The Seven Biggest Political Blunders of 2008
7) The punditocracy goofs up the Granite State: Because it’s not fair to just pick on the politicians, it’s worth remembering that this campaign season had an enormous number of twists and turns that proved pundits, pollsters, and “political experts” of all stripes wrong again and again.
The biggest of these foul-ups was in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, which almost everybody thought was going to go Barack Obama’s way. That would have been incredibly significant because after his victory in Iowa, a follow-up win in New Hampshire might have convinced Hillary Clinton to bow out early and thereby prevented the months of fratricidal political warfare that followed between the two campaigns.
Instead, the punditocracy blew the call and the world got to see that political “experts” get it wrong just as often as economic “experts,” government “experts,” and climate “experts.”
6) That’s not what a state attorney general is supposed to do to a call girl: Even if he has the morals of Bill Clinton, any governor should be leery of using the services of a call girl for very obvious reasons — and that should have been doubly so for a guy like Eliot Spitzer.
He was a former New York State attorney general who had a reputation for zealously pursuing high-profile prosecutions. So, when you set yourself up as a crusader who loves to get headlines for putting the bad guys away, you can’t expect any mercy if you get caught sleeping with a high-dollar prostitute behind your wife’s back.
Spitzer may have been the governor of New York, but his former job and his inability to keep his pants up turned his exploits with Ashley Alexandra Dupré into a national scandal.
5) Blago fog-o: Illinois has a reputation for being somewhere between New Jersey and Louisiana on the corruption scale and current Governor Rod Blagojevich lived down to his state’s reputation.
Peddling a Senate seat is certainly crooked, but it probably wouldn’t have been a huge national scandal had that barely used seat not belonged to President-elect Barack Obama. Suddenly, an Illinois scandal turned into a national game of “what did Obama and his staff know and when did they know it?”
That question hasn’t been authoritatively answered as of yet, but America has had its first real reminder of what it means to have a Democrat in office; the president-elect hasn’t even taken over yet and he has already been interviewed by prosecutors in a corruption case.
4) I did not have ministerial relations with that man!: Had Barack Obama not been treated with kid gloves on this particular issue by the media, the Clintons, and the McCain campaign because of his race, it could have potentially destroyed his campaign.
Obama spent 20 years going to a virulently anti-white, anti-American church run by a conspiracy mongering lunatic, continued his membership even as he ran for president, and then pointedly branded his own grandmother as a racist in the very same speech in which he refused to denounce Jeremiah Wright.
Believe it or not, Obama did eventually throw Wright under the bus — not for insulting white people, insulting America, or tossing out lunatic conspiracy theories about AIDS, but for saying something insulting about him.
The way this was handled just highlights the fact that Obama isn’t a brilliant politician; he’s just a man who happened to be lucky enough to take the Democratic nomination in a year when even George McGovern, Mike Dukakis, or Walter Mondale probably could have cruised to victory.
“However, McCain was awful on the economy and his numbers started to go south after the mortgage crisis hit the news daily.”
In his heart of hearts, John McCain feels more comfortable with center-right Democratic Party economic doctrines. He should have never been the Republican standard bearer. As matter of fact, I trust Barack Obama more than him regarding economic matters! McCain is a psychologically immature man who feels compelled to prove that he’s a “maverick.” Such people can be very dangerous. Obama, on the other hand, seems to be similar to Bill Clinton and will therefore likely follow the polling numbers. This may very well keep the near future president from doing something really stupid. The GOP must find candidates who not only believe in low taxes and minimal governmental intrusion in the marketplace—but also can clearly explain these beliefs. John McCain and the other “moderate” Republicans should also be marginalized. They have caused far too much damage.
Ashley Dupré is my very favorite blunder.
I disagree with David Thomson. McCain’s voting record has historically been that of a fiscal conservative. I don’t know what “center-right Democrat Party economic doctrines” are, but I doubt that such doctrines includes McCain’s sincere and strenuous attack on pork barrel and earmarked spending. During the campaign, McCain did hit on Wall Street, but that was a conscious effort to appeal to centrists.
