Palin is the choice

[Bando]

Aug 30, 2008 18:33:07 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

This is plagerized and altered.

On one ticket we have two least coast lawyers who like to talk and talk. On the other ticket we have a hot beauty queen and a war hero who's married to a woman who owns a beer distributorship. Easy choice.

Yes, because calling it the "least coast" is sure to appeal to graduates of Georgetown University.

It also strikes me as quite disingenuous for the people who thought the "celebrity" ads were honest and effective to bring up Palin's "hotness" as a reason to vote for her.

[EasyEd]

Geez, can't you see a joke when it happens?

[GIGAFAN99]

Aug 30, 2008 18:42:31 GMT -5 Bando said:

Aug 30, 2008 18:33:07 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

This is plagerized and altered.

On one ticket we have two least coast lawyers who like to talk and talk. On the other ticket we have a hot beauty queen and a war hero who's married to a woman who owns a beer distributorship. Easy choice.

Yes, because calling it the "least coast" is sure to appeal to graduates of Georgetown University.

It also strikes me as quite disingenuous for the people who thought the "celebrity" ads were honest and effective to bring up Palin's "hotness" as a reason to vote for her.

I'm actually finding the early media coverage pretty disgusting. She's a governor, people. Oh her state's not very populated? Did I miss when they said the same thing about Delaware after the Biden pick?

Lots of condescending head pats and "I'm sure she's a nice person" kind of compliments. It's pretty off-putting. She wasn't on the PTA, she was running possibly the richest state in the nation if you take into account its oil. That John Roberts lowlight takes the cake so far.

[strummer8526]

Aug 30, 2008 19:18:58 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Aug 30, 2008 18:42:31 GMT -5 Bando said:

Yes, because calling it the "least coast" is sure to appeal to graduates of Georgetown University.

It also strikes me as quite disingenuous for the people who thought the "celebrity" ads were honest and effective to bring up Palin's "hotness" as a reason to vote for her.

I'm actually finding the early media coverage pretty disgusting. She's a governor, people. Oh her state's not very populated? Did I miss when they said the same thing about Delaware after the Biden pick?

Lots of condescending head pats and "I'm sure she's a nice person" kind of compliments. It's pretty off-putting. She wasn't on the PTA, she was running possibly the richest state in the nation if you take into account its oil. That John Roberts lowlight takes the cake so far.

Funny you mention PTA. That apparently is an experience she can boast. (No knocking PTA at all. My mom was PTA, so...now I'm wondering if she should run for governor. It seems like this election, anything could happen.)

www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mccainveepbio30-2008aug30,0,7956486.story

[algtiger]

A couple of things:

1) While certainly the argument that Palin's lack of experience is more "okay" because she is on the bottom of the ticket, Senator Obama has much more experience on the national stage. He has been in the spotlight for 4 years (since his 2004 DNC speech) and has gotten to the top of the ticket by winning millions of votes. Palin entered the national spotlight this week and got to where she is by the pick of one person.

While Obama's long, drawn-out campaign may not make him prepared to answer the 3 am phone call, at least voters know who he is and are experienced with him and can thus feel comfortable with his judgment.

2) Palin is not going to solve the energy crisis or lower gas prices. Her husband works for an oil company and thus depends on Big Oil, just as her state depends on oil tax revenue. In fact, she is in favor of more drilling (including in ANWR) which is exactly what the oil companies want. For Big Oil, more drilling creates more product to sell on the international market to the highest bidder. More drilling will not give us energy independence (most of the oil gained will be sold elsewhere) or lower gas prices (it will be sold at the same price as all the other barrels of oil).

3) She named her kid Piper Palin. What does that say of her judgment?

But, I think she was a good pick and will make this an entertaining and exciting--not to mention historic--election. While I feel the people on both tickets have their flaws and drawbacks, hopefully this campaign will be about the issues because I think we all can agree this is too important of an election to be decided like a beauty contest (sorry, I couldn't resist myself). McCain's choice was a gamble, and only time will tell if it will pay off or crash and burn. But, it should be fun either way.

