Friday
29Aug2008
Our Girl
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 11:01PM
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin This is no pushover. She knows the business end of a gun and how to shoot it (video). Her nickname on the state campionship women's basketball team was "Barracuda." She is a hunter, pilot and lifetime member of the NRA.
Palin studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho and graduated in 1987. She eloped with her high school boyfriend, Todd Palin, in 1988 to save money on an expensive wedding. She helped out in her husband’s family commercial fishing business and appeared occasionally as a television sportscaster.
Palin won a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 as a new face and a new voice, and by opposing tax increases. Four years later she was elected mayor at 32 by knocking off a three-term incumbent. At the end of her second term, party leaders encouraged her to enter the 2002 race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Against veteran legislators with far more experience, Palin finished second by fewer than 2,000 votes, making a name for herself in statewide politics. She was elected Alaska’s youngest and first woman governor in 2006.
McCain for all his egomaniacle tendancies played this one PERFECT. Like a Karl Rove plot until this morning no one was sure who the pick would be, and whether or not he was going to screw the base of his party. Well he did good on both points, and added insult to injury to the Obamma campaigns scorning of women voters by blowing off the Hidabeast. Add to that the masterfull stealing of any bump Obamma might have gotten from the Messia Convention instead they are now franticly searching for the means to attack this woman without further splitting of the Democrat Base.
I tip my hat to the ole blow hard for masterfull play.
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Reader Comments (62)
Just a Girl in short shorts blog has been predicting this dream ticket for weeks , her website is well worth a visit .
What is amazing is that I very rarely disagree with her !!
Look at her, what a gal. Brains, beauty, guns and offering herself to her nation.
Frankly, it would be un-American to vote any other way.
That picture will help in some places and hurt in others.
Well, I'm the only one not enthusiastic I guess. I mean she looks great, seems to have conservative positions. what's not to love?
I'm voting for McCain/Palin because of the alternative is socialism and probable world war with the US on the losing end.
But this pick is frankly off the wall. She is inexperienced. She is Gov. of Alaska, not New York. Not California. So she can shoot a gun..so can I.
That hardly makes me - or Palin - qualified to face down Putin, or Ahmadinejad,does it?
Patty - A fair point, if we didn't have someone as inexperienced as Obama, we might be more shocked by her level of experience. She will have a lot to do in terms of international issues and national issues. It is a high risk selection. But do we place too much emphasis on experience and not enough on potential?
Patty
she's only a vp the point is he did what he had to do to bring out the base there are half the party that can't stomach him.
She passes the smell test, she stops the condemnation from the pundits that he would be getting if he chose someone that even hinted of liberalism and he screws the dems with the fact that its a woman.
As for qualifications the sad part is she probably is better qualified than the other 3 for president.
this is the election from hell and what this choice does is gurantee turnout on the right side of the isle
I agree. This is the best ticket since Dole/Kemp and we can only hope for equally grand results.
wishfull thinking Erik
She is rock-solid conservative, Patty. She's tough as nails.
That was me on that last comment - Monica.
Monica - a couple things that could give pause, before she was Gov, she was mayor of a town of 5000 (so I've heard). Also, she seems a tad harsh on gay folks (one thing to deny them marriage, but to seek a constitutional amendment to deny them health benefits for their partners? That may not bother the Republican base, but it ain't very nice). She does lack national and international experience. She's a fascinating pick, and gave McCain his best news day in a long time. Time will tell.
Amazing how Obama's choice of Biden made headline news on both the BBC and Sky, yet Palin's elevation to the same position on the Republican ticket barely made the top ten news items on either channel.
But I'm not suggesting institutional Left-wing bias....God forbid!!!!
Governor Palin has what the British Labour Party politician Denis Healy likes to call a "hinterland" - a life beyond politics. Whenever Senator Obama attempts anything non-political (such as bowling), he comes over like a man visiting a foreign country and being shanghaied into some impenetrable local folk ritual.
Mark Steyn
Agree Andrew! Last nights Newsnight programme on BBC2 was appaling. You could almost see the venom in the face of the reporter in Dayton ( think his name was Marshall ). It was clear they had been hit for six by McCain's choice.
