McCain picks Alaska Gov. Palin as running mate

[Mooseman]

Sen. John McCain has picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a senior McCain campaign official told CNN on Friday.
Palin, 44, who's in her first term as governor, is a pioneering figure in Alaska, the first woman and the youngest person to hold the state's top political job.

Wow, that is totally from left field....

Was this a great pick or was it a dud?

Not sure myself, but the GOP can now court all those Hilary lovers and hold up a female choice for them..... At least he didn't pick Clueless Tom Ridge or that Richardson guy......

 

[EricBess]

Cursory reading of who she is and what she stands for, I personally like her.

However, I'm concerned that this is such an obvious ploy to get the vote from a group of people who are strictly voting gender rather than voting what they feel is best for the country.

If you get that vote and lose the vote of people who feel it is just sloppy politics, then I'm not sure it's worth it. I'm not sure if we'll ever know for sure what influences any one piece has, but it just is one more aspect of politics that sickens me.

 

[BigBlue]

Oh, for a second I thought it was Michael Palin... and I was like, but he's not even American....

Let's see.... Obama talks about how it's time for Equal Pay for Equal work.... vs. Token female chosen as running mate...

Which way will undecided women go?

 

[Mooseman]

Wow, BB can you be more slanted?
If he had picked that guy from Minn, would you say it was a token male?
If it was Mitt, would you say it was a token conservative?
What about Biden? Was he a token NE guy that may help him win PA and VI?

It's more like this..... one Pres/VP ticket is "little experience/lots of experience" and the other is "lots of experience/little experience"....

I still don't know what Obama's platform is? Chang?, Change to what is my question.

 

[DarthFerret]

Amazingly enough, Obama had one of his best (if not THE best) speaches of his life last night, and still had no substantive platforms in it.

And did ya catch what Carter said ..??? He said that if Obama lost by a few percentage points, it would be because of a race issue.

Isn't it funny how the only people bringing up the race card, are democrats (more specifically those that are in Obama's camp)?

I have not heard too much about this VP pick from Alaska, but what little I have heard so far sounds pretty good. I will have to look into it more before forming a solid opinion one way or the other.

Was it a token nomination to gain the support of the women and the younger generation? Was it to help his ticket have more conservative values by adding someone a little more right than McCain? Was it some other reason that has yet to be voiced? The big question is, who cares? Does it matter what the reason is, if you agree with her politics, and can tolerate his politics over Obama's, vote for him. If not, then vote for Obama, or the independent guy. Or stay home. Does not really matter to me. That argument just seems to be a big waste of time.

Now, if anyone has any info on her, or how she has set policies (talking about the Veep choice by McCain), please let me know what they are so that I can get more info here.

 

[BigBlue]

MM - my point was, if McCain hopes to pick up undecided female votes by picking a woman as a running mate, I don't think it'll work... Obama indicated he's going to work towards the Equal Pay for Equal Work legislation... that's pretty powerful to women.

I'm still undecided in the race. If I had to vote today, I'd probably vote Obama... but, I'm not convinced he's got the experience I want to see... One thing I definately don't want to see what we had with GWB ever again... a powerful VP office vis-a-vis Cheney... I'm not saying that's going to happen w/ either candidate, but the VP is not supposed to have the power... We elect the president for the office, and a VP for "emergencies".

DF - I don't think it's so much pulling the race card as stating a fact. There is a certain portion of the population who would vote for Roger Rabbit before they vote for a minority race. It's a small percentage, but it's there, and if McCain wins by a slim margin, that could be the reason. JC is not saying a vote for McCain is neccessarilly a racist vote. at least not the way I read it.

 

[EricBess]

To clarify my point a bit....I don't know if this was a token choice or not, just that it certainly has the appearance of being so. I also like what I have read about her.

I'm sure McCain won't lose any of his solid supporters, but people on the fence can change opinions for any number of reasons and personally, "playing politics" is a peeve of mine. Show me what you will do for my country, not what you will do to make yourself more appealing. And yeah, Obama and the race card are no better.

 

[Mooseman]

MM - my point was, if McCain hopes to pick up undecided female votes by picking a woman as a running mate, I don't think it'll work... Obama indicated he's going to work towards the Equal Pay for Equal Work legislation... that's pretty powerful to women.

So, is McCain against it? You put Equal pay and Female running mate in direct contrast to each other, as if they should be compared..... Obama didn't pick Hilary... why... because she is a stronger candidate than he is? She's female? I think it could sway fence sitters who wanted Hilary, since McCain isn't as far right of her as Oboma is left of her.

DF - I don't think it's so much pulling the race card as stating a fact. There is a certain portion of the population who would vote for Roger Rabbit before they vote for a minority race. It's a small percentage, but it's there, and if McCain wins by a slim margin, that could be the reason. JC is not saying a vote for McCain is neccessarilly a racist vote. at least not the way I read it.

And there is a percent of the population who will vote for Obama just because he is a "minority". And some will vote for McCain just because he isn't a "minority". Why bring it up at all...... I think the Dems want to try and guilt some people into voting their way..... Not that the Reps wouldn't have tried it the opposite way, the Dems just beat them to punch.....

