Thoughts? I read her resume and I find myself more likely to vote for my party of registration (R). I know one thing. The race just got a whole lot more interesting, especially for Republicans.

For those who just like the comedy of the whole drama, the laughter factor also just went way up. For instance, the Obama camp was so prepped for Romney to be the pick, they had their advertisements and smears all prepped. I guess some idiot decided to run them anyway, regardless of how applicable they were to Palin. Funnier still, NBC put them in their "headline news" bar. It read something like "Headline News - McCain and Palin, how many houses now". Duh.

It looks like McCain took a gamble with her, but it seems fairly low risk, with possible high gains. Pi*sed off Hillary supporters may not be ready to cross over for a pro-life woman right now, but if the Obama camp, or even Obama supporters, take a heavily sexist approach to attacking her (easy to do with a Hockey mom), you'll see those numbers go up dramatically. If they go after her on experience, they will provide the McCain camp a wide pallete of quotes to choose from as to why Obama isnt qualified based on experience. They've already started both of those types of attacks.

I cant help but feel that her selection is the reason Obama has been frowning in EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW since her announcement. Its like he just swallowed a turd. Too funny.

I think they've just undone each others weak points really - and made it less interesting for me.

Now you're looking at basically 2 identical nominations - the difference now is just policies. McCain attacked Obama over his experience - in response, Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate. Obama had been attacking McCain over age - now he can't do that. Those arguments no longer stand (well shouldn't do - if McCain says anything about experience now, he's being a massive hypocrite)!

For me, now they've chosen their running mates, it's actually become less interesting than it was before!

Except Palin isn't running for president, she's running for VP.. So the whole experience really doesn't apply..

The biggest thing Obama wanted was "change", yet he chose and old guard politician that has been in office for 35 years.. While Palin has actually had to work like us, pay bills like us, feed her kids like most of us, and do all the things that everyone complains that politicians have no clue about..

Will it help the republicans win?? We'll find out in November.. Is it more change than we would get from Obama?? Probably..

But without a doubt, she is definitely not politics as usual..

I suppose you're right, with a few caveats. Inexperienced Obama isnt trying to be a "hearbeat" away from the office of the President, he is trying to be the inexperienced President. Your assessment would be more accurate if you could turn the McCain ticket upside down. When whoever is elected takes office, we will either have someone experienced or someone inexperienced, so I think it McCain still a valid argument to be made.

Regarding her experience, she is the only one of all four who has ever had to lead(manage a budget, be the head of a military, be responsible for individual decision making, etc). If McCain were not on the ticket and it were her vs either Hillary or Obama, she would probably be the most experienced(qualified) of the three.

I think the Obama campaign will try to keep this race about policy differences from here on out, though I don't see that as likely to happen. He can lie about those type of issues like he did in his acceptence speech with less chance of blowback than if he attacks the female vp candidate on experience.

Speaking of lying, I know I've mentioned it but I have to say I was EXTREMELY turned off by Obama's acceptance speech. There are very few people on the planet that would argue the surge, which he voted against, is what made way for the an orderly withdrawl from Iraq rather than a route in defeat like vietnam. To hear Obama and Biden try and claim that Bush is "taking their idea" is just idiotic to the point of being offensive. He may have been right about not going in in the first place, but the guy obviously got the management of a less than perfect situation COMPLETELY wrong. Several of Obama's minions failed to study up on Palin and tried to indirectly tie her to some of Alaska's dirty laundry like the Bridge to Nowhere and the Republican leaders who are now sitting behind bars for corruption. They even published advertisements trying to link her to those things. Do you think they published those ads knowing she was the person who killed the Bridge to Nowhere project and paved the way for the indictment of her own party's leadership? They are either idiots, or liars.

Originally Posted by Feydakin

The biggest thing Obama wanted was "change", yet he chose and old guard politician that has been in office for 35 years.. While Palin has actually had to work like us, pay bills like us, feed her kids like most of us, and do all the things that everyone complains that politicians have no clue about..

What is wrong with Biden? I mean he also is one of us as well. he worked like us, pay bills like us, feed his kids likes us, was a single dad for some time, had to travel everyday to get home to his family...

Whats wrong with Biden? Decades in the now Democrat controlled Senate which currently holds a 17% approval rating is definitely "More of the Same". Makes those 40% approval ratings in 2006 when the Republicans controlled the Senate look like glory days. He seems like a good guy and knows something about foreign policy, but has all the wrong ideas. In his long career as a Senator I very much doubt you could find even one time he brought "Change" to government. In under two years, there can be no question Sarah Palin brought change, in a good way, to hers.

Thinking about it, the same comparison could be made between Obama and McCain. For a guy who is all about "Change", Obama votes "present" rather than up or down on most issues in his short career, as opposed to McCain who put through significant legislation, often to the chagrin of his own party.

Edit: Just to clarify, I don't like McCain either, but the more I see of Palin, the more I hope McCain wins and immediately drops dead (Just kidding, but I'd seriously rather have her and her new VP than him).

Originally Posted by Feydakin

Except Palin isn't running for president, she's running for VP.. So the whole experience really doesn't apply..

That would only be true if anybody expected McMoribund to survive an entire term, but, seeing as he's running to be the oldest president in US history, even John McCain acknowledges the importance of his running mate.

