Sarah Palin Thread

[Redeye]

Do you read you own links though?

It appears that, as she promised during her bid for governor, Palin did try to sell the plane on eBay, but there was only one serious bid, in December of 2006, and it fell through. The Westwind II was sold about eight months later, achieving her goal of ridding the state of a luxury item.

According to the article, it was not sold via eBay or on the internet, but to a campaign contributor - for less than its cost - making the claims that a) she sold it on eBay and b) that she sold it for a profit both factually incorrect.  That said, it wasn't her that made the claim.

The reality is that to me all of this is detracting from any intelligent debate about policy.  Listening to CNN on my way home from the Armoury tonight there was some people on Larry King talking all about how she seems "like a real person", etc etc all sorts of things that suggest that people will vote on that basis without actually looking into what candidates stand for... and that's the most terrifying thing about democracy.  I remember being down in Georgia just after the 2004 election and hearing lots of people tell me that they voted for George Bush because of his "family values".  They couldn't explain what exactly that meant though.  They didn't seem to understand anything about policy whatsoever in fact.  My father thinks there should be an intelligence test for voters before they get a ballot, and sometimes it seems that mightn't be so bad an idea!

 

[Adamant]

Anyone parsing candidates speeches to that extent isn't really interested in the real issues IMHO. It's too bad some here can't show as much interest in our own political race as they are trying to dig up dirt on something south of the border.

I am interested in the real issues, and am considerably more interested in our own race.  My point from the beginning has been people around here are bashing the obama/biden ticket with absolute slander and are holding McCain/plain up as if they are alter boys who've never once told a lie.  I just don't really think it's fair to say Palin is the best person in the world and Obama is a liar.  When we can clearly see that McCain and Pailn have both lied as well.  They're politicians, it's what they do, it's how they get elected.

I don't think either of them are a good choice.  Our race this year, with whats at stake is way more exciting...

 

[time expired]

Obama picks a long time political veteran for VP and McCain
picks a MILF,good thinking on McCain's part,given the level
and tone of this campaign,just look at the muck raking on
this thread alone.Adamant if you are really interested in the
issues you would not be following this campaign so closely
as every candidate knows one does not discuss the real issues
in a presidential campaign.
                                  Regards

 

[Haletown]

Eveyone can believe what they want, but the pig reference was clearly a Palin smear and it is backfiring big time.  It could be the turning point in the election.

It makes a great RNC ad

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZd_Y_D-RaA

 

[GAP]

Articles found regarding Sara Palin on September 10, 2008

Dude Dads
Forget Sarah Palin. The swing voters to watch might look more like her husband, Todd.
By Bruce Reed Posted Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, at 5:07 PM ET Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008
Article Link

NASCAR on Ice: Every election, pollsters and pundits introduce another voter group whose views are certain to decide the outcome: soccer moms, NASCAR dads, security moms, office park dads, and (three times in the past week) Wal-Mart moms. These categories, while sometimes useful, share an important methodological flaw: On Election Day, when undecided voters finally make up their minds, exit pollsters don't ask them where they work or where they shop, what sports they watch or what games their children play. Exit polls eschew these trendy questions in favor of boring demographic perennials like age, race, gender, education, and income level.

Precisely because exit poll questions don't change much from one cycle to the next, however, they provide an interesting portrait of how the electorate evolves—or doesn't. Some segments of the electorate are fiercely loyal to one party; others lean toward one party but more dramatically in some years than others.
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Sarah Palin, the pastor and the prophecy: judgment day is not far away
September 10, 2008
Article Link

Alexi Mostrous in Wasilla, Alaska
At the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, Sarah Palin’s former pastor sees powerful signs that the end of the world is nigh.

Pastor Ed Kalnins cites conflict in the Middle East, America’s dependence on foreign oil and the depletion of energy reserves as evidence that “storm clouds are gathering”. He told The Times: “Scripture specifically mentions oil instability as a sign of the Rapture. We’re seeing more and more oil wars. The contractions of the fulfilment of prophecies are getting tighter and tighter.”

He declined to set an exact date for the Rapture, or the “End of Days” – the belief in a time when Jesus will return, raising up believers to Heaven and leaving the wicked to be ruled by the Antichrist – but hopes it will be in his lifetime. “I’m looking out the window and I can see it’s going to rain,” he said. “I’m just looking at the turmoil of the world, Iraq, other places – everywhere people are fighting against Christ.”

Since Mrs Palin’s nomination as John McCain’s Republican running-mate 11 days ago, her social and religious beliefs have become subjected to intense scrutiny. As a supporter of the teaching of Creationism in schools, an opponent of abortion – even in cases of rape or incest – and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, she threatens to reopen the culture war that has scarred American politics for a quarter of a century.
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Did Palin give McCain a boost with women?
SIRI AGRELL From Wednesday's Globe and Mail September 9, 2008 at 9:11 PM EDT
Article Link

Is John McCain experiencing the benefits of a baby bump – or a surge?

A new poll by The Washington Post and ABC News found the Republican candidate has garnered a large increase in support among white women since announcing Sarah Palin as his running mate, putting him ahead of Democratic rival Barack Obama among that demographic for the first time.

But it's unclear whether voters are simply reacting to the novelty of Ms. Palin's personal story and the historic nature of her selection with a fleeting expression of support or whether her choice as vice-presidential nominee has led women to see Mr. McCain in a new light.

Before the Democratic National Convention in late August, Mr. Obama held an 8 percentage point lead among white women voters – 50 per cent to 42 per cent – but after the Republican convention earlier this month, Mr. McCain was ahead by 12 points among white women, 53 per cent to 41 per cent, the poll found.
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Obama Did Not Call Sarah Palin A Pig
09 Sep 2008 07:06 pm
Article Link

The first McCain truthsquadding telephone call is taking place right now, and ex-MA Gov. Jane Swift is complaining about an idiom Barack Obama used today:

Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra.
"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."
"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."
"We've had enough of the same old thing."
Suddenly, common analogies are sexist?

The McCain campaign has little respect for Obama, but they don't think he is stupid. And the only way one can conclude that Obama meant to refer to Gov. Sarah Palin as a pig is to have concluded that Obama is as dumb as a doornail.

Obama is fond of this particular phrase. To wit, in 2007:

'I think that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are capable people who have been given an impossible assignment,' Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday in a telephone interview. 'George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig.

And so is John McCain. Speaking about Hillary Clinton....

McCain criticized Democratic contenders for offering what he called costly universal health-care proposals that require too much government regulation. While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's plan, he said it was "eerily reminiscent" of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the 1990s.
 
"I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal.
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Media digging for dirt on Sarah Palin
by Jon Henke | September 9, 2008 at 9:52 PM
Article Link

The media is going after Sarah Palin.  Hard.    Listen to this phone call to Kevin Wall, filling in on Bill Bennett's radio program.  It's an Alaskan process server, who who called in to talk about how many calls she's getting from media organizations trying to get court records on Sarah Palin, her son Trak, and their friends.  She names the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.  The relevant portion starts about 1 minute in.

This is the stuff that opposition researchers usually do.   I would expect the Obama campaign and the DNC to go after the personal records of Palin's family and friends like this, but the media?  Did they go after Barack Obama this thoroughly on personal history?

The Left isn't exactly covering themselves in dignity, either.  Randi Rhodes claims McCain was "well treated" in Vietnam.

Of course he became very friendly with the Vietnamese. They called him the Prince. He was well treated actually. And he was well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment. So look, it’s a horrible story anyway you cut it, anyway you look at it, any way you you you deal with it.

But, it’s not the story Fred Thompson told. Nor is it the story Rudy Giuliani told. Nor is it the story Sarah Palin told. Nor is it the story anybody. Cindy McCain knew to limit herself to ‘I think what my husband did in Vietnam was heroic’ because she knows the truth too.
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Democrats scrambling as 'Palin effect' hits US polls
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The McCain campaign has used Sarah Palin's reputation to seize the change mantle. (Reuters: John Gress)
The Republicans' United States presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, and his Democrat opponent Senator Barack Obama are battling it out over who is the authentic change agent.

For months Senator McCain ran on his expertise, his foreign policy experience, while Senator Obama's slogan was and still is "change we can believe in".

But all that changed when Senator McCain chose his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin.

Now, the "Palin effect" on the presidential campaign has led to a huge surge in support in the polls for Senator McCain.

"We're the ones who will change Washington," Senator McCain said.

"She is the one who's changed Alaska.

"She is the one that took on the old bulls in the Republican Party that cleaned up the state of Alaska and she'll clean up Washington and we'll restore trust and confidence in government and again on the part of the American people."

The McCain campaign has used Sarah Palin's reputation as a reformer in Alaska to seize the change mantle.
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Palin Energizing Women From All Walks of Life
By Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 10, 2008; Page A04
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LEBANON, Ohio, Sept. 9 -- Susie Baron is a Republican, a mother of two and a home-schooler. She voted for Mike Huckabee in the Ohio primary, but now -- because of Sarah Palin -- she thinks she is part of something much bigger.

I wouldn't even call it a Palin movement, I'd call it a sleeping giant that has been awakened," Baron, 56, said at a rally here Tuesday. She described its members as a silent majority of women in Middle America who "are raising our families, who work if we have to, but love our country and our families first."

