I don't think McCain chose her to attract the Hillary anti-gun, anti-oil, pro-abortion vote. IMHO, he chose her for all her anti-Hillary qualities and to attract those voters who would have voted for Hillary just because she is a woman. She also can't logically be attacked by Obamas advisors as being inexperienced because she has more Executive experience than Obama has. She can't logically be attacked as a Washington insider. She can be lauded for her anti-corruption stance. Unless McCain missed something in vetting her that will come back to bite them later (allegedly having future ex-brother-in-law fired), he made a heck of a good choice.

And you forgot the most important part, she is seemingly more conservative then McCain is :smug:.

:rotfl: All women misuse their power for personal reasons if given the chance!

Heck, if my girlfirend saw me post this it would be "No sex for a month!"

That's basically how my wife see's it. When I came home today, she was very excited and the first things she said: "He chose Palin, and boy.. she is a MILF... Oh and welcome honey."

Well.. that certainly raised an eyebrow on my side.

:lol: No argument there!!! And men can be equally guilty (not me of course :shifty: ).

Still--I don't see this playing out well for McCain. Might be a good long-term move on her part though... Everyone will know who she is now.

They all do it. Ask Bush. Wait a minute, he might be listening in on our conversation. A lot goes on concerning power and who knows what. I do not think this is some gross over-indulgence of power. None-the-less, questions were raised and need to be looked into. I do not think that is that big of a deal. I would hope when vetted they checked eveything. You know, if Biden can get past plagarism, I'm sure she can get past this.

I think this looks like a gamble on the part of the Republicans. I can't really see the numbers of people who would vote for Clinton just because she was a woman being that high.

If you look at her right-wing credentials all I can see Palin doing is attracting people who on balance would probably have voted Republican anyway.

Still its an interesting move by the GOP and either way the US is in for something different whoever wins the election.

It was the Native American's own fault. They were on our land first.. :doh:

Our euphemism for Ethnic cleansing was "removals". It sounds so much nicer that way.

Lesson 1: It is not good to find yourself between an expansionist country and a coast line. It will not bode well for your future.

The more I read, the better the choice seems on many levels. As for not meeting her in person many times, so what? You forget, McCain is a Senator. SOP for them is to have staff put together options, and they pick. From everything I've read since yesterday, the first impression most people have of Palin is that she's great. If you've been well briefed on her and her background by your VP vetters, and she wows you on the first meeting... executive decisions sometimes have to be made like that, nice to see he can do that without having to poll for 3 weeks to find out what he thinks.

She locks the conservative base, and energizes them. This secures the Rove electoral strategy that we know works, but only barely (2000, 2004). McCain still has his crossover appeal (uniquely for a Republican), and can get some of the more moderate dems. Her anti-corruption background doesn't hurt. Biden is an attack dog, but in a VP debate, if he attacks hard he'll look mean (sexism double standard, but the right has to avoid being called racist every time they disagree with Obama, too, which is BS)—if she beats him up, Biden looks worse (getting beat up by a girl). She's nothing if not telegenic, too. While she's very conservative, he personal story about not aborting (either with amnio data, or choosing to go against standard of care for a 40+ YO mom and not get amnio) he Downs Syndrome kid is compelling, and something rational women can at least understand, even if they disagree. Attacking her experience is dangerous ground given the top of the Dem ticket's even lower level of experience.

She's a home run for McCain, IMO. VP rarely helps the ticket, but can hurt. She certainly does no harm, and IMO helps him politically.

I would have to agree with you. IMO McCain had far better choices - some of whom would have been more of a challenge to the Dem ticket. Just can't see Obama or Biden losing any sleep over McCain's choice.

She backs the teaching of creationism in public schools and is against abortion even for incest or rape - that alone will surely make her a hard sell to the majority of women.

I think I can hear Biden licking his lips at the sacrificial lamb that has just been thrown into his den.



Surely the nominee in selecting a VP must ask themselves the "What if" question. When McCain asked himself that question what was he thinking!? How on earth does someone who was no more than a mayor of a town with 7-8,000 people less than 2 years ago be a 'heart-beat' away from leading the free world and convince McCain, who places much emphasis on commander in chief qualities, that she is the one?

Well--I just had a rather interesting conversation on my morning walk to get donuts (donuts off-set the weight-loss from the walk :hmm:)

I live in a Very Republican area. (I'm Independant myself and have worked for candidates on either side--whoever I thought was best for the job). This morning I had a chat with 3 Republican Ladies who are outraged by McCain's pick for VP. One of them is in her early 90's and plans to vote Dem for the 1st time in her life. Why?

They believe that McCain's choice is based on the shallow thought that women will vote for him solely because he put a woman on the ticket. All of them said that may have helped him IF he had picked a qualified woman (their words--not mine). They don't think McCain is giving women credit for not thinking about who they vote for but will vote solely on an emotiional basis. Having looked around the web and by talking to people it appears to me that the group of people most upset by McCain's choice is the same group he hoped to gain...