I generally agree with the writer John Hawkins on McCain — McCain did run a good campaign most of the time on most issues, although had McCain done the right thing and opposed the bank bailout, I am not sure even that would have changed the outcome.
McCain had the best chance this year of any Republican (the poll numbers on all other GOP candidates were far worse), but there were “headwinds” that precluded any Republican from being elected President — a financial meltdown that created economic anxieties that have historically favored the Democrats and did this year; the Bush Administration financial bailout that muddied the waters of what was mostly a more Reaganesque economic message delivered by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail (thanks to Joe the Plumber); the unpopularity of Bush, which is unfair but which is the result of unceasing attack by the Left and Bush not using the bully pulpit to defend his Administration; money and more money, some of it illegal, that Obama had; and media bias that was absurdly in the tank for Obama and that operated effectively day-in, day-out as a propaganda machine for Democrats.
McCain’s overwhelming strength in foreign affairs, military matters and national security issues just did not seem to matter to the electorate. As a result, with the Middle East blowing up, we are about to have a young, inexperienced left wing President who has no experience and no knowledge as to foreign affairs, miitary matters and national security. It won’t be good.
Wow, I’m impressed. Just think how badly the Republicans would have been beaten if the Democrats hadn’t made all those blunders! A few suggestions for blunders that might have been included in the list:
3. McCain having to be reminded by Joe Lieberman not once, but twice, that Iran was not training Al Qaeda.
2. McCain suspending his campaign to hurry back to Washington to deal with the economice crisis and then doing virtually nothing.
1. McCain naming a ditzy, ignorant unknown as his running mate. The Republican base may have loved her, but everyone else found her a ridiculous choice.
Just a few suggestions, mind you.
Beej,
Palin was the only chance McCain had to win, as for your slander, save it for the media talking points.
How about all the dopes who voted for Obama? They will be aware of their blunder shortly.
“John Edwards cynically exploited his wife’s cancer to help his campaign.”
I still don’t understand how folks can accuse Silkie of being cynical and, at the same time, accept as fact that his wife has cancer.
There is no evidence that she has cancer other than HIS word. He’s lied about so many things, why wouldn’t we assume that he’s lying about his wife’s health?
Have you seen her medical records? Has her health been certified by anyone other than a crooked plaintiff’s attorney?
Mr. Hawkins:
“However, McCain was awful on the economy and his numbers started to go south after the mortgage crisis hit the news daily. However, it was the way that he handled the bailout that delivered the real coup de grâce to his campaign.”
Nope, I don’t see it that way. McCain’s campaign strategy was flawed from the start. His record did a lot to encourage a very cool reception by the GOP base, so if he was to win the Big Chair, he needed to raid the Urban and Suburban areas that Obama’s people aggressively targeted.
In many ways, McCain’s campaign repeated the strategic blunders of Viet Nam in that he never mounted any real threat to Obama’s strongholds, and thereby consigned himself to purely defensive actions on his own turf. This is analogous to the US respecting the territory north of the 17th parallel while the NVA recognized the border for what it was…an imaginary line that existed only in Saigon’s and Washington’s imaginations.
Peculiar, that. And he’s not the only VN vet i’ve seen to still harbor the mode of thought that denied us victory.
I can see Russia from this article!
A list of 2008 Political Blunders that leaves out any mention of Ted Stevens, Vito Fossella or Sarah Palin? Only on Pajamas.
Aden: That would be funny if the majority of Americans (Messiah supporters) who really thought she said that, not Tina Fey.
4. Beej:
“1. McCain naming a ditzy, ignorant unknown as his running mate. The Republican base may have loved her, but everyone else found her a ridiculous choice.”
I’m not sure why you feel qualified to speak for ‘everyone else’. By everyone else I assume you mean likeminded puppets who are content to let comedians and media pendants pull your strings.
Palin was by far the biggest blunder – but I understand why she would not make the list.
Her time to shine will be as the biggest blunder of 2012.
