The VP Candidate from Alaska

[Tonichelle]

completely agree, Ptichka!

I am not for sex for teens. much less the 'sleeping around' thing that was and is promoted in those popular young adult shows (Friends, which I love that show, had Rachel own a revolving door... as did Joey... does that really teach SAFE sex even if they do use protection - though they did sort of work that in with Rachel and Ross having Emma but still!)... but at least let the kids know the options just incase they decide to ignore the advice and go their own way.

 

[Dee4707]

This thread is a great read, thanks everyone for your comments. Toni, I was anxiously awaiting your views on the VP nominee.

Dee

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Another Alaskan Another Voice

This has been floating around the internet.

From: Voicefixer
To: Voicefixer
BCC: GreeleyWalker
Sent: 9/3/2008 1:20:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Just in case you need more information on this "candidate"


This is from a Bryn Mawr college grad to her fellow alums :

Dear classmates -

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah
Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than
most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her. The
most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil
fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time member of
the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of
wildlife in Alaska , particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions
of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from
helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for
example, on Alaska 's failing school system.We have the lowest rate of high
school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think aerial predator
hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which
there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is
appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial hunting
travesty, let me know and I will send some links to informative web sites.

She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the
McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The only
thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has
consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants
(as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of
Wasilla ), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily
exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.

Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska , she was mayor of Wasilla, a
small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education level
of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin
in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people
don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues
facing the US . Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out
and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow
mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I
wish I were exaggerating.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She
fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he
treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and
ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is
currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal
of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and
causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light.
Clearly McCain doesn't care.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it
weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a
weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of
national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems -
you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments
around the world truly frightens me.

In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US,
Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John McCain is
not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice
president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the
world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin.
The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary
supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the
nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin,
you are no Hillary Clinton.

To those of you who, like me, supported Hillary and were upset that she did
not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy
substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the
media and the democratic party may have done to undermine her campaign, the
person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are
independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor
of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To
those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for
president. But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a
great deal about McCain's judgment.

While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious,
the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat
away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally
unqualified to be vice president, let alone president. I know this is a
lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I thought it might
help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something
about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska
on a daily basis.

Here's some basic background from MoveOn.org:

* She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago.
Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of
rape or incest.
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy.
She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready
for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as
an endangered species she was worried it would interfere with more oil
drilling in Alaska.

 

[Dee4707]

When I heard the news of the McCain - Palin ticket, my immediate thought was.......what a ploy!!

I think the below quote is just a put down to women in general.

The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary
supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the
nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin,
you are no Hillary Clinton.

Dee

 

[dorispulaski]

When I heard the news of the McCain - Palin ticket, my immediate thought was.......what a ploy!!

I think this is just a put down to women in general.

Dee

Hardly. It's very clear that John McCain wanted to make a splash at his convention. His campaign has been unable to generate any excitement among the conservative base of the Republican party, and worse, the media, while it generally likes him pretty well, has found his campaign so boring that he is unable to get coverage. His preferred method of making a splash, we are told, is to go with a bipartisan ticket, in this case with Joe Lieberman. I can believe this of McCain, but I simply cannot see the Republicans going with it in any case. Joe is hugely prowar, and he is in agreement with McCain on energy policy, but he has had an 100% rating (or close to it) from NARAL and PP for years and years. Obviously, he is not a choice that is going to excite the Republican base.

McCain's personal area of crusade has always been cutting pork (which is why he voted against the Cheney Energy Bill for example), being one of the very few Republicans who believes in global warming, and put together a bill with Lieberman to combat it, and trying to make government less corrupt (which is why he collaborated with Russ Feingold (D) on the McCain Feingold election laws. He cherishes the 'maverick' image he gets for this activity. However, the Obama forces have been trying to sell him as 4 more years of Bush. Palin is known for vetoing pork in 300 cases and for doing some hard negotiations with energy companies. Her views (except on the cause of global warming) fit in with McCain's.

But most important, she is not a Washington insider and had no connections to Abramov, DeLay or Gonzales or any of the Bush scandals. And if you think about it, there are very, very, very few Republicans that meet those requirements.