But it's early. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

This is interesting Peto. To me, picking a woman looked to have been a ploy to get the womens vote. Could possibly be. But as Von Tonner pointed out, this womans view on abortion will certainly turn a lot of women away but, McCain had to pick someone with the same view as his. Somehow in my thinking, if I were a woman, I would feel like my intelligence was discredited just because you put a woman on the ballot and I'm supposed to be led like the lamb as a result. A lot of women who support Hillary see Hillary as a woman of substance. A women who weathered her husbands infidelities, not just once, but several times. Sure, Hillary has a few skeletons in the closet rattling around. Bill has an army of skeletons(IMO, Bill ruined her chances. He should have shut up, his time is over) . Yet, she puts on the smiling face, pulls up the boot straps and attempts to carry on life despite the curveballs thrown. Women respect that in Hillary. Women are bright, no one can argue that point. The Hillary supporters really feel they have been let down by their own party. They feel Obama is not ready and is an empty suit. At this point and 18 months of watching Obama.... IMO these women are right. Clearly, Hillary has the experience. Obama, not so much. Well, not at all IMO. I watched his acceptance speech. Full of flower, color, bright lights and inspirational. So are a lot of sermons I have heard over the years. Obama has not even remotely stated how he plans on financing these grandious ideas he throws out. I'm beginning to think he is telling me what I want to hear. Not the reality of it. Von Tonner thinks Palin is the sheep being thrown into Bidens den. From what I read, Palin is just as much an attack dog as Biden ever was. I think she is intelligent also. At this point, all of this is talk. Debates are needed forthwith and a lot of them!!!! All 4 of them need to go head to head. This will dispell, with any luck, who has a grasp and who is handing out smoke and mirrors. Point blank questions need to be asked. Point blank answers need to be heard. I don't need to hear about growing up in the south side of Chicago anymore. We got the point of disadvantaged right up to the magnate schools and a top college in the country attended. Enough of talking about "ME". That part is over. Time for tough questions and clear answers. Put the smoke and mirrors away. Do not give answers as if you are running for the high school class president. Give us some real substance! The next two months are going to be very interesting.

Oh, and give me a donut. :D

This is right on the money. If I was a woman, I'd be insulted.

Then again, there are alot of morons out there, from what I hear, who want to vote for McCain because they didn't get Hillary, even though they have opposite views on almost everything.

Another day in America....:damn:

These must be good points because I agree with all of them ;).

I hope you're wrong as he's going to win (IMO). At the same time, I agree with you that so far it's all talk.

I think Palin may surprise a lot of paople. Me included. In fact--if she does well in the run-up to this election, look for her in 4-8 years. Palin vs Hillary? Nothing is out of the question or the realm of possibility. US politics are on the edge of desperation. The deeper in trouble the country gets, the more insanity we can expect to see from all parties.

No arguement. Anything less from either party will be a disservice to the whole country (again--my opinion).

Amen!

Donut is in the mail sent C/O Torsk :up:

EDIT: I saw 2 more Obama signs in my neighborhood this PM that definitely weren't there before. (Repeating myself) This is a traditionally Very Republican area.

@Peto,
I too believe Obama is going to win as well. A lot of factors play in Obama's favor and have been for quite sometime. The media has driven his campaign and supported it much more then any other candidate. He really is the media darling. When he went to Berlin I was looking to see what news entity would broadcast his first bowel movement in Europe. Obama speaks well. If he does not win, he should apply for a inspirational orating job. Unfortunate that he speaks of all the country ills but does not speak on how he plans on fixing it(herein is the problem). He could say the sun will be green tomorrow and the stary-eyed would believe it(hand me the Jim Jones juice). Although I stated we need the debates with hard questions and good answers. Obama speaks well enough to waltz around answers. He will appear confident and composed. McCain, not so much if at all. Public speaking is not McCains bag. So, Obama could say he will just ask the Federal Reserve to crank out more dollar bills and disperse it to the people as a way to fix those who are struggling. Sounds insane but Obama will say it in such a way that everyone will believe it. For McCain, the media has done nothing but down play his age. the media has painted a picture of McCain with one foot on a banana peel and his other foot in the grave. As far as the media is concerned, they see McCain keeling over as soon as he accepts the Presidency if he wins. So, we turn our attention to Palin. What does she bring since the media is shoveling the dirt on McCains casket and the general public believe the media is right? Shovel in hand to dump the next load of dirt. We see two old dogs (McCain/Biden) and acknowledge two old school politicians. We then see Obama as fresh faced and not influenced by the old school politics. We see the same in Palin. Really an odd mismatch. It is obvious that Obama picked Biden for his International knowledge (and his cursing ablility as well). Lets face it, the largest issue for Obama is his lack of International knowledge (in domestic IMO as well). McCain has a good grasp on International affairs(although a loose cannon IMO). It is clearly evident that Palin was picked for the womens vote and swinging Hillary supporters. A bold move but one I do not think will work. If these two debate, I will be watching, should be interesting. But, all in all, does the VP really matter? The VP just always seems to be back up if the president is killed or disabled, etc. Not much else. Really, what has Chaney done in 8 years? Last time Chaney was in the news he had blasted off his buddies ear while hunting. Not much more than that I can recall. What did Al Gore do in 8 years as VP. Not much. Hell, Hillary did more then Al every did. So, it looks to me like a write-in vote for me. I think I will pick Hillary and see what it gets me.