Friday, August 29, 2008

So Far McCain's First Executive Decision Is Going Over Like A Lead Balloon-- What A Contrast With Obama's Choice Of Biden!

>


Even the far right GOP propagandists are having a hard time swallowing this one. Jonah Goldberg (might as well start at the bottom of the barrel): "She may not be ready for primetime. The heartbeat-from-the-presidency issue is a real one." Yeah, might be. Sharing the bottom of that barrel with Jonah is Ramesh Ponnuru, also writing for National Review. He's trying to play down what a terrible choice she is but he's clearly very worried:
Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue.

As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins.

And it’s not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby.) 

Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?

Compatibility. It doesn’t seem as though McCain knows Palin well. Do we have much reason to think they would work well together? 

Debates. Maybe, as Jonah said the other day, Biden will look like a bully going up against her-- and maybe she’ll shine. But I can think of a lot of other picks who would have been lower-risk.

I am not even sure that the pick will have quite the galvanizing effect on conservatives that it seems to be having now as it sinks in. The concerns I’ve mentioned here-- about her readiness and her credentials-- are the kind of thing that many conservative voters take seriously.

Also over at National Review Katherine Jean Lopez was harsh:
As much as I loathe Obama-Biden, I can't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs. Considering both McCain's advanced age and the state of the world today, it is essential that the veep be exceedingly qualified to assume the office of president. I simply don't have any confidence in Palin's ability to deal effectively with Iran, Russia, China, etc. I certainly will not cast a vote for Obama-Biden, but nor will I vote for McCain-Palin. Looks like I'll either sit this one out or vote for Bob Barr. Why, o, why, didn't McCain listen to Rove and just pick Romney?

The worst of the McCain shills-- well not counting staffer David Broder-- in the legitimate media, A.P.'s resident rightist loon Ron Fournier, tries minimizing Palin's lack of credentials by comparing her to Obama. He writes what many Americans are saying, that "it's a recognition of how vulnerable McCain is despite polls showing it's close." People recognize that this important decision-- especially important-- was frivolous and made not with the good of America in mind but strictly in terms of superficial political considerations. McCain really comes across as a crass, grasping hack... which makes sense, since that's exactly what he is. He just doesn't always come across that way, thanks to his media pals like Fournier and Broder.

The only people who seem overjoyed by this awful choice are the religious extremists, who seem especially excited that Palin is a notorious homophobe.
...[W]hen conservative leaders heard the news this morning at a meeting at the Council for National Policy, one attendee told me that there is "nothing but elation. People are giddy. They are energized and they now believe that in fact this campaign has the ability to win this election."

My comments are below but first some more reaction. This from Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council:

Senator McCain made an outstanding pick from the choices that were on the table. Sarah Palin clearly addresses the issues so many conservatives are concerned about. It balances out the ticket. She's also really a checkmate for the Democratic Party because folks who were looking to make history for Barack Obama can make history by voting for John McCain in seeing the first woman elected to the vice-presidency. It was a very strategic move by John McCain.

This from one of the key Evangelical leaders out there, Mat Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel:

"Absolutely brilliant choice. John McCain could not have chosen a better vice-presidential nominee that Gov. Palin. She is attractive, articulate, conservative, pro-family, pro-life, and pro-marriage. John McCain hit this one out of the ballpark."

Many observers feel that Palin's selection will strengthen Obama's bounce from the convention. The new Gallup poll numbers show a steady climb from a 45-45% tie before the Convention to a 49-41% Obama v McCain split... before Obama made his incredible acceptance speech last night at the highest rated (TV viewer-wise) convention in history.

Over at Time Mark Halperin wonders aloud if McCain's pick was bold or disastrous. And desperate. Since she's already being referred to as "Dan Quayle with a pony tail," Halperin remarks that "those who point out that George H.W. Bush was able to win despite Dan Quayle's presence on the ticket forget that the country was much more solidly Republican at the presidential level back then than in today's 50-50 America."

