Okay, it’s almost three in the morning here in Minneapolis and I am about as dog tired as I have ever been, but I couldn’t resist putting in my two cents on Sarah Palin’s performance tonight, since I saw it live. In all my years writing movies, going to drama school, etc., I have almost never seen anything so dramatic. It was the rebirth of Frank Capra for our times – Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington. This woman is a star and a star of the American kind we have not seen for years. She really is born live from a Capra movie, from the days Hollywood told stories about the greatness of our country. I don’t agree with her about everything but so what? I don’t agree with anybody about everything except, luckily for me, my wife. But Sarah Palin is a force of nature. Like a Jimmy Stewart character channeled by Claudette Colbert.
The big losers tonight are obvious: Joe Biden, who will look like hackopathropus erectus next to her, a dinosaur out of the Washington everybody hates, and Hillary Rodham Clinton who, I would bet anything, was staring at her television set in horror tonight at the possible first woman president of the United States – and it’s not her!
UPDATE: For the record, I didn’t write this drivel.
Sarah is like Annie Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Deborah Barone all wrapped up in one convenient package. Thank God!
Governor Palin is able to come across strong and determined and without the slightest hint of the biatch vibe. If Hillary was watching, she probably knows she’ll never have that ability.
Sexist, perhaps, but it is what it is.
BTW, her youngest daughter couldn’t be better cast by central casting. That little girl was having so much fun. She looks like she’s got her Mom’s personality.
I hope there’s some energy left over for McCain and that he’s figured a way to capture some magic for himself.
Roger, even before tonight’s speech, I also thought about Gov. Palin in terms of that Jimmy Stewart classic. Next to her, Biden will look like an old hack, and he will be one ill-considered cheap shot away from becoming The Most Hated Man in America for insulting Mom and apple pie. And knowing Biden’s track record, I’d bet on him making at least one.
The Other McCain (blogger R.S. McCain) is reporting that Republican establishment types were not keen on her as the VP, but I think John McCain knew exactly what he was doing. He’s trying to build the Big Tent like Reagan did, and he just might pull it off. I don’t think it’s absurd at all to think that Palin will gin up the party base and peel off just enough disgruntled Hilary-ites to win a key battleground state or two. And in this election, that’s all he’ll need to win.
I’d also point out Spengler’s most recent take on the election: that Obama’s VP choice reflected a failure of nerve, while McCain’s showed elf-confidence, and that American voters are shrewd enough to smell fear and reject a candidate who shows it.
Visceral.
That is the level of Ms. Palin’s appeal.
And I absolutely don’t means that as an insult.
It’s a complement.
Guilliani hit them until the Pretender and his lackeys were begging for mercy.
Sarah ‘terminated’ them. She was brilliant.
I hate to sound like I’m tooting my own horn, but when Pajamas was doing that contest where we all picked who we thought would be VP, I picked her for the Republicans. I didn’t get the Dems right (frankly I think Biden an awful choice for Obama, on a lot of levels) but I voted the way I wanted McCain to go on the Republican side. The trick here is that neither she nor McCain is that popular with their own party. McCain is seen as too much of a maverick; Palin too honest and muckraking. From what I hear, Ted Stevens doesn’t talk to McCain at all. I would bet at this point he doesn’t have much to say to Gov. Palin either, in spite of the fact she runs his state. The trick is that while neither is that popular with the party leadership, they’re both of them golden with the voters. McCain we all know: he’s probably, nationwide, the most popular Republican senator. Palin has been touted as the country’s most popular governor. The country, and the frankly the party, don’t need someone who’s popular with the party leadership, in Alaska or elsewhere. We need someone who’s popular with the voters, and can live up to the promise of that popularity. I think we found two of them.
When McCain got the nomination, I joked my co-workers: “So the Republicans have imploded. Next?”
And Obama got the nomination.
I told my family, “I have yet to see anything I don’t like about Sarah Palin. I wouldn’t mind seeing her running with John McCain.”
And McCain picked her.
I need to keep my mouth shut. I might get us all into a lot of trouble.
You’re spot on, Roger.
Governor Palin’s performance was so dramatic, so powerful, that lots of people couldn’t take it in.
We witnessed history last night. I’m glad I saw it.
There’s no doubt she’s the new Reagan. Gingrich, Rove, and Dick Morris were crackling with electricity. I’ve never seen Rove more animated. For the first time he told Alan Colmes to stop with the canned Democratic talking points, and then pointedly turned his back on him.
I think McCain-Palin will win, mostly because the country will perceive them as more authentic and therefore more trustworthy.
In 1984 Reagan won 49 states, including California and Massachusetts. People in those states violently disagreed with him, but they knew where he stood. They had no idea where Mondale stood.
