I need to take a moment here and disagree with my associate, Mr. Nolan, on the topic of the victor on Election Day. In a prior posting, he indicated that McCain has given Palin that extra thrust she needed to get onto the national stage and prepare for the 2012 election, but that defeat was inevitable, and I came away pondering whether my new title of comrade would suit me or not. Click past the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
John McCain and Sarah Palin CAN win on Election Day
Northern Exposure Star: “Supporting Governor Palin with pride”
VIDEO: The obligatory “Newsweek is a bunch of partisan schmucks” clip
Feds indict son Of Dem Congressman for Palin e-mail hacking
VIDEO: Sarah defends attacks on Obama over Ayers
VIDEO: Sarah takes on hecklers with a smile
VIDEO: Keith Olbermann is incapable of opening his mouth without attacking Republicans Read the rest of this entry »
Actress Janine Turner, formerly of the wildly popular “Northern Exposure“, sat down with Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of National Review Online’s The Corner, to discuss her open and unabashedly emphatic support of the McCain-Palin ticket, especially because of Governor Palin.
I want to take the chance here to say that I am, every day, surprised by how many more of these actors and actresses are coming out in support of conservative causes and ideals, and how happy at how much my previous opinions on major actors and actresses are being proven quite wrong.
I don’t consider it defeatism that I think this election is all but over. Republicans were never meant to win this one and McCain gave it a good try, but conservatives all need to take a deep breath and get used to President Obama for at least the next 4 years. Click past the jump to read what we need to do now. Read the rest of this entry »
Via Hot Air. I will say along with Allah that I can’t confirm how bad this picture looks until I manage to grab a copy of Newsweek myself. Enjoy the flip out over this courtesy of the always conspicuously gorgeous FOX News “Republican media consultant.”
Crime doesn’t pay, especially not when you’ve left your fingerprints and big shiny pictures that point to your computer all over the crime scene. Click past the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
Usually we post things here which are quite serious – this is, after all, the most important election in a generation.
Today, right now, let’s take a step back and consider what’s really important: what am I having for dinner?
Sarah Palin, as on almost every other topic, now has the answer for this question as well.
H/T: K-Lo at the Corner.
For those of you that missed it, Sarah spent all weekend going after Obama for kicking off his political career in the living room of known domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. The Associated Press, in another example of objective journalism, said that Sarah talking about Obama’s close friendship with a terrorist is racist. Click through the jump to read more and watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
Owned. Click the picture to watch.
In case you all were wondering about just how much of a partisan hack Keith Olbermann really is, he’s recently shown that he’s incapable of talking about anything without taking a knock at Sarah. Here he is talking football and he still manages to make a joke about her. Click past the jump to watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve been working pretty hard behind the scenes at Palinmania to try and make it easier for you to get all the updates and information about Sarah as you can. Today we’re announcing our Palinmania Connect! page that we hope to use to let everyone get connected in different ways online to Palinmania. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube right now, and we’ll be announcing more venues as we move through October. Click here to visit our Connect page.
Desperation? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work.
The golden bits of this are when Dick cuts Alan Colmes’ throat at the end.
“15 minutes in she had Joe Biden on the defensive.”
Here are a few great clips from the debate tonight:
Here is the dreaded sigh you might be hearing about over the next few days (at the very end):
Golden.
Author’s note: Don’t forget to tune-in for our LIVE blogging of the debate starting at 8:45 ET.
We’re just under 2 hours until the VP debate kicks off tonight and man, I’m stoked. If you haven’t checked out clips of Sarah’s previous debates, that would be my recommendation for killing time until it starts. She is a fantatic debater with a quick wit and very good at framing the issue in the way she wants it framed.
The real question for tonight, though, is what do we need to see from Sarah? Here are my thoughts:
So tonight we should expect Palin do everything she can to reassure Americans that she can comfortably assume the role as VP, while Biden desperately tries to keep his tongue in check. Will either be able to do what they need to? Your guess is as good as mine, but I do feel god about Sarah’s chances tonight.
Starting at 8:54 ET James and I will be LIVE blogging the debate. You can watch the live blog and participate along with us. Don’t miss it!
The LIVE blog tonight went great and tomorrow we’ll have our full reactions to what went down. Until then, check our latest posts to find some great video selections from tonight or click below to watch the replay of our live blogging.
My hunch, confirmed by this story at Politico, is that Palin’s debate preparation has been primarily targeted at making Joe Biden look like the arrogant, gaffe-prone buffoon that he is. Hopefully this web ad from the McCain camp is a nice way to get all of us warmed up for the onslaught against Biden that Sarah has planned for tonight. Enjoy.
Holy snap! Sarah Palin is dominating the news cycle this week, here’s a look at what’s been going on:
Getting Ready For The Debate!
Sarah’s having a wonderful time – and she’s ready and rearin’ to take on Biden! FoxNews explores her methods and what her opponent has to say about her.
Confederate Yankee Gets Word From Palin About Rape Kits
After having debunked it again and again and again, CY gets the word straight from Palin about the scandal, and as we all know by now, the rumors just aren’t true, by any stretch of the imagination.
McCain’s Campaign Starts FactCheck-ish Website For Palin Rumors
Bookmark this, folks – www.palintruthfiles.com. Byron York of NRO’s The Corner has a quick overview of this great resource and why it’s important for us to keep up with it.
No Such Thing As Palinism? You’re Kidding, Right?
Josh Strawn at Pajamas Media looks down his nose at the notion that what McCain and Palin are bringing to the table is new or unique. To a point, I see where he’s coming from – American ideals were here eons before either McCain or Palin, and will long outlive both of them as well. There’s better ways to point that out though, than trashing either of them.
Ifill Doesn’t Even Pretend To Hide Her Bias
Gwen Ifill, the moderator for the upcoming VP debate (which you can catch with us as we live-blog the whole thing, Thursday night at 9 PM!), is finishing up a book specifically about Obama which she expects to release on January 20th. Yes, the day before the next President is inaugurated, she’s going to have a PROBAMA book out. That’s what people in the field of journalistic ethics call “conflict of interest” – though it could turn out one of two ways. Either everyone will ignore her obvious bias and the debate will go on as planned, with Palin having an advantage coming out of the debate since the bias is against her, or Ifill will be removed and replaced with someone who isn’t as obviously in the tank for The One.
Either way, I expect Saracuda to mop the floor with “Dribbling Joe” Biden.
Hater Rips Into Michelle Malkin For Defending Sarah And Attacking Gwen Ifill
Malkin has been going after Gwen Ifill full-tilt, in the interests of trying to preserve the appearance, if not the reality of full disclosure, and she’s posted an email response from one of the Borg-bama Drones.
Her response is classic Malkin.
Hugh Hewitt interviewed Sarah yesterday on his radio show, and here’s the transcript and an MP3 recording of the interview. H/T The Corner / Townhall.com
Mary Grabar Asks: Why Do Feminists Hate Palin?
The answer is simple: she doesn’t follow their lead. The more expounded answer, which Grabar is very clear and specific about, shows that there’s more to their problems than pure politics.
Post written by James Riley.
Good stuff. Thursday night is going to be fun.
Special note: Previously I had been uploading all Palinmania videos to my personal account on YouTube, but recently we’ve started expanding the site and have decided to open up a Palinmania specific channel. This is our premiere clip for it!
Topic: “Gotcha journalism.” McCain goes hard after Couric on this one. I think the topic is a little weak to play this card for McCain though, given that Palin shouldn’t have said what she said. The point remains though that journalists are a bunch of hacks and have gone after Palin in the most disgusting of ways. This would have been a lot better of a moment if McCain was calling out Gibson for his cutting up and misquoting of Sarah Palin’s prayer for the troops.
I just got finished reading Ace’s post defending the pro-bailout position that he’s taken. I agree with him and I recommend you head over there to give it a read. As a Palin-specific blogger though, I’m wondering a different question about the financial crisis: should a newcomer like Sarah really be the vice president in times like this? The answer is a resounding yes. Click past the jump to read why. Read the rest of this entry »
In case your Monday isn’t going too well, here’s a nice bowl of warm-fuzzies listening to Sarah’s parents talks about her. Click the image to watch.
Here’s something to go along with your Monday morning coffee. Getting protested by that many lefties already is a mark of honor for any conservative. It’s right up there with having the New York Times using its front page to smear you day after day and lefties making fun of your children. Click through to read more and watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
A good video for a slow weekend. In the 2006 Alaskan gubernatorial debates Sarah flexes her conservative street creds in a clear, articulate way. I hope we see some of her quick reflexes on Thursday like she showed here when she called out the moderator for clearly being beligerant to her about the pro-life issue. Well played, Sarah. Well played.
Kathleen Parker’s latest column calling on Sarah Palin to remove herself from the VP running has sent politicos around the country into a stir of excitement. This is red meat for the lefties who have been waiting for a conservative woman to come out against Palin – and to their joy, it was a conservative woman who has previously written in support of her. Click past the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re by no means stunned by the fact that another airhead celebrity has taken it upon themselves to enlighten the American people about just how stupid we are (or might be) when it comes to politics, but few of them have ever suggested that voters on the opposite side are suicidal. Click the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
The lefties are relentless in continuing their quest of smearing Sarah Palin in the most absolutely disgraceful ways imaginable, but no one seems to care.
Is there some kind of competition on the left to see who can make the most denigrating comment about the mental acuity of Republicans? As we’ve noted, last night Paul Begala called President Bush “a high-functioning moron,” perhaps Begala’s bid to one-up Rep. Charles Rangel, who had called Sara Palin “disabled.”
Today, it’s Jonathan Capehart’s turn. Speaking with David Shuster on MSNBC this afternoon, the Washington Post editorial writer said that Sarah Palin reminds him of Lauren Caitlin Upton, the 2007 Miss Teen South Carolina whose tangles ["U.S. Americans," etc.] with the English language made her an overnight YouTube star.
Good eye, Mark. This isn’t just Sarah Palin the left is bent on attacking as visciously as it can. You might remember Biden recently letting us know that Republicans are used to being around “smart people” like Obama.
The attacks on Palin are just disgusting. Look – we all understand that you disagree with her policy positions. We understand that you, for some reason, think she’s bad on the environment and on the wrong side of women with her abortion stance. Fine. But can you quit with the attacks on her intelligence capability?
Actually, per my other post, I take that back. Let’s let Americans find out just how nasty and loony you guys really are.
Good to see Sarah Palin not backing down from support of Bush’s offensive approach to terrorism. But seriously, what reporter asked if she thinks that having troops in Afghanistan is a bad idea because it might be making Islamic terrorists mad? Is he serious? How can we expect any type of intellectual or honest reporting when the people writing the stories are worried about making terrorists mad?
Via Pajamas Media:
In the wake of newly hatched Palinmania, it seemed a sacrilege to question the choice of a governor who had so excited the conservative base. Considering the excessive media tear against Palin, as opposed to the kid-gloves treatment afforded Barack Obama, it was no surprise that anyone in the media who questioned the selection of Palin — regardless of whether he or she fell on the right of left side of the aisle, or somewhere in between — was regarded as having nefarious ulterior motives by fans of the newly created ticket.