"And until now, we haven't had anyone to identify with," Baron said, adding that traditional feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women do "not represent me."
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Alaska Shrugs Off Palin's Faith
U.S. Election; Religion not a priority for those in Governor's state
Charles Lewis, National Post  Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Article Link

Sarah Palin, the Alaska Governor, may be the most overtly religious candidate for U. S. vice-president in recent memory, but she comes from the state with one of the lowest levels of interest in religion.

John McCain's Republican running mate is a deeply believing Christian with strong evangelical and Pentecostal roots.

"There seems to be a paradox," said Courtney Campbell, a professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University.

"In the Pacific Northwest a politician may have devout religious beliefs, but that is not going to be associated [by the electorate] with a political agenda of reforming the state in accord with the Christian kingdom of God."
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Sarah Palin to star at California fundraising bash
Article Link

A Silicon Valley billionaire is playing Oprah to Sarah Palin's Obama, hosting the Alaska governor at what will likely be a must-attend fundraiser for Republicans later this month. And as was true when Oprah Winfey feted Barack Obama at her 42-acre estate in Montecito last September, getting in to software magnate Thomas Siebel's shindig on the 25th won't be cheap.

The Associated Press is reporting that for $50,000, contributors become co-chairs of the event, with access to a reception for six people, a couple of seats at the nominee's table, a table for 10 at a lunch and a photo op with Palin. Mere mortals who are invited can cough up $1,000 for a ticket. (Actually this is cheaper than the Obama affair; admission to Oprah's retreat, which she calls "The Promised Land" came with a $2,300 campaign contribution).

When it comes to sheer star power, however, it's hard to imagine the Republican event attracting half the Hollywood dazzle that flocked to Obama's. Stevie Wonder played, Cindy Crawford and Halle Berry, Will Smith, and Sydney Poitier mingled with bundlers and big donors.  
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Palin, And Her Family, Under Scrutiny
September 10, 2008
Article Link

1 2 next I want to thank Stan Simpson for his insightful, well-written, well-researched column "Palin's Missile Misguided" [ Connecticut section, Sept. 6]. It opened my eyes to the important role community organizers play in bringing about real, positive change to society. It also revealed the leadership skills and sound preparation for effective statesmanship a person can acquire while serving as a community organizer, provided he does his job well, as Barack Obama has done.

The article reinforced my belief that Sen. Obama is best qualified to lead America in the right direction and bring about the change America so desperately needs.

William Beckham

Hartford Stan Simpson's Sept. 6 column was deeply misguided itself. Simpson disparagingly accuses Sarah Palin of "savaging" Barack Obama and "mocking" his lack of executive experience in her speech at the Republican National Convention. On the contrary, Palin was simply making the highly valid point that Barack Obama has no executive experience, a flaw that makes many American voters nervous.
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Political Wisdom: Democrats Rough Up a Lady (Palin, That Is)
Here’s a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:
by Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray September 10, 2008, 7:22 am
Article Link

The Democrats, a bit unnerved by the rise of Gov. Sarah Palin, are hoping to blunt that rise by getting a little rough with the lady. Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen of Politico write that “Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are intensifying their attacks on Sarah Palin, as her sustained and surprising central role in this race is upending Obama’s strategy and often overshadowing” the Republican nominee himself, Sen. John McCain. Democratic Congressman Russ Carnahan, they note, introduced vice presidential contender Joe Biden at a Tuesday event by ripping into her record and ending with a “snarky jab. ‘There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick,’ he said. Later in the day, Obama used a variation of the lipstick line, though he was clearly talking about the McCain-Palin reform rhetoric. ‘You can put lipstick on a pig,’ he said. ‘It’s still a pig.’” VandeHei and Allen’s analysis: “The Obama campaign is calculating that it must reckon with Palin and the big public boost she has provided McCain in the past week….”More on link

Sarah Palin's impact: Women moved
Sarah Palin: 'Mother, governor, moose-shooter, it's cool'' -- Barack Obama
Posted September 10, 2008 6:15 AM by Mark Silva
Article Link

On the question of what Gov. Sarah Palin is doing for Sen. John McCain's campaign, a new survey conducted by NBC News shows that McCain has drawn virtually even with Democrat Barack Obama with growing support from women.

The NBC take on the "dead heat'' that some national polls are showing: Obama 47 percent, McCain 46 percent, in a poll with a 3.3 percent possible margin of error, a virtual tie.

McCain moved up, NBC's Chuck Todd says, "partially because women moved... Women under 50 moved 11 points in McCain's direction... Thank you, Sarah Palin.''

Of course, this swing of women voters isn't quite the 20 percent shift in white women toward McCain that ABC News had reported the day before. And both McCain and Obama had made some gains of their own in the NBC survey--with McCain's positive rating of 50 percent his highest yet, and Obama's 53 also a personal best in the NBC survey.

Enthusiasm for McCain also had grown significantly - to 34 percent - "again, thank you, Sarah Palin,'' network political director Todd said on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Enthusiasm for Obama, however, also was running at a healthy 55 percent.
,
The national numbers are one thing, Todd notes, counting nine real "battleground'' states - Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Mexico among them - and four states that should be considered tossups: Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and New Hampshire.
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‘Bad cop’ Sarah Palin steers GOP ticket far right
By Peter Gelzinis Wednesday, September 10, 2008  Boston Herald Columnist
Article Link

John McCain’s last true maverick gesture was called Joe Lieberman.

In his heart and in his dreams, the feisty old soldier believed the best way to shake up Washington and re-connect with his maverick roots was to enter the White House accompanied by Al Gore’s running mate.

But that’s about all it was - a dream.

McCain’s campaign staff quickly slapped him out of his reverie and reminded him he would never make it out of St. Paul with his friend and fellow senator by his side. They told him to wake up and keep to the right - the hard right.

So, this 72-year-old guy, who was never one to foam at the mouth over the so-called wedge issues (see guns, God and gays) hooked up with a beguiling wedge candidate for his final sprint toward the presidency.More on link

'I Am Sarah, Watch Me Act'
Barbara Kay, National Post  Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Article Link

How I wish I'd been the proverbial fly on the wall watching the changing expressions on Barack Obama's face as Sarah Palin delivered her already-legendary speech at the Republican convention last Wednesday.

I imagine his pre-speech expression as alert, but relaxed paternalism, like a chief surgeon set to supervise a lowly resident's clumsy initial attempt at an appendectomy. Then puzzlement as the surgeon realizes that he's to be the patient, and finally horror as, strapped to the table and, before a nation of fascinated onlookers, he is subjected to ... a palinoscopy!
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[GAP]

Some more that wouldn't fit

Dems deny Sarah Palin-bashing
By Herald staff Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - Updated 6h ago
Article Link

Spokesmen for Democrat Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden denied yesterday that hot-button jibes at the Republican opposition were personal attacks on GOP veep candidate Sarah Palin.

In Virginia, Obama said of the McCain campaign’s “change” platform, “You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’ it’s still gonna stink after eight years.”

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Sarah Palin had turbulent first year as mayor of Alaska town
By Ken Armstrong and Hal Bernton / The Seattle Times Wednesday, September 10, 2008  Article Link

At last week’s national convention, Republicans fought to turn a perceived weakness of their vice presidential nominee — a lack of experience — into a signature strength, saying Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had more executive experience than both members of the Democratic ticket combined.

Six years of her executive experience came as mayor of Wasilla, a city north of Anchorage that had about 5,000 residents when she took over. As much of Palin’s hometown rallies with pride around her, 1,400 miles away — in a National Archives warehouse in Seattle — three boxes of documents help capture the quality of her mayoral experience.

These records, from a federal wrongful-termination lawsuit, include the minutiae of municipal governance, with memos to administrators and personnel records stamped "confidential." The documents, combined with accounts from her hometown newspaper, show how Palin’s first year as mayor could easily have been her last.
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Palin’s Candidacy Reignites Feminist Debate
by Cristina Corbin Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Article Link

The feminist debate has come full circle. As Sarah Palin barnstorms throughout the country emphasizing her personal story of being Alaska’s governor and the mother of five children, many liberal commentators are asking whether she can balance the rigor of the vice presidency with the demands of parenting.

Palin gave birth on April 18 to a son with Down syndrome and has a teenage daughter who is five months pregnant. The combination of parenting along with her decision to campaign as John McCain’s running mate has spurred a phalanx of questions from surrogates for her political opponents as well as members of the mainstream media.

“Children with Down’s syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?” CNN anchor John Roberts asked during a live segment on Aug. 29, the day McCain announced Palin’s candidacy.
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[GAP]

Sarah Palin: Separating fact from fiction
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2008 The Star’s Washington correspondent
Article Link

WASHINGTON | Since rocketing into political stardom as John McCain’s running mate two weeks ago, Sarah Palin has been dogged by questions.

She will sit down today with ABC for her first interview. While all politicians are attacked on, and boast about, their records, the fact that the governor of Alaska burst so suddenly onto the national stage in the lower 48 states makes it more difficult for voters to separate truth from fiction. So here’s a quick review of the issues:

•Was Palin accurate when she said that she opposed Alaska’s “bridge to nowhere,” which became a symbol of congressional spending gone wild?