And even now, the media refuses to vet Obama, so the public will shrug and choose McCain and Palin instead, because the media has put them through the wringer. This was supposed to work to Obama’s advantage, but it’ll have the opposite effect.
Senator Stevens not talking to McCain? That’s a blessing, not a curse. Biden appeared yestered at a “town hall” meeting down here in Sarasota and if the quotes in this morning’s paper are to be believed, he doesn’t eaactly come across as Joe Six Pack. He had that phoney “I’m really one of you and I’ll prove it with casual remarks such as “This is really serious stuff, man”. Palin is more than his match when it comes to public speaking.
I received an email from a friend who was a strong Ron Paul supporter telling me that because of Gov. Palin, he’s now a McCain/Palin voter. I think others who were on the fence, will now get off on the McCain side.
Go Sarah!
The big losers tonight are obvious: …and Hillary Rodham Clinton who, I would bet anything, was staring at her television set in horror tonight at the possible first woman president of the United States – and it’s not her!
Althouse pointed out that McCain’s tie was the same color Hillary suit was for her big speech. Remember Monica giving Bill ties and he wearing them as a signal that he was thinking of her? McCain to Hillary supporters – I’m thinking of you.
Poor Hillary got shafted by her husband, her party and now supporters might go over to Palin
Wow. She did very well, and so did Giuliani. Sarcasm. Very powerful – might wear thin, might backfire. Might work to devastating effect. Anyone else remember the Monty Python skit about the gangster Piranha Brothers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_Brothers
“Doug was the more feared of the two brothers. Luigi Vercotti, a pimp, claims to have seen grown men pull their own heads off rather than speak to Doug – indeed, even Dinsdale feared Doug. This was largely due to his merciless use of sarcasm, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and satire.”
If this was a movie, I’d call it hackneyed. It’s the Mighty Ducks and every other juvenile sports movie where the girl wants to pitch but the boys won’t let her. It’s every romantic comedy where the gal with glasses and geeky ‘do in the first scene lets her hair down and reveals herself as a Babe. There are elements of Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, and every other thriller-writer. It’s Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington (love that line!) and It’s a Wonderful Life combined. Her husband is the “sexiest man alive”–Hollywood couldn’t come up with a better looking “first dude” if they spent a year casting the part. A lot of Republicans wished Arnold Schwartzenegger could run for President. We wanted The Terminator! Step aside, Arnold… we’ve got The Sarah Palin Chronicles! This HAS to be a work of fiction!
So what do you do with something too good to be true? You can deny it. Andrew Sullivan says her handicapped baby isn’t really hers. To which there are two answers: (1) you’ve got to be kidding! and (2) so what? Trying to turn Sarah Palin into a National Enquirer story is a waste of energy. All you do is get the National Enquirer audience reading about her instead of Obama… and do you really want that?
Sarah is for real. She really chose life for her handicapped baby and stood by her 17 year old daughter when she came home pregnant. She gives one heck of a speech, and I’ll bet she can do it backwards in high heels.
Anybody else notice that opposite the Palin speech AMC ran The Enforcer as part of Dirty Harry Week? This is the Clint Eastwood movie where, after the “stylish” promotion of Tyne Dailey’s character to inspector, she eventually earns Dirty Harry’s grudging respect in their fight against, well, Bill Ayers-type domestic terrorists.
Victor Davis Hanson also makes a great point — she’s not a lawyer! The Dems have nominated nothing but lawyers (and Algore who was a law school dropout) for many years. Ask the voters if they think the problem is not enough lawyers running DC.
“I’d also point out Spengler’s most recent take on the election: that Obama’s VP choice reflected a failure of nerve, while McCain’s showed elf-confidence…”
Okay, I know it was just a typo, but this one made me laugh.
Great job Sarah. What a thing to witness
I think Palin is more Andrew Jackson than Ronald Reagan.
Which is fine with me.
Meantime, I have a rendezvous with a mooseburger.
It’s all over but the crying.
The MSM and Obama’s campaign will grasp at every last available straw man to defeat this ticket; This morning it’s the God-bothering angle (which failed miserably against Bush, but then, they never learn, do they?), tomorrow it’ll be some other pathetic attempt at a gang tackle, to no avail.
This chick will galvanize the heartland, as well as win over a large share of swing voters, especially after she deftly handles the media’s cartoonish over-reach in the next 60 days. Roland Martin’s reaction on CNN was priceless, saying that community organizers all over the country were going to somehow rise up and fight back after being so insulted! He acted all indignant, but in his eyes I saw fear. They are scared sh*tless out there folks, and they don’t have the slightest clue about how to stop this.
Actually I bet Hilary has very mixed emotions. Yes, it might not be her but Sarah Palin could well kick Obama in the slats and Hilary’s barely concealed need to squash him certainly competes with her own disappointment.