Left wing bias it certainly is !
Mahons, I heard a town of 9,000. Whatever. She has executive experience as Governor and has made several bold moves that most MEN would pussy out on. She's certainly got more experience than Obama - who is going for the presidency. As for her position on gay marriage, it's her position. You certainly don't have to agree with it. I, too, disagree with the gay community hijacking the civil rights movement to demand 'marriage'. I do not agree with Palin, if it is true, in denying gay partners many of the benefits of marriage. I do believe that gays have made great strides in securing those benefits without jumping onto the civil rights bandwagon.
Monica: Even if we say 9000, come on. That isn't even as large as one politicial ward in Chicago. I am actually cautiously optomistic about the choice, but lets not pretend she has a lot of experience or write off her lack of experience because Obama has the same problem.
One thing we can all take heart in is the number of journalists who will now have to freeze their butts off going up to Alaska for ther stories.
"Monica: Even if we say 9000, come on. That isn't even as large as one politicial ward in Chicago"
What is the largest organisation that Obama, McCain or Biden have ever been responsible for? I'd guess it would be their private offices with maybe a dozen or so staff.
Ross, you want to compare the population of the town she was mayor of with the staff of the opposition's offices? That seems like apples to oranges.
Not only that but it is pretty likely the staff of Obama's campaign organisation still compares well to the population of that town!
"Ross, you want to compare the population of the town she was mayor of with the staff of the opposition's offices? That seems like apples to oranges."
Well I suppose you could compare the town to the largest town, city or state Obama has been the chief executive for.
Ross,
Or you could compare it to his candicacy campaign.
Besides I thought you guys believed in small government. Now apparently the population of the town all worked for her. LOL!
Sarah Palin sounds like a woman of principle too; a rare commodity these days.
Her last child was diagnosed with Downes syndrome in early pregnancy and she was offered a termination but decided to have the child not-with-standing.
I take my hat off to her for that courageous moral stance.
She's OK.
Hi Bernard,
Nice to hear from you - notice you've not commented in a while, trust all is well,
Ross: The constituants of Biden, McCain and Obama dwarf the numbers of folks Palin has. We can at least admit she doesn't have a lot of experience.
"The constituants of Biden, McCain and Obama dwarf the numbers of folks Palin has."
It isn't the size of the constituency, but the role they are elected to fill. A legislator doesn't actually run anything. The winner of American Idol has a larger constituency than any of them but simply winning the votes of a large number of people doesn't confer executive experience.
Hi David,
Yes thanks, things are fine. I took the slow boat to China with a view to assassinating Boris Johnson, but he'd left by the time I got there. Shucks.
Citing the fact that she was the mayor of Wasilla 2 years ago in her list of “executive experience” doesn’t even pass the giggle test in Alaska.
[...]
And Republican bloggers are already gushing about how she has ‘more executive experience’ than Obama does! Above is a picture of lovely downtown Wasilla, for those of you unfamiliar with the area. Behind the Mug-Shot Saloon (the first bar I visited when I moved to Alaska long ago) is a little strip mall. There are street signs in Wasilla with bullet holes in them. Wasilla has a population of about 5500 people, and 1979 occupied housing units. This is where your potential Vice President was two short years ago. Can you imagine her negotiating a nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Discussing foreign policy? Understanding non-Alaskan issues? Frankly, I don’t even know if she’s ever been out of the country. She may ‘get’ Alaska, but there are only a half a million people here. Don’t get me wrong….I love Alaska with all my heart. I’m just saying.
Interesting stuff from someone actually in Alaska. Worth a read.
You all are ignoring the fact that she is Governor of Alaska. Interesting.
And that she was on the ethics committee too, Monica.
Frank, that guy was one of her political opponents.....I'm not buying.
Monica: Alaska is a state with 3 delegates. It's not New York. It's not California. She certainly has more experience than Obama. And she is authentic, not an "empty suit."
But this pick really takes the mickey out of one of McCain's best arguments for election - his experience versus Obama's inexperience.
What was McCain thinking? This is, I believe, a catastrophe.
It's not Arkansas either.
