in the wind.

How pathetic of McCain; a born-again follower!

[bystander]

from:
http://www.slate.com/id/2198949

"According to both the Aug. 29 Anchorage Daily News and the June 13 Colorado Springs Gazette, Sarah Palin became John McCain's vice presidential candidate largely through the machinations of someone even younger and less experienced than herself. From the Anchorage Daily News:

The hype can probably be traced to the Web site of a 21-year-old college senior majoring in political science at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Adam Brickley, a political buff who will graduate in May, started a "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President" blog last year and has relentlessly promoted the idea ever since. (continues...)"

[John Hammer]

Well, 24's David Palmer took credit for Obama's candidacy. For Palin, I'll give it to Battle Star's President Laura Roslin.
Bio:
Rank Secretary of Education of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol
President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (Miniseries - Eprisode 2.20, Episode 3.05 - current)
Colony Caprica
Affiliation Twelve Colonies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Roslin