But I’ve rarely seen a leader so pulled together in the face of crisis as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. And on the eve of Gustav, as Jindal delivered some of the most comprehensive and detailed press briefings around (with information subsequently printed and easily accessible for all on the governor’s Web site), I wondered if, after all was said and done, it would become clear that Jindal should have been No. 2 on the GOP ticket.
Why is anyone starting a debate over who John McCain “should” have picked for VP? Palin and Jindal are cut from the same cloth, and, quite frankly, Jindal made it absolutely clear he’d refuse the job if he was offered it. Yes, we need more of this new generation of conservative Republicans – but we need them at all levels, not just one or two places.
Does this mean I would necessarily have been unsupportive of the Jindal pick? Absolutely not – in fact, I had created a Facebook group, which is still open as far as I know, to draft Jindal for the VP pick. I believe in his brand of conservatism, and agree with all of his positions – not to mention, we’re both devout, solid Catholics, trying to live our lives in these turbulent times by God’s will.
Jindal has a lot of good things on his part, but Palin is the best pick McCain could have had. Her stance on abortion is backed up by actions. Her reputation as a tough-as-nails “government trust-buster” in Alaskan politics is widely respected across the board. Her love and dedication to her family and her country are beyond reapproach. Her significant experience and her relatable nature, her calm and strong approach to the various cards God has dealt her, and her irrepressible optimism have all combined to give us a VP that would have no trouble filling the shoes in front of her, God forbid it were to happen. John McCain picked someone who accurately reflects his values and the values of the Republican party, and who has the steel will and laser-focus to help get this country back on track.
Post written by James Riley.
As suggested on an earlier post, the truth is that it would take a heck of a lot of screwing up for anyone to consider Sarah Palin a worse pick than Joe Biden. Click through the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin so far has proven herself to be almost a perfect vice presidential selection. And once we start comparing her with her counter-mate Joe Biden, she looks even better. Click through the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
Michelle Malkin gives a great explanation of what exactly was going on with the alleged astroturf smearing of Sarah Palin by a PR firm connected with David Axelrod. Click past the jump to watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s a morning dose of Palinmania to cleanse your palette with. A Sarah Palin look-a-like has apparently been getting a lot angry, hateful voicemails from people because of her resemblance to her. Apparently Democrats are so enraged by the mere candidacy of Sarah Palin, they’ve lost all sense of reason and decency. Granted, most of that reason and decency has been lost for the last 8 or so years, so I shouldn’t expect too much.
Click the image to watch the video and you can hear her explain how she thinks it’s great to look like someone as awesome as Sarah Palin.
For your viewing pleasure today, a little taste of Slick Willy and why he doesn’t think it’s fair for us to judge Hillary supporters who have defected to Sarah Palin, even if it isn’t “in their best interests.” After all, voters don’t really vote for “rational” reasons, right? Click the image below to watch.
The Salt Lake Tribune is running an interesting editorial today calling for women voters to “send a message” about how unqualified to be vice president Sarah Palin is. Click through the jump if you’re wondering what in the world would make a Barack Obama supporter think that anyone else is unqualified for their job. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin drew a crowd of 60,000 people in Florida where she talked about how John McCain was going to fix our breaking economy. Click past the jump to read the story and see the video. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin railed on Obama and Biden for wanting to raise just about every tax the federal government currently collects. Raising taxes isn’t about patriotism, she says – it’s about killing jobs. Bingo.
She then moves to attack Obama for pointing a lot of fingers at other people but not lifting one of them to reach across the aisle and work for reform. A nice way of reminding American voters that Obama is nothing but an empty suit with absolutely no record of bipartisan efforts at political reform. Click through the jump to watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
When I came across this I was just going to link to it but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to contribute to the conversation. BostonPatriot has an interesting point at ThanksToPalin.com about Sarah Palin and victim politics:
Because, Palin, like Thomas has risen to prominence while retaining her independence and her dignity. In essence, neither she nor Thomas subscribes to the first commandment of liberal orthodoxy: Thou must remain a victim. Thomas and Palin have attained their respective levels of professional success the old-fashioned way: They have earned them through hard work and healthy ambition. Both are no-nos if one seeks favor and status amongst America’s cultural,social and political elite. Fortunately, neither Thomas nor Palin appear interested, which is good for the rest of us.
The McCain camp made some major goofs in their ad campaign and squandered their lead in the polls. What’s the cause of the sudden drop? Sure we have an economic crisis going on and people are thinking that a new party in the White House might be for the better. But I don’t by it entirely. These polls started dropping before we started seeing the bailout bonanza this week. He started slipping as soon as he started playing his victim card way too many times. Whiners don’t win in politics, and when you’re out their running ads that say “Poor me” while the economy collapses, people are going to vote for the other guy.
Despite the McCain camp running these victim ads nonstop for awhile, Sarah Palin has refused to play the game. She has laughed off criticisms and said multiple times that it comes with the terrirtory and she doesn’t want to whine about. That is the way to play the game. People want to see strength in the face of critcisms – not whimpy complaints about sexism or unfair attacks.
It looks as though McCain has backed off of his vitcim ad campaign – which is good. Btu Sarah Palin has already shown herself to be the kind of politcian that doesn’t take the bait even when it seems like the perfect opportunity. The GOP has a strong, no-nonsense politician in Sarah Palin. Let’s not waste her.
It’s old stuff by now, but I think it’s a good clip.
Not kidding. Click the picture to watch. This is just despicable.
The left is avid about trying to slime Sarah Palin as an extremist and today we’re seeing the unfolding of their new attack: She once read a magazine from the ultra-conservative John Birch Society on her desk. Gasp! The defenders of liberal insanity over at the Daily Kos are all on this story – so don’t you worry!
You know what’s funny? I’m addicted to the Daily Kos. I think it is one of the most hysterical (and sometimes enraging) blogs out there. If someone were to take random pictures of my on my computer, quite a few would turn up with me filing through the pages of the Kos. Does that mean that I’m an irrational, hate-spreading liberal?
Barack Obama sat in the pews of a church where the pastor repeatedly preached anti-American, racist, extremism every week. The Daily Kos has given him a pass. He worked side-by-side an unrepetent terrorist and the Daily Kos gave him a pass. He was the recipient of a shady land deal with a convincted felon (convincted for shady land deals) and the Daily Kos gave him a pass. But Sarah Palin once read an ultra conservative magazine and so she is probably a dangerous extremist? Come on, can’t you do better than that?
The funniest part of the story is that we all known the Obama camp has unleashed an army of opposition researchers into Alaska. They’re spending a lot of money and a lot of manpower and the worst thing they can come up with are pictures indicating she read a magazine. Bravo!
I know you’re shocked, right? That liberal bias in the classroom would be as pervasive as this? Almost every day of the semester I have to sit through the usually incoherent anti-Bush ramblings of at least one professor. It’s frustrating, but at least they aren’t assigning me to write nonsense papers like this.
I’m taking a campaigns and election class and we spend every Friday critiquing and commenting on the current presidential race. My professor has his PhD from Harvard in Political Science and is fully qualified to spend all day critiquing any politician he wants. But he doesn’t, because he realizes it is inappropriate.
Here you have an English professor trying to inject politics into his writing composition class. He is completely unqualified to make any type of professional statement about the election, but for some reason he thinks it’s appropriate.
We need to get villains like this out of academia, because yes, they are villains. Click the image to watch.
I got the clips rounded up from the second day of the interview with Sean Hannity. I think it was another great interview for Palin, and considering the knockout ratings the first one got, lot’s of people in America are tuning in to see her good performance Click the jump here to watch them. Read the rest of this entry »
The first part of the Palin-Hannity interview aired last night and I have the video plus my thoughts after the jump. Click to read the full post and watch the video if you missed it last night. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! e-mail address has been hacked into and screenshots have been put up online of her inbox and a few emails.
From Politico:
An anonymous hacker’s apparent accessing Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account is being widely chewed over on the web right now, with an eye to its bearings on her version of troopergate.
But I’ve got to think that, while the contents will be chewed over, many voters’ first reactions will be sympathy. And changing their passwords.
The McCain-Palin campaign didn’t have an immediate comment.
ALSO: Micah Sifry says the group of hackers in question, which claims to have more emails, is “very sophisticated and probably impossible to stop.”
I tend to agree with the idea that this, if anything, will help Palin with a sympathy type move in the general public. But I do want to make one thing clear:
I am not worried about the contents of Sarah Palin’s e-mail.
There are some conservatives out there fretting over this and what could happen if bad e-mails are leaked to the public. I don’t think this will be a problem. I honestly believe in Sarah Palin as a person and a politician. I believe her side of the story on Troopergate and I don’t think anything damning is going to come out of this. Sure, there might be some “bad” e-mails that we wouldn’t want exposed otherwise, but I don’t think Sarah Palin is a sneaky, shady politician and so I don’t think anything horrible will come out of this.
It’s important to make this point because I am not a win-at-all-costs kind of guy. I want her to win, yes – but only because of who she is. If that changes, it all changes.
Sarah Palin will be taking questions from voters today for the first time on the campaign trail.
For the first time since being named John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin will take questions from voters on Wednesday. Palin will join McCain at a town hall meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a blue state to which the Republicans are devoting a slew of time and energy in the hopes of turning red.
Throughout this election cycle, the economy has been far and away the top issue for voters in Michigan, where General Motors’ woes have left a damaging impact on the state as a whole. For that reason, Palin is surely preparing for questions on the impact of the current financial crisis on Wall Street and the overall health of the economy.
Until today, Palin’s sparse public schedule has included a series of large rallies but only one national interview shot over two days, no press conferences and no face-to-face interaction with voters aside from shaking hands at rope lines. Palin taped an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity this morning in Cleveland.
Do you notice how in Palin’s list of “scarce” appearances by CBS they are sure to mention that she taped an interview with Hannity, but for some reason, compeltely left out mention that she taped a two-day interview with Charlie Gibson?
Great reporting work CBS. It’s good to know that when it comes to leaving out important details that will skew your story to a partisan hack-job, we can count on you!
Democrats seem to be under the impression that Republicans are frustrating at media bias just because the loony journalists at MSNBC and the Times. This misses the big point here. If CBS was an honest news agency, they wouldn’t have made it appear that Sarah Palin’s only interview so far was with a soft-ball Republican. If they really cared about avoiding bias, they would have mentioned that before interviewing with Hannity, she sat down for a two-day interview with Gibson.
But CBS doesn’t care about that. CBS cares about electing Barack Obama.
Thanks to Protein Wisdom for catching this hysterical bit of video here.
When McCain announced Palin as his running mate, Democrats leaped to their feet to let everyone know that Sarah was just another corrupt politician. Their reasoning? The so-called “Troopergate” investigation where she allegedly abused her power to fire the Public Safety Commissioner.