It's basically Affirmative Action for Republicans. Believing their own spin, McCain's advisers told him "pick a woman - any woman - we'll get the Hillary pawns". Instead of picking somebody with substance, like Elizabeth Dole, he picked a light weight with zero experience, a noncorrupt Harriet Miers.

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

Instead of picking somebody with substance

Well, she may not be Ronny Reagan, but I suspect Hillary couldnt fill her shoes. Not to mention shes got Dr. Melfi esque charm about her.

You mean Hillary takes that "family values" stuff too much to heart to be the Republican stooge? A 17 year old pregnant daughter, while your party is pushing abstinence only at the same time. Well, nobody ever said Republicans are not hypocrites.

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

That would only be true if anybody expected McMoribund to survive an entire term

It really is impossible for you to carry out a political discussion without trying to be insulting, isn't it??

I think you are referring to the religious right sometimes associated with the Republican party. I have yet to see the Republican party push abstinence. Around these parts, we all like padunkadunk.

Assuming the party did push abstinence, that wouldn't necessarily mean she(Palin) pushes abstinence.

Assuming she(Palin) pushed abstinence, that her daughter was pregnant would matter less than it did when it was discovered that Billy Carter was a drunk and a registered agent of the Lybian government, or that Hillary's brother Tony was selling presidential pardons on behalf of Bill Clinton, or that Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian. Kids will be kids, and people will be people.

You do, however, have to like Palins response to the attempted mud slinging:
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” the Palins said in the statement. “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. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."

No, when I referred to Hillary as "unable to fill her shoes", I was talking about experience and moral fiber. At the end of the day, Hillary's political career consists of two years in the Senate and a failed run at the whitehouse. Nothing more. By all accounts, very few people who have had the displeasure of working with her have much good to say about her. She has been more than happy to stretch her very thin resume with lies, including talking about "Bullets flying over her head". A true ends (to benefit her) justifies the means type person. Whitewater, selling pardons, stripping the whitehouse. Very little moral character to be found.

This as opposed to a woman who is liked by practically every person who has worked with her. A person who, as a mayor and a governor had to make individual executive decisions and earn or pay the political capital that goes with the responsibility of those decisions. Here is a pro-life faced with a tough decision when told her unborn child had Downs Syndrome, yet stuck by her beliefs. A reformer who ran against her own party, yet didnt take the bait like most do once they find themselves in a position to benefit from the system.

All that aside, how can you not be amazed by a party boss ball busting, NRA card carrying, union supporting, moose meat eating, tree hugging, pro drilling, anti-big oil, oil/energy expert, pro-life mother of five who so happens to be the youngest most popular governor of the state of Alaska with an approval rating over 80%. Did I mention she governs a state with nuclear missles pointed at it from Russia which sits a scant few miles over the water? Oh yeh, she also has two military commands, the Alaska National Guard and the Alaska state militia.

Hillary who?

Originally Posted by cbwm

Not to mention shes got Dr. Melfi esque charm about her.

I couldn't agree more. But I think thats all she has going for her, and will be the downfall of Mccains run for the presidency now.

You guys know that it has VERY little with the fact that she is a women and very much to do with the fact that she is a Christian. She would not pull the kind of women that would have voted for Hillary, but would in fact pull all the Christians that were not willing to vote for McCain before.

As usual Cat, I agree with you. Palin was much more of a play for Republican base vote than it was for the Hillary vote. She also fits McCains vision of himself as anti-establishment, which Im sure feeds his ego. Frankly, I doubt very many Hillary voters at all will initially jump ship to support McCain just because he has estrogen on the ticket. I will say, however, that as time goes by and Obama/Obama supporters used sexist tactics against Melfi err Palin, there will be many of the more feminist Hillary supporters who will vote McCain Palin in protest.

What I do find interesting is that McCain only contacted her one time before he made the decision to bring her on, I think that shows how little she will be involved if McCain got elected.

I think thats overplayed by the media. He met her in person twice before selecting her. My money says there was a lot of phone chit chat, and unquestionably an a*sload of background check, research, and digging for skeletons.

Originally Posted by cbwm

I think thats overplayed by the media. He met her in person twice before selecting her. My money says there was a lot of phone chit chat, and unquestionably an a*sload of background check, research, and digging for skeletons.

Did they miss the whole "troopergate" thing, or the fact that their new Christian anchor has a 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter?

Originally Posted by furry

Did they miss the whole "troopergate" thing, or the fact that their new Christian anchor has a 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter?

Are you saying that you are going to hold what her daughter did against her? If that is all you can say about her I would say she is doing pretty well.

Originally Posted by furry

Did they miss the whole "troopergate" thing

McCains attorneys have been up her proverbial *ss with a microscope for several months now. I'd assume they knew how this whole thing is going to turn out before they gave her the seal of approval. Reading about it, her and her family definitely wanted this guy dismissed, though in all fairness, he tasered his 10year old boy and made very serious and witnessed threats to kill Palins father. Most sane organizations would have fired the guy without question, but he belongs to a Union. Maybe she needs to re-think that pro-union position.

Originally Posted by Cheshire_cat

Are you saying that you are going to hold what her daughter did against her? If that is all you can say about her I would say she is doing pretty well.

No, I'm not saying I'm going to hold it against her. I have never based my voting upon a candidates religious choice. I actually believe in seperation of church and state, unlike certain politicians across the country trying to shove religion down the populations throat under the guise of "Intelligent Design" teaching in the classrooms of public schools.