And last but not least, is the fractured GOP hierarchy. It will take a few days-- or at least hours-- before we find out how angry Rove is about this choice and how vulnerable GOP members of Congress think it could impact their own races. But already, the Washington Post claims that the Pawlenty and Romney camps are fuming, feeling like they were made to look foolish and then humiliated as props in McCain's self-centered and irresponsible media hype. "Two senior Republican officials close to Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty said they had both been rudely strung along and now 'feel manipulated.'"
"They now know that they were used as decoys, well after McCain had decided not to pick them," one Republican involved in the process said.

Who vetted this hack? She may be good at avoiding Kudlow's questions but even with a Republican shill like him she still manages to come off sleazy and incompetent:




UPDATE: OOPS... PANTS ON FIRE ALREADY?

When I first saw that video above, I thought Palin looked like a weasel. That brother-in-law stuff looked fishy right away. And sure, enough, the Washington Post has an exclusive interview with the Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, the guy Palin fired. It looked like McCain's crack team on vetters didn't talk with him before settling on Palin. I wonder who they did talk to. Her pastor?

Monegan told the Post that Palin "repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state's commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin's husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly. Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter." Alaska's the most corrupt state in America and they run it like a one-ring rural circus. Fine; it's up to them. But what the hell was McCain thinking?

Labels: ,

8 Comments:

At 4:00 PM, Blogger Distributorcap said...

mccain was clearly going after the dobson crew ---

and the hillaryites -- can they vote for a rapid anti-gay, anti-choice, gun toting governor who probably didnt know the prime minister of japan before today.

this was the go long strategy - and frankly it worked for today. he got obama off the front pages. but it wont last

 
At 7:49 PM, Blogger Dr. Tex Nology said...

" as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby"

I just heard ... 5 kids... and the baby has ... as in the Devo song ... one chromosome too many ...

As a devoted and busy parent ... all I can say is, if the runner up to Miss Alaska becomes our next prez (McCain is 72 now, and 8 prez's have already died in office) I just hope that Michelle & Obama's grandparents are willing to babysit for Palin.

Perhaps the gun toting, gay bashing, anti women's rights, political and world inexperience are in place for Palin ... but maybe the timing is not quite right in the family values sector ????

 
At 8:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My how professional she sounds using the term "cool", that sure will go over big with foreign heads of state.

This isn't about her views on a myriad of issues that go against my own. This is a matter of a clearly unprepared individual being the 2nd inline to run this country, especially given the health concerns of McCain. She is basically just a mayor of village of 8000 people and how exactly does that prepare one to run the sole superpower on Earth?

This is just another example of McCain doing whatever it takes to become President, the country be damned. Like Bush, McCain doesn't care about governing he just wants to the title and we can't have another 4 more years of that mindset.

 
At 1:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hillaryites will not be fooled. RYK

haha, mom with five kids. I thought they didn't like working moms.

It is mind boggling.

 
At 7:14 AM, Blogger Timcanhear said...

When asked what relief we'd see in gas prices by drilling ANWR,
or WHEN we'd see relief, she couldn't answer. (Experts say it will have only minimal affect.) She mouths what she knows about alternative energy and how it's where we need to go but she's more about tapping ANWR. That's the "show" the right wants to put on for America.
She is, quite simply, the face of opposition to Roe V. Wade.
She has no other credentials for the world stage.
She may (or may not) be good for Alaska but where the PEOPLE are concerned, she's one dimensional ... she's all about Roe V. Wade and instinctively, when you see and hear her speak, it shows.
McCain just handed the dems a sure fire victory!
I see a landslide in November thanks in part to this pick for an extremist on the gop ticket.

 
At 11:46 AM, Blogger Urs said...

Maybe McCain is just trying to fuck over the party the way they fucked him over in 2000?

I wonder if we will see a change of plans in the next week. It would be the smart thing to do, but even so, I don't think there is a chance for McCain to pull himself out of this hole.

 
At 6:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What kills me is the fact that people keep saying she has made executive decisions. Republicans, WHAT EXECUTIVE DECISIONS have McCain done?

 
At 11:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have been a republican since 1964, but today I will change to the democratic party, thanks Mccain!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home