Presidential Race 08 Election 2008

[cowboys_junkie]

I concur a brilliant pick.

[Stealersrule]

Originally Posted by eoeleven

she is an under the radar canidate with a proven track record of doing the right thing for people

a former union member married to a union member

a mother who has had to wonder where the money for the house payment was going to come from

she was a PTA member that took on ISD corruption

she was a city coucil person that took on insanely high property taxes

she was a mayor who took on big oil

then as a Governor she started cutting spending left and right, balanced a budget, embraced big oil when it helped her people, and slapped big oil in the face when they were hurting her people

as a mayor she commanded a police force and was faced with decisions as to what to enforce, what to let slide, and what to do in a crisis

as a governor she commands the national guard; what they do, what they train for, where they garrison, when they are deployed

none of the three MEN on the ballot can say that, McCain commanded troops in the field (in the air actually) but none of them were a commander and chief of a military force or police force as Sarah Palin has been.

she said no thank you to ear mark spending congress treid to send Alaska

she has not been afraid to tell people on either side of the isle to go to hell that is not good for Alaska

on top of all that she is an EXPERIENCED oil and gas resource manager that has been VOCALLY open about the need to drill in ANWAR

as McCain's running mate she gives him the ability to change his mind on drilling there (a major right swing in votes for him) and she gives him the chops to explain exactly why

out of EVERYONE running currently or formerly she is the only one that is legitimately NOT FILTHY FILTHY FILTHY rich.

when Alaska the state started making TONS of money of the higher price of oil she gave it to the tax payers

she is a mother of 5 that said BRING IT on when doctors said are you sure you want to have a down syndrom baby ~ which makes her the poster child for the Pro Life people

she is a strong opponent of gay marriage, but embraced by the Alaskan gay and lesbian community for her tolerance ~ which makes her the only member of the GoP to staddle that fence successfully

she is a life long hunter, an athlete, a sportsman, and a fiery competitor

she is the embodiement of the middle class done good soccer mom (hockey mom as she says)

she also will present a sympathetic victim if Joe Biden goes off in a tirade filled attack in a debate (something he has a 30 year history of doing), which basically negates Bidens strongest asset

she is a GREAT canidate to negate the wealth, energy, lack of executive know how, and younger voter problems McCain has.

I worry some about putting a known womanizer on the stage with such a attractive woman because it cast a spotlight on that negative

I also worry some about the fact McCain looks like her grandfather

but as far as a partner in a public opinion dog fight she is a great choice

the line about Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in the boys club glass ceiling was CLASSIC and she will be stealing votes for the female demographic immedately. If Hillary attacks it will hurt her in 2012 so she cannot.

It was a nice ploy right down to the decoys; huckabee coming not coming, pawlenty will be there, the secret service at Romney's siste's house, Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman I LOVED IT because all thoe macinations means Karl Rove is running things and Karl Rove has never lost.

I think Mitt Romney was still the better choice ELECTORAL wise, but there was a real chance McCain Romney would win the EV and lose the popular vote. Something the GoP did not want again. Palin gets them in the popular vote contest and she flat out is stronger in the midwest than any of the other three men on the ballot; the elistist Obama, the blow hard Biden, or the veteran stiff McCain.

do not discount this countries LONG LONG LONG tradtion of prefering Mayors and Governors to Congressmen and Senators in the oval office in the general election

in summary...

a union member, a woman, that hunts, has 5 kids, a common mans up bringing, with a histroy of overseeing government and energy interest, and executive experience, that just happens to be HOT = Karl Rove GENIUS

I wonder if she is going to take hunting tips from the current vice president

[cowboys_junkie]

Now after a prmary where the Democrats have shown how racist they can be, the can now show how chauvenist (sp?) they can be.

[Stealersrule]

Nice looking

[becky-mom]

Originally Posted by Stealersrule

Nice looking

oh brother.......THAT makes her qualified

[becky-mom]

will it make a difference one way or the other to the voters? I think, perhaps to some, not yet decided.....it will. Catch that last paragraph.......true or not...it certainly leads to a lot of speculation.....