She’s HOPE and CHANGE for Americans who are (rightly) convinced that Washington couldn’t care less about them other than getting their votes and money. And, unlike Obama, she’s an actual real person instead of a carefully crafted politician intent on convincing us that America is a rotten place whose only hope is a change towards socialism.
One drink too many before an appearance — Joe appears to have accepted the torch from Teddy — and Biden will step in it up to the knee. That’s all it will take.
Roland Martin’s reaction on CNN was priceless, saying that community organizers all over the country were going to somehow rise up and fight back after being so insulted!
Very few ‘community organizers’ have the resources that Obama had as chair of the Annenberg Challenge in Chicago. With $110,000,000 at his disposal, he fattened up a lot of leftie organizations but stiffed the Chicago school children which the funds were intended to benefit. Or at least their academic performance showed no improvement after the disbursements.
One would think that some real journalists would investigate that history, but it appears that they have too much to do to prevent the election of McCain/Palin.
The Democratic Party should disclose as campaign contributions all the cheerleading for Senator Obama and the slagging of Governor Palin which we’ve seen from the MSM in the last six months.
It’s funny how something that’s hard to define becomes obvious once you have an appropriate measurement.
Obama, Mr. Speechmaker, all bluster and charm, sounding great but lacking any kind of substance, had a lot of voters uneasy though they didn’t know why.
Now they do.
Palin can give speeches – and instantly demonstrates that she is everything Obama is not. Grounded, sincere, funny, relaxed, connected, informed, and committed – not to herself but to her family and her country.
Our democratic process produces an awful lot of lousy politicians. But every now and then…every now and then the clouds part and we see someone who will keep America great.
God, what a moment. “It’s morning in America,” as someone once said.
Scott
Poor Hillary got shafted by her husband, her party and now supporters might go over to Palin
Imagine if she had entered the Miss Illinois pageant when she was in college instead of hanging out with Saul Alinsky.
Wow!
I thought the most devastating Palin line (and I don’t recall the exact words) was the one about the Presidency not being “a journey of self-discovery.”
A close second was the one about what happens after the (Obama) speech, when the cloud of rhetoric dissipates, the lights go down, and the Styrofoam “Greek columns” are taken back to some Hollywood studio lot…”
!
The speech eviscerated the hapless Obama like some, dare I say it, some Alaskan moose down on his luck during hunting season.
Jamie Irons
I really should have written “mØØse,” as in “a mØØse bit my sister once…”
Jamie Irons
My prediction is that Team Obama (and his henchmen/women in media) is going to dig hard and deep, trying to tie the label ‘flip-flop’ on Gov. Palin.
Just give’em a day or two.
Authentic. Intelligent. Articulate.
Palin knows how to field dress a ‘Messiah’.
Come debate time, Biden better be wearing a cup.
Thanks, Wasilla.
Sarah was great. If you could somehow cross “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” with the best of “Dirty Harry” you just might have the movie we can expect to play.
my favorite line was when she said that the working people she knew were *always* proud of America.
Time for Howard Dean to put the prescription pad down and go to the bullpen for master closer Bob ’0-8′ Shrum!!
Our sister just bit that Chicago mØØse right in the neck…
Her speech left me speechless.
Like Bill Clinton, when her teleprompter failed, she was able to go on…
– which reminds me: Governor Clinton was allowed to assert that he had authority over the Arkansas National Guard so why not mention the one in Alaska.
I, too have been musing on HRC’s reaction to Gov. Palin. It’s not beyond consideration that in 2012 we will be offered the choice between the two of them for the presidency, a consideration that HRC has to take into account.
It’s funny how something that’s hard to define becomes obvious once you have an appropriate measurement. Obama, Mr. Speechmaker, all bluster and charm, sounding great but lacking any kind of substance, had a lot of voters uneasy though they didn’t know why. Now they do.
Guess what – According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech.
Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.
Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.
Take that mile high most high
The “flip-flop” label is already being tried out for size. Right after Palin’s speech last night, Tom Brokaw made a comment about how she’d been in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere until she learned Alaska would have to partially fund it. The way he inserted that factoid came across as a very forced “Well, but…” as if he was struggling to find something negative to say about her speech.
Maybe that charge is true, but there’s a difference between shrugging at pork and shrugging at a burden on your own budget. I think with Palin’s tenacity and the fact that she does have established positions on so many issues she’ll be able to throw off a flip-flop charge in a heartbeat while also making it damaging to Obama. I think the reaction I heard from Brokaw mirrors what I’ve been hearing all around the blogosphere today: She gave a heck of a speech, and her opponents are completely discomfited.
