Open thread on the GOP ticket.

There seems to be a lot of "evidence" concerning the prior career, beliefs and character of Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.  pl

Comments

[paul]

I'm still figuring out what to think about Sarah Palin --- maybe once she does a press conference. But I will say that, by putting forward a VP nominee without vetting her (as is clearly the case, despite the GOP damage control talking points), John McCain has proven himself to be astonishingly reckless.

[Ronald]

In choosing Palin as he did, McCain failed his first test as potential president.

It is that simple. Only cultural conservatives can be happy with this pick.

BTW, I have never been impressed by experience alone. The pertinent question is always whether someone has benefitted from his or her experience. Has McCain?

[CP]

VPILF in a thong PL?

Appeals to the Nascar folks, and probably u and I.

[Sidney O. Smith III]

Looks like a tsunami is headed her way. Can’t tell yet.

But, regardless, don’t alienate her culture, you need the votes. And then go after McCain for his poor “judgment”. As Paul writes…“astonishingly reckless”.

In fact, you can flip his selection process around and use it to press his buttons. Golden opportunity. But it’s very important that Democrats stress that the “meltdown” , so to speak, was not her fault but his, at least in my opinion.

Press his buttons now, so he doesn’t have the opportunity to press a nuclear launch button later. The last thing we need is a prez who takes a look at the prospect of nuclear war and then says, “Yes we can”.

Obama, by the way, handled the rumor mill very well yesterday, in my opinion. Appeared very classy. Much better than some of his more ardent supporters.

[soopermouse]

If vetting is so important to you, why was Obama not vetted?
Of course Palin appeals to social conservatives, that is the whole reason to have her. However, do not underestimate her. She managed to singlehandedly erase Obama's convention bump. No small feat, that. As for the "evidence"? Insofar all I see are smears

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Looking at the foreign press, this item turns up in the Guardian/London:

"New revelations about the Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin — including her membership of a party that wants Alaskans to vote on becoming a separate country — are raising questions about how thoroughly John McCain's campaign vetted her background before adding her to the ticket.

Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence party (AIP) before becoming an elected Republican official, according to party members, and recorded a video message for the AIP convention this year. The AIP's chief goal is securing Alaska a vote on seceding from the US, a goal that party leaders believe the state was denied before it became part of the US almost 50 years ago."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/02/
uselections2008.republicans20085

Her video to the 2008 AIP Convention at
http://www.akip.org/conv08.html

So Alaska as a separate country to await the "End Times" as her trained in Arizona Armageddonist preacher Ed Kalnins in Wasilla puts it?

[Lysander]

After some observation I've come to the conclusion that Palin wouldn't make a good president. That said, the things that bother the left the most about Palin don't trouble me at all. I like the second amendment (even though I've never owned a gun.) I like states being free of Federal domination. I'm pro choice but I've got no problem with differing opinions on the matter. Her daughter's life is none of my business and we are all hypocrites to some degree. Experience? Honestly, how hard can it be? I'm of the firm belief that the country can run itself and the less that the government does the better. Lack of experience is a plus. Of course, without considerable political skill, one does not become President.

No. My problem is that she is probably pro war, pro empire and feels both are a god given assignment. That sort of thing scares me, but makes her no worse than any other candidate.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Neocons endorse Palin.

Bill Kristol was high on Palin 29 June in an interview with FOX:

"CHRIS WALLACE (host): Bill, how important the Clintons, and will Bill Clinton stop sulking in his tent like Achilles and behave?

KRISTOL: Psychoanalyzing Bill Clinton is a tough role, a tough task. I think Hillary Clinton was gracious. She's put behind her the horrible sexism and misogyny the Democratic primary voters demonstrated, which I'm appalled by, personally. Never would have happened in the Republican Party. You know, we're -- Republicans are much more open to strong women. And that's why McCain's going to put Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, on the ticket as vice president.

WALLACE: Is that your prediction?

KRISTOL: That's my -- I'm moving from [Louisiana Gov. Bobby] Jindal to Palin. I'm being even bolder. She's fantastic, yeah. You know, she was the point guard on the Alaska state championship high school basketball team in 1982. She could take Obama one-on-one on the court. Be fantastic.

Anyway, I do think -- I actually think Sarah Palin would be a great vice presidential pick, and it would be interesting to actually -- to have a woman on the Republican ticket after Hillary Clinton has come so close and failed on the Democratic side." http://mediamatters.org/items/200806290001

[Ed]

I think the far right may have found the perfect female candidate with Palin. She doesn't mind being objectified and she likes to shoot things.

[Perry]

"If vetting is so important to you, why was Obama not vetted?"-soopermouse.

It is called a Primary: Over a year of campaigning in public, many (too many) debates, town hall meetings, interviews, attacks from both the left and right, and actual citizens voting (over 18 million for him). If that is not vetting I do not know what vetting is. You need to wipe the kool-aid mustache off of your upper lip.

[Lynne]

Governor Palin is a right wing Christian theocrat. McCain needs her to win this election.

If a majority of Americans are comfortable that she can take over the presidency (due to death or illness), the GOP ticket will probably win.

National Security is still the number one issue in this election. I am old enough to remember the 1964 flower commercial and the Kennedy missile gap.

[lina]

Piling on to what people have already said (and ignoring Col. Lang's specific writing assignment) we can formulate a judgment about each of these candidates by the first executive decision they made, i.e., VP selection.