No shock to anyone who has actually bothered to look into the details of thise case, but Palin has released several e-mails detailing pretty convincingly that there was no abuse of power whatsoever. Once gain, Democrats tried, and Democtats failed.
Among the e-mails released was one of farewell written by the public safety commissioner himself, Walt Monegan, when he was fired in July. In it, he suggested the governor had reason to believe she had lost his support, and urged his former colleagues to communicate better with her.
“For anyone to lead effectively they must have the support of their team, and I had waited too long outside her door for her to believe that I supported her,” he wrote. “Please, choose a different path.”
The liberals are in a frenzy over a wrongful firing of Monegan, but I guess it would have been helpful if they knew that he himself knew he was getting sacked for being an obstinate thorn in the governor’s side. The Public Safety Commissioner is a political appointment, like many at the executive level, and the governor has every right to fire and hire who she pleases if they are being uncooperative. There is nothing corrupt about what she did – and Monegan knew he had lined himself up to get the boot.
But don’t worry, there’s more:
In February, Monegan signed a public letter of support for a $3.6 million project designed to keep troubled teens off the street in Anchorage — even though the governor had vetoed the project last year and hadn’t included money for it in her budget this year.
“I am stunned and amazed — do you know anything about this?” budget director Karen Rehfeld wrote to two other high-level staffers when she learned of the letter.
“Think about that: one of the governor’s own cabinet members publicly contradicting her veto decision,” Stapleton said.
Monegan acknowledged he shouldn’t have signed the letter, because it put the governor in the awkward position of defending her veto decision. But he said he thought of the letter as simply making another run at getting funding for a worthy project.
The last straw, the McCain campaign said, was in July, when Monegan planned to travel to Washington to seek federal money for a plan to assign troopers, judges and prosecutors who could exclusively handle sexual assault cases — one of the state’s most intractable crime problems.
In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor’s special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: The governor hadn’t agreed the money should be sought, and the request was “out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. (Ted) Stevens.”
Four days later, Monegan was fired. He said he had kept others in the administration fully apprised of his plans to go to Washington.
So basicaly, Monegan repeatedly tried to go behind Palin’s back and seek funds for bills she had vetoed. Why in the world would anyone think that she would keep him in her cabinet after that? The only thing wrong about what happened here is that it took 4 days for him to be fired.
If Democrats really don’t understand that an executive like a governor has every right to stack their cabinet with people they want – which means people who don’t go behind their back and fight their budget – then we have bigger problems to worry about.
It should be no suprise that the nutroots really don’t have any boundaries when it comes to offensive smearing of Republican candidates. For some reason, liberals are convinced that the conservatives are some evil, sinsister ideologues – and yet, we’re not the ones putting up trash like this.
Thanks to Michelle Malkin for catching this one.
This isn’t really a surprise. Oprah is the most powerful woman in the world and her audience is primarily women who relate pretty darn closely with a hockey-mom like Sarah Palin. So when Palin makes the rise to the VP nomination and Oprah refuses to interview based on her committment to not “use her show as a platform” – everyone should have expected at least some level of outrage. Click the picture to watch.
Sarah Palin kicks off some solo campaigning with a speech about the economy. Click the image to watch.
Nominating Sarah Palin as his running mate was the game-changer of the election. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. This is why we’ve seen the Democrats in a frenzy trying every attempt they can to smear her. Fortunately for McCain and the GOP – it’s not working.
What is it about Sarah Palin that let’s her deflect attack after attack from the left? Click past the jump to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve recently been introduced to ThanksToPalin.com by Walt Gilbert. The site is best summarized by their tagline at the top that says:
Thanks to Sara Palin, we can finally get excited about the GOP ticket.
I’ve written about this exact thank you before and it is great to see another site going up to support and report about Sarah Palin and her run for VP. I encourage everyone reading Palinmania to head over to ThanksToPalin as well so we can maximize the amount of information we are spreading and writing about.
None of us in the right-wing blogosphere should feel like we’re competing with each other – even when we are running sites devoted to the exact same cause. The more ThanksToPalin does for the cause, the better for Sarah Palin and the GOP – and that’s what matters. And I’m sure everyone over there feels the same way about Palinmania.
I look forward to the good writing and information that will come out of Eric’s efforts at ThanksToPalin. Keep it up!
Cathy Young takes a look in the WSJ at why feminists seem to loathe Sarah Palin so much. It would seem that seeing a woman inches away from the vice presidency would at least bring a smile to even the most liberal feminists out there. They should be happy to see barriers broken no matter that politics.
But that’s not the case with Sarah Palin:
In the Boston Globe on Friday, columnist Ellen Goodman frets that Mrs. Palin is a “supermom” whose supporters “think a woman can have it all as long as she can do it all . . . by herself.” In fact, Sarah Palin is doing it with the help of her husband Todd, who is currently on leave from his job as an oil worker. But Ms. Goodman’s problem is that “she doesn’t need anything from anyone outside the family. She isn’t lobbying for, say, maternity leave, equal pay, or universal pre-K.”
This also galls Katherine Marsh, writing in the latest issue of The New Republic. Mrs. Palin admits to having “an incredible support system — a husband with flexible jobs rather than a competing career . . . and a host of nearby grandparents, aunts, and uncles.” Yet, Ms. Marsh charges, she does not endorse government policies to help less-advantaged working mothers — for instance, by promoting day-care centers.
Mrs. Palin’s marriage actually makes her a terrific role model. One of the best choices a woman can make if she wants a career and a family is to pick a partner who will be able to take on equal or primary responsibility for child-rearing. Our culture still harbors a lingering perception that such men are less than manly — and who better to smash that stereotype than “First Dude” Todd Palin?
Nevertheless, when Sarah Palin offered a tribute to her husband in her Republican National Convention speech, New York Times columnist Judith Warner read this as a message that she is “subordinate to a great man.” Perhaps the message was a brilliant reversal of the old saw that behind every man is a great woman: Here, the great woman is out in front and the great man provides the support. Isn’t that real feminism?
It’s not unsurprising that feminists seem take a turn to such irrationality as we’re witnessing with Sarah Palin – but it’s definitely disheartening.
I will say that it would be unfair to lump all feminists together like this. I personally know some strong, liberal feminists working in DC who – despite not supporting Sarah Palin because of ideological differences – acknowledge that they are thrilled to see her reaching such a high position. Women who face career obstacles and discrimination face them together – Democrats and Republicans – and a true feminist would understand that.
Of course, none of these liberal feminists actually support what they say they do. Feminism isn’t about women’s rights as it is about abortion, and pretending otherwise is ignorant. Sarah Palin represents pro-life feminism, who chose life over choice even when faced with a Down syndrome baby. She is the most dangerous attack that NARAL and Planned Parenthood have ever faced because of the cultural influene she can have over American views on abortion.
That is why feminists hate her. Everything else is just talking points.
Since her nomination on August 29th, I’ve tried my best to post and link to as many Sarah Palin videos as I can. She’s a new face to the national scene and many people are just out there looking for information or clips of her speaking. After a few weeks I thought it might be a good idea to run a post with all of the videos I’ve posted so far found in one place. We have more than 50 Sarah Palin videos and we add more every day!
Click through the link to see the full list of Sarah Palin videos. Read the rest of this entry »
Politico has run a story looking at how Sarah Palin’s unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002 acted as career-shaping trajectory to her eventual rise through the political world. It’s a good piece – especially for those of us out there looking for more information about who she really is, and where she came from. Click through to read. Read the rest of this entry »
Politico is reporting that the Sunday morning talk shows saw a host of Democrats lining up to get their shots in at Sarah Palin as quick and often as they can. Click to read more. Read the rest of this entry »
Tina Fey did a great Sarah Palin yesterday on SNL last night. If you missed it, click the picture to watch the clip. The bonus is that the Hillary satire is pretty hysterical as well.
Hot Air debate analysis: Home run
Why weren’t their energy questions at the VP debate?
Palin vs. the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism
Media still can’t figure out why Sarah wants nothing to do with them
Palin herself sporting a “Sarahcuda” shirt?
Slick Willy has kind words for Sarah Palin
The Palin picture you’ve got to see
Pakistani President to Palin: You’re hot
Faith Wars – Palin vs. the Media Read the rest of this entry »
Not that we expect anything else from the disgusting growth in American politics that the far left has become. Thanks for this soundbite Randi. We love every opportunity to emphasizes just how psychotically hateful you and your crowd have become these days. Click past the jump to watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
A lot is being said about the interview aired over the past two days between Sarah Palin and Charlie Gibson. I’m still getting my thoughts together on this, but I think it has been pretty obvious that the interviewed showcased Gibson as a partisan hack with the help of ABC’s poor editing job. I’ll post some of my own opinions on it later, but here are some clips of the interview. Click past the jump to watch the interviews. Read the rest of this entry »
Via Hot Air.
Sandrah Loh issues a cri de coeur in the opinion pages of the New York Times today as an advocate of public education. Despite Barack Obama’s extensive, if yet secretive, collaboration with William Ayers on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge to improve public education, she discovered that the Obamas have opted out of the public system for private education. So has Joe Biden, despite his standard Democratic statements of solidarity with teacher’s unions and educational monopolists. In fact, only one candidate in the presidential campaign has committed herself to working within the system to improve it …
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Palin actually started her political career as a way to improve the education her children received. She started with the PTA, and kept succeeding until she became governor. In terms of “community organizing”, Palin succeeded where Obama retreated, and she made a real difference in her community and the lives of her children.
I like the point emphasized in Ed’s post that Sarah Palin has actually worked to improve the lives and education of the people she lives with. But what jumps out at me about this issue is that it’s just once again an issue that when Sarah Palin talks about it – she has walked the walk. A Vice President Palin who has experienced and worked within the public education system (as her PTA president) is going to have a lot more insight about what’s going wrong than someone like Barack Obama who has chosen to send his kids to private schools.
And you know what? I’m not a fan of the public school system (of which I attended) but it is sure refreshing to see a politician sending their kids through public schools. Sure – Obama can talk about how he grew up as an average Joe – but that was 30 years ago when our schools were doing just fine. How much more can he really say he knows about education problems than John McCain? None. But Sarah Palin knows what’s going on.
Not just in passing either. This putz of a congressman actually compared Sarah Palin to Pontius Pilot on the floor of the House of Representatives. Disgusting.
Republicans couldn’t ask for Obama to say something more stupid than this. Sarah Palin’s lipstick joke during her speech is doing a lot more good than she probably thought it would. There’s no way that she would know Obama would use it to compare her to a pig.
Despite the nutroots insistence that the McCain camp is trying to “shield” her away from reporters, Sarah Palin will spend most of the weekend with Charlie Gibson where “ABC News will have plenty of time to question her and examine her and spend time with her.”
But it turns out that she is spending much of Thursday and Friday with Gibson — at the ceremony in Fairbanks, Alaska, and at her home in Wasilla, Alaska.