DS
When McCain suspended his campaign to go work on the bailout, it crystallized all that made him a terrible candidate. He seems to think that nothing can happen in Washington without his personal ministrations.
Selecting Sarah Palin was one of the best moves he made. She brought back a lot of conservatives to him and she rattled the media so much that they climbed all over each other to torpedo her. I had no doubts about her capacity to grow into the job.
And in comparison to the brain-dead Joe Biden, she’s brilliant.
It is amazing the fear that the Left has of Sarah Palin. Otherwise, she would be forgotten, not bashed at every opportunity. Too bad she is not a giant intellect LIKE JOE BIDEN! OR CAROLINE KENNEDY (SCHLOSSBERG KENNEDY). McCain was amazing. Everytime he appeared to have a chance to win he did something that causwed the Republican base to question whether it matered if McCain or Obama (two candidates from George Soros) won. Frankly, as much as I distrusted and feared Obama, his election appears no worse for the country and party than McCain’s would have been. And those who voted for him seem to feel it was important that they vote for him and feel better about themselves.
1. McCain naming a ditzy, ignorant unknown as his running mate.
That statement shows how successful the instant deceptive MSM hate campaign against the Governor of Alaska was. In fact, in late December the MSM is still running it from time to time, as a preemptive strike against Governor Palin’s successful career in Alaska being used in future campaigns against media’s preferred darlings.
Well, it’s apparent that the majority of Americans must suffer from the stoopids to have voted for B.Hussein O. after such a masterful job done by all our Republicans representatives these past few years at just about everything they clamped their capable hands around.
Thanks God for us real Americans that can readily dissemble to the core truths when we see them. Lesson learned: Republicans must stop trying to have a social consciousness, put away those dangerous commie pinko play toys of youthful compassion, and get back to the adult core values of every man for himself Conservatism, while we collectively wait for Reagan’s Trickle to rain down from our luminous free market boardrooms combined with the fruits of our own irrepressable American ingenuity.( BTW,shouldn’t we all be at work right now?)
As a small, but meaningful, salve to this tragedy and travesty, I know you all share my hope that Cindy finally got John that house he was always deprived of for Christmas.
It’s not like there aren’t any available.
Palin Derangement Syndrome is rampant on this thread today, and presumably in all 57 states as well. Which is not surprising, since white liberal men have always feared a strong, intelligent conservative womyn like Plain. Ashley Dupré is their ideal womyn – always at your service, so to speak.
As for the biggest political blunders of 2008, I vote “Present” on that question. For one thing, it is above my pay grade. For another, I would not want to give the embittered G*d-and-guns clingers any more ammo.
Let’s see: Reagan had a plan to cut taxes which would allow companies to keep more money to hire more people to help the economy. Obama’s plan appears at this point to be to take money away from us (taxpayers) and give it to companies to hire more people to help the economy.
That is SOOOOO much different than Reagan’s plan.
McCain’s biggest blunder was that he didn’t make hay about BO getting 1/2 a billion dollars more in contributions than he did. You give me five times as much money as the opponent and I could get John Wayne Gacy elected.
McCain was a horrible ‘R’ candidate. His record or lack thereof regarding illegal immigration is disgusting of itself. Being a key speaker for La Raza conferences through the years sickens me.
Had McCain come to the rescue of Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio? No. Now that guy is a MAVERICK. An officer doing his job and doing it well.. whoda thunk it?
Data regarding Arizona officer shootings involving illegal aliens is another stat which angers me, yet McCain, the ‘CONservative’ this year. What kind of bizarro world does he live in?
Another large blunder was Rudy Giuliani waiting excruciatingly long to campaign (in essence displaying he really didn’t want the job – IMO). Yes Giuliani had his faults..indiscretions but the other choices were slim pickins in too many instances.
Considering 2012 Republican candidates, what’s your take on J.C. Watts? Former Conservative Republican from Oklahoma and a true athlete to boot (claims of Obama being an ‘athlete’ for playing H.S. ball and later seeing him body surf. the same thing 8 year olds from Nebraska do when visiting – hahaha) Mr. Watts doesn’t seem the kind of guy to play the ‘It’s time’ or ‘Let’s make history’ ad nauseum the empty suit PE regurgitated time and time again.