And she's young and relatively unknown outside of political afficianadoes--of course the media will show interest, something the campaign has not been able to generate.

I'm sure McCain would love to have ex-Hillary supporters, particularly amongst Republicans and Independents, to vote for him, but I truly doubt that he expects it.

And I fail totally to see how choosing a woman is an insult to women. That is a huge crock to me.

This has been floating around the internet.

And therefore you should take it with a grain of salt, like all of these internet screeds and letters from Nigeria that I receive daily.

From: Voicefixer
To: Voicefixer
BCC: GreeleyWalker
Sent: 9/3/2008 1:20:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Just in case you need more information on this "candidate"


This is from a Bryn Mawr college grad to her fellow alums :

However, she is unwilling to sign her name to it. Therefore I distrust it's accuracy at once, much as I approach the letter from the gentleman from Nigeria

Dear classmates -

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah
Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than
most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her. The
most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil
fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time member of
the NRA .

Elitist much? Not to mention, using the class slur "Redneck". Perhaps this is from a Republican trying to undermine Democratic support /snark/ . Republicans are usually much more savvy about this. But if it's from a Democrat, it is also shaping up to be a huge FAIL.

and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of
wildlife in Alaska , particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions
of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from
helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for
example, on Alaska 's failing school system.

I don't know how much she spent on it, but this program has been going for a long time.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/wolves/story/410461.html

This article from the Anchorage Daily News is about the wolf hunt in 2008. The hunt has been going on since 1994 at least and is a method of saving caribou and moose populations. The amount shot is determined by state biologists, just as the amount and size of striped bass taken here in CT is, and for the same reasons--to balance the needs for predators and prey when they share environmental space with humans.

The program runs as long as conditions allow or until state biologists decide wolf-kill quotas have been met. The kill has been low this year because of a March that lacked the fresh snow and good light needed for optimum hunting conditions.

The exact number of moose or caribou saved by thinning wolf populations is hard to determine. Fish and Game's ungulate survival calculations are based on an average consumption of approximately 12 moose or 24 caribou per wolf per year.

We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country.

Alaska's educational system is not great. It ranks 44th to 46th in the country. However, it's position precedes Palin's governorship.

She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the
McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies...

.

Well you could say the McCain campaign has nerve, but then the Obama campaign has nerve, too. One of Palin's main achievements has been negotiating with Exxon and Canada over a natural gas pipeline to the US. Before her nomination, Obama was praising this activity. For those that are watching, it also demonstrates the

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cach...anchorage+daily+news&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Anchorage Daily News again

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/486170.html
Story:

Obama included the project in the energy plan he announced this week, calling for working "with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process."

That brought the Democrat kudos from Gov. Sarah Palin, who some pundits are pushing as a possible vice presidential running mate for Republican John McCain.

Two of Obama's top advisers repeated the theme in a teleconference with Alaska reporters Wednesday. They said Obama would encourage a federal partnership with Alaska to further the project and try to prevent Exxon Mobil from having a "disproportionate influence over the timetable over the construction of this pipeline,"

http://www.politicalforum.com/elections-campaigns/47168-obama-praises-palin.html

Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska , she was mayor of Wasilla, a
small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education level
of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin
in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people
don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues
facing the US . Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out
and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow
mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I
wish I were exaggerating.

No, it's almost 2 years. But this person can't even tell the truth about this. Plus the word elitist does not suffice to cover this example of intellectual snobbery and stupidity. I'm speechless. I'd like to know why this Bryn Mawr alumni didn't stay in the lower 48 and not move to a town that must be smaller than Wasilla since she has to go to Wasilla for groceries.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal.

I hope Toni will speak to this--there's so much crap on the Internet, it's hard to scope out the truth on this.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it
weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a
weak area for McCain), or of international affairs,

Well, McCain knows plenty about international affairs. However, Palin did negotiate the pipeline with Canada. It would be nice if we had a candidate that actually knew how to deal with our closest neighbor, and the source of most of our energy, both oil, and here in New England, from Hydro Quebec, not to mention most of the nuclear fuel that we are not generating from recycling Russian bombs. I'm happy that Palin knows energy and Canada.

knows nothing of
national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems -
you name it.