[PushyGuyFanClub]

More drilling will not give us...lower gas prices (it will be sold at the same price as all the other barrels of oil).
-----

Do you understand how oil prices are set? This is a link to the NYMEX Futures Market: www.nymex.com/index.aspx

There, people buy and sell futures contracts for the delivery of oil at a certain price on a certain date. If one believes that more oil is coming on the market (or demand will be going down), then oil futures prices will come down allowing anyone who wants to buy oil to lock in lower prices today for oil down the road.

Now, I don't think anyone thinks demand is going to be reduced in the near-term (alt energy projects are longer time arbitrage putts then more drilling), so if we actually care about bringing down oil/gas prices (and I'm not saying its necessary to care), is to make it possible to increase supply. Thus, even the approval of more drilling could have the effect of reducing futures contracts prices even though -- as it has been correctly pointed out -- it takes time to explore, verify, produce, and get unrefined or refined product to market.

[afirth]

Apparently people are now claiming that Sarah's youngest son is actually her grandson. Trig is her 16-year-old daughter's son, which Sarah may have tried to cover up.

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

I know this is just speculation at this point (and from a very liberal blog), but if this is true, what could this do to the McCain campaign?

[jerseyhoya34]

Aug 31, 2008 12:13:28 GMT -5 afirth said:

Apparently people are now claiming that Sarah's youngest son is actually her grandson. Trig is her 16-year-old daughter's son, which Sarah may have tried to cover up.

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

I know this is just speculation at this point (and from a very liberal blog), but if this is true, what could this do to the McCain campaign?

Interesting find. It will be interesting to see if the media acknowledges the lack of accounting here and potential misleading of the public on a fundamental family issue.

I just hope that the Obama campaign does not get involved in the rumor-mongering that will likely ensue. Let the media do the vetting since McCain's folks did not.

[EasyEd]

Aug 31, 2008 12:13:28 GMT -5 afirth said:

Apparently people are now claiming that Sarah's youngest son is actually her grandson. Trig is her 16-year-old daughter's son, which Sarah may have tried to cover up.

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

I know this is just speculation at this point (and from a very liberal blog), but if this is true, what could this do to the McCain campaign?

Yeah, and Michelle Obama is actually Barach's father's 6th wife.

[Boz]

Aug 31, 2008 12:13:28 GMT -5 afirth said:

Apparently people are now claiming that Sarah's youngest son is actually her grandson. Trig is her 16-year-old daughter's son, which Sarah may have tried to cover up.

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

I know this is just speculation at this point (and from a very liberal blog), but if this is true, what could this do to the McCain campaign?

(I think that's all the commentary needed here).

[jerseyhoya34]

Aug 31, 2008 12:32:45 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

Aug 31, 2008 12:13:28 GMT -5 afirth said:

Apparently people are now claiming that Sarah's youngest son is actually her grandson. Trig is her 16-year-old daughter's son, which Sarah may have tried to cover up.

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

I know this is just speculation at this point (and from a very liberal blog), but if this is true, what could this do to the McCain campaign?

Yeah, and Michelle Obama is actually Barach's father's 6th wife.

That charge would be ridiculous, Ed. If you accept the Palin rumor as ridiculous, that's fine. But, maybe it neutralizes the Obama/Muslim and Obama as un-American/exotic smear that the right wingers love to perpetuate.

This accounting of a potential cover-up raises serious concerns, especially for a supposed "family values" candidate. It is serious enough to receive coverage in a hometown paper, where people know her the best. The more and more I read, the Palin pick is not "new." It is just weird. Her favorite food is apparently moose stew. That is Mike Huckabee weird.

[GIGAFAN99]

Aug 31, 2008 12:38:47 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

Aug 31, 2008 12:32:45 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

Yeah, and Michelle Obama is actually Barach's father's 6th wife.