Yes, but with an explanation.

“I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that ‘bridge to nowhere,’ ” Palin told the Republican convention last week. “If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves.”

The Democrats claim that Palin was for the bridge before she was against it, that she opposed it only when it became a national joke and Congress killed it in 2005.

Palin did support the $398 million project to build a bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island’s 50 residents when she ran for governor in 2006.

But Congress had already pulled the plug by that time. However, while it had eliminated the project, the money remained and was still Alaska’s to spend on transportation.

According to Congressional Quarterly, Palin continued to back the bridge “long after it was no longer necessary for Alaska to spend money” on it. She still could have built it, but as governor chose not to.

“Ultimately it was her call,” according to CQ, and “not inaccurate for Palin to say she ‘stopped the bridge to nowhere.’ ”

•Is it true, as Palin said at the convention, that she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress?”

Again, yes with an explanation. Earmarking is the practice where lawmakers insert pet projects into bills with little or no oversight.

Before Palin became mayor of Wasilla, her town had never been that involved in seeking earmarks. But by 2000, its 7,000 residents had their own Washington lobbyist, according to several newspaper accounts.

Palin won nearly $27 million in federal earmarks, according to FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan campaign watchdog Web site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania.

Ironically, McCain, a longtime earmark foe who has called the practice “disgraceful,” criticized several of his future running mate’s requests at the time.

She was elected governor in 2006 and continued to tap the earmark lode. But she asked for fewer earmarks this year — about $200 million worth of requests — than she did her first year in office, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Palin is on record speaking out against the state relying too much on earmarks. She has told her administration to cut back its requests, drawing praise from Anchorage newspapers.

•Was Palin ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, which has supported a vote on whether the state should secede from the union?

No. A party official erroneously told reporters last week that Palin had been a member. The official retracted the statement. Palin’s husband belonged for several years. Palin did attend one of the party’s conventions when it was held in Wasilla while she was mayor.

•As mayor, did Palin order several books banned from the town library and fire the librarian when she refused?

No. No books were ever banned. The titles that Palin is said to have wanted tossed included several that at the time hadn’t even been published, according to FactCheck.org.

But she fired the town librarian twice.

Librarian Mary Ellen Emmons, told the Anchorage Daily News that Palin asked her three separate times about the possibility of removing books from the shelves. Each time, Emmons said she wouldn’t.

At a local council meeting, Palin explained that her questions on banning had to do with “understanding and following administration agendas,” according to the Anchorage paper.

But Palin did end up firing Emmons. The first time, she rehired her, as well as several other department heads that she let go. Palin called it a loyalty test since the employees had been there under the previous mayor. The second time, Palin rehired Emmons only after the town got upset, according to several newspaper accounts and Factcheck.org.

•As governor, has Palin asked the state to pay her “meal money” when she was staying in her own home?
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Sarah Palin draws Mayor Menino’s fire
By Dave Wedge Thursday, September 11, 2008 Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter
Article Link

Wedge is the Herald's Chief Enterprise Reporter and writes Sunday's "Pols & Politics" column. He also covers music for "The Edge" entertainment section.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday took aim at GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s highly touted National Rifle Association membership, saying it flies in the face of efforts to target urban violence.

Menino said the NRA has blocked attempts by big-city mayors to beef up gun laws. “As a member of the NRA, her position is, ‘The laws are great,’ ” the mayor said. “There’s something wrong with that. We have kids being killed in the streets every day.”

A spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign responded: “Having raised the point, it’s true that while Barack Obama has said he’d back efforts to ban even law-abiding citizens from possessing guns, John McCain believes the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.”
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Handlers prep Palin for first TV interview
Two weeks ago, People magazine was granted an exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain's new running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska, who spoke about motherhood, her career and the historic nature of her candidacy.
By JIM RUTENBERG and MONICA DAVEY The New York Times
Article Link

Two weeks ago, People magazine was granted an exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain's new running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska, who spoke about motherhood, her career and the historic nature of her candidacy.

She has not given an interview since, eschewing the traditional route for a vice-presidential nominee to take to the TV-news interview circuit immediately. Palin will break that blackout today, when she will begin two days of interviews with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson.

She flew back to Alaska on Wednesday, bringing with her a squad of McCain's top policy advisers to help her prepare.

McCain's team hired several veterans from President Bush's campaigns, making them part of a team dedicated to defending Palin from unsubstantiated rumors on the Internet, Democratic claims and potentially damaging news reports about her record.

The McCain campaign is battling news reports that have the potential to undermine the image it has presented of Palin as a reformer who, for instance, shares McCain's unfriendly views toward federally funded pet spending projects known as earmarks.

On Wednesday, a report on Politico.com detailed Palin's requests for federal appropriations as governor, including money for studies on the mating habits of crabs and the DNA of harbor seals, the sorts of projects McCain has lampooned in his own attacks on earmarks.

McCain's campaign sent another team to Alaska to respond more rapidly to such reports. It is headed by Taylor Griffin, who had worked for Bush's 2004 campaign. Another former Bush campaign aide, Tracey Schmitt, is Palin's traveling press secretary. Tucker Eskew, a veteran of Bush's primary campaign against McCain, has been a constant by Palin's side this week.

Among the key people on the Palin plane to Alaska on Wednesday night were Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's economic adviser; Steve Biegun, a former employee of Bush's National Security Council who has taken leave from his day job at Ford Motors to advise Palin; Randy Scheunemann, McCain's senior foreign-policy adviser; and Joe Donoghue, a longtime Senate aide to McCain.

Also on the plane was Nicolle Wallace, a communications director for Bush's 2004 campaign and his White House. Wallace's husband, Mark Wallace, Bush's deputy campaign manager in 2004, is helping prepare Palin for the debate.

For now, prepping for the debate and the Gibson sessions are one and the same, and aides developed a set of presumed questions and answers that they are walking Palin through.
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Jubilant Alaskans welcome Gov. Sarah Palin home
By STEVE QUINN
Article Link

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin arrived home to a chanting, cheering crowd, a blur of smiling supporters eager to embrace her after a whirlwind of national scrutiny since she was named Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate.

"It's been an amazing couple of weeks," Palin told the crowd of more than 2,000 gathered inside an airport hanger. They chanted, "Sarah, Sarah," waved signs that said, "Palin Is great."

Palin offered the crowd much of the same campaign speech she's given since McCain named her to the GOP ticket on Aug. 29, including her reference to listing the state plane for sale on eBay after she became governor.

"I say that hopefully not sounding hypocritical as I walk off that," she said, pointing to the McCain campaign jet she now uses.

She received the loudest bursts of applause when promising to push for drilling in this oil-rich state.

"Our state, Alaska, will be a leader in our nation's energy policy and bring us one step closer to energy independence," she told the audience, at one point straying from her prepared speech to say, "I feel like I'm preaching to the choir because you guys already know this."
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Obamamania makes way for Palinmania - US Election 2008
We've been through Obamamania. Now a new phenomenon is sweeping America – Palinmania.
By Toby Harnden in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Last Updated: 3:05PM BST 11 Sep 2008
Article Link

Even before Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska had appeared on the stage to introduce Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, the chant went up around the hall: "We want Sarah!"

A tear rolled down the cheek of a middle-aged woman volunteer who moments earlier had been barking orders to keep the exits clear.

A mother clutched the hand of her 11-year-old daughter, whose face was made up like a clown with stars and the letters P-A-L-I-N painted across her face.

Outside, queues which began six hours earlier snaked around the sports hall as more than 9,000 people filed in. Hundreds would be left outside.

They held home-made signs with slogans like "God, guns, lipstick" and "Read my lipstick - Palin."

One beaming woman wearing a "USA" baseball cap had scrawled a on a piece of cardboard: "A Real Woman = Governor, mom, CEO, pro-Life, God fearing, happy. GO SARAH!"

A vendor had run out of badges with Mrs Palin's picture and the legend: "Coldest State, Hottest Governor."

"I've never seen anything like it," said G. Edward LeFevre, a local Republican committee member. "The crowd, the enthusiasm, the upbeat feel and the emotion is unprecedented. Sarah Palin is quite a lady."

Then the 44-year-old mother of five appeared, with her husband Todd, also 44, and Mr McCain, 72, alongside her.

The crowd went wild, the screaming and cheering eventually subsiding into a steady cry in unison of: "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!"
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[GAP]

Articles found September 12, 2008

Gov. Sarah Palin: 1; ABC News' Charles Gibson: 0
Article Link

Charles Gibson's much-anticipated interview with Gov. Sarah Palin allowed Palin to shine again while Gibson's transparent attempts to discredit Palin failed miserably and served only to reinforce the already low opinion the American public has of biased network news programs.

ABC News obtained an exclusive first interview with McCain's selection for his Vice Presidential candidate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. Charles Gibson, host of ABC's Evening News, conducted the interview in Alaska. With interest in Palin so high across the country, the Gibson interview will likely rank among the highest rated Evening News shows this year. With so much of the American public turned off by the constant bias of major news outlets (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, AP, New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, etc., etc.), here was an opportunity for ABC News to win back some lost viewers with an interview that was fair, balanced, and civil.