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Palin says daughter, 17, is 5 months pregnant

Monday, September 1, 2008 11:53 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer


ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, said Monday her 17-year-old unmarried daughter was five months pregnant, the latest in a string of disclosures that left the McCain campaign defending the thoroughness of its background check of the little-known Alaska governor.

It was also revealed Monday that an attorney had been hired to represent Palin in a state ethics probe and that her husband, Todd, had been arrested for drunken driving two decades ago. The man who led McCain's vice presidential search team said he thought everything that came up as a possible red flag during the background check had now been made public.

"I think so," Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. told The Associated Press. "Yes. I think so. Correct."

The revelations threatened to steal any remaining thunder from Day One of the Republican National Convention, which already was overshadowed by Hurricane Gustav — and brought unwanted attention to the 44-year-old governor, a self-described "hockey mom" with little experience on the national stage.

The GOP convention had already been scaled back because of the hurricane, and just three days after McCain named Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Coming after the randomness of Gustav, the revelations added to the sense of unscriptedness hanging over the convention.

"Life happens," said McCain adviser Steve Schmidt, talking about the pregnancy story.

"An American family," added colleague Mark Salter.
In a brief respite from partisanship, Democratic rival Barack Obama weighed in: "I think people's families are off limits and people's children are especially off limits."

McCain aides said the announcement about the pregnancy of Palin's daughter, Bristol, was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's own youngest son, born in April, was actually the daughter's
The national convention, which a political party counts on to send its candidate surging into the fall campaign, already had been relegated to a distant second to the hurricane on TV, in newspapers and on Internet Web sites.

The pregnancy statement, attributed to Sarah and Todd Palin and released by the campaign, said that Bristol Palin would keep her baby and marry the child's father, identified only as a young man named Levi. The baby is due in late December.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in their brief statement.
Palin had told McCain's team about the pregnancy and her husband's old DUI during lengthy discussions about her background, aides said. At several points, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

Shortly after her announcement, McCain's team dispatched a dozen operatives and lawyers to Alaska, fueling speculation that a comprehensive examination of Palin's past was incomplete and being done only after she was placed on the ticket. Culvahouse denied that, saying his team of 25 scoured public and private records to produce a 40-page, single-spaced report on each top candidate.

He didn't say how many candidates, nor who else made McCain's short list. Culvahouse did say Palin underwent a "full and complete" review.
Prominent religious conservatives, many of whom have been lukewarm toward McCain's candidacy, predicted that the pregnancy announcement would not diminish conservative Christian enthusiasm for the vice presidential hopeful, a staunch abortion opponent. In fact, there was talk that it might help.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect," said Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord."

As for the Alaska probe, a Republican-dominated legislative committee is investigating whether Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.

The state's attorney general, Talis Colberg, hired Thomas V. Van Flein more than two weeks ago to represent Palin and members of her staff, according to Van Flein. He has represented the Palin family in the past as a private attorney, according to a McCain aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Van Flein said he couldn't confirm representing the family because of attorney-client privilege.

"Did I know the Palins before the state hired me? Yes," he told The Associated Press.

"The governor of every state gets legal counsel, and this attorney is part of a weeks-old effort to provide this governor defense in a series of outlandish, politically motivated charges," said senior McCain adviser Tucker Eskew. "It is a matter of her job and is not recent, and it is not related to her selection on the McCain-Palin ticket."

In St. Paul, the convention opened on time, though the opening-day session was shortened because of the hurricane. From the convention podium, GOP officials asked delegates to take out their cell phones and text-message contributions to help in the relief effort.

McCain's wife, Cindy, and first lady Laura Bush made their own appeals for relief help in the convention hall later in the day.

The delegates approved the party platform and other business, but most of the opening-day speeches — all of which had been expected to acclaim McCain and assail Obama — were scrapped.

Palin was in Minnesota preparing for her Wednesday night nomination acceptance speech when the campaign released the pregnancy statement; her family was home in Alaska.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family," the parents said.