Campaign aides said the anchorman will get extensive, repeated access to Palin throughout her first trip home since becoming the nominee.
“ABC News will have plenty of time to question her and examine her and spend time with her,” a campaign official said. “They’ll do multiple interviews over two days. No topics are off-limits – there are no ground rules. There’s tons of time to talk to her about every topic.”
The remarkable rollout reflects new confidence in Palin by her handlers, who initially had suggested it would be a while before she did interviews. Now, there will be several.
There’s nothing to suggest that the McCain camp had any intention of “shielding” Palin from interviews because everyone knows that would be political suicide. But when she spent her first weekend as the nominee being attacked and smeared by not only the nutroots – but the mainstream media – who in the world would think that they wouldn’t carefully select their first interview?
I’m sure that the lefties are blowing their tops because she has yet to appear on “Meet the Press” in the week and a half she has been the nominee, but no one is taking that type of critcism seriously. Nor are they taking any other attacks very seriously, either…
Update: After posting this, Ed at Hot Air put a post suggesting that McCain’s campaign was intentionally “sandbagging” by lowering expectations before using Gibson and ABC to hit a home run this weekend.
I was going to write a post about Palin’s “gaffe” over the Fannie and Freddie bailout, but I think Ed Morrissey explains it a lot better than I could.
The alleged “gaffe” is that Sarah Palin made the comment that Fannie and Freddie had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The nutroots seized on this to point out that she’s unqualified to be vice preisdent because doesn’t even know that they are private corporations, not public. Really? Does anyone actually think that Sarah Palin doesn’t know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are private corporations? You’ve got to be kidding me.
First, they operate as private companies, but they’re not. Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have government backing for their operations — which puts taxpayers in the position of co-signer. They have never been a completely private enterprise. John McCain made this point two months ago when responding to the initial crisis that threatened to bankrupt the two lending giants, and said the time has come to eliminate both and allow the private sector to do their work, instead of these two quasi-governmental agencies.
Congress gave Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a huge blank check to bail out Fannie and Freddie, as Peter Viles notes, and now Paulson has committed to the bailout. That will in fact cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, as Palin said.
The real question is, if this disqualifies Palin from being VP, why isn’t Biden disqualified when he makes real mistakes?
I’m sitting at work and just got done having a terribly frustrating conversation with some co-workers about Sarah Palin. The amount of misinformation that is permeating the country right now is disturbing. These are not uneducated people I’m talking to – and yet, they continually insist on spreading absolutel nonsense about Palin.
Today’s topic: Sarah Palin is a radical Christian who believes that the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were part of God’s plan to lead to the invasion in Iraq.
Are you kidding me?
It took all of about 5 seconds to pull up the full transcript of her words clearly showing that Palin was merely offering a prayer that any Christian would – that our actions would hopefully be part of God’s will. Of course, this type of “misunderstanding” is common when you rely on garbage reporting like the Associated Press.
After clearing the air about that one, they insisted that Palin belonged to a radical right-wing church (I still haven’t figured out why two people who support Obama so passionately are bothered by the fact that someone might belong to a radical church.) It took me another 5 seconds to bring up the NYT article debunking their second try at Palin-smearing.
One of the musical directors at the church, Adele Morgan, who has known Ms. Palin since the third grade, said the Palins moved to the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church in 2002, in part because its ministry is less “extreme” than Pentecostal churches like the Assemblies of God, which practice speaking in tongues and miraculous healings.
So what did they have to say to the fact that Sarah Palin left a church because it was too extreme, while their rockstar Obama was married by, had his children baptized by, and for 20 years listened to one of the most radical and racist preachers in our time? Nothing, of course. Because stubborn facts like these get in the way of their worldview.
The “Palin goes to an extremely radical church and believes that the Iraq war is a mission from God” rumors were debunked awhile ago, but apparently, the facts haven’t settled in yet. I wonder why…
The Times actually gave a pretty fair look at Sarah Palin today in their piece about how she has managed to “fuse” poltiics and raising a family.
But with Trig in her arms, Ms. Palin has risen higher than ever. Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, says he selected her as his running mate because of her image as a reformer, but she is also making motherhood an explicit part of her appeal, running as a self-proclaimed hockey mom. In just a few months, she has gone from hiding her pregnancy from those closest to her to toting her infant on stage at the Republican National Convention.
No one has ever tried to combine presidential politics and motherhood in quite the way Ms. Palin is doing, and it is no simple task. In the last week, the criticism she feared in Alaska has exploded into a national debate. On blogs and at PTA meetings, voters alternately cheer and fault her balancing act, and although many are thrilled to see a child with special needs in the spotlight, some accuse her of exploiting Trig for political gain.
But her son has given Ms. Palin, 44, a powerful message. Other candidates kiss strangers’ babies; Ms. Palin has one of her own. He is tangible proof of Ms. Palin’s anti-abortion convictions, which have rallied social conservatives, and her belief that women can balance family life with ambitious careers. And on Wednesday in St. Paul, she proclaimed herself a guardian of the nation’s disabled children.
“Children with special needs inspire a special love,” Ms. Palin said, echoing the message she had shared at the shower.
Let’s give credit where it’s due. Props to the NYTimes for running an honest and fair look at Palin as a mother, instead of peddlnig out rumors about scandals and being just another smear merchant. Unlike the ideologues at the Daily Kos, I’m collected enough to recognize good reporting even when it comes for a typically terrible source.
The article focuses mostly on Palin’s child with Down Syndrome, and it’s definitely a good read. Check it out.
New McCain spot today highlighting the “Maverick” qualities on both ends of the Republican ticket. It still blows my mind why liberals think that a governor who increases the profit tax on oil companies is in the pocket of “Big Oil.” Could it be that liberals care less about the actual issues, and more about electing their candidate? Shocker!
I’ve just been e-mailed about a radio address Sarah Palin gave this morning. The reader says he got the link via Ace and you can download the speech here.
Update: I didn’t head over to Ace myself because I’m at work and know I can’t listen to it anyway but I was just e-mailed again by the same person who said Ace has the transcript of the address up for anyone who wants to read it.
Oh come on Wolf. Are you being serious? When was the last time you heard the word “shrill” attributed to a guy? Wolf Blitzer, serious journalist, wants to clarify that when Harry Reid said the attacks on Obama Wednesday night were “shrill and sarcastic” he didn’t specifically mention Sarah Palin by name. Reid could have meant Giuliani or Romney or Huckabee were shrill, right? Yeah, if you’re living in the delusional world of CNN I guess.
Thanks to Amanda Carpenter at Townhall for the clip.
Like many faithfuls in the GOP this year, I didn’t have a lot of excitement going into the fall campaign. As August began, I did feel a little bit of energy start to come out – but most of that was fueled by an anti-Obama spirit rather than anything else. I got more and more energized as things went along. When Obama picked Biden I was in – well, I’ll say it – fitsof joy over such a stupendously terrible choice. Then watching the DNC all week get me more and more revved up.
But nothing can explain the feeling I had Friday morning when rumors started swirling that Sarah Palin might be McCain’s pick as his VP. About an hour later when sources started confirming the pick, I didn’t know what to do myself. I was stuck in class but sending text messages to just about everyonne I know – overwhelmed with excitement about the pick. It was the first time, in a long time, that a campaign has managed to get me so energized.
This is the feeling we’re seeing all across America – especially in the otherwise quiet Republican ranks. We are enthused.We are overwhelmed. We just want to see as much of Sarah Palin as we can. We’re optimistic about the future of our party and our country. We’re excited about the political campaign in a year where we otherwise wouldn’t be.
No other candidate would have sparked such a unifying euphoria. No other candidate has the wide appeal that can enthusiastically bring together former Mitt Romney and former Mike Huckabee supporters.
Evidence of Palinmania can be seen everywhere – especially on McCain’s newly invigorated campaign trail.
As he touched down in suburbs outside of Milwaukee and Detroit, the just crowned Republican nominee found himself first on the newly-fashioned signs proclaiming the unlikely GOP ticket but seemingly second in the hearts of the thousands who thronged rallies to catch their first glimpse in person of Sarah Palin.
McCain drew loud applause, first at a morning appearance in the downtown of a quaint, Republican-leaning Wisconsin village and then at a more-boisterous amphitheater rally here in Michigan’s working-class Macomb County.
Yet it was Palin who many, especially women, in both crowds were thrilled to see up close just days after she exploded onto the national political scene.
Clutching signs with messages such as “Girl Power” and “Sarah Is My American Idol,” moms and their daughters lined the barricades just outside The Chocolate Shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin that served as the backdrop for the rally.
The women said they had come to see both members of the new Republican ticket, but couldn’t fake it when asked who they were more excited to lay eyes on.
“Sarah!” a small group of them yelled .
I’m not trying to say here that this race is going to be purely about Palin. John McCain has grown on many of his and he has a strong appeal to independent voters looking to fix a broken Washington. The power of Palin is in her ability to electrify the GOP while still remaining an appealing candidate to reform-minded voters in working class America.
The response to the Palin pick is unbelievable. If Barack Obama is serious when he says that running for president qualifies him to be president – I don’t think there’s any doubt which candidate is doing a better job of that recently.
All over Drudge today has been his scoop that Oprah’s staff is splitting pretty hard over whether or not to invite Sarah Palin onto the show as a guest. Supposedly, Oprah is refusing to consider it against the wishes of her staff and many reuqests on her website. Oprah’s response:
“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.”
That’s fine, Oprah, but do you happen to know which candidate has appeared on your show twice? Of course you do, he’s the one you endorsed and went stumping for last year. Why would, the most powerful woman in entertainment history, really consider not inviting a new, strong woman in politics onto your show? There’s no explanation other than you think it would hurt Obama’s chances.
What is this bogus claim that because you decided to endorse Obama you’re not going to use your show as a “platform” for any candidates? You don’t have any problem using your star-status as a platform for the Obama campaign, so what’s wrong with giving Sarah Palin a little face time?
The sad part for Oprah is that it’s going to be hard for you to recover from the 2008 election. Her numbers have been declining steadily since she endorsed Obama last year and not having Palin on the show is just reinforcing her new image as a deep-in-the-tank Obama cult follower.
Who is and isn’t on her show is her choice, but if she thinks that by not having Palin on she is somehow keeping her show “neutral” from politics she is beyond deluisional. At least ABC isn’t buying it so far.
A golden moment from Cindy’s speech last night. The clip isn’t compelling because Cindy likes Palin – of course we knew she’d have nothing but nice things to say about her. But Mrs. McCain isn’t a public speaker (in fact, commentators on FOX last night reported that her speechwriter couldn’t find transcripts to any actual speeches she’s given before) and you can definitely tell. She comes across as a wife and a mother who relates to Palin in ways I’m sure many women across the country do. (Yeah, I realize that Cindy is a multi-gazillionaire and so she doesn’t quite relate to Palin exactly how other working mothers do, but she is someone who has raised a family of 7 and speaks genuinely and sincerely to her audience in a way that is relatable.)