The Dems are worried. Why else are they ramping up the abortion scare-talk? That plays only to the base, why do they need to work so hard to keep the base appeased? They’re worried. Where’s the hope and post-partisonship?
My VERY favorite part of the home run hit by Palin was when Britt Hume read the “instant response” by the BHO committee. They rambled about how Palin didn’t list any specifics on national security, energy etc. Britt said, (In effect) “The usual Obama talking points. Perhaps they will get more specific when they’ve had time to give it some thought!” This, I’ve been waiting for!
With a dash of Harriett Tubman. Take that, BHO!
Not really. Her husband has a natural talent for politics. She doesn’t. Sarah does. It’s not fair, but it’s got nothing to do with sex. Hillary was just never cut out for politics. She’d have never been elected to the Senate if Moynihan hadn’t handed the seat to her. And she still almost lost it!
despite a bumbling telepromter operator, Sarah Palin gave everyone within earshot, a thrill of a lifetime.
Also the Govenor of Hawaii did a great speech too….republicans have a deeper bench with Jindel in the wings as well.
So, what’s the over and under on whether Sarah gets an invite from Oprah? Oprah’s all about the sisterhood, so you would think.
Now we know why there was auch a determined effort on the part of the “Democratic Attack Machine” to discredit Sarah Palin before she spoke a word.
I’m not so sure Mr. Smith was so into the whole mocking sarcastic thing…
1) It’s going to be Piper in ’38 – remember I said this.
2) Waiting for the Norris/Palin quips.
Ok, I’ll stop waiting:
Did you know that Sarah Palin knows how to shoot a moose?
-Yeah, it’s down before she shoots a second glance.
Corny? Hey, it’s your turn…
.
Herb apparently doesn’t get the “barracuda” part. It’s a gift to be able to stick it in and twist like that with a congenial smile on her face. I feel for the poor mooses that she’s put on the dinner table. Biden should take note of the mooses and politicians and businessmen who didn’t survive her.
Hillary was just never cut out for politics. She’d have never been elected to the Senate if Moynihan hadn’t handed the seat to her. And she still almost lost it!
SHB, You’re right of course but the Glacier in Pantsuits actually earned some respect from me (words which I never thought I’d utter) with how well she did against Oblahblah considering she isn’t a “natural” pol, the MSM was against her and her poor excuse for a husband was continually torpedoing her when he wasn’t whining about how he was treated. Then again, given all those just points out what a poor candidate Obumbler is.
Hmm, the USGS website for recent earthquake activity shows suspicious tremors in the NY area that coincide with Palin’s acknowledgement of Hillary’s hard work in cracking that glass ceiling…
The biggest loser is the damn unspoken requirement that only a select few may become President.
Our Constitution clearly sets out what it takes be a President. Everything else is above that very simple requirement and, in my opinion, goes against the very foundation of our country!
It was amazing. Sarah Palin is the real thing. No doubt she is not perfect and only human, but I do believe that she is the kind of citizen representative the founding fathers envisioned. She really is one of us.
I’m not so sure Mr. Smith was so into the whole mocking sarcastic thing…
I’m not so sure in 1939 Mr. Smith had to worry how his family would be treated.
Mr. Smith didn’t have to deal with Koos… did he?
Trust me, Roger. We know your drivel when you dribble it.
“UPDATE: For the record, I didn’t write this drivel.”
Wow. Thanks for clearing that up. For a minute there I thought you had gone Sullivan on us.
I think Gov. Palin did a great job with that speech. The real question, though, I think, will be how she presents herself to the public for the next several weeks. Her stand on abortion and gay marriage, as well as the unflattering speech about the Iraq war and Oil pipelines being God’s Will… could get her labeled as an ideologue pretty quickly (the blogosphere has already started).
I have friends that would never vote Republican. I have friends that usually vote Democrat, but have been supporting the war for the past several years… and have supported McCain up to this point. However, most of them seem to have suddenly become somewhat uneasy. The big problem with the Iraq war, according to some of the popular views I hear from friends, is that Bush was too much of an ideologue and relied on optimistic beliefs and religious ideas rather than his Generals. I don’t know if that’s true or not… but all of those people liked McCain, because he seems quite pragmatic about the war, rather than idealistic or theocratic.
Gov. Palin will probably need to tone down her rhetoric in order to hold at least some (if not many) of the people in that camp. She might be able to pull from the religious right, or pissed off Hillary supporters… but I think there will be a lot of focus on her similarity to the current President’s ideology.
At the end of the day, corruption, scandal, experience, policy… they all take a back seat to spin. And calling the Iraq War or an Oil Pipeline a task from God… that’s some good fuel for serious spin.
Palin is a cross between “Mrs. Smith” and Laura Croft.