The campaign said it was not disclosing the father's full name or age or how he and Bristol knew each other, citing privacy.

Sarah Palin's fifth child, a son named Trig, was born in April with Down syndrome. Internet bloggers have been suggesting that the child was actually born to Bristol Palin but that her mother, the 44-year-old Alaska governor, claimed to be the mother.
————
Associated Press Writers Eric Gorski in St. Paul, Charles Babington in Monroe, Mich., and Steve Quinn in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.

[becky-mom]

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McCain says Palin thoroughly checked

Tuesday, September 2, 2008 2:25 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By BETH FOUHY and LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writers


PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Republican John McCain said Tuesday he's satisfied that Sarah Palin's background was properly checked out before the Alaska governor joined the Republican ticket. He predicted that public excitement about her candidacy will increase after her address to the GOP convention on Wednesday.

McCain visited fire houses in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and was due to arrive at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday.

Asked about whether Palin's background was thoroughly checked out before he selected her, McCain told reporters in Philadelphia: "The vetting process was completely thorough and I'm grateful for the results."
Later, after visiting a firehouse outside Cleveland in Brecksville, Ohio, McCain added: "I just want to repeat again how excited I am to have Sarah Palin, the great governor of Alaska, as my running mate."

"America is excited and they're going to be even more excited once they see her tomorrow night," he said. "I'm very, very proud of the impression she's made on all of America and I look forward to serving with her."

Questions about the review of Palin came up after news surfaced that her unmarried teenage daughter, Bristol, is pregnant, and that the Alaska governor has retained a private attorney to represent her in an investigation into the firing of the state public safety commissioner.

The lawyer who conducted the background review said Palin voluntarily told McCain's campaign about Bristol's' pregnancy, and about her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the vice presidential search process.

The Alaska governor also greatly detailed the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner that has touched off a legislative investigation, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.

Palin underwent a "full and complete" background examination before McCain chose her as his running mate, Culvahouse said. Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, he said: "I think so. Yeah, I think so. Correct."
McCain's campaign has been trying to tamp down questions about whether the Arizona senator's team adequately researched his surprise vice presidential selection.

Since McCain publicly disclosed his running mate on Friday, the notion of a shoddy, rushed review has been stoked repeatedly.

First, a campaign-issued timeline said McCain initially met Palin in February, then held one phone conversation with her last week before inviting her to Arizona, where he met with her a second time and offered her the job Thursday.

Then came the campaign's disclosure that 17-year-old Bristol Palin is pregnant. The father is Levi Johnston, who has been a hockey player at Bristol's high school, The New York Post and The New York Daily News reported in their Tuesday editions.

In addition, the campaign also disclosed that Palin's husband, Todd, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Shortly after Palin was named to the ticket, McCain's campaign dispatched a team of a dozen communications operatives and lawyers to Alaska. That fueled speculation that a comprehensive examination of Palin's record and past was incomplete and being done only after she was placed on the ticket.

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser, said no matter who the nominee was, the campaign was ready to send a "jump team" to the No. 2's home state to work with the nominee's staff, work with the local media and help handle requests from the national media for information, and answer questions about documents that were part of the review.
At several points throughout the process, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

Culvahouse disclosed details of his examination in a half-hour interview with the AP.

First, a team of some 25 people working under Culvahouse culled information from public sources for Palin and other prospective candidates without their knowledge. For all, news reports, speeches, financial and tax return disclosures, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces were reviewed.

For Palin specifically, the team studied online archives of the state's largest newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, but didn't request paper archives for Palin's hometown newspaper. "I made the decision that we could not get it done and maintain secrecy," Culvahouse said.
———
Liz Sidoti reported from St. Paul, Minn.

[eoeleven]

throughly checked my arse

husband's DWI

preganant under aged daughter

former member of a independent party trying to force a major Alaskan land

what a cluster F*&^ of epic proportions

I take back the machinations prior to announcing her were not masterful stroke of Karl Rovian genius. It was a bunch of knuckle heads on McCain street that do not know their heads from the hole in their arses.