What viewers witnessed was a smug, smarmy superior attitude from Mr. Gibson as he peppered Palin with questions about her foreign policy experience. Without hesitation, Palin responded intelligently and forthrightly to Gibson's questions. Gibson tried to elicit definitive answers to vague questions, apparently in the hope that he could trap Palin into making a policy statement beyond the responsibilities of a Vice President or in conflict with the stated position of McCain. But Palin was too much for Gibson. While providing a clear insight into her command of the topic, Palin impressed with her skillful ability to dodge the traps Gibson set for her.

At one point, while grilling Palin on her thoughts on being asked to join the McCain ticket, Gibson suggested it was "hubris" for Palin to be unhesitating in her belief that she was qualified to take on the position she was offered. Gibson's feeble attempt to denigrate Palin only backfired in his face and he looked foolish in his failed effort to unsettle Palin. It is just this kind of smarmy tactics and snide remarks that have turned the public away from the liberal network evening news programs.

At another point, Gibson asked her whether she agreed with the Bush "doctrine" without defining what he (Gibson) viewed as that doctrine. Palin asked Gibson to clarify which aspect of the Bush "doctrine" he was referring. Gibson parried that he wanted to hear what Palin viewed as the Bush "doctrine" (something he might have asked in the first place). Now the term "Bush doctrine" is one the media have coined to refer to the President's view that the US can act preemptively to protect its interests. So Palin gave him a clear answer based on her view of what constituted the Bush doctrine. To which Gibson responded that he had a different view of the Bush doctrine. Does Gibson really think this kind of confrontational sparring with an interviewee appropriate? Was this a "test" to see whether Palin knew the precise definition of a media term for what would be considered normal policy by any normal person? Is there ever a time when the US should not preemptively defend itself against a planned foreign aggression when there is absolute certainty of the planned aggression? Is there any rationale for the US to not take appropriate action against a country that willfully harbors and assists those who are active enemies of the US?
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Crappy treatmentPublic Forum Letter
Article Last Updated: 09/11/2008 07:25:36 PM MDT
Article Link

The sexism and attacks by the media against Sara Palin and her family are disgusting, including Pat Bagley's recent cartoon mocking her pregnant daughter (Opinion, Sept. 4). The media and the Obama campaign have mocked the size of town where Palin was mayor and the population of Alaska where she has been governor for 18 months. They attacked her for her sarcasm against Obama, when she was simply responding to their criticisms of her. Obama actually compares his experience running his campaign to her executive experience governing Alaska.
    Attacks from feminist groups show they only support liberal-minded women like columnist Rebecca Walsh, whose "Is Palin a hero or villain?" (Tribune, Sept. 4) shows what a pathetic hypocrite Walsh really is. Accusing Palin of "sacrificing two of her five children . . . to her own political aspirations" is sexist. Saying Republicans have "wrapped Palin in a cloak of phony feminism," calling her their "Trophy Vice," and accusing her of "narcissism" for "surrendering her children's privacy and her own time with them" is total hypocrisy.
    Palin's been a successful working mother for years. She doesn't deserve such crappy treatment by the press.
   
    Sheila Thompson
    Salt Lake City
End of article

What Sarah Palin tells us about Obama
September 11, 2008
Article Link

Here are a few thoughts of my own on the lipstick on a pig moment (see this earlier post for the views of others).

First, demonstrating that  McCain had used the same phrase before doesn't cut it.

The reason the pig idea popped into Barack Obama's mouth is that Palin had used the pitbull and lipstick joke in her speech. Can anyone doubt that?

So Obama was using it as a jibe against her. This was monumentally foolish. And this raises questions about Obama's character.

Second, the character question it raises is not that he is a sexist or that he lacks courtesy. It is that he folds under pressure.

Obama has looked amazingly uncomfortable under the pressure that Palin has put him under. He relies on his cool - it is a core part of his appeal. So he looks bad when he loses it. During the Hillary contest he rarely came under any pressure from the media. When he did he reacted badly.

So the problem caused by Palin isn't really about Palin - it's about Obama.

Which brings me to the third point. Obama cannot change how Palin is seen anywhere near as much as he thinks he can. He needs to work on how he is seen.

But, as Jay Cost argues, he hasn't been disciplined enough to do this.
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Political Wisdom: Would Hillary Have Trumped Palin?
September 11, 2008, 7:14 am
Article Link

Here’s a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:
by Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray

If only it had been Hillary…Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard argues that Sen. Barack Obama would be better off right now if he’d only chosen Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate instead of Sen. Joseph Biden. “Obama had his reasons,” Barnes writes, “particularly his discomfort with her as his actual vice president if he’s elected. Still, Obama sacrificed a stronger ticket by rejecting Clinton.” The first thing a Hillary pick might have done is prevented Sen. John McCain from picking the rock-star-like Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

“Okay, McCain might have picked her anyway. He was looking for a running mate who would help him shake up the campaign. And Palin has delivered spectacularly on that. But choosing her would have seemed far less of a game-changer had Obama picked Clinton.” Biden, in contrast to Palin, has “generated no enthusiasm or excitement.” A Clinton pick, Barnes says, also would have produced more party unity, would have attracted some Republican women, would have put away the big states of Ohio and Pennsylvania for Obama, and would have brought Arkansas into play.
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The Note: Obama, Palin Form Center of Race
September 10, 2008 8:19 AM
Article Link

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note: Perhaps Gov. Sarah Palin is still a normal human politician -- as opposed to a superhero/phenomenon/celebrity (irony alert!) who is immune to the whims of such trivial matters as national media coverage.

But as she returns to her native Alaska on Wednesday -- with swarming Democrats and out-of-town reporters making the landscape a tad less familiar -- she is a full-blown sensation whose appeal seems to grow as the country gets to know her -- good, bad, and everything in between.

If it’s The Mom vs. The Messiah -- what does recent American electoral history tell you about who might have the edge among the Wal-Mart crowd? One of Us, or One of Them?

(Will a campaign that beat one female candidate because it understood how the Democratic base thinks, wind up losing to another female candidate because it doesn’t understand how the electorate, as a whole, thinks?)

(And will Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden fall into tabloid traps at the very time they need to lock down female voters?)
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The Note: Palin Parries as Rollout Reaches Phase Two
September 12, 2008 8:40 AM
Article Link

ABC News' Rick Klein writes in Friday's Note: So Gov. Sarah Palin is a God-invoking, line-memorizing, superpower-provoking, nuke-u-lar pronouncing, dangerously unprepared Bush-Cheney clone (if she even knew what the Bush Doctrine was) . . .

Or she is a Lincoln-quoting, homework-doing, Russian-scaring, regular-acting, ready-to-lead energy expert of a hockey mom (and who cares who knows what the Bush Doctrine is, anyway?).

The Palin who sat down with ABC's Charles Gibson Thursday (with more to come Friday, on "World News" and "20/20") was -- in keeping with the phenomenon that has flashed across the political landscape these past two weeks -- pretty much whatever you wanted her to be.
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With Sarah Palin at the plate, Charlie Gibson throws hard
By Jessica Heslam Friday, September 12, 2008 Article Link

It began with a few softballs, but Charlie Gibson delivered.

During the first of three interviews with Sarah Palin, Gibson pressed the GOP VP candidate on national security, Russia and whether she believes U.S. soldiers are “on a task” from God.”

It is the first time the Alaska governor has met with the media for an extensive interview since John McCain tapped her as his running mate.

Gibson began by asking Palin if she was experienced enough to be vice president - and president - and whether she was ready. Palin, of course, replied, “I’m ready.”

But it got better. Tough but respectful, Gibson pressed her on her recent remarks that “our national leaders are sending U.S. soliders on a task that is from God.”

“Are we fighting a holy war?” Gibson asked.

Palin said she was quoting Abraham Lincoln. But Gibson noted that she went on to say “there is a plan and it is God’s plan.” He then asked, “. . . are you sending your son on a task that is from God?”

Palin’s oldest son was deployed to Iraq yesterday. “I don’t know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision,” she said.

Gibson interviewed Palin in Alaska. The first of three segments aired last night on ABC’s “World News.”

During the interview, an eager Palin leaned forward, almost like a student seeking to pass a test, as Gibson fired away while peering over his glasses.

Gibson asked Palin if she agreed with the Bush doctrine and Palin appeared confused, and asked for clarification. “The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense,” Gibson said.

The doctrine, however, includes several other terrorism-related foreign policy principles of the administration formed in reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Gibson asked he if she’s ever met a foreign head of state. “I have not,” Palin said.

He asked what insight into Russian actions “does the proximity of the state give you?”