Oh! You're right! and look how great Clinton was! (I always suspected you were a closet Democrat)
Yeah, cause I wasn't creaming myself over Romney. He looked to much like Bush for my tastes.
Didn't you vote for the man from Hope?
The country actually did pretty well under Clinton because we had a conservative congress - balance is good. Bush and a republican congress on the other hand ballooned the deficit, expanded government, created more programs, feasted on historic portions of pork, usurped state control with unfunded mandates, upset the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches and mismanaged an obscenely expensive war.
The old guard, entrenched GOP stalwarts aren't appealing to me.
Bernard,
"Sarah Palin sounds like a woman of principle too; a rare commodity these days.
Her last child was diagnosed with Downes syndrome in early pregnancy and she was offered a termination but decided to have the child not-with-standing."
There are allegations that this child is actually her daughters.
Daphne: The country did well under CLinton because as Fukuyama put it - it was "the end of history" - the Cold War ended - remember? the "peace dividend?" Futhermore, September 11th didn't happen over night. It took a few Clinton years of pathetic foreign policy to make 9/11 happen.
I don't care if you don't/didn't like Romney...he was my pick, not yours. In any case, he lost. Get over it.
So, I guess you are a Democrat...why do you pretend otherwise?
Ross: The United States Senate is national and international experience that simply dwarfs that of a small town Alaska Mayor or even the Governor. I agree Obama lacks experience but that doesn't mean she has it.
Frank - How serious an allegation is that, because if it isn't, it is a disgusting libel against the woman.
That is indeed internet rumor mongering. Frank, what are your sources for your statement?
"There are allegations that this child is actually her daughters."
It seems extremely unlikely for two reasons, first of all no one with that kind of skeleton in the closet would risk running for Vice Presidency and secondly downs syndrome is extremely rare in children born to young mothers, I think a 43 year old is about 20 times more likely to give birth to a baby with the condition than a teenager.
--no one with that kind of skeleton in the closet would risk running for Vice Presidency--
John Edwards comes to mind. Politicians often allow ambition to override judgment.
Mahons,
"How serious an allegation is that, because if it isn't, it is a disgusting libel against the woman."
I agree. As far as I can see it is just a rumour that people are trying to get to the bottom of. So far it doesn't seem to be based on anything more than she didn't look pregnant at 6 and 7 months, her daughter was taken out of school around this time, pictures where she doesn't look pregnant, a picture where her daughter does, stuff like this. There are threads about it on a few blogs, e.g. daily kos.
Frank
You're a smart guy. Don't spread libels like this.
Daily Kos is a particularly vile site populated by cretins with every reason to lie.
Patty you seem to be leaving a few presidents out of the jihadist build up to 9/11. Do Iran and Beirut ring any bells? Seems we had more than one president screwing that pooch and Bush had the least blame in the whole tragic event.
You read my general disgust, and disagreement on certain issues, with the GOP as a preference for democratic policy platforms? That's odd.
Pardon me for remembering your stance (as of last week) on Romney. I won't mention your preference again.
Frank, that's a nasty rumor - don't spread that ugly stuff around.
I like tis dame. Not only is she a milf but she has the pro-Israel lobby all
confused....
RS
She has one pro-Democrat organization all confused. Thats OK. Dems are used to being confused.
Daphne: Thank you for agreeing not to mischaracterize me. I do appreciate it.
Eh Phantom she has the pro-Israel Dems against her and the pro-Israel Reps for her, Funny to see the zionist lobby all confused.
Of course Democrats find fault with the Republican candidate and of course the Republicans tend to like the Republican candidate.
You seem to use "Zionist" as a curse word. The friends of Israel - the Zionists - are not a monolith. They disagree on lots of things having to do with Israel and other subjects too. It's normal and its good.
Phantom,
" Don't spread libels like this."
I'm not spreading it. I'm just saying that it is being spread.
I didn't know about it until you said it, and I bet some of the others did not either. . So you did spread it!
Im well aware aware the zionist lobby aren't one entity. They are numerous interested parties. Just nice to see a bit of discord in a lobby which is hurtfult to the USA. I don't use the term 'zionist' as a curse, I use it in the same way I use the term 'racist' or 'fascist'.