We have now sullied our own party, this election, and the process of being fit for the White House

John McCain is freaking the hawk side of Bill Clinton

They might do well in the popular vote but I cannot see them breaking 200 electoral college wise and Obama with his 65% control of the house and senate will be coronated KING of AMERICA.

I hope he deports my arse

[becky-mom]

hehehehehe...if the left is gonna play the Race card....(and they are)

then the RIGHT will play the SEXIST one.......(interesting)




Palin gets chance to fire back with speech

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 12:54 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer



ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — John McCain's campaign on Wednesday angrily called for an end to questions about its review of Sarah Palin's background, deriding a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.

"This nonsense is over," declared senior campaign adviser Steve Schmidt in a written statement.

The statement stood out for its admission that Palin is under siege — it condemns "this vetting controversy" — and for its attempt to blunt questions about how rigorously McCain and his campaign explored the background of a candidate who may get the nation's second most powerful job. It also suggested that Palin is a victim of gender bias in the media.

"The McCain campaign will have no further comment about our long and thorough process," Schmidt said, lashing out at "the old boys' network" that he says runs media organizations.
Top McCain advisers said they welcome and expect a review of Palin's mayoral and gubernatorial record but that the media has crossed that line with its inquiries.

"Certainly, her record deserves scrutiny, but I think we ought to look at her record," campaign manager Rick Davis told reporters on a conference call. He condemned "the salacious nature" of some news stories designed to "throw dirt at our candidate." He also lamented a "frenzied" mentality on Palin and urged the media to "dial it back."

Davis also called for the same level of scrutiny on Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

McCain's campaign also scheduled a news conference with leading Republican women to defend Palin's executive experience, and released a new campaign ad for key states, an indication that advisers are concerned that a flurry of criticism may be taking a toll on her image.
The ad quotes a Wall Street Journal editorial that says: "Governor Palin's credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama's and that she has 'earned a reputation as a reformer' and 'has a record of bipartisan reform.'" Conversely, the ad says, Obama offers only "empty words."

McCain shook up the presidential race last Friday by picking Palin, a little-known governor serving her first term in Alaska. Since then, the self-styled "hockey mom" with a record of bucking the state's political establishment has had a bright spotlight trained on her private and public life.

First, she announced that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant. Among the other revelations:
—A private attorney is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money to defend her against accusations of abuse of power.
—Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.
—Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska, with some members supporting secession from the United States.
—She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past.

None of the revelations seen to have shaken McCain's confidence or undermined her support among GOP delegates.

After four days of intense scrutiny, Palin gets a chance to respond with a televised speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday. In addition to accepting the nomination, the first woman to do so for the GOP, Palin will tell her story: small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers; the wife of a blue-collar North Slope oil worker; and the mother of five, including one born this spring with Down syndrome.
Said Tucker Eskew, a senior McCain adviser: "She will speak as a governor, a former mayor and someone with both hands on the steering wheel of America's energy economy. She will detail her record of shaking up the status quo in Alaska and standing up to entrenched interests to put the government back on the side of the people."

Defending his choice and the team that helped pick her, McCain said Tuesday that "the vetting process was completely thorough." Advisers said Palin went through a rigorous process that included a three-hour interview and a survey with some 70 questions, including: Have you ever paid for sex? Have you been faithful in your marriage? Have you ever used or purchased drugs? Have you ever downloaded pornography?

McCain's aides rejected suggestions from Democrats that her selection was a hurried, last-minute attempt to shake up the campaign and wrest female voters from Obama. They insisted Palin was a strong contender from the start.

But one senior Republican familiar with the search, who requested anonymity because McCain did not authorize the conversation, said Palin had virtually fallen from the radar. Only late in the summer, when McCain asked for more alternatives, was she made a finalist.

As conservatives closed ranks behind their like-minded foe of abortion, Schmidt accused the media of essentially being sexist.

"This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment of this country," his statement said.
When she was introduced as McCain's running mate last week, Palin portrayed herself as a political maverick in McCain's mold: "I've stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies and the good old boy network," she said.