Trust me, you can't be the governor of a diverse rural state without knowing about the problems of Social Security, unemployment & health care. I doubt Biden knows as much, since his areas of expertise are judiciary & foreign policy and he never worked in industry or State government, having been a Senator since he was 30 and a lawyer before that.

The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments
around the world truly frightens me.

It shouldn't. When I think of Merkel putting up with Bush's back rubs and Putin putting up with being called Pooty Poot, I would think she'd be an improvement for them.

In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US,
Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John McCain is
not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice
president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the
world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin.

which is why it's even more questionable to have Obama in the higher office of president. Are you sure this wasn't written by a Republican?

The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary
supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the
nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin,
you are no Hillary Clinton.

Well, no. It's a shot to shore up the base.

Here's some basic background from MoveOn.org:

Which has how many Alaskan members??? Why is moveon an expert on Alaska? BS.

Going through these one at a time:

However, this is almost true, but contradicts the assertion at the top of the letter.

* She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago.
Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.

This is true. She is only for abortion if the mother is in dire risk of losing her life.
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of
rape or incest.

This is BS. She was the head of the Alaska campaign of Steve Forbes, not Pat Buchanan.

* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.

Toni should speak to this one. I believe that Palin's position is that parents should have input into what is taught in schools and that if they want creationism taught along side Biology, they should have that option. I don't agree.

* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.

I think she has said this, but she does believe in not adding to climate change, and she believes in energy independence. However, I imagine we will hear more of this in her speech tonight.

* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.

This is laughable. This is not John McCain's energy policy. John McCain thinks, last I heard, that we need to drill for oil, pipe natural gas, build lots of nuclear reactors and support wind and solar. McCain voted against Cheney's Energy Bill, because of the huge pork in it to big oil. BTW, Obama voted for it. You can check it on votesmart.org It was Bush & Cheney who are Big Oil first. And Obama is very questionable, and is all too friendly to coal interests, via Lehman brothers, majority owners of Peabody Energy, the nation's largest coal company.

* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy.

She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years.

She is absolutely right on this one. For one thing, the entire electric grid is totally unable to deal with more than about 15% from erratic sources like wind and solar. That's before you get into the scarcity of materials for solar panels, the low energy density of sunlight so that you have to kill states worth of ground and desert environments to make it a major source. And the storage issue is totally huge. There. Is. No. Absolutely No. Storage. On. The Grid. Wind is better, but the best you can do with wind is 15% or so, due to wind's intermittent nature, transmission line losses, etc.

She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as
an endangered species she was worried it would interfere with more oil
drilling in Alaska.

I think this one is true.

& so forth. The Democrats must be terrified of her to waste so much time sending letters about a VP candidate.

I'm sure Snopes will have a field day with this one.

 

[decker]

This is BS. She was the head of the Alaska campaign of Steve Forbes, not Pat Buchanan.

* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.

Somebody needs to tell Pat Buchanan hwell: He's been singing her praises all over the airwaves for her support of him starting in 1992 after his speech in Houston, claiming she joined the "pitchfork brigade."

I realize she was definitely a Forbes director in 2000, when Buchanan ran on the Reform ticket. But I don't think she's "officially" listed for either Forbes or Buchanan in 1996, when both tried for the GOP nomination. So depending on whether she does or does not wish to be associated with Buchanan, she might want to issue her own statement on the issue.

Susan

 

[Ptichka]

Doris, thank you so much for that breakdown of the anti-Palin allegations!

 

[dorispulaski]

Somebody needs to tell Pat Buchanan hwell: He's been singing her praises all over the airwaves for her support of him starting in 1992 after his speech in Houston, claiming she joined the "pitchfork brigade."

I realize she was definitely a Forbes director in 2000, when Buchanan ran on the Reform ticket. But I don't think she's "officially" listed for either Forbes or Buchanan in 1996, when both tried for the GOP nomination. So depending on whether she does or does not wish to be associated with Buchanan, she might want to issue her own statement on the issue.