She brings a confident voice to the greatness of the indomitable American spirit.
Claudette Colbert? Well, maybe (great legs). But, if I were reaching back to that era to cast “The Sarah Palin Story”, I think I’d tap Barbara Stanwyck.
“No doubt she is not perfect “…..
Pretty dang close.
“Trust me, Roger. We know your drivel when you dribble it.”
Yet your venomous spittle is indiscernible from any other garden variety moonbat at Gawker or DU.
I agree, Sukie. Put her in Sugarpuss O’Shea’s dress from “Ball of Fire” and that’s exactly what you’d have (a ball of fire, that is).
It would get my vote. For anything.
Scott
“Yet your venomous spittle is indiscernible from any other garden variety moonbat at Gawker or DU.”
I think we all know venemous spittle when we see it.
Hillary was just never cut out for politics. She’d have never been elected to the Senate if Moynihan hadn’t handed the seat to her. And she still almost lost it!
Moynihan didn’t “hand” it to her willingly; in fact, he had other plans. Anyone who watched the “passing of the torch” ceremony at his upstate farm could see how little he was enjoying the whole affair. Hillary would not have been elected without the wave of sympathy for the steadfast little woman scorned that she was able to ride into office (and going up against Rick Lazio didn’t hurt). And, no, she isn’t a natural like Bill (or Sarah), but she’s way better than she used to be. Poor Hillary–yesterday wasn’t the worst day of her life by a long shot, but it was bad enough.
Also the Govenor of Hawaii did a great speech too….republicans have a deeper bench with Jindel in the wings as well.
Yes, that was a happy surprise, wasn’t it (well, to me anyhow since I didn’t know beans about her). Gov. Linda Lingle–by all means, let’s hear more from her.
“At the end of the day, corruption, scandal, experience, policy… they all take a back seat to spin. And calling the Iraq War or an Oil Pipeline a task from God… that’s some good fuel for serious spin.”–Ratatosk
No it isn’t. I’m not religious but I’m not a fanatic about it. I don’t give a rat’s ass about mention of God in these things. If someone believes that what difference does it make to me? As long as I am not expected to believe the same things, and there are other perfectly good reasons for the action, it’s all good. And if you are a believer it makes sense to view the conflict against Jihadism to be perhaps a divinely inspired thingy. They do.
Your being as I recall, a rather aggressive non-believing type probably means that you hang out with same. McCain really does not need nor does he expect to get massive support from that particular demographic.
I expect he won’t be getting the coveted Olberman endorsement either. But I could be wrong. It’s just a hunch. Can’t really tell from the scrupulously neutral reporting of the MSM to date.
ps— Your friends are wrong on Bush’s ‘theocratic’ intent and inspirations in Iraq. That they feel as you have described pretty much puts them FIRMLY on a certain point of the spectrum. And that sure ain’t the end where natural McCain supporters tend to congregate. So I don’t think McCain or Palin need lose much sleep over the ‘loss’ of support from that quarter.
A dozen votes here or there are probably not going to make a huge difference. Especially if they aren’t all located in Virgina,Ohio,or Colorado.
Sugerpuss O’Shea was just who I was thinking of, Scott.
SHugArpuss, that is. Good grief.
Simon… On your update, asking questions of Palin is fair enough. However, I’m not certain that Biden, Obamma or McCain have been vetted as thouroughly as Palin which in my opinion is a bit over the top. Just take a look at cnn and msnbc asking the same negatively driven questions regarding Palin’s personal life over and over and over from every polition they interview with the same results.
Barry Dauphin: the undercurrent behind the DNC’s “choice” ads is to assure Dem voters that Palin intends to punish them with teenage pregancies and Down’s Syndrome babies.
Palin/Steele in 2016 — the left will all die of anyourisms.
Heya Doug,
I think you may have misconstrued my comment. I, in no way, intended for my statement to mean that all non-crazy individuals would freak out over the God comments. I did intend to point out that Bush (who is often associated with somewhat nutty comments about God and himself) could be tied to the new VeeP through those sorts of comments. Now, perhaps where you live, no one’s made much of Bush’s overt religious views… around here, there are a lot of people that have, and a lot of those people are McCain supporters (including myself). Now, I don’t know if Palin has a personal relationship that she just expressed in an odd fashion, or if she really thinks God wants an Oil Pipeline in Alaska. I do know that its gonna be a great bit for the spin doctors to make use of. That was my point…
As for my religious views, I am an aggressive non-believer in anything, I feel no more antipathy toward Sarah Palin and her zeal for Jesus than I do for Al Gore and his zeal for Polar Bears. They both seem to be confusing ideas, possibilities and beliefs with reality. McCain, out of all the people in the running this year, was one of the few people that didn’t seem to be preoccupied with some predetermined set of beliefs that weren’t directly related to pragmatic political views.