Palin said “you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”

During last week’s Republican convention, Gibson had the only interview with John McCain, and he didn’t ask him about Palin’s family. Let’s hope he does this time around.
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[Retired AF Guy]

Since everyone is commentating as to what Sarah Palin has done/not done I thought I would post this link that is probably one the better links that addresses the various controversy's concerning her. Enjoy:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/separating-palin-fact-from-palin-fiction/

 

[a_majoor]

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2008/09/12/

 

[TCBF]

Obama picks a long time political veteran for VP and McCain
picks a MILF,good thinking on McCain's part,given the level
and tone of this campaign,just look at the muck raking on
this thread alone.Adamant if you are really interested in the
issues you would not be following this campaign so closely
as every candidate knows one does not discuss the real issues
in a presidential campaign.
                                  Regards

- The use of the term 'MILF' is in-advised here. Those who don't get it will miss the connotation and those who do may not be able to think past it to consider the rest of your post.

 

[GAP]

Articles found Sept 13 , 2008

Charlie Gibson's Gaffe
By Charles Krauthammer Saturday, September 13, 2008; Page A17
Article Link

"At times visibly nervous . . . Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of 'anticipatory self-defense.' "

-- New York Times, Sept. 12

Informed her? Rubbish.

The New York Times got it wrong. And Charlie Gibson got it wrong.

There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration -- and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different.

He asked Palin, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"

She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, "In what respect, Charlie?"

Sensing his "gotcha" moment, Gibson refused to tell her. After making her fish for the answer, Gibson grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense."
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Justice Barracuda?
Why John McCain should put Sarah Palin on the Supreme Court.
By Dahlia Lithwick Posted Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, at 7:49 AM ET
Article Link

If there is a lesson to be learned about Sarah Palin's dizzying political ascent, it's that America really, really loathes Washington insiders, especially those tasked with working inside Washington. The surest way to affront the American voter is to offer up a candidate with an Ivy League education, experience inside the Beltway, and robust D.C. connections. If Palin stands for anything, it's that when it comes to both the presidency and Pixar movies, nothing good ever happens until the stranger comes to town.

But while our contempt for the Washington life touches everyone in the legislative and executive branches, it's become almost a job requirement at the Supreme Court. This third branch of government is wildly overrepresented by insider lawyers with identical résumés. Sure, you can swap out one Ivy League law school for another, but beyond that, the bench is ever more populated by folks like Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito—brilliant legal thinkers whose chief job experience has consisted of work for the executive branch followed by a stint on the federal bench. It's not that these are bad qualities in a jurist. It's just that a court that once included governors and senators and former football stars is now overrun by an elite cadre of mostly male, mostly East Coast lawyers. If ever there were a branch of government crying out for jurists with checkered and varied life experiences, it's the Supreme Court. And if any branch of government is in need of a mother of five who likes shooting wolves from helicopters, the court is it.
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Sarah Palin: Barack Obama should have picked Hillary Clinton as running mate
Sarah Palin has mocked Barack Obama's decision not to pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate, rubbing salt into an open wound that still haunts many Democrats. 
By Tim Shipman in Wasilla, Alaska Last Updated: 11:13AM BST 13 Sep 2008
Article Link

The Republican vice presidential running mate used the third of her television interviews with ABC News, her first outing with the national media, to make an audacious pitch for the votes of Mrs Clinton's supporters, who commentators say hold the key to the election.

Mrs Palin, who may not have been picked by John McCain if the former First Lady had got the nod over Senator Joe Biden, reflected on the transformation in Republican fortunes since she was selected.

"I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do," she said of Mr Obama. She then praised Mrs Clinton: "What determination and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way, she handled those well."

Many senior Democrats are in a state of near despair at Mr Obama's plunge in the polls over the last 10 days, from a comfortable lead to a deficit of around three points to Mr McCain. Many of them wish he had picked Mrs Clinton.
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Commentary: The Sarah Palin smear-fest
By Glenn Beck CNN
Editor's note: Glenn Beck is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and also is host of a conservative national radio talk show.
Article Link

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Campaigns are ugly. Watching the way politicians act makes you long for the respect and self-control of the Sopranos. Throughout, there are legitimate attacks and outright lies.

Every once in a while, I get a call on my radio show from someone telling me that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim, who admitted it in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, and has a fake birth certificate. No, no, and no. As I tell them, there are legitimate reasons not to vote for Barack Obama, no need to make them up.

But the newest target is Sarah Palin. Let's take a quick look at just a fraction of what she has faced in her first few days as John McCain's choice for vice president. iReport.com: Do you think Palin is being treated unfairly?

"Sarah Palin believes God told her to go to war with Iraq!"

There has been some hard-core journalistic malpractice on this one. The Associated Press ran this headline about a speech she gave at her church: "Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'"

In the story, they omit the first part of the sentence they're quoting along with the entire previous sentence for good measure.
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Sarah Palin shows that the best defense may be a new television ad
Article Link

The best defense is not necessarily a strong offense. It may be a new ad, at least in the view of the ad team behind the John McCain and Sarah Palin campaign.

As they did on Thursday, Democrats today are pouncing on Palin’s apparent missteps, contradictions and flubs in her interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson.

As our colleague Michael Finnegan writes in today’s Los Angeles Times, the Alaska governor may not exactly know that the Bush Doctrine holds that the United States can attack another country first.

But Team Palin certainly is proving that it knows how to launch a preemptive ad attack.

The latest spot is entitled “Disrespectful.” Released by the Republican National Committee, the ad opens with a female narrator slapping at Barack Obama, calling him the “world’s biggest celebrity” but saying his star is fading.

Then the ad takes a line from Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, and says the Obama-Biden ticket dismisses Palin as “good-looking.” Taking a line from Obama strategist David Axelrod, the ad says “they” claim she is doing “what she is told.” Then “they” called her a liar.

The ad concludes with a shot of Palin on stage with McCain: “How disrespectful. And how Gov. Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day.”
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'She's one of us': Palin wins over Obama women
September 13, 2008
Article Link

Jessica Goral had pretty much made up her mind two weeks ago: she was going to vote for Barack Obama. Then John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running-mate.

“She empowers a lot of women,” said Mrs Goral, a mother of two in Macomb County – a national bellwether in the battleground state of Michigan and an area rich in white, working-class swing voters who will play an important role in deciding the election in November.

“I like that she’s a brand new mother, and that she has the courage to stand behind her pregnant daughter. She relates to working women. For all of us who have children at home but have to go to work every day – she has given us a sense that we can still do it and can be an excellent mum,” she said. “Sarah Palin is a role model. She’s made me more likely to vote Republican.”

If Mr Obama should be in any doubt how gravely the vice-presidential nomination of the Governor of Alaska has imperilled his White House ambitions, then a day spent in Macomb County will make this clear: white women who voted for John Kerry in 2004 are suddenly deserting the Democratic Party.
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A Palin example
Republicans' v-p pick says the right things, but actions don't follow
Article Link

Tempting as it is to write about imaginary puffins pooping on Stephane Dion, fatuous Tory television ads about how kind and nice Stephen Harper is and that nice old and slightly dotty auntie from the Green Party who has been allowed to debate with the big boys, I have to respond to those who apparently have sent me to hell for daring to criticize Sarah Palin.

Last week I praised this admirable woman but wondered if she could care properly for a tiny handicapped baby, a seven-year-old child and a heavily pregnant teenage daughter, while being vice president of the most powerful country on earth.

This, according to various letters, made me either a "raving liberal" or part of the "mainstream media socialist club." Golly, who knew? My Order of Canada must surely be in the mail as we speak.

Of course the low taxes and low morals types on the political right, who care only about the economy and their right to do whatever they want, couldn't give a flying tax cut about family.

But others who claim to believe in life and faith should know better. They have been the first to criticize people like Hillary Clinton allegedly for being poor mothers and we know how they would react if a Democrat or liberal woman ran for senior office with the same family commitments as Sarah Palin.
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[Kirkhill]

This could as easily be posted under a media thread as a cautionary tale for all those dealing with the media.  The redactions represent an interesting expurgation of the candidate's words in order to achieve a desired effect by the interviewer or his editor.

EXCERPTS: Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin (September 11, 2008)

THE BOLDED & UNDERLINED PARTS WERE EDITED OUT OF THE INTERVIEW


GIBSON: Governor, let me start by asking you a question that I asked John McCain about you, and it is really the central question. Can you look the country in the eye and say “I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president, but perhaps president of the United States of America?”

PALIN: I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country, will be ready. I’m ready.

GIBSON: And you didn’t say to yourself, “Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I — will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?”

PALIN: I didn’t hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn’t that take some hubris?

PALIN: I — I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

GIBSON: But this is not just reforming a government. This is also running a government on the huge international stage in a very dangerous world. When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact that you have commanded the Alaskan National Guard and that Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials?

PALIN: But it is about reform of government and it’s about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

GIBSON: I know. I’m just saying that national security is a whole lot more than energy.

PALIN: It is, but I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security. It’s that important. It’s that significant.

GIBSON: Did you ever travel outside the country prior to your trip to Kuwait and Germany last year?

PALIN: Canada, Mexico, and then, yes, that trip, that was the trip of a lifetime to visit our troops in Kuwait and stop and visit our injured soldiers in Germany. That was the trip of a lifetime and it changed my life.

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.


GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.

PALIN: Sure.

GIBSON: Let’s start, because we are near Russia, let’s start with Russia and Georgia.

The administration has said we’ve got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we’re going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain’s running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals. That’s why we have to keep an eye on Russia.