Susan

Forbes was on CNBC (Kudlow's show) when Kudlow was airing clips from 2 interviews that he did with Palin in July. He had Steve Forbes on there. He seemed mightily amused at anyone suggesting Palin supported Buchanan as she was his director and he apparently knows her well.

However, other than his racist side, about 1/2 of what Pat Buchanan says actually seems to make sense to me these days==he hates Bush more than I do, I think. It's a case of the far right wrapping around so far that it begins to look like the far left.

As a rather far leftie ( ACLU supporter ), I can't stand to see people vilified for stuff that isn't true, especially when there are plenty of true things to hold them accountable for. So here I am, standing up for Palin because I can't take teh lies, basically.

 

[Medusa]

However, other than his racist side, about 1/2 of what Pat Buchanan says actually seems to make sense to me these days==he hates Bush more than I do, I think. It's a case of the far right wrapping around so far that it begins to look like the far left.

As a rather far leftie ( ACLU supporter ), I can't stand to see people vilified for stuff that isn't true, especially when there are plenty of true things to hold them accountable for. So here I am, standing up for Palin because I can't take teh lies, basically.

I am nearly too scared to ask but: Which half of what Pat Buchanan says makes sense to you? After reading through his Wikipage and some Blog-entries I found like one thing that made sense to me (Iraq-war-issue). If half of what Buchanan says makes sense - than at least half of what Franco (also insert: Hitler, Stalin, Salazar, Mussolini...) said made sense too.

And about the supporting Buchanan thing - the internet is flooded with all kinds of shady and unfounded information by the way - this is the best I could find: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=U9rZkJfKoEU.

I don't really think that you spent much time pointing out the lies in the text about Palin, you mostly accused the author of elitism, said that the problems in Alaska existed before Palin arrived, had some points about energy, wildlife and that's about it. I have to admit, the text is certainly crudely written, it mostly lacks substantial evidence and it is void of any kind of rhetoric. But your statement lacks some evidence too.

I'm happy that Palin knows energy and Canada.

She negotiated a pipeline - does that really mean that she knows Canada and energy? Does it mean that she knows how to deal with Canada? That would be like saying "Obama had an audience of 200 000 people in Berlin - oh, he knows how to deal with Germany / Europe".

Trust me, you can't be the governor of a diverse rural state without knowing about the problems of Social Security, unemployment & health care.

That's your reasoning - Trust me? Even if you were a governor (perhaps you are) I wouldn't accept that as an argument, because it's always possible that you are an exceptional governor and Palin isn't. And just because someone knows about those problems - it doesn't mean that the person has actually done something against it - or has an idea about these problems outside of Alaska.

It shouldn't. When I think of Merkel putting up with Bush's back rubs and Putin putting up with being called Pooty Poot, I would think she'd be an improvement for them.

Yeah well, perhaps we want more than just an improvement.

 

[dorispulaski]

I am nearly too scared to ask but: Which half of what Pat Buchanan says makes sense to you? After reading through his Wikipage and some Blog-entries I found like one thing that made sense to me (Iraq-war-issue). If half of what Buchanan says makes sense - than at least half of what Franco (also insert: Hitler, Stalin, Salazar, Mussolini...) said made sense too.

The part about staying out of Iraq and what an incompetent f-up Bush is. For quite a while, that has constituted about 1/2 of what he talked about.

I don't really think that you spent much time pointing out the lies in the text about Palin, you mostly accused the author of elitism, said that the problems in Alaska existed before Palin arrived, had some points about energy, wildlife and that's about it. I have to admit, the text is certainly crudely written, it mostly lacks substantial evidence and it is void of any kind of rhetoric. But your statement lacks some evidence too.

which statement? I didn't just accuse the author of elitism. The author demonstrated it all on her own.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elitism

Elitism was a word first added to M/W dictionary in 1947.

1: leadership or rule by an elite
2: the selectivity of the elite; especially : SNOBBERY <elitism in choosing new members>
3: consciousness of being or belonging to an elite

Elitism covers a wide range of snobberies, including snobbery due to wealth, intellectual snobbery where a person believes their training, education, or general mental prowess makes them a member of an elite class and thus entitled to look down on others.