This is an oldie (not really, but in terms of how ridiculously fast news moves these days, it is). It’s good though, just as a reminder to everyone out there that Sarah Palin was not that big of a shock. At least, not for those of us paying any attention at all to right-wing news.
That’s not to say that I or anyone else actually thought it was going to happen – and I’ll be the first to tell you I was swearing it was Pawlenty on Thursday night – but the left has tried to paint the Palin pick as completely out of left field. If that’s the case, why do we have video clips of people talking about Palin as a potential VP? She was talked about for months to some degree by every major right-wing commentator on the radio or the web, and while her stakes didn’t seem high leading up to the days before the announcement, she wasn’t some out of the blue Hail Mary by McCain.
Update: Just got this link e-mailed to me detailing how in-depth the Palin discussion was around right-wing blogs. The reader who e-mailed me said they picked up the headline from Hot Air so I must have missed it.
Here’s the video we didn’t get to see Wednesday night because Giuliani’s speech went so long. Although, his speech was fantastic so no hard feelings about that.
Rasmussen has a new poll showing that 58% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin. That’s higher than the favrability ratings of both John McCain and Barack Obama.
A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom.
The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members). Before her acceptance speech, Palin was viewed favorably by 52%. A week ago, 67% had never heard of her.
The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain’s choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden.
Wow. A week ago almost to this very hour, almost no one knew who Governor Palin was. After a week of unfair and baseless attacks and smears and her grand slam speech Wednesday night, Americans are overwhelmingly positive about the GOP’s rising star.
Of course, I think this high favorability is just an indicator of how well Sarah Palin related to the public. Despite being smear around the clock for a week, her authenticity has cut through in ways that Democrats and the media are going to have trouble combating. Barack Obama had this same type of protective bubble for awhile because of his positive campaigning (at first) and idealistic speeches. No one believedthe attacks against him by Hillary were legitimate and they worked against her for awhile. It was only when his dirty laundry (Rev. Wright in particular) came out that he lost his general relatability appeal.
If Sarah Palin remains a cookie cutter of the middle American you can bet it will only get better for her the more the left goes after her.
How important is Sarah Palin’s nomination as McCain’s running mate. While everyone this past week (before her speech Wednesday night) seemed obsessed with the idea that she might be forced to drop, some guys over at Politico think that picking her could be the game-changer of 2008.
But in the space of one 36-minute speech by Palin, McCain proved that his choice was not a lapse into temporary (or even permanent) insanity. The speech’s political significance goes far beyond the fact that Palin showed herself capable of delivering a spirited reading of words that other people wrote.
Just as Barack Obama’s 2004 convention speech transformed his career, Palin’s speech has the potential to transform the dynamic of this race — in some ways that are obvious and some not:
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And many voters in these big audiences likely will swoon for a telegenic hockey mom who eats moose she kills herself. You can’t make this stuff up. Her story is made for TV, glossy mags and the big screen.
A mother of five with a pregnant daughter. A ruggedly handsome husband who drills oil and races snowmobiles. She hunts. She fishes. She runs.
She is now a curiosity in a good way. That means big crowds at events and attention from people who otherwise might have ignored a more traditional ticket of two, old, rich, white Republican men who promise to kill terrorists and cut taxes.
What’s solid about their analysis is that they’re careful to point out that she while she has certainly changed the dynamic of this race, it’s uncertain whether or not that will translate into giving McCain a victory. That will depend on her ability to talk convincingly about foreign policy, and hold her own in improvisational settings such as the debate with Biden.
But if she can do that – well, we’ll see.
So… Sarah Palin’s speech was fantastic last night, wasn’t it? Granted, I think she had a really, really slow start – so slow that I started getting nervous that she was going to flop the whole thing. But she picked up some motion and really delivered a great speech. What exactly made it so powerful, though?
Authority – The most important thing she did in this speech was establish herself as an authority. If there was anything that was 100% absolutely necessary – this was it. She’s an unknown in the political realm and the one sticking question over the weekend has been, “What are her qualifications?” So she gave them.
But instead of just listing her job as mayor and governor, she went a step farther and compared her experience with Obama’s. Why is this good? It does two things: First, it just highlights Obama’s do-nothing career as a politician. At one point Palin said that listening to Obama speak might make you forget that he’s written two memoirs but not a single piece of legislation. Snap.
The second thing the comparison does is drag Obama into a fight he does not want to be in. There is nothing the Democrats want less is a fight between their Number One and our Number Two, because you know who comes out a winner in that fight? John McCain.
More than just executive experience though, Palin managed to talk about foreign policy like she’d been studying it for decades. Sure, no one buys that Palin is as equipped to handle foreign policy as McCain is – but they don’t need to. If Palin’s readiness to be commander-in-chief is bothering someone, all she needs to do is ease their minds by letting them know that she isn’t ignorant. They aren’t voting for her, they are voting for John McCain – and everyone should be comfortable as long as the VP has got a pretty good idea as to what’s going on. Which is more than we can say for Joe Biden.
Biography – The “narrative” card is being played big time by the GOP this year. On the top of the ticket we have a guy who Americans are going to see as a true hero who has always put his country over personal ambition. The Democrats are going to try and nail McCain with their class warefare nonsense that we hear every 4 years, but McCain’s status as a former POW helps to play down that card. But not entirely.
Enter Sarah Palin. She is the working class of America. Unlike Joe Biden who, despite not rolling in cash like many Washington elites, has never had to worry about finances since he took his comfy job in the senate at age 29. The Obama camp is going to emphasize Joe Biden as the working man who still takes the train home every day but who are they kidding? The man has had a personal staff since before he was 30 years old. Sarah Palin on the other hand is a former union member, married to a union member, who served on the PTA and City Council before running for mayor and governor. She raised a family of 4 (now raising a family of 5) and spends her weekends hunting and fishing.
The great thing about her speech last night though wasn’t that she spent ages emphasizing her working class roots, but that her working class roots shined through her speech. She doesn’t have to tell us she’s giving us straight talk because she so so far removed from the “elite politicians” that she doesn’t even give the vibe of dishonesty and ambition. Sarah Palin just sounds like who she is – a working mother who has faced and overcome the same troubles everyone else has.
The Attack Dog – Finally, I was very impressed at how she took on Obama and the media. Consider it a middle finger to everyone wondering whether or not she was going to be able to take the pressure. The traditional role for the VP has always been to go on the offense so that the president doesn’t have his image tarnished as a bitterly negative candidate – and it’s good to see Palin resuming that role.
The most effective part of her attacks, though, wasn’t in what she was saying but who they were coming from. As I emphasized before, her working class roots are key to her appeal. She can take Obama head on for his empty gestures about sympathizing with the workers in Scranton because she was one of those workers. When Obama turns around in California and says they’re “bitter” and “clinging” to their guns and religion, she doesn’t have to say she is offended for the workers – she is offended with the workers. The biographical element to her attacks make them ten times more effective than listening to someone like Mitt Romney talk about the same things.
As you can tell, I’m thoroughly pleased with the speech from last night – and right am wondering how in the world John McCain is going to top it. For those that haven’t caught it yet, it looks like Palin’s speech got almost the same amount of viewers as Obama’s last week even though she was on almost half the amount of stations he was. Impressive.
This campaign is getting exciting, and it was good to see Sarah Palin let everyone know exactly what they’re getting into when they try pushing her around.
I had a nice chat with my mom this morning, who stayed up to watch Sarah Palin’s speech last night. Before I tell you her thoughts, let me explain my mom: She is one of the most a-political people I know. She’s skeptical about every politician and thinks they’re all hiding something and for this reason, she finds it impossible to care about politics. But, because I apparently won’t quit talking about her, she decided to tune into Palin last night.
This morning when I talked with her, she was really excited to tell me about it. While she’s still hesitant about politicians in general, this is what she said: “I stayed up to watch Sarah Palin for you last night. And you know what, she might be my favorite politician that I’ve ever seen. I liked her. I really felt like she was being honest and that she really meant what she was saying. She’s the real deal. I think this could turn the election around.”
For an ordinary person, there’s nothing too astonishing in that. A lot of people connect with politicians like that. But you have to understand, I have never heard my mom excited about a politician. Ever.
I consider her somewhat of a barometer for the undecided in the country. She is someone who has spent most of her life looking to be convinced by what a politician has to say, and no one has come close for her as Sarah Palin has. That’s unbelievable to me. If her respect for Palin as an authentic politician she can connect with is a guage for how middle Americans across the country are feeling this morning – we’re in good shape.
Over Labor Day weekend the MSM did nothing but dig around into Palin’s record and personal life, and when they came out with nothing, they decided to start peddling nonsense over and over again. So why would anyone be surprised that more than half of America believes that the media is a bunch of half-wit bullies trying to everything they can to annoint Obama to the presidency?
Over half of U.S. voters (51%) think reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin with their news coverage, and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in November.
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Just a week ago 67% of voters told Rasmussen Reports they didn’t know enough about Palin, only the second woman ever to be on a national political ticket, to comment on her. Heading into last night’s speech, however, 52% had a favorable opinion of Alaska’s Governor.
In the new survey, while 24% are more likely to vote for Palin due to recent news coverage, 19% say the opposite and 54% say the stories have no impact on their votes.
Wow. So watching the liberal media senselessly try to defame her has had some backlash? I’m so shocked!
In what other situation would you see that coverage of political scandals (I use that word loosely) actually increases the amount of people who want to vote for them? Of course, that assumes that the scandal is actually a scandal, and not the manure that the Democrats have been spreading around the last few days.
Combine this poll with the fact that Sarah Palin nailed her speech last night while all over those undeicded voters tuned in and I’d say we have a little confirmation that the Democrats should be as afraid of her as they’re acting.
I’m not as quick to the draw as Ed is over at Hot Air so while I’m still gathering my thoughts on Palin’s speech (expect my full thoughts this afternoon) head on over there to read a great review of it.
Perhaps the media and Democrats would have been better advised to set expectations high for Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech tonight at the Republican convention. After ridiculing her as a small-town yokel for the better part of three days, Palin would have looked good if she managed to avoid drooling during her speech. In the event, though, they could have set expectations as high as a Barack Obama acceptance speech, and Palin would still have exceeded them in a tremendous debut on the national stage.
Palin made it clear to the condescending media and her Democratic critics that she is no pushover, no cream puff. Her nickname, “Sarah Barracuda”, seems a lot more fitting after tonight. Not only did she defend her small-town upbringing, she attacked Barack Obama on almost every possible front, and for good measure went after Joe Biden and the mainstream media as well.
The rest of his post is even better.
Update: For my full thoughts on the speech, click here.
Wow. She nailed it. She brought everything to the table with a strength that the liberal media and loony left are peeing their pants over. The GOP is rejoicing all over the country – not just because of what Sarah Palin will do for us this November – but because what she will do for America for years to come.
I’m not going to go into details about my thoughts on the speech until tomorrow – I need to sleep off of the euphoria
Update: As always, AP has snagged a quick link to the full speech over at Hot Air. Head over there to catch the whole thing, or browse my clips below for some of the highlights.