Happy New Year to all..
The height of Hypocrisy is to aver that Obama is qualified to hold elective office but Sarah Palin is not.
No one is Qualifed to be President on any given day. Like most management jobs there are new and unheard of challenges daily. Some adapt, some don’t.
Palin Jindal 2012!
I was actually thinking McCain would beat the odds and pull it off. Then his erratic behavior when the financial storm hit cost him my support.
I salute McCain’s POW heroism, but in a crisis I don’t want making the final decision on war and peace.
IMO Palin has some explaining to do and she should study up quick and hard if she wants to stay on the national stage. Nevertheless, the post-election antiPalin leaks from McCain’s people validated my decision not to vote for him.
You’re only half right on #7!
You left out the part where McCain electrified his convention with a reformer’s pledge that: “You will know their names!” He then abandoned his own bully pulpit, headed back to Washington, where he sang a collegial Kumbayah with his fellow Senators and offered up nary name number one. He sold himself out along with everyone else.
@22
Woo Hoo! Make my day!
Any ticket with Palin on it will fail in national elections. Period.
DS
“1. McCain naming a ditzy, ignorant unknown as his running mate. The Republican base may have loved her, but everyone else found her a ridiculous choice.”
You wish. Obama beat McCain by 7 percentage points. So, clearly, more than the Republican base voted for McCain. In fact, according to CNN, McCain received about 44% of the Independent vote (compared to 52% for Obama). Both of them lost about 10% of their own party (McCain lost 9% of Repubs and Obama lost 10% of Dems).
If McCain had picked someone like Romney or Pawlenty, he would have lost by even more.
Palin Derangement Syndrome? It no longer exists because she is no longer relevant. The dumbass only makes news when some relative gets arrested for meth production.
A big who gives a wank.
How about the collusion of the DNC and the msm that likely resulted in an illegitimate nominee for the Dem party. For more info see:
http://www.lynettelong.com/caucusfraud/
Not to mention the media’s relentless portrayal of two female candidates in demeaning, sexist ways. For a recap see:
http://thenewagenda.net/2008/12/19/wheres-the-line-a-powerful-look-back-at-the-sexism-of-the-2008-presidential-campaign/
If I had Eliot Spitzer’s money, I would spend it on Ashley Dupré too.
Palin-trashing only serves to bring her down to Caroline Kennedy’s level, so knock it off!
Palin-trashing shows the deep fear of the liberals.
The more they hate her, the stronger she gets.
Given how most liberals have engaged in their rabid dog hatemongering the last seven years (including a fresh round of ad hominem attacks on Sarah Palin), it will be interesting to watch these barking moonbats try and hate their way to national unity and world peace the next four years. It won’t be pretty.
David S,
Why the vitriol toward Palin? This is not the first place I have been treated to your Governor Palin rants. Explain exactly why you think Governor Palin was a stupid choice. I don’t think you can without referencing the entertainment industry’s experts.
Fred Thompson waiting so long to declare his candidacy. His low-key “no fire in the belly” campaign would have benefitted from much longer exposure.
From Beej: “McCain naming a ditzy, ignorant unknown as his running mate. The Republican base may have loved her, but everyone else found her a ridiculous choice.”
Gov. Palin has been elected to every office she has held and has done a wonderful job in every level, but liberals seems to not care and had swallowed the liberal Kool-aide from the MSM while Ms. Kennedy has not held any real job, and her only qualification to the Senate seat she is seeking is her name.
For all you Granny Palin fans, you might want to keep tabs on how she maintains her little Republican Welfare state’s budget this next coming year. Without the government handouts: Alaska gets back 168% of fed tax revenues they put in; and don’t forget the Alaska Permanent Fund check for every resident, just for livin’ large in Seward’s Folly. Last year $3200 for every man, woman and child! And I thought Repubs hated welfare?
