Unbeleivable, and who I've said he should pick for months now.


Meet your next Vice President, who has more Executive experience than Obama/McCain/Biden combined.

I still think he should have picked Romney.

Romney is bland pick, and a Mormon which is bad for part of the base.

This election the base is demoralized, Palin goes a LONG way to changing that. just check some conservative blogs.

she is a true blue limited Govt. reformer, very likeable and the politics of it are brilliant(atleast I think) with her being a Female(a hot one) AND a washington outsider.

So, she gets the gun toting biker chick vote along with everyone that was going to vote for McCain in any event.

As a pro-life candidate Palin won't bring in any of the Hillary Clinton supporters. She might get wives of conservative Republicans to show up when they might not have otherwise. She might help mitigate voters who would cross party lines just for the novelty of voting for Obama. She helps Obama in that it weakens the argument that unqualified/inexperienced candidates should not be on the presidential ticket.

The one impact that she may have is in environmentalism.

McCain had the choice of several VP candidates that could seriously weaken his ticket, and he seems to have not chosen any of those. I don't know if there was a candidate that could make a substantial impact, but I don't think that Palin will. On the plus side, it opens up a slew of Lumberjack jokes...

My reaction: wow.

thing about the experience,....she still has more than Obama and more than all of them on the Executive level.

aside from that, its Obama vs. McCain on the experience factor. He can afford for Biden to be perceived as more experienced in Foreign Affairs over Palin, since he more than makes up for it at the top of the ticket.

this is one day to tune into Rush and see what is said to get a feel for this pick.

She absolutely WILL get the Hillary supporters. I guarantee it.... and here's why...

First, they want the ceiling broken. Hillary couldn't do it, and it remains to be seen if Obama can break the color ceiling... but even if he does, that is somewhat meaningless to a woman's prospects.

Second, If Obama/Biden are elected and do well, it will be 2016 before Hillary can run again... and then, she will be running against a (likely if 2nd term) relatively popular, experienced sitting VP. If he can't win the nomination, then the Democrats probably aren't going to win anyway.

Third, If McCain wins, his age will be an even greater issue in 2012, and she will still be somewhat inexperienced to step to President... so even if he is popular, she will have a good chance.

The argument even after the concession was that Obama couldn't win the National election. They broke it down by state. They aren't after particular issues... They're after electing Hillary... and electing McCain (especially if it helps break the ceiling) is a step in that direction... It also solidifies the far right.

How many republicans can appeal to Hillary democrats AND the far right??

Remember this... to those who worry about McCain's age and think that Palin's inexperience will be a drag... while that argument has merit... Palin's experience is pretty similar to Obama's... and while arguably shorter... at least she's been an executive in a state closely tied to the biggest issues of today... Energy/environment. If you were willing to vote for Obama for President... you shouldn't be THAT much against voting for Palin to PERHAPS have to step up as President in a few years. She'll be just as experienced then as Obama is now.

I can handle Palin. I like the pick acutally. Without doubt, 2008 will see a black man or a women in the White House in some capacity. Regardless of politics, that is history on your doorstep.

I wouldn't discount that this pick is going right after Hillary supporters. If I was a Hilary supporter, and meh about the Obama, I would flip for a McCain / Palin ticket without any problem. Also, I think a lot of younger voters are just scared of McCain's age - how can McCain relate to iPods and Youtube? At least now when they pull the lever Republican, they can justify it by saying they voted for Palin as well, a women and a rather hip young women at that.

But then again, I am one of those people that just doesn't understand how polarizing abortion is, on both sides, to some people.

My cynical side believes that a big reason for this choice is the play for Hillary's supporters. But I agree with I45 that it will be largely unsuccessful because of Palin's pro life stance. Among the Hillary fans that I know, her position on abortion is probably the single biggest issue.

Hambone10 Wrote:Remember this... to those who worry about McCain's age and think that Palin's inexperience will be a drag... while that argument has merit... Palin's experience is pretty similar to Obama's... and while arguably shorter... at least she's been an executive in a state closely tied to the biggest issues of today... Energy/environment. If you were willing to vote for Obama for President... you shouldn't be THAT much against voting for Palin to PERHAPS have to step up as President in a few years. She'll be just as experienced then as Obama is now.

I think your logic is backwards on the experience issue. If McCain wishes to make it a campaign issue (he'd be an idiot not to), then he needs to begin by example and make sure that he doesn't expose his own ticket to the same criticism. In the absence of this as a campaign issue, I wouldn't have much problem with Palin.

I personally feel a lot of things appealing about Obama (it's just his politics and experience that I see as wrong). But, there are several red lines that lie between me and him (and there are no similar issues between me and McCain). Palin might otherwise be extremely appealing to Hillary Clinton supporters if it were not for the red line of the abortion issue (NRA membership is something she could overcome... speaking of which does anyone else find Obama's comments prior to the West Virginia primary interesting in this context?).