Giuliani takes on questions about Palin’s supposed lack of experience on CNN – and does an excellent job. What I’m wondering is, how far do you have to reach to misunderstand Palin’s speech about having faith you’re doing God’s work? Then again, the media has been reaching pretty far these past couple of days.
The RNC has released some excerpts from Palin’s speech tonight. It looks like Palin is going to hit the issues that she needs to with a little bit of spin on her biography bit. Reminding voters that she’s from a small town and was on the PTA is good – but notice how Palin makes the connection that she doesn’t need to ask anyone what Americans are thinking and feeling these days because she is one of them. She’s bringing more than just an “I relate to her feeling” by pulling at something much deeper – the desire to be fully and completely understood in Washington, not just having people superficially know what issues you’re facing.
I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.
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I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.
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Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems — as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines…build more nuclear plants…create jobs with clean coal…and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.
It looks like she is bringing a lot of spunk to the stage tonight while still hitting grand slams on energy policy and going after the media. From the small excerpts released it looks like it could be a great night for her.
Matt Lewis strikes a pretty cool tone as he writes about an MSNBC headline questioning whether or not a mother of 5 has time to be the vice president. Personally, I don’t understand why anyone considers this a legitimate question, but Matt seems to want to take a reasonable approach to this:
Still, I suppose, it is not entirely surprising that we would be asking these questions now. I just interviewed Bishop Harry Jackson on this very topic. His belief is that this discussion on race and gender will ultimately be very good for this country. In the long run, that very well may be true.
It might be good to have this discussion in the sense that it exposes the hypocrisy of the Democratic party as they go full-throttle against a woman politician, not because of the issues, but on problems dealing specifically with the fact that she’s a woman. We don’t need to be having a look at ourselves and our views on women politicians - we need to be looking seriously at just how vile the race-baiting and gender-baiting that the Democrats have been doing for years really is. It’s disgusting and it’s about time for it to explode in their face.
I’m ready to pop a bag of popcorn and just enjoy watching the Democratic party finish the implosion of identity politics that it barely made it past in the primaries. By the time we’re done with this, Susan Estrich might be right.
I’ve yet to write a post commenting on the “Eagleton option” because of how completely ridiculous of an idea it is. Over the weekend we had non-scandal after non-scandal pop up after the media spent a furious amount of time trying to deflate the sweeping Palinmania. After 5-6 days of doing everything they can to uncover some horrendous scandal that would reduce her into a pool of political waste – the worst they’ve been able to do is discover that (gasp!) her husband had a DUI 22 years ago.
After having no success at destroying Palin, we then started hearing the craziest political criticism I think anyone has ever given – that McCain somehow is unfit to be president because he might not have vetted her. (And even if it were a reasonable question of his qualifications to be commander-in-chief, the claim is just nonsense.)
So far we’ve seen an all-out war raged against Sarah Palin and there aren’t any signs of her being damaged by it. She is virtually scandal-free and the grassroots GOP are falling head over heals for her. So why in the world would anyonethink the Eagleton option is even being discussed? When I was a kid, I used to ask my parents for something I really wanted by saying something like, “You want to take me out for ice cream, don’t you?” This is essentially what the MSM and loony left are doing. The Eagleton option doesn’t have anybasis in reality and yet people insist that these non-scandals and faux problems are somehow going to force Palin into withdrawing.
It’s just nonsense to think that anyone besides the New York Times seriously believes that this might happen. Really, what we’re seeing is one last, desperate attempt to diminish a formidable vice presidential pick.
No one has more credibility on ANWR than Sarah Palin. Although conservatives all over the nation have been pointing out for years that the proposed drilling location in ANWR is a barren landscape and not an environmental hazard at all – who is more convincing than the governor of Alaska in making the case?
Palin will deliver the biggest speech of her life at the Republican convention tonight, a high-stakes address that will introduce the still largely unknown governor to the American public. She’s already popular with conservatives, especially evangelicals for her staunch antiabortion stance. Palin can also make a mark on energy. The Bush administration estimates ANWR could produce more than 10 billion barrels of oil.
Palin’s place on the ticket “gives us the opportunity to have a live, walking platform to advocate for the development of our oil and gas resources,” said Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich, who has a checkered history with Palin. Their well-documented 2003 run-in led to her resignation from Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and his $12,000 fine for ethics violations.
Members of the Alaska delegation argued that ANWR isn’t the pristine refuge that environmentalists claim. “The opposition is based on premises we think are totally false,” said alternate delegate Frank McQueary. “It’s not what you see in the ads. It’s a barren arctic plain.”
If Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin becomes Vice President Sarah Palin there is a good chance we will see her energy expertise showcased as McCain and her make the case for expanding drilling – especially in ANWR.
Showcasing her knowledge on energy tonight will let her establish herself as the authority on the issue and it will let Republicans seize control of the economic issue by focusing on expanded drilling as the solution to high gas prices and financial strife. And the great thing about doing that is – well, we’re right.
Update: Just so no one is confused, Palin is not some self-serving governor looking to drill in ANWR just to bring money to her state (although, no one should be against economic growth). Townhall.com is running a letter that she sent to Harry Reid in June where she flexes her energy muscles across the board in pushing for drilling in the OCS and going deep into the details about petroleum prices. Very good stuff.
Yesterday, Ace gave us exactly what he wants to see/hear from Sarah Palin tonight in her convention speech. He’s asking for a 40-minute long speech where Palin hits two big areas: her energy credintials and thoughts on foreign policy. I think he’s right on target. First, Palin needs to give Americans as long of a speech as they are willing to watch. She’s a new face and people and hungry to learn about her. Second, we’ve heard all weekend (as Ace points out) about her moose-filled biography and let’s be honest – we’ve heard enough about the family for the time being.
The Washington Post has a few tips of their own for her:
• Substance Matters: The central question surrounding Palin is whether she is ready to step in as president if, for whatever reason, McCain becomes incapacitated. Given her thin resume (she has been governor for less than two years and before that was the mayor of a small town), Palin must — and we can’t emphasize this strongly enough — show a familiarity with national issues and an ability to speak intelligently about them. Our guess is that she will clear this bar without a problem. Remember that she (and her speechwriter Matthew Scully) have been working on this address for days and it is designed to play to her strengths — policy and otherwise. (Expect to hear lots of on energy from Palin, a major national issue where she is most comfortable.) The bigger problem for Palin on policy will likely come the first time — maybe next week? — when she is put out before the national media and subjected to a series of questions on a variety of topics in a far less controlled setting.
So come Sarah. Give us a whole lot of speech and take Obama to task over policy. Your humble constituents are just waiting for a reason to cheer.
What about you? What do you think she needs to do to seal up her reputation tonight? Leave comments below and let me know what you think.
The McCain camp has released a spot showcasing Palin’s “maverick” appeal hoping to woo some independents. More than that, we’re seeing McCain/Palin go head on against suggestions that Palin has less experience as Obama – particularly as a reformer. It definitely does what it needs to, but I’d like to see some ads stressing her work as an executive, comparing the amount of people she has had work under her and the size of the budget she has managed. When you compare that with Obama’s zero executive experience it isn’t even a question of who is more qualified for the White House.
Great, great stuff. It isn’t just what Newt said that is powerful – because we’ve heard his exact points hit by just about every conservative out there – but he delivers his message in such a concise and articulate manner without stuttering or stumbling and then turns the question right back on the reporter who dodges. Enjoy.
Ed Morrissey has a great post over at Hot Air taking a look at why the media (and the Democrats) have gone so ruthlessly at Sarah Palin over ridiculously minute “problems.”
The outrage has little to do with experience, and almost everything to do with being outfoxed by McCain. The media expected a staid, boring, safe white man that they could pigeonhole. Instead, they got a dynamic, successful, smart conservative “hockey mom” with a record of reform that Barack Obama cannot match and that is the antithesis of Joe Biden. They got knocked out of their lane, and now they have to figure out how to explain how they could possibly have overlooked Palin in their calculations. Presto! They overlooked her because she’s so inexperienced!
Forget the Eagleton option, people. That’s an option to salvage credibility for pundits who failed at political analysis. Palin’s not going anywhere, and her presence will continue to reveal the hypocrisy of these commentators.
You and the WSJ nailed it Ed. I’ve written multiple times here on why exactly the left and the media (not that the two should be separated) are so hellbent on destroying Palin over non-scandals and have come up with exactly the same reason. They are scared out of their minds.
Does anyone think a Romney or Pawlenty pick would have sent the Democrats and the MSM into the frenzy of hysteria that they have been in over this past weekend? When was the last time you heard of a politician’s spouse getting a DUI 22 years ago as a newsworthy piece of information? Not to mention that Barack Obama was doing cocaine about that same time…
The truth is there isn’t anything worth reporting on Palin and so – fearing what such an monumental pick like Palin could do to their chances at appointing Obama this fall – we’re watching a meltdown of catastrophic proporations over the most nonsensical issues a politician has ever faced.
Unfortunately for the Democrats, Sarah Palin isn’t going away anytime soon, and their attempts at breaking her down will only build her up in the hearts of Americans. I’m definitely looking forward to her primetime moment tonight – but its the 60 days afterward that I’m really excited about.
Well today’s the day. Tonight Sarah Palin will take the state at the Republican convention with millions of Americans tuning in to figure out just who this woman is. All Palin needs to do is be herself – exactly how she was on Friday and in Dayton and later in Pennsylvania. She’s an honest politician who will speak straight to the hearts of middle America. This one is hers to lose.
Here’s a clip to tide you over until tonight.
Here’s the video of Fred speaking about Sarah Palin at the 2008 Republican convention. Transcript follows.
Speaking of the vice presidential nominee, what a breath of fresh air Governor Sarah Palin is.
She is from a small town, with small town values, but that’s not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family.
Some Washington pundits and media big shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit. Well, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who has taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union — and won — over the beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week.
Let’s be clear … the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. She is a courageous, successful, reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment.
Sound like anyone else we know?
She has run a municipality and she has run a state.
And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.
She and John McCain are not going to care how much the alligators get irritated when they get to Washington, they’re going to drain that swamp.
He hits exactly what we already know about Sarah Palin – that she’s a real American and a real reformer. Haivng him lay out a small case for her so boldly, and so clearly in front of the millions of Americans tuning in is exactly what she needs right now. Fantastic.
First we had the rumors that Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy. Then the McCain camp announced that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter was pregnant and the media had a frenzy over it – but no one seemed to be biting. Desperate for a scoop, the left started circulating that 22 years ago, Palin’s husband got a DUI.
After a weekend of silly rumors and fake scandals, the only thing Democrats have left is to question whether or not Palin was “vetted” enough. Seriously? Alan Colmes just got done saying that this isn’t about Palin’s daughter, it’s about McCain’s judgment and whether or not he properly vetted the governor before he selected her.