The author considers herself vastly superior to the inhabitants of Wasilla because she is a member of the class of Bryn Mawr graduates and neither fishes, hunts nor owns a snowmobile (if in fact there is any author. Since the work is not signed, I imagine it is a typical internet broadside distributed to influence the credulous, a tactic used by all parties) So she fits the definition.

She negotiated a pipeline - does that really mean that she knows Canada and energy? Does it mean that she knows how to deal with Canada? That would be like saying "Obama had an audience of 200 000 people in Berlin - oh, he knows how to deal with Germany / Europe".

No it wouldn't. When Obama finished being cheered by the Germans, there was nothing left but the words in the newspapers. Nothing had been negotiated, nor had changed. A pipeline is a solid accomplishment. Whether she can do stuff like that again, we shall see. However, George Bush did not know the name of the prime minister of Canada before he took office. And total ignorance of Canada is not unusual among Americans and American politicians. I'm glad she has some experience. No she's not Madelyn Albright. And I'm not saying she is.

Energy she actually knows something about, at least the regulatory and business side. She chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. No she is not the CEO of Exxon.

That's your reasoning - Trust me? Even if you were a governor (perhaps you are) I wouldn't accept that as an argument, because it's always possible that you are an exceptional governor and Palin isn't. And just because someone knows about those problems - it doesn't mean that the person has actually done something against it - or has an idea about these problems outside of Alaska.

Yeah well, perhaps we want more than just an improvement.

I'm not a governor. "Trust me" was a throwaway rhetorical device. I don't expect you to trust me in real life. I do, however, sign my real name to what I write, unlike the author of this screed. However, if you ever read the region section of your state newspaper, you will read endless articles about the governor and what he/she does.

One of the largest tasks of the governor is the state budget. Huge line items in that budget are Medicaid (or what passes for it in your state) and unemployment compensation. I do not see how a governor could have gone through a single year and not know the budgetary process and some of the details behind the largest line items.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/03/eveningnews/main4413727.shtml

There may be fewer than 700,000 people in Alaska's wide open spaces, but the state budget is more than $12 billion, and there are nearly 25,000 state employees. Many Alaskans don't want to hear that being their governor is no big deal.

"We got big issues up here," Moore said. "Gas pipeline is huge, of national importance."

Particularly with a 12 billion $ plus budget.

However, I have met 3 governors and know one more than cursorily. VT is a small state and because it is all town meetings and retail politics, you get to know quite a bit about them and what they do, even if you don't meet any of them. If you volunteer for a campaign (and I have) you meet a lot of people.
However, there is little going on in VT and the small doings of state business are the stuff of daily news & conversation. I lived there for 22 years. I lived in NY for 12 years and wouldn't have a clue what the governor did there (other than chase prostitutes, because that makes the paper) and never met a governor, let alone knew one. However, Alaska is much more similar to VT except that it actually has a couple of real cities whereas VT has no real cities, Burlington it's largest has less than 50,000 people last I knew.

A typical VT article about the Vt governor struggling with a budget.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_10282996?source=most_emailed

In fact, dealing with a budget and being responsible for it is one of the reasons that governors are generally credited with more executive experience than Congressfolk. (This is not true, sadly, of TX, which has a week governor form of government.)

In any case, I probably will not vote for McCain/Palin, but I think a day or 2 to let the woman speak for herself might be a good thing. In any case, she's running fo VP, not president.

 

[Medusa]

However, if you ever read the region section of your state newspaper, you will read endless articles about the governor and what he/she does.

Eurotrash here. We actually have states in my country - but it's a different system and I don't think that our state-leaders have that much to say concerning the overall budget.

No it wouldn't. When Obama finished being cheered by the Germans, there was nothing left but the words in the newspapers. Nothing had been negotiated, nor had changed. A pipeline is a solid accomplishment. Whether she can do stuff like that again, we shall see. However, George Bush did not know the name of the prime minister of Canada before he took office. And total ignorance of Canada is not unusual among Americans and American politicians. I'm glad she has some experience. No she's not Madelyn Albright. And I'm not saying she is.