That charge would be ridiculous, Ed. If you accept it as ridiculous, maybe it neutralizes the Obama/Muslim and Obama as un-American/exotic smear that the right wingers love to perpetuate.

This accounting of a potential cover-up raises serious concerns. It is serious enough to receive coverage in a hometown paper, where people know her the best. The more and more I read, the Palin pick is not "new." It is just weird. Her favorite food is apparently moose stew. That is Mike Huckabee weird.

As for the "faked" preganancy. Uh, have the Democrats heard of risk/reward? The chances of this story being true AND somewhat proveable is extremely low in a close election with 8 weeks left. The chance of it looking like you're attacking her daughter is about, oh, 100%.

A guy on another liberal blog that picked this up posted this picture. Who looks like they just gave birth here? I think it's pretty clear. Honestly, I would not be surprised at all if this was actually a rumor started by Republicans as bait. They're good at that. The Democrats are very good at falling for it too.

fr.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080830/img/pot-veepstakes-palin-5bff38-7b78334d8d36.html

[jerseyhoya34]

That picture has Trig, the baby in question, in it.

I agree with your take otherwise, though. The media can do the vetting on this.

[afirth]

Just to clarify, I wouldn't have posted this if it were just a weird rumor with no basis. But the fact that her daughter was taken out of school for at least 5 months (more than what it would take to get over mono), the fact that Sarah Palin in NO way looked 7 months pregnant when she claimed to be, and the very strange flight back to Alaska/returning to work after 3 days COMBINED is what makes the suspicion actually plausible.

I don't think mainstream media will touch this, at least not unless something more conclusive comes up. I think it would be a huge mistake for anyone in Obama's campaign to go near it either. Not only is it now an unproven rumor, but even if it were proven to be true, if Obama's camp tried to criticize Palin's cover-up, she would probably be portrayed as a loving mother who was just trying to do the best thing for/protect her daughter.

[Boz]

Aug 31, 2008 12:38:47 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

This accounting of a potential cover-up raises serious concerns, especially for a supposed "family values" candidate. It is serious enough to receive coverage in a hometown paper, where people know her the best. The more and more I read, the Palin pick is not "new." It is just weird. Her favorite food is apparently moose stew. That is Mike Huckabee weird.

Funny, I thought all of us dumb conservatives were supposed to be the xenophobes.

My brother is a hunter and I've had lots of food like that at his house from game that he has killed. Moose, buffalo, elk, caribou, venison....they're all pretty good.

Don't you find it ironic that you say she's weird for liking moose - a food that is quite popular with hunters, and is probably on a lot of menus in Alaska - but anyone who is a little concerned about Obama's background is an intolerant hate merchant?

As for this ridiculous charge, fine, let's look into it. But maybe we should also take this guy's claims seriously too. He's spoken with credible media too. As far as I know, no one has ever disproved him. Sure, they've called them preposterous, but they haven't proven he's lying. So, shouldn't we take that seriously?

Answer: no, we shouldn't.

I say again.....

[jerseyhoya34]

Aug 31, 2008 13:13:56 GMT -5 Boz said:

Aug 31, 2008 12:38:47 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

This accounting of a potential cover-up raises serious concerns, especially for a supposed "family values" candidate. It is serious enough to receive coverage in a hometown paper, where people know her the best. The more and more I read, the Palin pick is not "new." It is just weird. Her favorite food is apparently moose stew. That is Mike Huckabee weird.

Funny, I thought all of us dumb conservatives were supposed to be the xenophobes.

My brother is a hunter and I've had lots of food like that at his house from game that he has killed. Moose, buffalo, elk, caribou, venison....they're all pretty good.

Don't you find it ironic that you say she's weird for liking moose - a food that is quite popular with hunters, and is probably on a lot of menus in Alaska - but anyone who is a little concerned about Obama's background is an intolerant hate merchant?