And, Charlie, you’re in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They’re very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

Sarah Palin on Russia:

We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We’ve learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but…

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Sarah Palin on Iran and Israel:

GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?

PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran? John McCain said the only thing worse than a war with Iran would be a nuclear Iran. John Abizaid said we may have to live with a nuclear Iran. Who’s right?

PALIN: No, no. I agree with John McCain that nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would seek to destroy our allies, in this case, we’re talking about Israel, we’re talking about Ahmadinejad’s comment about Israel being the “stinking corpse, should be wiped off the face of the earth,” that’s atrocious. That’s unacceptable.

GIBSON: So what do you do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran and we have got to count on our allies to help us, diplomatic pressure.

GIBSON: But, Governor, we’ve threatened greater sanctions against Iran for a long time. It hasn’t done any good. It hasn’t stemmed their nuclear program.

PALIN: We need to pursue those and we need to implement those. We cannot back off. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they’re going to have nuclear weapons, what can we do about it. No way, not Americans. We do not have to stand for that.

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don’t think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn’t second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don’t think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.

GIBSON: We talk on the anniversary of 9/11. Why do you think those hijackers attacked? Why did they want to hurt us?

PALIN: You know, there is a very small percentage of Islamic believers who are extreme and they are violent and they do not believe in American ideals, and they attacked us and now we are at a point here seven years later, on the anniversary, in this post-9/11 world, where we’re able to commit to never again. They see that the only option for them is to become a suicide bomber, to get caught up in this evil, in this terror. They need to be provided the hope that all Americans have instilled in us, because we’re a democratic, we are a free, and we are a free-thinking society.

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: The Bush — well, what do you — what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view.

GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that’s the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president’s job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

GIBSON: Do we have a right to anticipatory self-defense? Do we have a right to make a preemptive strike again another country if we feel that country might strike us?

PALIN: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?

PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we’re going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.

GIBSON: But, Governor, I’m asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.

PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?

PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.


Sarah Palin on God:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.

That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It’s an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln’s words, but you went on and said, “There is a plan and it is God’s plan.”

PALIN: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That, in my world view, is a grand — the grand plan.

GIBSON: But then are you sending your son on a task that is from God?

PALIN: I don’t know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer.

Source: Mark Levin

If this is a true comparison with the actual transcript then it seems to show a lot more about ABC than it does about the Candidate.

I note that the bit about Charlie selectively quoting Palin out of context on the mission from God (the difference between hoping that the right thing is being done vs believing that the right  thing is being done) was apparently re-edited for West Coast viewers so that they got a different image than East Coast viewers.  It seems that between the time that the interview aired in the East and it aired in the West ABC got enough feedback, probably negative, that it cleaned up that portion of the interview a bit and substituted the YouTube version of Palin's exact words.

Here is a reference from Hotair and Huffington Post.

....Watch the clip at the link; the money part runs from about 5:30 to 6:15. HuffPo quotes her, accurately:

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Here’s what the AP turns it into:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a “task that is from God.”…
“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God’s plan.”

 

[GAP]

Articles found Sept 14, 2008

WHY I'M (FINALLY) SUPPORTING SARAH PALIN
Saturday, September 13, 2008  by Paulie Abeles
Article Link

Since John McCain announced Sara Palin as his running mate, like many of you I suspect, I’ve been constantly asked: “What do you think of Sarah Palin?” The struggle that I’ve been going through in trying to answer that question honestly, is that all the things I find compelling about her: that she’s attractive and charismatic, has a great personal narrative, is eloquent, a 'breath of fresh air'--yes, even "tokenism" (for lack of a better word) were also true of Obama. And, I, like many Clinton supporters, decided those were not sufficiently strong reasons to support him.

So, in one sense, I would feel like a hypocrite supporting Palin for any of those reasons.

Although I think she is more experienced than Obama—(She, has, after all, directed a budget of over $10 billion, supervised 24,000 employees and negotiated with foreign governments -Russia and China over fishing rights); she is lightly credentialed in terms of the possible field of socially progressive Republican women McCain could have chosen (Snowe, Whitman, Hutchinson etc.).
And, although I respect her integrity, there is virtually no social issue on which I share common ground with Sarah Palin. Unlike John McCain, who has never been ideological; Sarah Palin is, and unabashedly so.

However as I’ve struggled with these issues since her selection, I keep coming back to two points. Of all the basic rights—human rights-- that Democrats have stood for---there are two that seem to me to be the most important: the right to vote (and have that vote counted fairly) and the right to free speech.

The right to vote, it seems to me, is not simply about exercising your franchise—but actually having that exercise tied to a result. Whether we look narrowly at Florida and Michigan, or broadly at caucus and convention intimidation and fraud—what becomes clear—crystal clear—is that the delegates—both in number and composition-- did not accurately represent the ‘will of the people’ that voted for them. And, as a tribute to their organizational skill, if not their integrity, the Obama campaign did everything in their power to ensure that that would be the case. Just as importantly, throughout the nomination process, the Obama campaign did everything possible to curtail the free speech of those who opposed him. Whether it was as simple as harassing supporters at the local metro, or as brazen as intimidating delegates at state conventions and threatening members of the Black Caucus---opposition to Barack Obama put people at risk—to be taunted, insulted and harassed in a way I’ve never before experienced in a political campaign.
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Dick Morris: Prepare for Sarah Palin versus Hillary Clinton in 2012
Sarah Palin is an "authentic model of feminism" and her vice-presidential candidacy "could well" lead to an historic all-female White House race in 2012 against Hillary Clinton, according to a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton.
By Toby Harnden in New York Last Updated: 10:04AM BST 13 Sep
Article Link

Dick Morris, who was a top aide to Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1996 and has since become a harsh critic of the former president and his wife, said that a John McCain victory in November would make the two women the front-runners for 2012.

"McCain will be 76 in 2012," he said. "I wonder if he'll even run for re-election. And Obama has put Joe Biden on the ticket this time. It's very hard to imagine Biden [who would be 69] running in 2012 with any chance of success, particularly after being drowned out by Palin like he is now.

"So I think that Hillary would have as easy a shot at the Democratic nomination as she did this time - but she blew it this time. You can't take these things to the bank."

The 2008 US presidential election could force a realignment of how women vote, Mr Morris said.

"In Palin, you have an authentic model of feminism and in Hillary you have a counterfeit one.
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Why the attacks on Sarah Palin are the best argument for voting for her
September 14, 2008 by Violet Socks, EditorcloseAuthor: Violet Socks, Editor Name: Violet Socks, Editor
Article Link

NOTE: The New Agenda is non-partisan and does not endorse any candidate. The following is Violet Socks’s personal opinion.

The treatment of Hillary Clinton this year showed us that sexism is far more acceptable and more endemic than racism in this country. Naysayers liked to claim that the hatred was for Hillary alone, not for all women; but they were wrong.

Just look at Sarah Palin. She’s different from Hillary in almost every respect, yet she’s being assaulted just as Hillary was, only to an even more intense degree. It’s a virtual lynching. A burning in effigy. The hysteria of it, the ferocity of it, terrifies me.

Every day, almost every hour, another frantic hater chimes in. It’s not enough for them to disagree with Palin’s policies or complain that Republicans are wrong-headed. The Sarah-haters aren’t even interested in her actual policies; if they were, they could easily spend a few minutes with Google and learn the facts, instead of feverishly repeating lurid rumors (no, she’s not anti-contraception; no, she doesn’t believe in abstinence-only sex ed; no, she doesn’t think rape victims should have to pay for their own rape kits; no, she doesn’t think the dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago; no, she doesn’t reject evolution; no, she didn’t ban books; no, she isn’t against equal rights — in fact she is very much in favor of gender equality and is raising her kids that way; no, she doesn’t deny that sexism exists — in fact she’s spoken at length and with intelligence on the obstacles faced by women politicians; and on and on and on.)
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For Palin, political issues still unresolved in Alaska
Likely to share ballot with two GOP stalwarts
By Sasha Issenberg Globe Staff / September 14, 2008
Article Link

ANCHORAGE - The signs said "Welcome Home." The brooch on Sarah Palin's black suit glimmered "Alaska." The Wasilla High School pep band in which she once played flute added Sarah-specific lyrics to its version of Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)."
"I thank you for what you have instilled in me. There is no better place to come from than Alaska," Governor Sarah Palin told a morning rally yesterday, suggesting that she might not return before November.

Despite the exuberant sendoff, Alaska might not be done with her yet. The governor leaves behind several unresolved issues that could force her in coming weeks to renegotiate the tenuous political divorce from the state's Republican establishment that she has used to cast a "maverick" silhouette as a vice-presidential candidate.

"What she's saying on the national stage is not at all what she'd say in Alaska," said Ivan Moore, an Anchorage pollster unaffiliated with any state or national campaigns.

While Palin brags outside Alaska that she battled the state's "old politics-as-usual . . . big good-old-boys network," she will likely share a ballot in November with two of its charter members: Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Don Young, erstwhile rivals both struggling in their bids for reelection due to related corruption scandals.