So let me get this straight: The actual “problems” or “scandals” that have surfaced over the weekend aren’t what is wrong with Sarah Palin – it’s that John McCain might not have known that she had a history of non-problems and non-scandals? How does that even make sense? If Bristol Palin’s pregnancy isn’t a problem, as liberals like Colmes say, how is it a problem that McCain didn’t disqualify her because of it?
But here’s the real rub. McCain is being accused of not properly “vetting” his candidate even though there isn’t anything terrible that has surfaced about her, but everyone seems to give a pass on Obama and his vetting process even though his running mate has made public statements questioning Obama’s readiness for the presidency.
How desperate are the Democrats that “improper vetting” is now considered an issue? If that isn’t grasping at straws, I’m not sure what is.
I’m not quite sure why the left is so deranged over Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. Are they upset that she’s pregnant? Of course not. Since when have teen pregnancies ever been a problem for them? Maybe they’re upset about the supposed “hypocrisy” of the Christian right that preaches values and ends up being… shock – human! I can’t imagine that makes sense either because there’s nothing hypocritical about a pro-life governor raising a daughter who is willing to choose life over “choice” when she finds herself with an accidental pregnancy.
The only thing that makes sense is that the infanticide party is angry that Bristol has decided not to have an abortion. I mean – does she even care about women’s rights?
Truth be told, it has to be driving Democrats crazy that social conservatives are still going nuts over Sarah Palin even after it came out this weekend that she’s a real American with real difficulties.
If you think the steady drip-drip-drip of disclosures about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is crippling her candidacy, come to St. Paul.
There is no telling where the Palin story will end, but here at the national convention in Minnesota — where she is scheduled to speak on Wednesday night — the party faithful are ignoring verified revelations and vicious rumors. So far they are gung-ho about the Alaska governor. And whenever any naysayer says nay, many Palinites reply with a resounding, “Yea!”
If anyone thinks that Sarah Palin is going to crumble away and disappear into the history of political almost-made-its, think again. She is the real deal and the grassroots GOP have noticed. We are energized and ready to go after months of feeling deflated and expecting for the worst.
Do the Democrats really think that her husband getting a DUI from 22 years ago is going to destroy her? It has got to be killing them that they can’t find anything worse than that.
The McCain campaign put out a spot as a “get to know Sarah Palin” move. It’s mostly excerpts from her speech on Friday and ravings from newspapers about how much of a maverick she is.
The clips are great – I’m a big fan of the opener where she talks about politicians being expected to serve for the right reasons and get the job done. Her rhetoric is so down to earth. She offers serious views about post-partisan politicking and she doesn’t speak about it in a dreamy, beautiful oration. She just tells it how it is as best she can. This is why she is so appealing. Americans will get to know her and say, “You know what? She’s the real deal.” She passes over the grand promises and lofty speeches to speak straight to the gut of Heartland Americans.
Here’s a good clip of Susan Estrich, Hillary supporter, talking about how offensive the Palin coverage has been this weekend. Whether it has been the viscous rumors about her faking her pregnancy, causing the Down Syndrome or questioning her ability to be a good mother and vice president – Estrich is pissed and rightfully so. I don’t feel bad for Palin because she knows the stakes in being a strong, successful woman right now – but boy does it get my blood boiling. Click the image to watch.
CNN gets railed on for letting a reporter use Bristol Palin’s pregnancy as a lead into a discussion on abstinence only education in public schools. Click the image to watch.
In a column posted over at ynetnews.com we get an interesting picture of the nonsensical treatment that Palin has received by the left over the weekend. Israelian columnist Sever Plocker, who self-admittedly would never vote for a conservative like Palin, says that left is “irritated” by the VP pick – so much that they’ve given into disqualifying her for the job based on a criteria that Barack Obama wouldn’t pass.
Palin’s candidacy has irritated many among the American leftist camp, and they have been responding like a child who has seen an expensive toy being taken away from him (the toy in question being “change.”) Yet the response is understandable. By choosing Palin, McCain exposed the deep fundamental problems associated with Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
The 44-year-old Palin lacks military experience? True, as Alaska’s governor she oversees merely thousands of National Guard members. However, the 47-year-old Obama, who wants to become America’s next president, doesn’t even have this kind of experience. He’s got nothing.
Palin has no civil administration experience? True, she served as the mayor of a northern town and later governed a state that is home to 700,000 residents. However, Obama has not governed anything thus far and hasn’t managed any organization. He studied, toured, engaged in social activism and politics, and in 2005 was sworn in as a senator. He never had to execute administrative decisions, not even at Palin’s level.
If the left wants to keep pushing these tired arguments against Sarah Palin as VP they might get a little surprise when the public realizes that a candidate with less experience is running for president on the Democratic ticket.
I’ve never been one to push the “experience” card in the way many Republicans have, and that’s why I’m not bothered by the Palin pick. In fact, I agree with Obama that it is judgment we should look for – not just a blanket amount of experience. Joe Biden brings a lot of experience to the table, but as Mitt Romney said recently – he brings the experience of being wrong.
Obama climbed his way up a rotten Chicago political machine using low ball tactics – starting when he disqualified his opponent in the state senate race. He gave political favors to convicted felon Tony Rezko in exchange for a sweetheart deal on his million dollar mansion. He backpeddled on on a host of issues including FISA and gun rights within a week of winning the Democratic nomination. He voted against a bill that would protect babies born alive during a botched abortion. Just like Joe Biden, Obama has the experience of being wrong on just about everything he has done in politics.
And that’s the difference between him and Sarah Palin.
As I head out for the night, enjoy this clip brought to you by Matt Lewis from Townhall.com. Just a few women delegates from the GOP giving their thoughts and reactions to Palin’s nomination and the news about her daughter’s pregnancy. Click the image to watch.
“I think what this situation does – it makes Sarah Palin American”
I wrote about this earlier today but a good post at Power Line made me think I need to spend a little more time pushing this point:
I think Mac Donald is invoking utopian standards that give short shrift to Palin’s bona fide politcal appeal. The political considerations that support Palin’s selection are legitimate. This is an elective office we’re talking about, after all. Indeed, Mac Donald’s article is pushing me in the opposite direction. All things considered, including her political views, her record in office, her personal attributes, her complementarity with John McCain and her authentic appeal, Sarah Palin may be the best person for the job. She is almost certainly a good one for the job, especially compared with Joe Biden, whose executive responsibilites have been limited to running his mouth. But Mac Donald has me thinking.
All well said by Scott here, but let me expand here a little bit. Palin has spent over a decade in executive office where she makes decisions on a day-to-day basis that affect anywhere between 9,000 and 600,000 people. When she makes a decision, it isn’t like deciding to vote on a piece of legislation where most of the time that vote is either fairly uncontroversial and backed up by a majority of other senators. As a governor and mayor, she had final say on the day-to-day decisions she made and a month of doing that is more experience than Obama has accumulated in his less-than-one-term in the U.S. Senate.
But what all has she done that’s worthwhile? For starters, Palin has proven herself as a serious reformer who cares about making politics work for the people. Sick of corruption and wasteful spending, she ran against her party establishment and kicked the dirty politicians out of office. She even turned down pork barrel gifts to Alaska that she previously supported after she realized the pattern of fiscal irresponsibility Alaska had been in, and what that was doing to their reputation. How many governors do you know that sold their private jet on eBay because they thought it was a waste of taxpayers’ money?
Palin has energy credintials unmatched by McCain, Obama or Biden. She’s the governor of the state currently currently in debate about expanded drilling and knows the issue better than any politician out there right now. She strongly supports opening up ANWR for drilling, and does so with a history of fighting big oil and reducing greenhouse gases. At a time when the number one issue in people’s minds is the economy and gas prices, Sarah Palin has the type of experience that we need in a VP – first hand in the state of Alaska.
Finally, remembering that the VP is more of a megainfluencial cabinet member as opposed to an executive, Palin’s life experiences and down-to-earth sensibility is the type of voice we need whispering in McCain’s ear. When she says she’s pro-life, she does so after giving birth to a baby with Down Syndrome. When she says she understands kitchen table issues, she’s talking about her experience as a member of the PTA and the mother of five. When she says she understands women’s issues and problems facing working-class Americans – just ask her about trading in Blackberry for a breast pump.
It’s clear that Palin is anything but a token pick. Is she a gamble? Maybe. But only in the sense that rushing into that national spotlight can be dangerous. As far as her experience and ideology goes – Palin is anything but a gamble. She’s exactly what the Republican party needs right now – woman or not.
Today is the first official day of Palinmania.com – and let me tell you – I’m stunned. I’ve been in the web-building business for years now, and the traffic I’ve gotten today, the first day of this blog, as it levels I normally don’t see for a a month or two. What in the world is going on?
One word: Palinmania!
Via Ace:
Biggest traffic day of this site’s history? Friday. Ninety thousand plus uniques. Previous record? Somewhere around 55,000, during the Fautography feeding frenzy; maybe I hit that level a couple of other times.
Biggest traffic weekend in this site’s history? This Labor Day three-day weekend. Three day holiday weekends are always bad for traffic.
This weekend I’m breaking previous records on weekend days, except for Friday’s new record. I think Saturday was almost seventy thousand, and yesterday was sixty-three thousand. Typical good weekend day: 20 or 22 thousand. Frequently less.
I can imagine this is because of two things. First, there are lot of people out there who don’t know much about Sarah Palin and want to – so they’re taking to Google to get the job done. Second, there are a lot of people in the GOP out there who are beyond energized, and are excited about this young, new governor. They (we) can’t get enough of her. Sure, you can say that is still part of the whole “wanting to learn more about her crowd,” but I think it’s different. People are drawn into the Governor and want to hear speak – not just for information gathering purposes – but because of the excitement and buzz she is bringing to the table.
Palinmania is real – andyou can bet it is driving the left crazy.
Kristol cranks out a lot of what he’s been saying on FOX this weekend into a column for the NYT. Emphasizing the value of such an exciting pick on the morale of the party, he reminds everyone that Palin has been nothing but underestimated in her entire career in politics – from taking on big oil to her own party establishment.
I spent an afternoon with Palin a little over a year ago in Juneau, and have followed her career pretty closely ever since. I think she can pull it off. I’m not the only one. The day after the V.P. announcement, I spoke with an old friend, James Muller, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He said that Palin “has been underestimated over and over again. She took on the party and state establishments here in Alaska, and left them reeling. She’s a very good campaigner, a quick study and a fighter.”
Muller called particular attention to her successes in passing an increase to the oil production tax and facilitating the future construction of a huge natural gas pipeline. “At first the oil companies thought she was naïve, and they’d have their way. Instead she faced them down and forced them to compromise on her terms.”
Can she face down the Democrats, Joe Biden and the national media over the next couple of months?