That is, he may have religious views, he may have views on Global Warming, but these views don’t seem to get confused with what is best for America or America’s Interests.
would say that the group of people I hang out with cover a broad spectrum. A Catholic studying to become a priest as soon as he finishes his doctorate in Psych, a hard core conservative (political, not social), who voted Republican until 2004 when he refused to vote because he couldn’t decide who was the worst option, a liberal artist, a independent that is the manager of a strip club (he hates Democrats, and he hates the religious ‘fundies’ who are trying to shut down his business)… and that’s just a few examples. Overall, I’d say out of the 50 or so people that I am regularly discussing politics with, several of them seemed put off by Palin’s comments. Some of them didn’t care and think she’s awesome. Some of them think she’s the next Devil (but McCain had no chance with that group anyway). I think your “certain point of the specturm” may be incorrect.
However, all of them are in central Ohio.
This “theocracy” garbage has been hung on Bush since the beginning of his first term. It’s meant to make him look naive and buffoonish, only he’s not the one who claimed to be bathed in a rapturous light while addressing the UN (I’m sure it’s the last place W. would experience anything heavenly) and he’s not promising to wipe another country “off the map” in the name of Allah, Jesus, or anyone else. He’s not chopping the heads off of our enemies on TV and the Web, or hanging homosexuals, or “promiscuous” women. No, he’s peacefully handing over the reins of power in a few months to the next elected official the citizens of this free country choose to be their Commander in Chief — even if it should turn out to be The One (he goes to church too, right? Oh yeah, just not that *particular* one in Chicago anymore), because that’s how it works in America.
Our government isn’t run by religious figures – for that, look to the Islamic world. It’s incredible – deadly religious fanaticism that is very real and has hit us hard already takes a backseat to fevered paranoia that President Bush has some sort of a “direct line to God.” Forget preachers or imams, the “theocracy” meme pushers need a good psychiatrist.
If Obama’s supporters are so opposed to theocracy, then why aren’t they the ones screaming the loudest about all the overtly ham-handed Messiah imagery (halos around his head, etc.) coming from his campaign?
Exactly…they’re just bigoted against evangelicals…Their secular religion decrees that Obama is The One and none other shall be placed before him…
Jim: “If Obama’s supporters are so opposed to theocracy, then why aren’t they the ones screaming the loudest about…”
…defeating Islamofascism?
Scott
We will have a new media when something truly different comes along. Pajamas Media is a start-up from Democrat-leaning outcasts of the MSM. Pajamas Media is certainly not cutting edge enough to really be considered shaking things up.
Roger,
I think you’re drivel was better. I don’t think you hit any of the questions and statements made by the media about Palin that got people upset. (except for the Bristol question, which had to be made public because of the insane drivel swirling in the lefty blogosphere).
Fact. Sarah Palin is a freakin governor of a US state. This is no small accomplishment regardless of the state. The hand wringing over her ‘experience’ with no such hand wringing over Obama’s tied to the obvious sexist tone has been inexcusable.
“Community organizers will rise up?”
snort.
What’re they gonna do, put on their oversized orange baseball caps pink reflector vests, grab their flashlights and descend (or perhaps that should be ascend) on Alaska? I can’t think of finer Grizzly snacks than community organizers.
“I didn’t write this drivel.”
– Thank God, I always enjoyed reading you and was gunna stop…
Without the Internet Sarah Palin’s appearance on the national stage would have ended sometime Sunday afternoon. The old media, with great reluctance and in a really solemn manner, would have reported all of the scurulous lies about her family. (All in the best interest of the nation you understand.) And there would have been no way to effective refute that.
Barry Dauphin: the undercurrent behind the DNC’s “choice” ads is to assure Dem voters that Palin intends to punish them with teenage pregancies and Down’s Syndrome babies.
David, exactly. Of course this is the time in the campaign where they are supposed to be reaching out to the great undecided and not shoring up the base. Maybe they are trying to scare some undecideds, but those folks don’t really respond to those kinds of ads. I wonder if they have some polling indicating that they are in bigger trouble than reported.
“Overall, I’d say out of the 50 or so people that I am regularly discussing politics with, several of them seemed put off by Palin’s comments. Some of them didn’t care and think she’s awesome. Some of them think she’s the next Devil (but McCain had no chance with that group anyway). I think your “certain point of the specturm” may be incorrect.”–Tosk
Hi Tosk. Long time no see(sort of).
Nice reply as per usual. But can we nail down the exact numbers here. Now that these (50) people are all in Ohio your reservations do become a bit more amplified but am I still in the ballpark at 12 ?
I think he can afford to lose the 12, I postulated, but would not want to chance too many more.