Hmm, actually there was something left. The irrational hopes by lots of Europeans that there might come a change in the transatlantic relations. But on the one hand I somehow don't believe anymore that Obama will win this - and even if he does, I think that we put way too much hope into him. We often misunderstand your politics - people often think your system is the same as ours, but that's not true. Bush, McCain and Palin make guys like Merkel, Cameron and Sarkozy look like a bunch of big ol' lefties.

In fact, dealing with a budget and being responsible for it is one of the reasons that governors are generally credited with more executive experience than Congressfolk.

And I think that is a valid point. Then again, what are advisors for? It would be interesting to review the past presidents - were former governors and mayors more successful and more popular?

 

[visaliakid]

I wish to congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first ever African-American nominee for the U.S. Presidency. With that being said, I cannot vote for this elitest, egotistic empty suit.

 

[Tigger]

You know what bothered me about her speech tonight?

The continual digs at someone who had been a Community Organizer. That's a volunteer thing, right? So when did it become such a horrible thing to have that on your resume? Oh...Right...I forgot, when you're running for Public Office.

You want to impress upon the voters that Obama may not have as much experience as McCain, that's fair. However the way that Sarah, whomever wrote that speech tonight, went about it sickened and insulted me. Rudy was no better.

Of all the things they could have possibly picked to single Obama on, they pick that? It didn't sit well w/me and it won't w/others either. Not only that, but that speech didn't win anyone over that wouldn't be already be voting Republican in November. That's not what Sarah needed to do tonight. She needed to reach out to those Undecideds or those who are wibbling. I don't think she did that at all tonight and that in such a tight race, they missed a real chance to make some inroads.

However, the tone of both speeches tonight destroyed that. As you can tell, I was less than impressed. I'll be interested to see what Obama's camp says tomorrow about the speeches tonight.

 

[Medusa]

That's not what Sarah needed to do tonight. She needed to reach out to those Undecideds or those who are wibbling. I don't think she did that at all tonight and that in such a tight race, they missed a real chance to make some inroads.

However, the tone of both speeches tonight destroyed that. As you can tell, I was less than impressed. I'll be interested to see what Obama's camp says tomorrow about the speeches tonight.

Interesting that you said that - one of the reporters of The Guardian analysed it in a similar way:

...Well, this election just got a whole lot nastier, I think, if the Republicans are indeed giving up on any attempt to win over the centre, and instead returning to the base-focused strategies of 2000 and 2004, and declaring war on the media, and on the coastal elites, and an big city dwellers, and on liberals (even though Rudy Giuliani is most of these, and McCain in many respects, for that matter). Questions: will it work? How do the calls for bipartisanship we've seen over the last few days fit with that? They don't, obviously, but will the contradiction be problematic for the Republicans? And how does the Obama campaign respond — get fiercer, or reach for moral high ground?

Or are you and that guy the same person? :scratch:

Well, if the strategy worked twice, the third time might be possible.

 

[Mathman]

It would be interesting to review the past presidents - were former governors and mayors more successful and more popular?

In the last half century, four U.S. prsidents were state governors before becoming President.

George Bush (Texas). His presidency was a disaster for the nation and the world. Very possibly the worst president in U. S. history.

IMO this election is about one thing and one thing only. Do we want four more years or have we had enough?

Bill Clinton (Arkansas). A good ol' boy from the South.

By and large the U.S. enjoyed peace and prosperity during Clinton's terms (although detractors give credit to economic reforms put in place by Reagan which were just beginning to pay off when Clinton came around.) We had a balanced budget (even a surplus) and, in general, a position of respect among the nations of the world. Our economic soundness and our international reputation among both friends and foes have now been squandered by the Bush administration.

Bill Clinton is personally charming (a contrast to Hillary) and remains fairly poplular despite the scandal at the end of his service (which cost Al Gore the Presidentcy in 2000.) Through it all, he remains a big "Bubba."