Palin has so far not said whether she would endorse - or even vote for - either of her fellow Republicans. A McCain campaign spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the subject. When asked yesterday if he expected that Palin would back Stevens and Young, state party chairman Randy Ruedrich said only that "we've talked to the governor about the election. . . .
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Experts gauge Palin: Can her star power last?
BY TOM BRUNE | tom.brune@newsday.com  September 13, 2008
Article Link

WASHINGTON - Sarah Palin has so far taken the country by storm, giving a needed boost to Republican John McCain's bid for the White House, but over the next few weeks both the McCain and Obama campaigns will be watching closely to see if she has staying power.

Palin, a surprise and historic pick as the first female GOP vice-presidential candidate, has unexpectedly added a new dimension to the presidential race, as well as some unpredictability in the role she will play over the next 51 days before the Nov. 4 election.

"I don't think we have ever seen a situation like this," said veteran GOP strategist Bill Lacy, director of a University of Kansas political think tank.

Several factors will affect what happens to Palin's current star power, including her performance as a national candidate, new disclosures about her, the political calendar and her position as No. 2 on the GOP ticket, experts in politics and public relations said
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[Kirkhill]

Pehaps this should go into the Guns superthread


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoIdhCL928I

 

[tomahawk6]

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/NEWS19/80913022/1321/news

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has arrived at Carson City's Pony Express Pavilion fro her campaign stop as the GOP's vice presidential nominee.

She was accompanied by her husband Todd Palin on the official campaign plane with "McCain-Palin" painted on the side. She was met by Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and airport officials before quickly leaving in a motorcade.

An estimated 10,000 people were waiting at the Pony Express Pavilion in Carson City to see Palin at 6 p.m., according to Carson City Sheriff's Office estimates.

However, only 3,500 will be let in to see Palin speak in her first Nevada campaign stop. Everyone else will have to be content with watching outside the pavilion on big screens with amplified speakers.

About 50 to 75 protesters have shown up with signs saying such things as "There is no higher god than truth" and "McCain-Palin no way."

A sheriff's deputy broke up an argument between a protester and a Palin supporter, and other protesters told the first one to go away if he's going to start trouble.

Republican volunteers said her speech has been delayed till 6 p.m.

The line of people snakes through Mills Park to the east entrance near Saliman Road. Deputies on horseback are monitoring the crowd.

In the afternoon heat, the crowd is calm but occasionally breaks into the wave or chants of "Sarah, Sarah!" They also sang "Johnny B. Goode" with Palin's name substituted.

One fan is carrying a sign showing a rifle and saying "Sarah killed my apathy."

There have been no signs of protesters yet. A lot of candidates are taking advantage of all the Republicans gathered and have stuck their campaign signs all over the grass.

 

[GAP]

Articles found September 15, 2008

Democrats resurge as Obama becomes $66-million man
JOHN IBBITSON From Monday's Globe and Mail John Ibbitson September 15, 2008 at 4:00 AM EDT
Article Link

WASHINGTON — Desperate to change the election narrative, the Democrats released a breathtaking number yesterday: $66-million(U.S.).

That's how much Barack Obama's supporters donated in August. No politician, not even Mr. Obama himself, has ever come close to raising that kind of money in one month. In August, 500,000 new donors joined the two million who already have contributed to the presidential nominee's campaign.

Republican nominee John McCain raised $47-million (U.S.) during the same period - by far his most successful effort. But because he has accepted public financing for his campaign, Mr. McCain is prohibited from spending more than $84-million (U.S.) during this fall election season.

Why does this matter? For two reasons: First, it suggests that Mr. Obama will be able to outspend Mr. McCain by something approaching two to one over the coming weeks.

Second, it reminds us that the fundamentals in this election continue to favour the Democrats, despite the euphoric frenzy among social conservatives over Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

This is still Mr. Obama's election to lose. Just ask Iowa.

A Des Moines Register poll has Mr. Obama ahead of Mr. McCain in Iowa 52 per cent to 40 per cent - an impressive lead in a state that went narrowly Republican in 2004 and narrowly Democrat in 2000.

Iowa's seven electoral college votes will hardly deliver victory to either side.

But it does suggest that Mr. Obama's strategy of targeting swing states by flooding them with field workers, advertising and voter-registration drives is having an effect.

Assume - and yes, it is a debatable assumption - that the Palin Effect is at its zenith, that the Republicans cannot expect a further strengthening in the polls simply by virtue of her presence on the ticket.

If so, then Mr. McCain has established something like a two-percentage-point lead over Mr. Obama, according to the RealClearPolitics compendium of polls. But Mr. Obama is still holding onto a narrow two-point lead in the key toss-up states of Michigan and Pennsylvania.
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Young evangelicals are up for grabs
With Alaskan in the equation, some energized, others skeptical
By ERIC GORSKI Associated Press Sept. 14, 2008, 9:44PM
Article Link

When Jessica Stollings learned on Facebook that John McCain had named Sarah Palin as his running mate, the 26-year-old from Bristol, Tenn., took the day off and picked up some campaign yard signs. Just like that, she went from "just a voter" to a McCain evangelist.

"He's a lot more visionary than I thought," said Stollings, an evangelical activist for her generation who believes God has raised up Palin "for such a time as this."

Similar excitement built on the Virginia campus of conservative Christian Patrick Henry College, where busloads of students went on a road trip to a McCain-Palin rally.


Culture wars revisited?
The mood was darker on blogs and social networking sites that connect more center-left young evangelicals. There, McCain's choice has been greeted as a cynical political ploy, a depressing return to the culture wars and damaging to efforts to broaden the evangelical dialogue.

Polls have yet to measure Palin's effect on younger evangelical voters, whose shifting political allegiances put the demographic in play.

But a portrait emerges through interviews with more than a dozen pastors, authors and others who either belong to that generation or track it: Conservatives are energized much like their elders, progressives are unimpressed, and many undecideds are gravitating toward McCain-Palin.

"I think the jury is still out on young evangelicals," said Cameron Strang, editor of Relevant magazine, an influential publication for this group. "Both parties have the opportunity to address issues of deep concern for this voting bloc."
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The Clinton Factor versus the Palin Effect
By Carlo Osi INQUIRER.net First Posted 12:19:00
Article Link

Close this PHILADELPHIA, Pa – The U.S. Presidential elections is turning very sour these days by lies overstretched and peddled as truth. With the choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as running mate, and with the flurry of absolutely negative ads, Republican John McCain is garnering attention and votes. Democrat Hillary Clinton should actively pitch in to quell the Republican storm.

It all started in the historic run-up between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Clinton won in many states, particularly the big ones like New York and California. Obama, through calm rhetoric and promises of change, swept other smaller states and got more superdelegate votes.

The result could have been the first woman to ever run for President; but it turned out to be the first Afro-American candidate to be nominated by a major political party. Pundits wrote that loyal Hillary Clinton voters would either stay at home or vote for the Republicans. But the two patched things up during the Democrat National Convention.

Then all of a sudden, like the ferocious Hurricane Ike that swept across Texas, the political game abruptly changed. McCain chose little known governor Sarah Palin, sparking intrigue, media coverage and interest. Palin is a good-looking, gun-supporting, abortion-opposing and controversy-riddled candidate who immediately pulled up the support base of the “old candidate” McCain. They call it the Palin Effect.

The Palin Effect is so strong in the U.S. that it has attracted many Hillary Clinton supporters. There are dolls of her likeness with three different dress styles being hawked in the streets. The hip and trendy Sarah Palin glasses are currently out of stock in major department stores. Her movie star face is plastered on conservative newsmagazines and tabloids. Just behind Obama, she is the best new American political star.
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Sarah Palin on feminist issues
September 15, 2008 by Violet Socks, Editor
Article Link

Sarah Palin calls herself a “pro-life feminist.” Basically, that’s feminism minus abortion rights.

Obviously that puts her at odds with modern American feminism on a crucial issue. But to hear tell from the many feminist writers now publishing furious editorials, Sarah Palin isn’t just out of step on that one issue. She is, according to them, the antithesis of everything feminism means.

Really?

I thought I’d start a collection of Palin’s own statements on feminist issues. I post these for now without comment; that’ll come later. From what I can tell, the feminist writers who are attacking Palin are doing so with an astonishing disregard for the truth. I’m still trying to sort out why.
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[GAP]

Articles found September 16, 2008

Are the Media Treating Sarah Palin Fairly?
Posted on: Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 07:00 CDT By Margaret Sullivan
Article Link

Is Sarah Palin suffering from sexist treatment by a vicious media horde?

"Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media that have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and her children?" McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said last week, explaining why, at that point, Palin hadn't given any interviews except one to People magazine. He added: "Until we feel like the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference, I think it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment."

Media people, of course, are not known for their deference, whether to old men or to young women. (Palin is 44, a generation younger than John McCain at 72.)

Nor is deference -- which may be defined as "a yielding" -- something most journalists think is appropriate when dealing with a candidate who could be, in the overused expression, "a heartbeat away from the presidency."

The McCain campaign's biggest complaint is that too much attention is being directed, by the media old boys club, to Palin's personal life. The specifics include the revelation that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, and that the demands of Palin's young family, including a months-old baby with Down syndrome, may make her an unwise choice as a prospective vice president.