But Alaska's first female governor has at times benefited from Alaska's entrenched political system.

For one thing, Palin accepted at least $4,500 in campaign contributions in the same fundraising scheme at the center of a public corruption scandal that led to the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens.

The contributions, made during Palin's failed 2002 bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor, were not illegal for her to accept. But they show how Palin, who has bucked Stevens and his allies, is nonetheless linked with Alaska's old guard.

[becky-mom]

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In this image rendered from video and provided by ABC News, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stands at the podium during a walk through at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/ABC News)


Today on the presidential campaign trail

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 10:54 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By The Associated Press

IN THE HEADLINES
Palin prepares to speak to delegates, other Americans amid political and personal revelations ... Giuliani says Sarah Palin is ready to handle Sept. 11 crisis ... Late-night TV hosts tread lightly with Palin pregnancy; use it to go after John Edwards
———
Palin prepares to introduce herself to the nation
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Buffeted by revelations both political and personal, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin prepared Wednesday to speak to GOP delegates and other Americans wanting to know more about the person John McCain picked for his running mate.
Palin's experience — she has been mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, and has served as the state's governor for less than two years — and her commitment to resisting politics-as-usual government have been questioned since McCain chose her last week. The process that led to her selection has been criticized as hasty because McCain had met her just once before he offered her the job.

Palin also is the subject of an ethics investigation involving the firing of the state's public safety commissioner after he wouldn't dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. Her efforts as mayor to gain millions of dollars in federal funding through the so-called "earmark" process appeared to be at odds with the McCain message of fiscal reform.

Her personal life became a topic of discussion after Palin revealed that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter was pregnant. Yet her candidacy has excited Republicans at the convention and across the country, in part because she has earned a reputation for taking on entrenched interests in Alaska and is staunchly pro-gun and anti-abortion.
———
Giuliani says Palin ready to handle 9/11 crisis
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said if Sarah Palin had been president when the U.S. came under attack on Sept. 11, 2001, he's confident she would have been able to handle the crisis.

Palin's experience as the mayor of a tiny Alaska town and as Alaska's governor for less than two years have led critics to question her readiness to be vice president in a John McCain administration — and president should he be unable to continue serving.

In an interview Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Giuliani was asked, "If she were the president on 9/11, you would have been confident?"

Giuliani responded: "I'd be confident that she'd be able to handle it. She's been a governor of a state, she's been mayor of a city."
———
Late-night TV hosts tread lightly with Palin
NEW YORK (AP) — Late-night comics tread lightly when referring to the pregnancy of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's unwed daughter.

CBS' "Late Show" host David Letterman made the pregnancy the subject of only his fifth and last joke about the selection of the Alaska governor as John McCain's running mate.

"Here's good news, ladies and gentlemen," Letterman said. "The Palin family crisis that we were talking about on Sunday and Monday, that has been solved now and, today, the baby is being adopted by Angelina Jolie."
Three of the comics made Democrat John Edwards the butt of their jokes. Edwards, the former presidential candidate, admitted this summer to an affair after first denying it.

"Gov. Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months' pregnant," Jay Leno said near the top of his NBC "Tonight" show monologue Tuesday. "And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before! Now he has really done it."
———
THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama discusses the economy in New Philadelphia, Ohio, and holds a barbecue in Dillonvale, Ohio.
Joe Biden discusses the economy in Fort Myers, Fla., and holds a town hall meeting in Sarasota, Fla.
———
THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain travels to Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention.
Sarah Palin accepts the vice presidential nomination at the convention in St. Paul, Minn.
———
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Give her a chance to make her first speech, then give her a chance to do her first interview. And after about four or five then you can jump to the preordained conclusion you may have already, or maybe you'll come to a different conclusion." — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speaking about Sarah Palin on ABC's "Good Morning America."
———
STAT OF THE DAY:
As part of the efforts to secure the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., $34 million will be used to pay law enforcement officers overtime.
———
Compiled by Ann Sanner.