Jimmy Carter (Georgia). A peanut farmer who became governor of Georgia (the U.S. state), Carter is perceived as a compassionate man who was a great ex-president, involving himself in community improvement and helping poor people, especially through his orgnization Habitat for Humanity.

His presidency is usually viewed as a failure. He inherited a big mess and the mess was worse four years later. He was criticized, perhaps unjustly, for being weak and indecisive.

Ronald Reagan (California). Reagan was a movie actor, noted especially for playing cowboys. He was "The Old Ranger" on the hit TV show Wagon Train for many years, before moving on to the governorship of California (a path followed most recently by body-builder/actor Arnold Schwartzeneger. Ah, California! Who's next, Michelle Kwan? )

But the Presidency was Reagan's biggest role. He looked great on TV. (John Kennedy was his only rival in terms of looking good on TV. ) He looked you straight in the eye, had a firm handshake, folksy yet Presidential with a capital P. As far as I could tell, he neither knew nor cared much about the actual workings of government at any level. He napped a lot. His detractors complained that there was no hand on the tiller of the Ship of State.

No hand on the tiller, perhaps -- but the good ship Ronald Reagan had a deep keel. He set the nation on a new tack of patriotism, optimism and good old-fashioned conservative principles (except on fiscal matters). His Presidency was sufficiently popular to snag an extra term for George Bush senior. Reagan is remembered with great affection. Thousands of people came out to view the pomp and grandeur of his funeral procession, fit for a Roman emperor.

Only one American President of the last 50 years came to the Presidency directly from service in the Senate. That was John Kennedy. Nixon, Johnson and Truman all served in the senate before becoming vice president, then became president later.

Kennedy is another, like Reagan, whose personal charm made people want to forget his relative political inexperience and personal flaws. He was the "Camelot President." He had a classy, sophisticated and stunningly beautiful wife (not to mention Marilyn Monroe on the side.)

(OT: Comedian Bill Maher recently quipped that Michelle Obama is a mix of Jackie and Jackee. Jacqueline Kennedy and a character on an old television sitcom, a black actress whose role was an exaggerated caricature of a "hot momma.")

Anyway, many, many people look back on Kennedy as a great president, although when asked what exactly he did that was so great, the details seem a little vague.

That's my take on it, anyway.

 

[jennylovskt]

Talking about personal charm, I watched Palin's speech last night, she didn't add anything new to the feeling I had the first time I heard that she was going to be on McCain's team.

John McCain is a cancer survivor and continuously doing the regular follow ups, and he is 72. The real possibility is that Palin might be the next president if McCain has any health problems. Do people want Palin to be the leader of this country? I cannot imagine that.

There was one thing that Palin said made me laugh. She said that the victory of Iraq war is in sight. Where?! How?! It was totally wrong to attack Iraq in the first place, and the longer and deeper US goes into there, the more difficult to get out of that mess.

Both sides attacked each other in their speeches in the conventions. I think Obama and Biden's speeches had more class and hit the points. They praised John McCain as a person, but they pointed out that his views were incorrect. Obama's audience grabing speeches ( especially his speech in Germany ) were part of his personal charm. In my mind, Obama has won in this round battle.

Mathman, thanks for the analysis! Basically I agree with what you said. I never figured out where did the JFK's personal charm come from? I personally don't think he was charming. Maybe because he was shot and died so young and tragically, people added the personal charm by their imagination to his characters.

The funny thing is that the worst president has served two terms. I like his father, George Bush Sr. very much, though.

 

[decker]

You know what bothered me about her speech tonight?

The continual digs at someone who had been a Community Organizer. That's a volunteer thing, right? So when did it become such a horrible thing to have that on your resume? Oh...Right...I forgot, when you're running for Public Office.

Actually, larger charities often have paid "lead" organizers. I believe Obama was such a leader, not a volunteer. But he may well have volunteered, too. And I can tell you, having worked 4 years at a 501(c)3 myself, that a lot of what you do is effectively volunteering because you do what needs to be done even when you're not paid or reimbursed.

I've been saying for a while that the GOP's real problem with Obama's resume is not that it's short in length. It's the content. He actually went into a bad situation, on the front lines, and tried to help people rebuild their lives after the steel mills shut down. To me, that's very pertinent experience for a person running for office in hard times.