I offer the following thoughts, informed by my own experience as a woman in a largely male business, as someone who may have been, at age 42, the youngest female editor of a metropolitan newspaper at the time I was appointed; and as a mother who has struggled to balance a challenging job with raising a son and daughter who were 11 and 6 when I became editor:
More on link

Conservative writers defend Palin, distract readers
Article Link

A media "backlash" against ABC news interviewer Charlie Gibson in the wake of his series of question and answer sessions with Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has largely failed to develop, save reflexive criticism from conservative columnists who leapt to insulate Palin from questions about her competence.

Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post Saturday that Gibson's query about Palin's views on the "Bush Doctrine" was misleading because no consensus exists about what the "Bush Doctrine" is. He wrote:

Yes, Sarah Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Charlie Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, sighing and "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the mother of five who presumes to play on their stage.

This morning, William Kristol in the New York Times wrote of the media reaction to the Palin pick:

The media establishment was horrified. Its members expressed their disapproval. Palin became more popular. They got even more frustrated. And so we had the spectacle last week of ABC's Charlie Gibson, one of the most civil of the media bigwigs, unable to help himself from condescending to Palin as if he were a senior professor forced to waste time administering a Ph.D. exam to a particularly unpromising graduate student.

I have to disagree with Kristol's assertion that the "media establishment was horrified" and "expressed their disapproval". The media establishment was surprised at the unconventional pick, not horrified. And it was not "disapproval" that the establishment expressed, but puzzlement about the wisdom of the pick, doubt about Palin's credentials, and appropriate cynicism about the motivation for the pick. These are appropriate reactions.
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Palin, like Rove before her, stayed off government e-mail servers
2008.09.15 • 13:05 EDT
Article Link

One of the best revelations that has come out about Sarah Palin's governorship is not only the fact that she's kept her e-mail off of public, taxpayer-funded, subpoena-able servers, but that she's doing so on a Yahoo e-mail account.

That's right, the governor of Alaska is conducting state business from something that's just a step above the ridiculousness of an e-mail address like palinpower907@yahoo.com. Her actual e-mail address (although most probably by now it's been overrun with spam and hate mail) is gov.sarah@yahoo.com.

This e-mail address was discovered last week by an Anchorage female Republican government watchdog, Andrée McLeod. She had filed an open records request with the governor's office. She then received four boxes of correspondence, and a 78-page list of 1,100 e-mails (with the subject line revealed) that it was not releasing
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Sarah Palin is Barack Obama's first 'real' Republican foe
Friday, September 12, 2008, 07:52 PM GMT [General]
Article Link

So after a non-partisan down day for the 7th anniversary of 9/11, Barack Obama has come out swinging.

His campaign was already struggling on the message front before it was blind-sided by the double-whammy impact of Palinmania on the Republican ticket and a slew of aggressive McCain attack ads.

In his latest mem to "Interested Parties", campaign manager David Plouffe pledges:  "We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain's attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people. We will not allow John McCain and his band of Karl Rove disciples to make this big election about small things."

But if you think the pledge to fight back more aggressively sounds familiar, you'd be right. As ABC's Jake Tapper observes in his Political Punch blog, this is at least the fourth time that the Obama camp has declared that it's "gloves off" time for their man.

And the New York Post's Mark Cunningham has an interesting take on why Mr Obama and his chief strategist David Axelrod suddenly seem to be flailing so badly - they have never run campaigns against "real Republicans" from the heartlands.

Mr Obama has spent his whole adult life in urban and/or academic settings. And when he won the Illinois senate contest in 2004, he was up against Alan Keyes, a carpet-bagging showman rather than a typical Republican. Likewise, Mr Axelrod's expertise has been in city politics and solid Democrat states such as Massachusetts, New York and Illinois.
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Palin Cash Rush
Stephanie Balogh September 16, 2008 12:00am
Article Link

SARAH Palin has been a gift for both sides when it comes to raising dollars, energising Democrats as much as revving up her own Republican fans.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama yesterday revealed a record-breaking $US66 million cash haul in August, smashing the $US55 million he collected in February.

Senator Obama's haul has been bankrolled by 2.5 million donors, including 500,000 new contributors who gave money over the internet last month.

Since launching his historic bid to be the first African-American president, Senator Obama has raised more than $US400 million in 19 months.

Senator McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, also did well in August, raising his best ever amount of $US47 million.

His aides estimate about $US10 million of that was the result of Sarah Palin, who joined his ticket two weeks ago as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

He now has $US77 million cash on hand to spend for the November 4 election.

Karl Rove, the mastermind of US President George W. Bush's two electoral victories, told Fox News he believed the Democrats would end up with a $US100 million cash advantage over the Republicans.
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Hillary Clinton on Sarah Palin? She's keeping her cards close to the vest
Article Link

Perhaps Amy Poehler, in the much-anticipated opening skit on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," truly channeled Hillary Clinton's innermost feelings toward Sarah Palin.

  But as for the actual senator from New York, if she shares the angst and anguish so comically expressed by Poehler, she's steadfastly keeping it to herself.

The media entourage that once breathed down Clinton's neck has long since moved on. But Elizabeth Moore, our colleague at Newsday, was on the scene this past weekend as Clinton campaigned in Ohio on behalf of Barack Obama, that fellow who bested her in the Democratic presidential race.

As the Palin phenomenon has taken much of America by storm -- and clouded Obama's presidential prospects -- some Democrats have spotlighted Clinton as the party figure best able to stem that tide. They envision her vigorously taking Palin to task in a way that a male politician dare not.

So far, Clinton has carefully avoided going that route. She took a pass at a large partisan gathering earlier this month in New York. And in her two Sunday stops, Moore relates, she "continued to play it cool," delivering "what is becoming her standard vote-for-Obama rally speech."
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Palin aide says Obama backers politicizing Alaska investigation
Article Link
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) --

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will not cooperate with a legislative investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner, the McCain-Palin presidential campaign announced Monday, accusing supporters of Democratic rival Barack Obama of manipulating the inquiry for political motivations.

Gov. Sarah Palin is fighting allegations she improperly tried to force the firing of her former brother-in-law.

Former Palin Press Secretary Meg Stapleton told reporters in Anchorage that the investigation has been "hijacked" by "Obama operatives" for the Democratic presidential nominee -- namely, Alaska state Sen. Hollis French, the Democratic lawmaker managing the investigation and an Obama supporter. French has denied working on behalf of the Obama campaign.

The Obama campaign described Stapleton's charge as "complete paranoia." It has denied sending campaign staff to Alaska to work with the legislative committee's investigation.

McCain campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said Palin will not cooperate with "that investigation so long as it remained tainted and run by partisan individuals who have a predetermined conclusion," referring to a comment by French earlier this month that the case could produce criminal charges or an "October Surprise" for the GOP ticket.

Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, is battling allegations that she and her advisers pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire a state trooper going through a bitter custody dispute with her sister -- and that Monegan was terminated when he refused. Palin says she fired Monegan over budget issues and denies wrongdoing.

Monegan has said that while no one directly demanded Trooper Mike Wooten's dismissal, he felt pressured to do so by Palin, her husband and staff. He said he believes his refusal to fire the trooper led to his own firing. Upon the dismissal, Monegan was offered a position as executive director of the Alcohol Beverage and Control Board, but turned it down.

Palin's lawyers say the investigation -- which the Legislature commissioned on a bipartisan basis in July -- belongs before the state Personnel Board, which met to consider the request Thursday. On Friday, Alaska lawmakers voted to subpoena Palin's husband, several aides and phone records in their investigation.
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McCain's stump speech more about Palin than self
By JENNIFER LOVEN – 6 hours ago
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Two things jump out from John McCain's standard campaign speech: Sarah Palin and change. Mostly Sarah Palin bringing change.

It's a new pitch for McCain, and that's something that sets him apart from rival Barack Obama. The Democratic nominee settled early on what's known in the business as his stump speech and has varied it only a little since.

McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate injected an unexpected and enormous burst of energy into his White House bid, and now he tries to tap into that dynamic in his campaign speeches. Nearly unprecedented for presidential contenders in recent history, McCain's stump speech now is often almost as much about his No. 2 as it is about him.

In fact, McCain is expected to do few rallies without Palin through the fall. With McCain's uneven delivery and stiff stance on the stage, big events and formal addresses have never been a staple of his campaigns. He prefers roundtables and town-hall settings where he is more apt to shine. For a long time, he was content to leave the glitzy auditorium-filling events and smooth speechmaking to Obama.
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[tankie]

Call me Mr. Cynical...is this the same Sarah Palin that wants to exploit the oil fields in the manner of the Oil giants under the polar ice cap to the detriment to the wild life and the indigenous population?  Or have i read this wrong, and this is the same person whos' family have had a gagging order placed on them by John McCain?

 

[GAP]

Call me Mr. Cynical...is this the same Sarah Palin that wants to exploit the oil fields in the manner of the Oil giants under the polar ice cap to the detriment to the wild life and the indigenous population?  Or have i read this wrong, and this is the same person whos' family have had a gagging order placed on them by John McCain?

Not Cynical.....just not a fan. From your comments you too have an agenda....