Ohio looks a little ‘tight’ again.
ps — Interesting collection of friends. You must have some good conversations.
What I don’t understand is since CW sez Congress will remain Dem, why the emphasis on abortion? she can’t do anything……..
Awesome, completely awesome, pick for VP.
Energizes the base, and offers a lot to the center of this country.
Obama to Dispatch Female Surrogates
http://tinyurl.com/6qdy5b
Panic over Palin!
This is what I meant when I asked yesterday
Will Hillary play Palin’s Iron Maiden?
Apparently she turn Obama down, so he went and found others.
http://tinyurl.com/69olv3
Look: the main-stream-media pushed and manipulated and “gave” us Clinton, then Obama, then McCain (because they thought he would be easy to take apart).
The Conservatives pushed for Palin, which is why she was such a surprise to the MSM—they never pay any attention to what conservatives have to say.
Never has the phrase “loaded for bear” meant more.
I just posted this on Rick Moran’s thread, but I think it bears repeating, because I’ve heard strangely little discussion of it, either on blogs or in the MSM: I think McCain picked Palin in part because he understands that energy policy is a winning issue for him and his party, and Palin can make a forceful case for increased domestic energy production. Look for McCain to flip on drilling in ANWR while Palin speaks to what most of the electorate already believe: that we need to ramp up energy production, and we can’t be lazy about it.
McCain has a winning hand here. His base and the swing voters already agree that drill, drill, drill is the way to go. It’s just a matter of making sure people know where you stand and exactly what you intend to do about it. If Obama embraces drill, drill, drill, he may win over a lot of swing voters, but he also risks alienating a significant portion of his base.
What I think Hillary is thinking, and thinking probably with some satisfaction, is that Palin is going to win the very people that Clinton could have delivered for Obama.
Damn, can’t even spell my nick right.
BTW, if anyone doubts that a small number of swing voters could make or break this election, hop over to RCP. According to their Electoral College map, Obama wins by 8 electoral votes if you count the states that are just leaning one way or another for the candidate whom they currently seem to favor.
But according to their poll-crunching, Obama leads in Colorado by only 0.4%. It won’t take that many suddenly energized Republicans and disaffected Hillary-ites to swing the state to McCain. And if McCain gets Colorado, suddenly that 8 electoral vote defeat becomes a 10-vote win. If Palin can persuade those voters to come out and vote Republican, she will have paid off McCain’s bet on her in spades.
McCain and Obama go ice fishing. And for days on end, McCain comes back with fish and Obama none. Finally Harry Reid tells Obama that McCain is cheating so dont fish, just follow McCain around and find out how. Obama then reports back that he has caught McCain cutting a hole in the ice!
Notice Palin didn’t change her hair, despite some disparaging it.
Call it Moose Hunting Chutzpah
Heya Doug
Nice reply as per usual. But can we nail down the exact numbers here. Now that these (50) people are all in Ohio your reservations do become a bit more amplified but am I still in the ballpark at 12?
Well, out of the group of 15 that I hang out with in Tuesday nights, I would say about 10 were serious McCain supporters (I have been since ’04 in fact). about 4 of those were horrified by the Palin choice because of the inexperience, and then later by the God comments (the one libertarian didn’t mind any of that, but since then he’s been sending emails about her involvement in earmarks and pork since then, so I don’t think he’s too happy about that).
Personally, I’d hoped for a Tom Ridge or even Joe Lieberman (though on most stuff he’s still pretty big gov/tax&spend). I’ll wait and see what Palin does during the next several weeks before I decide, but (as my point before) the potential Spin of some of these old sound bites are not gonna be pretty.
I think he can afford to lose the 12, I postulated, but would not want to chance too many more.
Ohio looks a little ‘tight’ again.
Hehe, I agree… and honestly, the Central Ohio I’m living in has been trending away from the GOP over the past 8 years. I was excited about the amount of McCain support, but the initial responses to Palin have been very mixed at best. I think its a gamble, one that might pay off, but still quite a gamble, there were probably picks he could have made that would have kept the broader support that he had (and perhaps still has… maybe its sour grapes we’ll see).
ps — Interesting collection of friends. You must have some good conversations.
Absolutely, watching my friend the soon to be Dr. debating philosophy (based on what he’s learned in his years in school) with the Strip Club manager (who has an interesting philosophy based on his personal experiences) is fun. Mixing that with a Discordian, Libertarian, Liberal (hardcore), and ex Mormon, our Tuesday nights are like living in a blog comment section
We all subscribe to the code of the Sacred Bull “TFY,S!” (Think For Yourself, Schmuck!), so the debates often cover areas that I’ve never really considered… and since we’re all old friends, even stark variations in our ideas don’t get people upset. It’s really kinda nice
Re Tosk
Much as I am as fair as the day is long as you well know. The veritable soul of moderation if you recall.
