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SHE'S just a beauty queen.

She's another Dan Quayle.

And ironically, the biggest criticism of Sarah Palin, John McCain's veep choice, is she has no experience. Funny, coming from the Barack Obama camp.

Following McCain's announcement of Palin - the first female to be put on a GOP ticket for the White House, and only the second in US history - the Obama campaign skipped the niceties and blasted her as the "former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience."

She's also a governor of Alaska (my home state), the first woman in that office and the youngest elected in state history. She has an 80-plus percent approval rating. She has turned the state upside down with her reformist zeal and has made enemies of the Republican establishment.

And she can talk energy policy, one of the biggest issues facing this country.

Is she a gamble? Definitely. But so is Barack Obama, who has himself dismissed experience as a prerequisite for leadership, despite his spot atop the Democratic ticket.

At this point, Palin is so unknown, there's no way to make a clear judgment about her. But listening to Obama supporters take to the airwaves to shriek with indignation about her lack of experience is just a little too rich. Where were they when Obama, two years into the Senate, announced his candidacy for president?

One Obama supporter and political operative blogged, "In picking an unknown, untested half-a-term governor from Alaska . . . John McCain is following in a long line of reckless men who have rolled the dice for a beauty queen."

Do we really have to do this again?

No sooner was Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the race, and a new woman is in the cross hairs.

On CNN, during a discussion about whether it was appropriate for Palin to accept this job when she has a baby, Dana Bash pointed out it's unlikely anyone would ask this of a male candidate.

I can't help wondering if this is a trap. The McCain camp watched and learned as Obama supporters offended Hillary supporters by their treatment of her. The McCainiacs had to know that this group is incapable of behaving, that Palin would bring out their worst instincts.

One top Republican said to me: "Just wait until she is debating Joe Biden and he starts attacking or condescending to her. Hillary voters are going to say, 'Oh yeah, I remember this.' "

The McCain camp has already made clear it stands at the ready to scoop up these voters. Yesterday, Palin proudly acknowledged her historic selection, the candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the woman who paved the way for her, Geraldine Ferraro.

Ferraro told me she's excited for another woman to be on a presidential ticket. She sees Palin as a risky choice - but also dismissed the idea that she's unqualified.

And she rejected the idea that all the so-called "Hillary voters" would be repelled by Palin's staunch anti-abortion views. These voters know the Senate will have a veto-proof Democratic majority, so that lessens the potency of that issue.

Howard Wolfson, Hillary's top strategist, said "it won't help with most Hillary voters, but it could help with some."

"Some" of 18 million people is what the McCain camp is after.

The other potential trap is luring the Obama campaign onto the "experience" field. The early conventional wisdom says McCain's pick was boneheaded because it takes the experience issue off the table. But it seems that it has done the opposite: The importance of experience is the topic of the day.

The more Democrats complain about this, the more Republicans can turn it on them and say, "If you are so concerned about the amount of experience of the vice president, what about the top of your ticket?"

Obama's argument thus far has been that experience isn't what counts; it's judgment. By attacking the Republican woman relentlessly on this issue, Democrats are undermining their own man.

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Originally posted by EvilDinosaur:
My problem with her is that she was chosen not for whatever qualifications she may have, but because she's a woman.



"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

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Originally posted by EvilDinosaur:
I can't speak for everyone that voted for him. I certainly hope the color of his skin was not the deciding factor. I voted for him because he's charismatic, I agree with his positions on issues, and I think he'll make an excellent leader, and bring this country back up to the level it once was.

"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

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She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.

How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.

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Originally posted by embers:

PETA is already going after her...

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Maybe in four years they'll nominate Betty Shabbazz or Achmedinijhad himself.

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Originally posted by Hardware:
Well, I thought McCain should have selected Condoleeza Rice as a running mate. No major baggage, other than an affiliation with W. Of course, that may have been baggage enough.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by embers:

PETA is already going after her...

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I like her better already.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Originally posted by Skywalken:
Kirsten Powers (a Democratic strategist and former Clinton Administration official) is a columnist for the New York Post. She writes about John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:
I think technically Ahmedinajhad is a Republican. He's got the credentials for it: Religious nut, batshit crazy, authoritarian, homophobic, his desire to build up his military... all he has to do now to get on the ticket is invade Iraq!

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I think technically Ahmadinejad is a Democrat. He's got the credential for it: He hates America...all he has to do now is kill some unborn babies!

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Originally posted by EvilDinosaur:
My problem with her is that she was chosen not for whatever qualifications she may have, but because she's a woman.

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Yeah, but the reason your so dismissive of her qualifications is because she's a woman. If she were a black man from Chicago...she'd be everything Democrats ever wanted.

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Originally posted by Hero:

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Originally posted by EvilDinosaur:
My problem with her is that she was chosen not for whatever qualifications she may have, but because she's a woman.

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Yeah, but the reason your so dismissive of her qualifications is because she's a woman. If she were a black man from Chicago...she'd be everything Democrats ever wanted.


H

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Only for very, very simple minds.

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But before everyone gets all smug and self-righteous about the Palin selection, remember where you live. You live in a nation of gun owners and hunters. You live in a country where one out of three girls get pregnant before they are 20. You live in a nation of C students. Knocking Bush for being a C student only endeared him to the nation of C students. Knock Palin for having kids, for having a kid who's having a baby, for anything that is part of her normalness -- a normalness that looks very familiar to so many millions of Americans -- well, you do this at your own peril. Assuming she's still on the ticket two weeks from now, she will be a much tougher opponent than anyone expects. You live in a country that voted for Dan Quayle.

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So if they are thoughtful, logical, fact-based, you respond that way. But if they are merely trolling, you respond that way instead.

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Originally posted by deadlockvictim:
from another thread

Here's a quote from an email I received today. I have to admit that I was beginning to feel that McCains choice for VP might come back to bite him, but after reading the email I could only hang my head in agreement.

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But before everyone gets all smug and self-righteous about the Palin selection, remember where you live. You live in a nation of gun owners and hunters. You live in a country where one out of three girls get pregnant before they are 20. You live in a nation of C students. Knocking Bush for being a C student only endeared him to the nation of C students. Knock Palin for having kids, for having a kid who's having a baby, for anything that is part of her normalness -- a normalness that looks very familiar to so many millions of Americans -- well, you do this at your own peril. Assuming she's still on the ticket two weeks from now, she will be a much tougher opponent than anyone expects. You live in a country that voted for Dan Quayle.

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there for a while i was hoping for a sane, rational and intelligent leader in the White House... but history keeps proving me wrong.

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Originally posted by Kirkules:
It is somewhat amusing to hear the Democrat hacks try to tear down Palin using her pregnant daughter and Downs syndrome baby. Their attempts to marginalize Palin are exactly what McCain was hoping for. The Dems are alienating their own base as the attacks on Palin instead hit home on millions of democrat moms and grandparents in the same situation as Palin and her daughter.

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It is somewhat amusing to hear the Democrat hacks try to tear down Palin using her pregnant daughter and Downs syndrome baby. Their attempts to marginalize Palin are exactly what McCain was hoping for. The Dems are alienating their own base as the attacks on Palin instead hit home on millions of democrat moms and grandparents in the same situation as Palin and her daughter.

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