As for this ridiculous charge, fine, let's look into it. But maybe we should also take this guy's claims seriously too. He's spoken with credible media too. As far as I know, no one has ever disproved him. Sure, they've called them preposterous, but they haven't proven he's lying. So, shouldn't we take that seriously?

Answer: no, we shouldn't.

I say again.....

I did not say she was weird for liking moose. I said she was weird for saying her favorite food is moose stew. I have eaten all of those things too, but to come up with "moose stew" as a favorite is almost as disingenuous as thinking Dick Cheney is a hunter. Most of the time, these things are seen on menus as steaks. Why change/ruin the meat by turning it into a stew?

Second, of all the things to label as a favorite food, why moose stew? There are all kinds of things - filet mignon, Alaskan King Crab, pizza, etc. - to like.

I reiterate that this is a dangerously bad pick. Here is what Palin said about the Iraq War:

"We are a nation at war and in many the reasons for war are fights over energy sources, which is nonsensical when you consider that domestically we have the supplies ready to go."

[PushyGuyFanClub]

I said she was weird for saying her favorite food is moose stew. I have eaten all of those things too, but to come up with "moose stew" as a favorite is almost as disingenuous as thinking Dick Cheney is a hunter. Most of the time, these things are seen on menus as steaks. Why change/ruin the meat by turning it into a stew? Second, of all the things to label as a favorite food, why moose stew? There are all kinds of things - filet mignon, Alaskan King Crab, pizza, etc. - to like.

-----

Seriously?

As an aside, you're showing some ignorance here. I bet the moose stew in Alaska is fabulous. The pizza, most likely, sucks.

[jerseyhoya34]

The Palin story seems to have been a wash in the polls. Essentially, the single-day Gallup numbers are as follows:

Thursday - 45-45 (after the Biden speech at the Convention)
Friday - 48-40 (after Obama speech)
Saturday - 51-42 (after Palin announcement)

If his single-day numbers are 51% again tomorrow, he will break 50% in the rolling average. The Thursday numbers also drop out, so Obama could see a spike tomorrow.

[Bando]

I think this whole trooper imbroglio (WaPo link) is much more potentially damaging to Palin. Even if the Trig story is true, it says nothing about Palin's fitness for the vice-presidency or how she would conduct herself in office, and thus is irrelevant. The trooper story is a different deal.

[HealyHoya]

Aug 31, 2008 14:52:58 GMT -5 Bando said:

I think this whole trooper imbroglio (WaPo link) is much more potentially damaging to Palin. Even if the Trig story is true, it says nothing about Palin's fitness for the vice-presidency or how she would conduct herself in office, and thus is irrelevant. The trooper story is a different deal.

Clearly Obama supporters will hope this becomes a serious problem for McCain/Palin. Here's why it won't:

The vetting process for VP is ridiculously broad and deep. Forensic accountants scour personal bank records. Potential candidates sign a release allowing the IRS to send years of tax returns to the campaign for review. University and grad school transcripts are released to the campaign. Personal interviews are conducted with friends, colleagues, extended family, etc. Police records are researched by independent investigative groups. Teams of op researchers conduct Lexis-Nexis searches, pull every single article returned, categorize and cross-categorize by issue, pull every direct quote by the candidate and structure what are called defensible issue positions (these are the candidates issue positions based on the amalgam of their direct quotes in the media, rather than merely what the candidate would post on a website as their issue position. The difference, if there is one, is relevant because the campaign knows that the media will ask the candidate to defend statements on issues, not issue positions posted on websites).

This flare-up about the dismissal of an at-will political appointee by the Governor which has already been reported by multiple media outlets is not the type of issue that trips up campaigns. It's already out in the open. The McCain campaign knows about it. Anyone with a newspaper subscription in Alaska knows about it. Anyone with access to the internet knows about it. If it were a big deal -- if it were enough to pull apart a presidential campaign -- she would not be the nominee.

Over forty-eight hours after being announced as the VP, with the full force and fury of the 24-hour media focused on her, nothing whatsoever has come of this story. Nothing. Zero.