This is the kind of person we need in Washington: someone who is not afraid to tackle the status quo of politics and dispense with perks (like selling the governor's jet on eBay. ..) I think we need actual change, not just talk about it, and we need someone who has a record of making changes.
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"the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived"
--John Adams on the Vice Presidency
Sorry, it just seems like she's the center of everyone's attention right now and people are forgetting that we aren't electing her or Obama, it's McCain or Obama. I don't really know much about Palin, but I think she's mainly just being used as in icon. Now all the feminist hype from the primaries can continue on to the November election.
Agreed. She seems like a pretty good candidate for such a useless office.
It would be hilarious if McCain won the election and then died of a heart attack.
Well, you know what they say, one heartbeat away. Of course VP candidates are chosen to give balance to the presidential candidate, so yes, in that sense an icon is exactly what they are. That is why they are able to be hand-picked, and not elected. But not having to raise millions of dollars to be in the race gives them a whole different perspective on things-- they don't have to please anyone.
I think John Adams might revise his view given how many presidents have died in office... remember, Adams had to be convinced that slavery was a bad idea.
She's in the spotlight because she's so unknown. That's why the media is having a frenzy with her pregnant 17 year old daughter. Insignificant. She's still a republican and she still supports McCain who supports Bush. Bad combination.
9pm tonight we'll see what McCain's plan is.
Governor of a state with a population of less than a million for less than two years, prior experience being mayor of Wasilla, population <10,000, whose chief responsibility was to preside over council meetings?
Does not support abortion even in cases of rape? Opposed polar bears being labeled as endangered?
Appointing someone as inexperienced and as far right as Palin was a mistake, especially for a politician who has been stressing Obama's inexperience as loudly as McCain has. I wouldn't want Palin anywhere near the Presidency. McCain clearly thinks he's going to win over the Clinton supporters; with Palin's abysmal track record, that seems highly unlikely.
Yeah, she and her husband were also part of the AIP and supported Alaska seceding from the union.
I just watched McCain's speech and apparently we're supposed to invade Russia, Iran and protect Georgia all while maintaining a state of incredible peace.
Yep, this is exactly the person McCain needs to attract the votes of disaffected Democrat feminists who are miffed that Hillary isn't at least on the ticket. The fact that she's female probably disguises the unpleasant truth (for feminist democrats) that she's a conservative. Smart move, but shows that McCain's desparate. He doesn't have anything to offer but more Bush policy, including keeping us in Iraq and supporting big business at the expense of labor. Obama deserves to win in an electoral landslide. I really hope that people can focus more on the political questions than the moral distractions of the campaign.
So what exactly do you think Obama will change? he did absolutely nothing in the Illinois senate, other than run for president. The only 'change' from his time in office is that Illinois cut back student aid money (tim's MAP grant was replaced with yet another loan) AND the governor (a big tax-and-spend democrat) raided the teacher's pension fund to pay for his defunct projects. What do you think he will do on a national level? I am unconvinced. I don't think Obama is his own man at all. Look at how he has changed his stance on Iraq already.
Clinton supporters are not buying McCain's Vagina Doctrine. Here's one diehard's opinion (Steinem):
"Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. Selecting Sarah Palin...is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
I doubt most Clinton supporters will automatically vote for a candidate just because there's a vagina on board. This illustrates quite well the low opinion McCain has of them.
Feminism aside, who wants a veep who "hasn't really paid much attention to Iraq lately"?
This candidate is not going to offer insightful council to McCain as Biden ostensibly will to Obama; she will defer to him and follow him through with his terrible pro-war policy of sustained occupation in Iraq and invasions of other countries.
I agree; solid Clinton supporters will quickly recognize the differences between Clinton and Palin. But there are probably women who would vote for a ticket with a woman on board, just the way there are people who will vote for a black man just because he is black. That's the way people are.
I do think the east coast feminists (columnists especially) made a serious blunder by commenting that Palin had no business running for office with her particular family situation. Liberals would have been royally inflamed if such comments had been made about Hillary. At least one response (from the Wall Street Journal editorials/essays) was written by just such an offended voter-- someone who had supported Clinton but plans to change her vote because of the negative response. I don't think she is alone.
And somehow I don't see Palin deferring to anyone. She might actually figure out a way to do something about it. One can always hope.
I still want to know what you all think Obama will do for you?
what's the big deal here?
Palins been chosen for vice president. she's got some good traits. She's got some stuff people don't like. What more is there to say about it when it's not even clear who's going to win?
Well, I think Obama will start pulling troops out of Iraq, for one thing. That will allow more government spending on other programs in the United States. I also think he will completely reorient US foreign policy and hopefully mend some of the damage Bush has done to our credibility.
I think our foreign policy is the greatest single threat to security. Excising Kosovo from Serbia was probably the worst diplomatic mistake we've made since invading Iraq, as it demolished the principle of republican democracy. Put simply, if Kosovo Albanians can be independent if they want to, then Abkhazians and South Ossettians certainly have the right to return to the mother country.
Obama will bring a more dovish face to foreign policy and bring rational reform to American capitalism. I think the Iraq war and the outsourcing of jobs are the two primary reasons for the lagging economy and Obama has promised action on both items.
What he will actually be able to will be limited. The president is not a dictator...yet. I view the upcoming election as a national referendum on Republican control of the white house. Frankly, McCain promises more of Bush. More hawkish foreign policy, continuation of hte Iraq war, and very little intervention in the economy.
Obama is dynamic. Sure, he might not be able to deliver on all his campaign promises. Few candidates are able to once they take office. Politics is about compromise. The way I see it, republican leadership over the past eight years has been disastrous for the country and the party deserves to get horse-whipped at the polls.
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