You might want to catch the Rasmussen Poll Results for today.
Spectacular !!
Yesterday:
The Zero – 50
The Hero – 45
Today:
The Zero – 48
The Hero – 46
A drop of 3 points in ONE day. Todays polling includes ONLY 1 day of POP(post-Palin) data as per the Ramussen site. When the other PRP(pre-Palin) days are washed out I fully expect the ONE to be wondering what the license plate of that truck was. And that does not include any small effect that John’s effort last night might have had. And that effect certainly won’t be negative.
If Obama falls behind by any significant margin —- he simply won’t be getting back up. Messiahs have to deliver the goods. Otherwise the ‘believers’ get a trifle antsy and start to look around for a new savior.
Now it’s just one poll, but I submit it as evidence to buttress my stated position on the Palin Pick. For every one who might be leery of her ‘values’, there are many many more who just connect with her on a very visceral level. They probably could not even explain it (properly) if you asked.
Elections are almost never decided by reason. That’s a conceit. They are decided much more by ‘feelings’. Not thsoe annoying touchy-feely new-age thingies, but the ‘sense’ of the candidate that the voter experiences on some essentially subconscious level. That is why almost every ‘expert’ says that ‘likeability’ is the one attribute that any successful political animal HAS to have. ‘Likeability covers a LOT of ground. But you either have it or you don’t. And if you don’t, you have a truly steep hill to climb.
Palin has likeability to spare. She could even spare a good deal to hand out some to both Obama and Biden and still tower over them.
ps — See also Rasmussen for new data that indicates that Palin is more popular than BOTH Obama & McCain. If true that makes Johnny Mac a political genius of the first order. A hero and a tactical/strategic genius — what’s not to like ?
Sarah Palin’s campaign slogan in her mayoral race in 1996 was “Wasilla’s First Christian Mayor!”. She ran against a guy named Stein who is a Lutheran. Classy. I’m sure your grandmother would approve Roger.
From mmmmk:
“Sarah Palin’s campaign slogan in her mayoral race in 1996 was “Wasilla’s First Christian Mayor!”"
Nice try.
From Anchorage Daily News-dot-com, 10/23/2006:
AFTER she was first elected mayor, her predecessor, John Stein, objected that a Valley cable TV program had hailed her as “Wasilla’s first “Christian mayor.” In a column for the local newspaper, he named eight previous mayors and added that he, too, was a Christian, despite a name that led some voters to suspect “I must be a non-Christian, have non-Christian blood or at least have sympathized with a non-Christian sometime in my career.”
(Cap emphasis mine)
Who needs context when you’re painting with a broad brush, right? As Whole Lotta Rosie once famously declared, “Google it!”
Next time, maybe *before* you wag your finger at Roger by playing the grandmother card.
“I’m sure your grandmother would approve Roger.”
mmmk, naturally someone who makes personal (racist) comments like that would remain anonymous. Even more so when they are demonstrably wrong. (See Lightnin’ Hopkins above.) Comments like yours are yet another example why so many liberals have morphed into reactionaries without realizing it. Wake up, amigo.
Sarah Palin is weak, whiny, self-righteous, sanctimonious, and as unprepared as, well, a hockey mom.
What is it the Republican-media says about Barak Obama? Oh, yeah, a good speaker. Well, so is Sarah Palin, when a top speech writer is writing for her. Doesn’t make her VP material.
But just for the record, nobody ever said they wanted a hockey mom in the white house. And if the voters do decide they want one – they can have Cindy McCain, a perfectly good hockey mom herself.
The fact is, and the truth is, the nation does not need Sarah Palin. She adds nothing.
In her state, every citizen gets a check from the government. No wonder McCain, on the government dole himself, likes her so much. That’s right, as far as I can tell, McCain has never worked for anyone other than the government. No one. Think about that.
Total rubbish.
“As far as I can tell” you have revealed who is “weak, whiny, self-righteous, sanctimonious, and as unprepared as, well,” your average run-of-the-mill troll.
“Sarah Palin is weak, whiny, self-righteous, sanctimonious, and as unprepared as, well, a hockey mom.”
You know what I would love to see ?
This sad deluded basement dweller having the b**** to say that garbage to the lady herself. Face to face. No witnesses. In Alaska.
Stupid ‘progressive’ dweeb. Golly I am now wondering of there is any ‘other’ type of ‘progressive’. Are you all this abysmal ?
Obama usually whines and complains like the proverbial girly-man about the treatment he gets when he is criticized, and it appears his natural demographic is every bit as annoying. Well at least it keeps them occupied I supposed.