The problem with our Pony friend's graphical representation of politics in the other thread is that it doesn't show where the red lines are on the map. The map doesn't show the amorphous boundary lines that are important to various constituencies. Hillary might be closer to Obama than McCain politically, but given that Obama's over certain red lines (for me) while Hillary and McCain were not, that puts her in the same group as McCain, not Obama. Obama's challenge in the general election is not necessarily to move to the right, it's to either discretely step over those lines again or convince the voters that they never existed. In my view, McCain stepped over the line in the wrong direction. (For me the abortion issue is way down on the list of issues in this election, but for women that voted for Hillary Clinton and are considering McCain, I suspect that it is much more important).

Hambone10:wingedeagle: Wrote:She absolutely WILL get the Hillary supporters.

America's Iron Lady?

How many VP candidates of any kind shoot M16's, hunt for Caribou and fish?

I think she's a good choice. Should please conservatives, should help with women voters. Outside of a potential abuse of power in handling a family matter, she also seems to have a strong record on ethics.

Two potential caveats to her selection I see are 1) this might weaken the legitimacy of criticisms over Obama's experience, given you have someone with less than 2 years experience running one of the least populous states potentially just a heartbeat from the presidency, and 2) while she should help with female voters, I can't see her doing much to chip away at Hillary's supporters; after this convention, I don't think there are nearly that many up for grabs, nor do I think a former beauty queen that's pro-life really is going to have much success appealing to that bloc.

I'm looking forward to seeing her for the first time next week.

cb4029 Wrote:

Hambone10:wingedeagle: Wrote:She absolutely WILL get the Hillary supporters.

already happening on HIllary forumns

Quote:HILLARY CLINTON, JOHN MCCAIN

'They brushed off the women base like dirt. and the GOP pick them up.'

Holy smokes! At this Hillary Clinton forum, called... HillaryClintonForum.net, the frustrated Hillary supporters are thrilled - almost as joyous as the glee coming from my readers. Comments include:

HOPE ITS PALIN, I WOULD VOTE TWICE JUST TO STICK IT TO OBAMA

Leave it to the GOP to pick a woman for the ticket. Obama snubbed the most viable and experienced woman who received 18 million votes, for another MALE. I have a feeling, somewhere somehow, Hillary is snickering!

If this is true, this moves me from staying at home to voting McCain.

GAME CHANGER

They may not be a representative sample of Hillary's 18 million supporters, but obviously, a certain number of those folks are elated to see a woman on a major party ticket, and are talking about donating and volunteering for the McCain-Palin ticket.

I get the feeling that this was expected, as one of my McCain guys just told me, "I think Obama will find that she's more than just a 'sweetie.'"

And now, about a week later... the Biden pick looks pretty crappy, huh? Is Obama sure he doesn't want Hillary on the ticket?

UPDATE: A reader notes, "The Democratic National Convention was a woman-palooza. Hillary's speech celebrated women's progress. Michelle's speech celebrated Hillary shattering the glass ceiling. Talk talk talk. Guess which party has a woman on the ticket."

Quote:this is one day to tune into Rush and see what is said to get a feel for this pick.

That explains A LOT about this board.

Palin's position on the Carribou




feeling like a Maverick?

On behalf of Americans everywhere:

ehhhh.... who??

a Libertarian Republican with an actual record of Reform at the executive level and getting rid of corruption. with an 80% approval rating

http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.co...n-for.html

or as David Freddoso sums it up:

Quote:Contrast Obama with Sarah Palin [David Freddoso]

She is everything Obama is not. A real reformer who took on her own party's corrupt establishment and won, defeating an incumbent governor, 80-20. Don't forget that she's also a mother who chose life for her Down Syndrome baby — we can probably guess where she'd fall on the Born-Alive act. If this is the future of the GOP, they're in good shape.

08/29 11:06 AM

GGniner Wrote:Palin's position on the Carribou




feeling like a Maverick?

I can support that position. How does carribou taste?

GGniner Wrote:a Libertarian Republican with an actual record of Reform at the executive level and getting rid of corruption. with an 80% approval rating

You sure do spell Mark Sanford weird.

At Ease Wrote:I think she's a good choice.

She may grow on me. Your ethics comment is also a definite plus, but I don't think that is a problem with any of the four on the tickets.

I guess the one thing I thought that McCain would have to do is select someone that would make a decisive difference in one of the borderline states (for instance Pennsylvania).

Two additional positives:

Her youth (wohoo, I get to say that and she's still older than me) and outsider status can help bolster McCain's "maverick" label. She should help inject some humanity into the Republican ticket - both Obama and Biden come off as much more dynamic than McCain.