John McCain is betting she can. Perhaps, as he pondered his vice-presidential selection, he recalled the advice of Margaret Thatcher: “In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
It’s pretty offensive that Palin is being characterized as a “drastic” pick by McCain, who was just looking for a “token women” on his ticket to swoon PUMAs. Where do they get off? Palin’s history and experience in the political scene is incredible, and considering her a “token pick” because she’s a woman is exactly what feminists should be enraged over. She isn’t some nobody do-nothing governor who happens to be female – she’s a maverick reformer who has raised a family of 4 (now 5) that has succeeded beyond expectation with every challenge she faces.
Her record is compelling and it’s about time the feminist power players start getting enraged over the Democrats downplaying her extraordinary success.
Laura Bush really focuses in on Palin as a “strong woman” who “does it all” and the two of them laugh about Palin’s comment that she has to someitmes put down her Blackberry and pick up a breast pump. It’s a good little clip to remind us all the feminism takes many forms, and you don’t have to buy into the pro-choice nonsense to prove that you are a strong woman in control of your own life. Click on the image below to watch the video.
That’s right. Since the announcement on Friday, the McCain camp estimates it has taken in nearly $10 million. That brings their monthly total for August to just under $50 million. If this isn’t proof of a rallying base, I don’t know what is.
Of course, today is the last day for McCain to spend the money since he kept his word and is accepting public financing for the election. Still not bad news, though, as McCain will be allowed to direct the money elsewhere – to state committees and other candidates.
The McCain camp has officially reported that Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant and will be keeping the baby.
Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin’s five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” the Palins’ statement said.
“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support,” the Palins said.
I’ve personally known several families within the last few years who have had their sons or daughters find themselves in an unplanned, out-of-wedlock pregnancy. It is heartbreaking for many parents, but really gives them the opportunity to practice their Christian values of love and patience that they believe in.
While it is sad that a 17-year-old is going to have to raise a child, no one should blame Gov. Palin for the pregnancy. In fact, we should look at the love and support her and her husband Todd are surrounding their daughter in and be reassured that it is those kinds of convictions we need in politics these days.
Bristol, we are all praying for you as you start on a difficult journey in your life. Everything happens for a reason – and God will use you and your pregnancy to do great things.
Update: Allahpundit at Hot Air points out that the nastier the left gets about this issue, the better it could be for the McCain camp.
The left, normally all for teen sex, will naturally use it as an excuse to call her daughter a whore in the guise of criticizing Palin herself for her position on abstinence-only education, which is why I’m thinking maybe McCain really did know about it: Per KP’s analysis, the nastier and more personal the left gets, the greater the risk of a backlash that benefits Palin.
Newsweek has a great piece of Palin that does well to highlight her as the very ordinary, middle-American that she is. The beginning stuff is especially good and, as Allahpundit at HotAir notes, is exactly what the McCain camp should be pushing about her. Here’s a clip:
Arriving home, she ran into the house, kicking off her shoes, grabbing her red sandals and yelling for her children. The reporter had to break it to her that she had just locked them out of the state car, and that the reporter’s notebook and tape recorder were still inside. She called a state trooper from her cell phone to come unlock the car, but since she was running late (a not uncommon occurrence), they would have to borrow her son’s car to head back to the next stop, the Alaska State Fair. She asked her son Track (a high-school hockey player then, now an Army private headed for Iraq) for his keys. Like any normal teenager, he dangled the keys over his head, just out of reach, and extorted a promise of a full gas tank when she returned. She took it all good-naturedly and was soon barreling off to the fair in her son’s jalopy (a Toyota Camry with a cracked windshield), electronic gadgets buzzing in her pockets, still spouting her conservative theories on social policy to the reporter.
If that isn’t just the picture-perfect of an American mom, I don’t know what is. The article also mentions the drastic steps she took to cut spending, such as selling the governor’s private jet on eBay as soon as she took office.
If the pundits out there are wondering what is so appealing about Sarah Palin, they don’t need to look much farther than Newsweek’s article. When she talks about helping Americans, she isn’t like John Edwards or even Mitt Romney – people with more money than they know what to do with – she is a middle of the road American. She knows what it’s like to raise a family (of 5) while balancing a career. When she talks about kitchen table issues, you can bet she has been at that kitchen table.
Her honesty in politics is what will drive people to her. She’s rock-solid on practicing what she preaches, and she knows exactly what middle Americans are going through on a day-to-day basis. But she’s also passionate and determined – ready to take the fight where it needs to go.
Should we be excited as Palin takes to the campaign trail over the next 2 months? You bet.
Sarah Palin’s energy credentials are top notch – another point that critics have failed to realize when considering why she is such a great pick by McCain. The price of gas is the major economic concern of Americans today, and the amount of people willing to support drilling in OCS and ANWR just keeps going up. Who can better talk about drilling in ANWR than the Governor of Alaska? In this interview, Palin flexes her energy muscles and shows her depth of knowledge about this issue (plus, she takes a nice swipe at Biden’s clear lack of expertise on energy).
…and the winner is? Like you need to ask. Gerard Butler confronts the issue head on by taking a look at Palin and Obama as politicians, how they got to where they are, their experience, and so on.
Political experience
Obama: Worked his way to the top by cultivating, pandering to and stroking the most powerful interest groups in the all-pervasive Chicago political machine, ensuring his views were aligned with the power brokers there.
Palin: Worked her way to the top by challenging, attacking and actively undermining the Republican party establishment in her native Alaska. She ran against incumbent Republicans as a candidate willing and able to clean the Augean Stables of her state’s government.
And…
Executive experience
Obama: Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of his campaign staff and a vast crowd of traveling journalists
Palin:Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of 500,000 people in her state, and that impact crucial issues of national economic interest such as the supply and cost of energy to the United States.
You need to click through to get all the good stuff though. Butler really nails it – highlighting the honest fight Palin made by taking on her on party in the name of clean, honest politics, compared to the slimy “old politics” (to borrow of a phrase from his playbook) that Obama used to get into the Chicago machine.
Palin epitomizes true conservatism. She is everything she is because of hard, honest work. She didn’t take a handout or get to the top because of a special connection she had. She didn’t play into the corrupt machine of Alaskan politics, and in fact, fought to bring it down. Beyond being a potentially brilliant political move, we should all be rejoicing at our new face of conservativsm.
She brings it all to the table.
Some great things about the clip. First, it helps to highlight her conservative credentials. We have two people on our ticket with sons in Iraq (Palin’s son leaves Sept. 11) – no more of this screaming from the left about how our party is a bunch of chicken hawks that sends everyone else’s kids off to war.
As well, notice her emphasis at the end of the clip about how our nation’s security means energy independence/stability. As governor of a state that borders two foreign countries and is a central topic of the energy debate, she knows what she’s talking about.
Of course, no one really believed the rumor that Palin’s youngest, born with Down Syndrome, is really her daugthers illegitimate child. But in case you have been subjected to the nonsense swirling around the lefty blogosphere over the weekend, Ed Morrissey provides us with a nice catalogue of photo evidence of Palin’s pregnancy.
As a devout member of the GOP base, I’ve spent the last 6 months pretty down on my party’s hopes. And by hopes, I don’t just mean in November. Even if we do manage to snag the White House – is the new face of our party going to be John McCain? The Maverick?
I understand the argument that McCain is our only hope in a year that the Republican brand is in the shape it’s in. But like Reagan in 1976, I couldn’t stomach watching my party shift ideologically in the way that it would with a McCain White House.
But then came Sarah Palin.
By selecting Palin as his running mate, McCain assured us not only that we will have a voice in his administration, but that the new face of the GOP will be exactly what it should be: unashamed conservatism.
Don’t believe that the base has responded to the Palin pick? Jonathan Martin might convince you otherwise:
As one veteran of Missouri politics said, that’s the sort of crowd usually seen in October for a president — not in August for a candidate.
It’s also a record-best for McCain.
Yes, yes, it’s just about a routine crowd for Obama. But there is perhaps no better indicator of how Palin is helping McCain close the enthusiasm gap than the number of people showing up the past two days in Pennsylvania and Missouri.
So welcome back, GOP base. Let’s start campaigning.
There were worries that Obama wasn’t receiving the traditional bounce in the polls during the DNC convention. To be fair, these worries were for nothing because Obama did see his numbers rise as the 3-day rolling polls came out late in the week. But Palin’s announcement Friday afternoon killed any bounce Obama might have managed post-DNC.
From Rasmussen:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday—the day before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin—shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by three percentage points both with and without leaners. That’s exactly the same edge Obama enjoyed a week ago on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
Here are the big points to realize:
Should we be excited about what Palin brings to the ticket? You bet. She is rallying our base and bringing in a media buzz that McCain, Obama and Biden would never be able to. Sure – that media is going to be some good, some bad – but Palin is just the type of candidate the heartland independents want to see, and so the more of her the better for us.
Here’s a great clip of Palin’s speech in Dayton, Ohio Friday afternoon.
One smear that many are ready to lay onto Palin is her supposed “corrupt” governing. The story is that Palin supposedly wanted her ex-brother-in-law fired because of a personal grudge and leaned on troopers to get it done. When the commisioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan, wouldn’t do it – she fired him. Sounds pretty bad, right? Too bad it isn’t.
Troopers eventually investigated 13 issues and found four in which Wooten violated policy or broke the law or both:
• Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.
• He illegally shot a moose.
• He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.
• He told others his father-in-law would “eat a f’ing lead bullet” if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.
Beyond the investigation sparked by the family, trooper commanders saw cause to discipline or give written instructions to correct Wooten seven times since he joined the force, according to Grimes’ letter to Wooten.
Those incidents included: a reprimand in January 2004 for negligent damage to a state vehicle; a January 2005 instruction after being accused of speeding, unsafe lane changes, following too closely and not using turn signals in his state vehicle; a June 2005 instruction regarding personal cell phone calls; an October 2005 suspension from work after getting a speeding ticket; and a November 2005 memo “to clarify duty hours, tardiness and personal business during duty time.”
Yes, Palin did fire Walt Monegan, and yes, it’s true that she wanted her ex-brother in-law fired. But the fact that he is her ex-brother in-law (aka, angry family ties) has nothing to do with her wanting him gone. Newsminer breaks down exactly what her ex-brother in-law (Mike Wooten) is alleged to have done.
So is Sarah Palin “corrupt” for wanting to get rid of this guy? Hardly. How would you like it if a cop in your town had tasered his stepson, threatened to kill his father-in-law, and drank in his squad car?
Sarah Palin for VP? You bet! Many of us have been holding our breath hoping that Palin would get the nod from whoever the Republican nominee ended up being. All of us a special thanks to Adam at Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President for getting ahead of the game and giving a voice to her supporters. Thanks Adam!
I can only speak for my own experiences – but how about the Palinmania that has swept our country and party? McCain raised over $7 million in just a day and a half after announcing Palin would be his running mate. (Anyone else besides me first-time contributors to McCain after the Palin pick?)
Unfortunately, Palinmania has caused the Democrats to come out swinging, ready to smear her from head to toe. That’s why Palinmania.om is here – to give you the information you need when you hear someone unfairly smearing and distorting the record of Gov. Palin.
Stay tuned and spread the word about McCain/Palin!