 

[Killer Joe]

Romney, Guilliani or Ron Paul would've been better choices. The G.O.P. needs to be more moderate in order to grab the Hilliary crowd. The worry over losing conservative votes is ridiculous. No "real" right-winger would vote for a democrat or stay home to not vote and allow a democrat to to win. That should've never been a concern for McCain, he screwed up.

Palin is a very good choice for the 'whinning' concservatives who STILL consider McCain as being too far to the center, she's Pro-Life, she's fighting the good fight for oil drilling in Anwar, she's young and is just about the best role-model for being a Super-Mom what with five children (certainly a plus for conservatives).

But again, the G.O.P. crumbled to the Evangelical's instead of thinking about how they practically had the presidency in-the-bag, Obama HANDED the G.O.P. the keys to the White House with Joe "I'm the token crusty old white guy we needed to cover Obama's @$$" Biden.

JEEZSH!

The G.O.P. blinked first, too bad too, though I'm a democrat I could've lived with the real McCain and a side kick of the likes of Joe Liberman or Rudy, but not now, John got bad advice from stupid people.

Maybe I will stay home that day...

 

[mythosx]

But again, the G.O.P. crumbled to the Evangelical's instead of thinking about how they practically had the presidency in-the-bag, Obama HANDED the G.O.P. the keys to the White House with Joe "I'm the token crusty old white guy we needed to cover Obama's @$$" Biden.

JEEZSH!

The G.O.P. blinked first, too bad too, though I'm a democrat I could've lived with the real McCain and a side kick of the likes of Joe Liberman or Rudy, but not now, John got bad advice from stupid people.

Maybe I will stay home that day...

HHHAHAHAhaH...

I am just making an observation but it seems like McCain is trying to pull a bait and switch. He looks like he's about to die any second while standing up and I personally think he picked Palin as if to say, "Hey, If you vote for me your putting a woman into the white house!"

 

[Killer Joe]

Pigs and lipstick, what's that all about?

 

[Mooseman]

Sleazy political campaigning.....

I am getting sick of this whole thing..... and I don't watch much TV news or read all the news sites online either......

Now, where are the hot pictures of that pig with lipstick?

 

[mythosx]

Pigs with lipsticks, pit bulls with lipsticks, hockey mom's with lipsticks. Revlon must be making a fortune, gotta get me a slice of that action.

I want to hear the issues! I want real substance! I would like a Twix Bar! That should be Obama's platform. One free Twix Bar for every person!

 

[DarthFerret]

Ha ha Mythosx! If you want real substance, good luck finding that from Obama. I have heard change and hope but not what kinds of change or what the hope is for.

As for McCain, he has taken a stance on most of the issues that he has been asked to address (even the ones that have some of the GOP in a bit of a snit...say Immigration policy). Palin seems to be pretty straightforeward with her politics. Have not heard alot from Biden, but then what little I have heard seems to be mostly anit-Bushism.

In addition to the pigs with lipsticks comment, Obama made another ill-timed and ill-performed attempt at a joke. He stated that a fish wraped up for 8 years still smells bad, or something to that effect. He never did state who he was targeting with it. I know it is stupid smear stuff, but I just wondered who he was trying to refer to. McCain?, Bush?, Palin?, Biden? D)

Ah well, it seems that people generally are about 50/50 (in reality 48%/48%) in regards to McCain/Palin vs. Obama/Biden. I guess that just means that the smears will keep on comming.

**Not everyone likes Twix, how about a free Hershey's brand bar of your choice?**

 

[EricBess]

The paper ran an article recently that talked about Obama slamming McCain for "Making stuff up". I read through it and apparently, Obama was referring to McCain "reinventing himself as a proponent for change", stating that McCain's record is to support the Bush administration.

Now, I'm not always up on the issues, but didn't McCain speak out against the way certain things were handled in Iraq...before they did them? Yeah, he was for attacking, but I seem to recall that he was concerned about having a follow-up plan in place first or something.

Regardless, as far as I can tell, the only thing McCain has said about change is "reform" and that his goal is to clean up Washington and stop the pork-bellies. My further understanding is that Palin stood up to the special interests in Alaska regarding similar issues, which would explain why she was chosen (or at least give a good excuse).

 

[mythosx]

Darth ferret, I agree that Obama hasn't really taken a hard line on many issues, but the same goes for McCain. I am at the point where it is enough just to be anti-bush though. He's pretty much run us into the ground.

The whole John McCain maverick thing is a load. It reminds of the grass roots movement for net neutrality. All of a sudden big telecom was saying they were for net neutrality. Two opposite sides both claiming they were fighting for the same thing. Load of poop. There is nothing that John McCain says that he is going to do that would help me in the slightest. Even if we started cranking out oil in Anwar(spelling) today, the price of gas would still be the same. It's a huge sham to trick the people who don't understand economics.

 

[Mooseman]

The whole John McCain maverick thing is a load.

Actually, McCain has been working on reform for over 10 years.... campaign finance among others and he didn't just suddenly become a maverick, he earned that nickname by working with and against Democrats for a long time.
When both parties like and dislike one person, that is the one I will vote for.....