Obama went with the cautious, safe, establishment choice. McCain went with an impulsive choice based on very little information.

Take what you will from this first test of Presidential behavior.

[William R. Cumming]

The Republican ticket is designed to lead not govern. Unfortunately after eight years of posturing as a leader, most Americans now understand what real leadership means. And it could be this ticket. Question of course is how do you work with a Republican party almost competely devoid of talent that is not somehow even now ripping off the public and America's future. We do need two strong competent parties. Right now I would argue that there are none. McCain and Palin, whether elected or defeated, will hasten a realignment that will leave the Republican party created by Ronald Reagan as completely behind as Reagan's party left IKE's party. This could be interesting to watch. Neither of these people is completely sure of what they believe but you can be sure if elected they will show up for sure and we might like it or might not. They cannot be considered predictable in any way but hey McCain was a jet fighter pilot was he not? Jinking meant living or not being shot down? Oh he was shot down? Just means his jinking then was not the best. Maybe now it is.

[The Dude Abides]

McCain's choice of Gov. Jerry Springer (R-Alaska) is already backfiring big time in the polls. The four national polls released today all show a 6% to 9% lead for Obama. A higher percentage of disaffected Hillary voters will vote for Obama because of McCain's veep pick, as will a higher percentage of independents. She has already lawyered up in the abuse of power probe back home, and her attorney says she "might not have time" to give her deposition before election day, and is also claiming executive privilege. To independents and wayward Democrats, that sounds too much like the Bush Administration. Now, combine this with her stance against teaching sex education in public schools, her desire to outlaw contraception for married couples, her tacit support of Alaska's secession from the US (why was she so eager to get home to Alaska for her baby's birth? so he could be a citizen of the country of Alaska?), her husband Todd Palin firing a member of her staff because the staffer wouldn't break up with the ex-wife of one of Todd's friends, etc...well, you get the picture. It's not a pretty one for McCain.

[alnval]

Col. Lang:

re Sidney Smith's possible tsunami, the AP reports this evening that the RNC has cancelled its TV ad buys in New Mexico.

"Republicans' Senate campaign arm called off television ads Tuesday that were to air in New Mexico in the run-up to Election Day, an indication that it's leaving the GOP candidate there to fend for himself as the party braces for losses.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee's decision to cancel the New Mexico spots reflects its priorities during a tough year for the GOP, with the party lagging badly in fundraising and resigned to losing seats in the Senate."

To the extent that this is (to mix the metaphor) the tip of an iceberg, what substantive factors the public might use to rearrange the deckchairs may not be nearly as important as the sheer absence of cash.

[zanzibar]

Via Laura Rozen:

David Frum

Us Weekly

How does the juxtaposition of these two points of view play in the Rust Belt?

[Dumass]

The fact is that even if an "ordinary" person was somehow parachuted into the presidency, the fact of simply occupying the office would confer a power and gravitas on that person. He/she would have access to the best brains on the planet (for example, is it really necessary for a candidate to personally know all the "stans" and their power-brokers vs. having this info provided as needed?), be accorded an automatic deference, etc., etc. I'd posit you could do better with someone of good sense and instincts vs. just someone smart...

[Small Axe]

McCain, in his first 'presidential' decision, failed to get his way. He didn't prevail over the Christianist wing of his Party, who were never enthusiastic about McCain. He wanted Lieberman or Ridge, and he was overruled. I guess he's not The Decider.

I imagine McCain relented on Palin in a fit of pique, but also assumed that she wouldn't get in his way.

Palin, for all of her good qualities, is in no way qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. She is not the choice of a candidate who puts country first, but of a candidate who needed to appease his Party's base.

[Simon]

@soopermouse:

the polls quite clearly show a bounce..not just that but women seemed to have firmed into the Obama camp

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/

Palin may have 'electrfied' the GOP base..but who else were they gonna vote for? She's just scared off the moderates who may have voted McCain.

[David W.]

Palin is to VP picks what Harriet Miers was to Supreme Court nominees--is there an Alito equivalent waiting in the wings?

[Walter Moore]

Palin is a theocrat - and that pernicious type of theocrat who wants to push creationism in schools. That alone disqualifies her from any job of importance - heck it should have disqualified her from the PTA.

Our nation can not survive as a great power if we dismantle our education system. We'll rot out from within.

McCain has demonstrated that streak of rashness choosing Palin - I just can not trust him in command of our nation's military.

Obama-Biden by default.

[Paul]

The punditry always rely on conventional polling at elections.

Polls cannot measure the mood of those who are registering and voting for the first time this year - and they are plenty of them.

I see a thumping of McCain/Palin.

[greg0]

McCain has revealed that he and Palin would be no better than Bush and Cheney.
Palin has attempted to use the power of the state for personal vendettas. The reformer label is a bad joke with her involvement in questionable fundraising and earmarks.
Science is a bigger mystery than the Bible to her. There is no 'final' authority in science saying "you shall believe!". Global warming will continue to be ignored.
If elected, they will not solve any real problems. Torture, rendition, and shredding the US Constitution will continue. The media and public will be endlessly whirled from crisis to crisis and military conflict will be their only answer, even to domestic unrest.

[m savoca]

supermouse above wrote

If vetting is so important to you, why was Obama not vetted?

----

obama was vetted over the course of 6 months of elections, press reports and investigations, criticism by members of his own party and the other

[Mr.Murder]

She wanted to secede from one of the 57 states Obama plans on being President for...

doesn't she know her place as a woman?