Of course the main titles on my resume are journalist, PR and grant writer, and public health project assistant. Now I'm trying to get the PH degree so I can create and administer the programs. I'm just a liberal do-gooder.

Susan

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

My feelings at this point is that the Republicans have the edge over the Democrats. Hillary would have been a more formidable opponent against McCain.

The fact that Ms Palin could become President scares me. She will lead the country in terms of the judeo/christian scriptures. She will not adhere to the founding fathers of the United States unless they come up to those religious standards. It's god, country and family.

Oh well, if McCain gets elected maybe he can survive the next 4-8 years.

 

[Tonichelle]

she doesn't run ALASKA that way, why would she run the country that way?

as for the personal digs - they were way more classy than Obama's dig on her hometown of "Wasilly" (I'm getting so sick of him misprouncing it. Either he doesn't care enough to research what he's talking about, or he knows and doesn't care.) He brought it up, and she responded. Her comment about community organizer was in response to him basically saying being a mayor of 6500 people isn't enough, much less governing a state with a small population. Basically Alaskans count for nothing. If that were truly the case, then, Obama, why the heck are you even campaigning up here. You want our votes, but you also want the nation to think we're a bunch of idiots (okay so that's how I think most people in Anchorage are, but Anchorage is not really Alaska to begin with!).

As a mayor she had the 'regular joe' able to walk in and talk with her, she couldn't hide behind suits or anything, and the policy in Juneau isn't much different.

Is it weird that the VP noms on both sides seem more intune with the general public that they represent at the moment than the dudes running for pres?

hope Toni will speak to this--there's so much crap on the Internet, it's hard to scope out the truth on this.

It's a smear campaign that is being referred to as "Troopergate" by the national media. She fired Monneghan (I can never remember what position he held, but he was in charge of the state troopers) and - according to those who are still upset that she's shaking things up in Juneau - she did it because she wanted him to fire her ex-brother in law and he wouldn't. Now, there were others that are 'close' to Sarah (including, apparently, the First Dude) who supposedly called to pressure him on behalf of her. However! Monneghan (and I can't spell his name either lol how sad am I?) has come out and stated point blank that he was never pressured to fire her brother in law.

She replaced him with the Kenai Chief of Police (former, now) Kopp (seriously) and then he resigned after two weeks on the job because of the ADN digging up a 'sexual harrassment' complaint on him from eons ago that was dropped and the ADN started screaming that Sarah didn't do her homework. Kopp was a very divisive choice to begin with, he wasn't very popular by most... and basically it's gone out of hand...

The whole thing is being investigated but Sarah has asked that they investigate using the correct branch of the state government and not have the senate overstep its bounds...

 

[Medusa]

http://www.thatminoritything.com/?p=53193

I love those "comparisions" on that page. Best are:

If you grow up in Hawaii you’re “exotic.”

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you’re the quintessential “American story.”

If you say that for the “first time in my adult lifetime I’m really proud of my country” it makes you “unfit” to be First Lady.

If you are a registered member of a fringe political group that advocates secession that makes you “First Dude.”

I know that the Edwards guy messed it up royally with his affairs etc. - but this still kind of fits:

And, finally, if you’re a man and you decide to run for office despite your wife’s reoccurrence of cancer you’re a “questionable spouse.”

If you’re a woman and you decide to run for office despite having five kids including a newborn with Downs Syndrome… Well, we don’t know what that is ‘cause THAT’S NOT A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK!

----------------------------

I'm getting so sick of him misprouncing it. Either he doesn't care enough to research what he's talking about, or he knows and doesn't care.

Or it's one of those names that people have different opinions about and everybody tells you something else. Perhaps some of his advisors told him the wrong pronunciation... Plus, do you really need to get worked up about that? I never met one US-American (granted, didn't meet more than 60 in my life - but hey, even your politicians or your TV-news don't care) who cared enough to pronounce a German / French / Dutch name (be it a family name, or the name of a town or region) properly, why should they be able to pronounce the names in their country?