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McCain Picks Gov. Palin As Running Mate
Many readers have written to tell us about McCain's choice of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his VP choice. "Palin, 44, a self-described 'hockey mom,' is a conservative first-term governor of Alaska with strong anti-abortion views, a record of reform and fiscal conservatism and an outsider's perspective on Washington. [...] If elected, Palin would be the first woman US vice president, adding another historic element to a presidential race that has been filled with firsts. Obama, 47, is the first black nominee of a major US political party. The choice of a vice president rarely has a major impact on the presidential race. Palin will meet Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a debate in October."
Or how sad how many Americans have fallen in love with Obama even though he hasn't done anything but blow smoke up everyone's ass? Maybe he'll be a great president.. I don't know because so far all he's done is talk about change.. changing what though?
I just sit back, let everyone rip on each other for a couple months, then decide in mid-October who'll I'll support. Until then I just try to convince my friends to keep an open mind.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
You're going to get grief on the "broodmare" comment, which is a shame, cause that was a great line. I'd mod you up if I had 'em.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I've been following Gov. Palin for more than half a year now, long before she was on the mainstream political radar. I figured that she was a stretch candidate with little chance of actually getting picked, and was quite surprised to wake up to today's news. Of course, I suspect I still might not be voting for her ticket and I disagree with her on a number of issues, but she was definitely my favorite of the potential GOP picks. She has a Cha stat rivaling Obama's, and is IMHO quite a better speaker than McCain.
Even before her pick as VP, I'd estimated that there was a good chance that the 2012 Presidential contest would be Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin, which would undoubtedly result in a record number of spontaneous cranial detonations amongst the talking heads. I am worried that although she's a political rising star her pick this year might be premature, but I guess we'll see. I'm also pretty amused at the people citing her inexperience, considering that she has more experience with running a government than McCain, Obama, Biden, and Barr combined. I sympathize somewhat with those who wish that she were on the top of the GOP ticket instead of McCain.
Most pundits seem to be focused on Palin's being a woman, but I see her as a way for McCain to reach out to the libertarian crowd. One commentator described her as the "libertarian VP candidate," or at least the closest thing to a libertarian that we're likely to see on a major-party ticket: http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2008/08/29/the-libertarian-vp-canidate/
Her being pro-life impacts that somewhat, but then again, so was Ron Paul. Palin's libertarian tendencies should help somewhat with voters who are worried about McCain's occasional populist streaks. Also, assuming that nothing comes out of the TrooperGate mini-scandal (which, since she survived the vetting process, I'm assuming nothing will), McCain and Palin should be able to use their histories to milk the anti-pork, anti-corruption angle quite a bit.
The next few months will be very interesting.