She has recently submitted a fanciful budget for next fiscal year based upon getting the same oil revenues Alaska got when oil was topping $140 a barrell. Her legislature, largely Republican, told her to redo the math and try again.
I have a feeling you’re all going to get a good education on how the real Sarah works during a crisis. A feel a prayer circle coming on.
“Palin Derangement Syndrome”
Don’t deny it, because if it didn’t exist, her name wouldn’t be so prominently mentioned here.
The Governor of Alaska is getting more Nutroots Attention than that schlub Democratic Vice-President-elect.
(I understand the reason for THAT, too).
Look, my Progressive friends…it’s okay. She IS a very attractive and succesful,(and manifestly fertile), woman. It’s perfectly natural that she engenders your latent heterosexual feelings.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
Really.
Once you understand and accept that that’s what is happening to you, you can stop lashing out at Sarah Palin in order to beat yourself up over your confusion.
Whatever YOUR inner “issues”, she will get on with her career, and you can go back to being well-adjusted, eco-friendly homosexuals, congratulating yourselves and each other on your tolerance and inclusiveness and enlightened attitudes towards womyn.
I’m here for you…a small candle-flame far out at sea on a dark and stormy night.
7 blunders and all democratic? And yet the American people overwhelmingly sided with the democratic people? You see, democrats are far from perfect, but often show flaws of individual weakness. The people are sick of the Grand Old Country Club makin’ back room deals and spewing the same old tag lines of fear.
correction: “democratic party”
1. Never said I disliked Palin. Just think she’s ditzy. Who in the hell winks at the audience during a vice presidential debate?
2. Never said she was stupid. Said she was ignorant. 2 different things. Non-ignorant people could name more than one Supreme Court decision that they disagree with. Non-ignorant people would be able to name the newspapers, magazines, books that they read on a regular basis or are reading. This was not a tough question.
3. You got me. I don’t speak for everyone. So, I’ll just speak for me. She was a ridiculous choice. Anyone who thinks that being able to see Russia from certain places in Alaska equals foreign policy experience is ridiculous.
4. Don’t blame the media. They didn’t say the things I just mentioned above.
5. I’m a female Republican. Surprise.
For the last time, selling assets owned in common and giving that money to the people is not welfare. Alaska has neither an income tax nor a sales tax, and it runs a surplus. What should they do with that money?
myth buster;
In all due respect, the US federal government bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Since US tax dollars purchased Alaska, (Alaska wasn’t a state till 1959),then every US citizen by birthright or residency in the USA should get a piece of that oil action. Not only do we not share in that revenue, as I stated, Alaska gets back 168%(2005 figures) of every Fed tax dollar it contributes, most of which also comes from big oil. What state wouldn’t have a surplus with that double down arrangement? But, them days are over as you and Sarah are about to find out. The APF entitlement, (it’s a fully invested trust fund), ain’t as flush as it used to be, what with the stock market and all that jazz.
Actually, most of the Red States of America get back more fed $$$ than they put in. As a citizen of a Blue state which gets less than 100% of our fed dollars back, I’m getting tired of supporting red state deadbeats while they tell us about the evils of “socialism” and the virtue of “bootstraps” and all that nonsense.
If you aren’t going to mow my lawn then get off it.
You have to add McCain’s selection of Jerry Springer’s dream guest as his running mate somewhere on that list,
THE BIASED NEWSPRINT MEDIA IS DEAD:
Americans have turned there backs on agenda driven “news”. They aren’t going to come back.
http://www.greensrealworld.blogspot.com
40 Beej
Q.Who the hell keeps grinning inappropriately at the moderator of a debate as if in the same junior high club?
A. Joe Biden; Barack Obama
“Ditzy” is a term people feel free to throw at a woman. If you thought her wink was inappropriate for the context, you can say so without painting with such a broad and insulting brush. In addition, I have heard in some circles that she was actually winking at her Dad who was in the audience. Anyway, focusing on the wink was like the media focusing on Clinton’s tear. It’s what happens to women. Why must Palin be either held up on a pedastal or damned as a fool? Why aren’t women afforded the same options as men, including mediocrity. I’m not taking any stand here regarding my views of Palin. I just think what you focused on is trivial.
And, as for the newspaper question, it was unbelievably patronizing and I applauded how Palin handled it. Whether she read a zillion publications or one, she could have lied and said anything. Instead, she refused to answer the question directly because she likely sensed it was belittling. I never heard any so-called journalist ask Clinton, Obama, or McCain what they read that informs their world view.
Surprise: I was a Democrat until this year!
Actually, the Number One slot belongs to McCain’s decision to “suspend” his campaign to address the economic crisis. That two-bit stunt, very typical of the senator, sealed his fate. Americans justifiably thought to themselves, “here’s a witless old man who can’t do two things at once.” I still voted for McCain because of Obama’s total lack of qualifications, but no tears filled my eyes when the results were announced.
Yep, McCain’s fumble on the bailout was the biggest single blunder. If he had forcefully opposed the bailout he would be taking the oath of office next month instead of Obama. But he let his big-government tendencies shine through and it sank him. Opposing it and demanding investigations into Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac would have distanced himself from Bush, tied Obama to Dodd/Frank/Raines, and won McCain support from middle class people tired of footing the bill for high flyers in corporate and government America.
As far as Palin goes, yeah, there should be an entry for the McCain campaign on Palin, but it’s not picking her – she was a great choice. The blunder the McCain campaign made was trying to repackage her. Sarah Palin appeals to people for exactly the same reason opposing the bailout would have – enough with the corruption, if you elites can’t keep your hands out of the cookies jar, us regular folks will have to run you out of office.
That message would’ve won it for McCain/Palin. That’s the message they had for a week or so after the convention, but then they abandoned it for some mush about, what? Country first? Coming from Lt. Commander John McCain thirty years ago, that wouldn’t been a good creed. Comming from Senator John McCain in 2008, it’s just a slogan. He needed to back it up with action, and he didn’t do that.
From Beej: “Anyone who thinks that being able to see Russia from certain places in Alaska equals foreign policy experience is ridiculous.”
Again, Beej, stop listening to the MSM. If you are really a Republican, you would know this comment was not made by Gov. Palin but by Tina Fey as Palin in SNL. But since the comment was attributed by MSM countless times as spoken by Gov. Palin when it’s not and you believed that she said it, this makes you the ignorant one.
overdhill, your “based upon getting the same oil revenues Alaska got when oil was topping $140 a barrell.’ First, barrel is with one ‘l’.
Do you know how much oil is in Alaska? Most areas are still in the $3 + dollar range. We sure are.
Our prices are set months in advance and held at that amount for the amount shipped at once or in limited trips.
FYI, where I live the prices are based from the end of summer tally until ~new year.
Before you rant and rave about a subject, a state, a budget, a person, etc., you know next to nothing about, I suggest you keep your thoughts, not FACTS to yourself. For there is a limit to one’s intelligence though skies the limit for stupidity. Thank you for proving that point so divinely-like. I’m not a Palin fan (though Biden is the epitome of an empty suit) but a big supporter of truth. It’s too bad you’re too rash to engage the same practice.
Were Sarah Palin the Commander-in-Chief, I, a
combat veteran, would have confidence in her.
I would not have the same confidence in her critics. Fact of the matter is, I would not follow the latter into a Manila brothel serving
free San Miguel.
PS: George Dubya has been a darned good C-i-C
himself. Obama has some big shoes to fill in that regard.
The attacks on Palin are evidence of the Obama clique’s fears for 2012.
They fear that ACORN will never be able to create enough votes by fraud to match the hemorrhaging of the Petulant Left when the latter realize that the only reason they can’t claim to be thrown under the bus is that the clique never let them on in the first place. They fear that they won’t be able to come up with another hopey-changey reputed Messiah to replace their soiled puppet.
The clique’s mercenaries and fellow travelers in the mainline media and on the Internet spewed their shrill viciousness about Palin in proportion to the threat that McCain seemed to present to Obama. That they continue to do so indicates that they continue to view her as a threat.
Uh, are you impaired? For example, choosing Sarah Palin as a VP instead of Mitt Romney seems so very full of stupid. Or, how about Rudy G’s “Florida will deliver the nomination” strategy? That was so stupid it made milk shoot out my nose. AND I WASN’T EVEN DRINKING MILK!
Yeah, seven blunders, five by Democrats, in a year that saw the GOP get its stuff handed to it with a pitchfork. The rightwingnuts are like lookouts on Titanic.
paul unalaska:
While the price of gas at the pump may still be artificially high in your area as well as other areas – reason usually given: gas stations have to recoup losses!? – the problem with your logic is that you ASSUME that gas consumption is still at, and will be at, the same pre-recession level which will therefore maintain same revenues for state budgets that charge gas sales taxes for certain expenses; like highway improvements, etc. Ah, no it isn’t. However, Alaska might be the exception because they use a lot of snowmobiles, right?
Suppose you just keep tabs on that “surplus revenue” situation in upAlaska this year and see what happens with their budget under Palin’s masterful leadership. I know I am.
BTW, although she has claimed, and been given credit by the right wing for, her skills at being mayor of Wasilla, the facts of the situation were that Wasilla’s Town Council had to appoint a City Administrator to actually run the financial end of things after electing her mayor – for a town of only 5000 people! Something about walking and chewing gum at the same time comes to mind. When she left her mayor position behind, Wasilla was $20mil in the red mostly due to a hasty and ill planned strip-mall development. Guess who’s idea that was? In her defense, she may have thought she could balance things out with surplus rape kit charges. (For some reason, the family values Republican stronghold of Wasilla has a lot of rapes for it’s size.) Unfortunately, the Alaska legislature passed a law to specifically put an end to her ingenious rape kit charge practice. No other community in Alaska, or elsewhere, that I know of, has ever done that to a victim of rape.
Check those facts out, sport.
Dear overdhill, (while still wet behind d ears),
You sure are scared of any evidence that S Palin
might be competent, aren’t you?
Like I said in #50, I sure would not mind having her as my Commander-in-Chief, especially in wartime.
After all, she is on my side, a trait she shares with Dubya.
And when it comes to disinformation, perhaps you should get some tutoring from FSB. They know a little something about making things sound plausible.
Later.
Dave, Dave, Dave. Your suicidal impulse does not a qualification for president make. Palin in command of the United States’ military? She’s observably stupid, easily confused but incurious and falsely confident, and has no experience in international relations. Hey! That’s a recipe for DISASTER.
And, yes, I’m a former Marine with three post-graduate degrees, a six-figure income, a wife, three kids, and registered independent, so spare me the condescension and your frothing, half-wit, lickspittle jingoism.
Back in the days when I was still a liberal, I remember how we made fun of Ronald Reagan. How we laughed when that dumb old cowboy was nominated in ’80. The joke was on us.
I used to think I was so much smarter than the bozos who voted for Ronnie. It wasn’t until I was much older that I recognized that anybody who voted for Carter instead of Reagan in ’80 was the fool.
I suspect the same thing will happen with Palin. After 4 years of “Hope and Change” Palin will look pretty damn good to a lot of people who dismiss her now.
The really funny thing is the conceit of liberals who believe themselves to be smarter than anybody on the right, when in fact they’re the ignorant ones. Some will wise up, like I did. Others won’t. I understand. The adolescent thrill of leftism is very hard to give up.
#51-I think you’ve got it backward. Democrats are PRAYING that the Republicans nominate Palin in 2012. Guaranteed win for the Democrats.
ACORN signs up voters then turns the lists over to the Secretary of State or Election Commissioner or whoever is responsible for accepting or rejecting voter registrations in a particular state. That official gets to throw out any suspect registrations. I think the ones for “Mickey Mouse” probably got thrown out, don’t you? Incidentally, this is standard procedure for many organizations that do voter registration drives. Sorry to see you bought the whole “ACORN is committing voter fraud” scam.
It really was a desperation move from the McCain campaign.
#45-Anna-Yes, ditzy is an adjective that is mostly thrown at women just like wimpy or macho are adjectives mostly thrown at men. Throwing such adjectives does not make one sexist. Would you like it better if I called Palin silly for winking at the camera? Okay, she was silly. And, yes, there is quite a difference between smiling at the debate moderator and winking at an audience of millions. And you know that. You just want to build some kind of equivalency to justify Palin’s behavior.
Incidentally, I have heard media questioners ask numerous male candidates what sources of information they use, where they get advice, etc. Not precisely the same as what newspapers and magazines do you read, but then Katie Couric is not precisely the same as most interviewers, is she? Her roots are in feature interviews, trying to illuminate the person behind the public persona. As I said, it wasn’t a tough question. You, or I, or anyone else would have simply said Time and Newsweek, maybe the New York Times or the Washington Post, and oh yes, the Anchorage Daily News (or whatever the name of the largest daily newspaper in Alaska is). Easy. Non-controversial. No story. That’s not what she did.
Beej – Fair enough.
overdhill, ‘reason usually given’. You’re making emotionally driven responses to your earlier diatribe. The expression, ‘Your mouths writing checks your butt can’t cash’ comes into play.
I’d responded to your article regarding revenue expenditures and you bring ‘rape kit charges’ into the mix. Stay focused buddy, though I’ll play for a moment.
Other states, hospitals, insurance companies, etc., DO charge victims for the ‘SAFE’ kit, (Arkansas, Illinois, Georgia, N.C. there may be others though admittedly I pay little attention to the matter. Married, no kids, etc.,) though this will change in ’09 nationwide. I don’t agree with Alaska incorporating this model, but it’s no longer a matter. ‘Look ‘er up sport.’
Many instances in the past, depending on the jurisdiction, victims were billed directly or their insurance companies were billed which can be a deterrent. The loss of confidentiality especially if the victim is a minor. See how I did that? I researched the subject matter and responded REMOVING EMOTION from my findings. Try it some time, the level minded crowd will thank you for it.
I digress.. You don’t believe gas will rise again to ‘pre-recessive levels in ’09′? Check back here during Memorial Day Week-end after OPEC gouges the American consumer for the privilege of driving our ‘improved highways’ during the dog days. The longer we depend on ME oil instead of drilling in country..
Lastly, referring to Alaska as a ‘welfare state’ and somehow placating that to Palin.. Hey guy, are you hellbent on deranged findings? This has been in play in Alaska since being implemented in 1980 (passing in 1976). Wow, that looks an awful lot like before Palin took office! Drats, you can’t blame her on that caveat either.
Nonetheless, Happy New Year to you.
Beej,
You may be a female, but that’s all I believe about you. You’re no more than a RINO at best, and RINO’s are more disgusting than Democrats. Furthermore, I really doubt that you’ve voted Republican for anything higher than School Board Trustee in quite a long time. But hey, that’s just my b***s*** meter going through the roof.
BTW, is grape still the most popular Kool-Aid?
“Frothing, halfwit, lickspittle jingoism”?
Hmm. I done been promoted. Thought I never would get past the rank of neocon chickenhawk.
BTW Waller #60: You any descendant of Littleton
Waller Tazewell Waller? I am just being idly curious and plumb nosy is all.
@33 Jim Baker
There’s little vitriol for Palin from me. Somehow she gets a lot of attention at PM, and I enjoy pointing out that she is a terrible poster child to hang your hopes on. She is simply a caricature of a hockey mom, and placing your future in her hands would be a big mistake. Yes, she was able to get elected in Alaska – but in the lower 48, we have so many superior options, it seems an act of wilful ignorance to presume she could succeed here. Her understanding of the world is woefully inadequate.
DS
“And, yes, I’m a former Marine with three post-graduate degrees, a six-figure income, a wife, three kids, and registered independent,”
Not to mention a super-powered secret agent ninja.
Welcome to “Anyone Can Claim Anything on the Internet.”
http://www.youtube.com/user/gohammondindiana
Listen to the two videos in the above links. Corrupt government on a local level.