Palin Pick Puts Politics Ahead of Country.

[huevonkiller]

Palin Pick Puts Politics Ahead of Country
By Eugene Robinson

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Has anyone noticed that Sarah Palin's central claim to political fame is a fraud? She represents herself as a fiscal conservative who abhors pork-barrel projects and said no thanks to the "bridge to nowhere" -- a $398 million span that would have linked Ketchikan, Alaska, to its airport across the Tongass Narrows. But as mayor of Wasilla (pop. 9,780), she hired a Washington lobbyist to bring home the bacon. And just two years ago as a candidate for governor, she supported both the Ketchikan bridge and the congressional earmark that would have paid most of its cost.

I know, we're not supposed to pay attention to such inconvenient details. We're supposed to be dazzled by how unaffected she is, how plain-spoken, how "genuine."

Indeed, if you don't get hung up on her actual record, Palin simply is who she is. It's not her fault that she's a former Miss Wasilla with a campy "Northern Exposure" vibe, doctrinaire social-conservative views and no discernible qualifications for being vice president. It's undeniable that people in Alaska apparently like her well enough, though they seem to have been even more shocked than the rest of us when she was named to the Republican ticket. In any event, she's not the one who created this farcical situation.

We learned last week that John McCain is not who he is -- not, at least, who he claims to be. The steady, straight-talking, country-first statesman his campaign has been selling is a fictional character. The real McCain is either alarmingly cynical or dangerously reckless.

You will recall that McCain gave the same prime criterion for choosing a running mate that every presidential candidate gives: someone who is ready to step in as president if, heaven forbid, the need arises. Barack Obama echoed those words before picking Joe Biden, who is about as prepared as a vice presidential candidate could ever be.

You will also recall that McCain and his supporters have been lecturing us about the grave and urgent dangers our country faces -- Islamic fundamentalism, the resurgence of Russia and other geopolitical threats. In a menacing world, McCain says, he will keep America safe.

So, at 72 and with a history of cancer, how could McCain choose a vice presidential nominee who has, let's face it, zero experience in foreign affairs? Being the nominal commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard doesn't count, unless you think Vladimir Putin is about to order an invasion across the Bering Strait.

At a time when the nation also confronts enormous challenges at home, Palin has, um, slightly more than zero experience in domestic affairs. The reason most people move to Alaska is that it's different from the rest of the country. Salmon fishing and snowmobile racing are not front-page news in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.

McCain's political calculation in choosing Palin is obvious. Social conservatives, who had been unexcited by his candidacy, are ecstatic that he has picked a running mate who staunchly opposes abortion, favors the teaching of "intelligent design" in the public schools and generally embraces the agenda of the religious right.

I have my doubts about the other objective of McCain's gambit: to win the votes of blue-collar women who supported Hillary Clinton. For one thing, these voters disagree sharply with Palin on most of the issues. For another, initial indications are that many women were insulted at the notion that they would automatically swoon over any candidate who happened to have two "X" chromosomes. Republicans tend to have a comically simplistic view of how "identity politics" works. They should recall how African-Americans reacted when Clarence Thomas was named to the Supreme Court.

Whatever the political impact, so much for the John McCain we thought we knew. In choosing Palin, he cynically did what his party is always accusing Democrats of doing: He selected a running mate based on her potential ability to appeal to targeted segments of the electorate, rather than for her honestly assessed ability to lead the nation should the occasion arise.

The other thing we learned about McCain is that he is willing to take an enormous gamble based on limited information. He only met Palin once before summoning her for a final interview. He realized he needed to shake up the presidential race, and that's what he did. But we are reminded, if we did not realize it before, that the three things not to expect from a McCain presidency are caution, prudence and a willingness to always put the nation's interests above his own.

Source: Washington Post

 

[Real]

Wait a minute, if having foreign affairs experience, saying no to pork barrel spending, and having an actual record is qualifications for running for Vice President, then why the hell is Barack Obama running for President?

 

[huevonkiller]

Wait a minute, if having foreign affairs experience, saying no to pork barrel spending, and having an actual record is qualifications for running for Vice President, then why the hell is Barack Obama running for President?

Dude, it is the hypocrisy exhibited in your avy that makes no sense. Your position would be just fine if your slogan wasn't essentially "Country first", and Experience > You, from the very first day.

You will recall that McCain gave the same prime criterion for choosing a running mate that every presidential candidate gives: someone who is ready to step in as president if, heaven forbid, the need arises. Barack Obama echoed those words before picking Joe Biden, who is about as prepared as a vice presidential candidate could ever be.

 

[Real]

Dude, it is the hypocrisy exhibited in your avy that makes no sense. Your position would be just fine if your slogan wasn't essentially "Country first", and Experience > You, from the very first day.

Quote:
You will recall that McCain gave the same prime criterion for choosing a running mate that every presidential candidate gives: someone who is ready to step in as president if, heaven forbid, the need arises. Barack Obama echoed those words before picking Joe Biden, who is about as prepared as a vice presidential candidate could ever be.

LOL Is Barack Obama really ready to be President on day one?

Of course Joe Biden looks as prepared as a VP pick could be, because compared to Barack Obama, he's incredibly qualified.

The hypocrisy as exhibited by Eugene Robinson, who it doesn't take much common sense to know he's an Obama supporter, is blatant and idiotic. Attack McCain's VP pick because she is unqualified, while pushing easily the most uniquely unqualified major Presidential candidate in the last 30-40 years.

Unless McCain dies in the next four years, she won't be making the decisions, he will.

 

[huevonkiller]

Quote:
You will recall that McCain gave the same prime criterion for choosing a running mate that every presidential candidate gives: someone who is ready to step in as president if, heaven forbid, the need arises. Barack Obama echoed those words before picking Joe Biden, who is about as prepared as a vice presidential candidate could ever be.

LOL Is Barack Obama really ready to be President on day one?

Of course Joe Biden looks as prepared as a VP pick could be, because compared to Barack Obama, he's incredibly qualified.

The hypocrisy as exhibited by Eugene Robinson, who it doesn't take much common sense to know he's an Obama supporter, is blatant and idiotic. Attack McCain's VP pick because she is unqualified, while pushing easily the most uniquely unqualified major Presidential candidate in the last 30-40 years.

Are you saying you're a Democrat then?

Real, I can probably find a bunch of your own posts smooching up to "experience" as well.

 

[Real]

Are you saying you're a Democrat then?

Real, I can probably find a bunch of your own posts smooching up to "experience" as well.

I'm not saying she's the most qualified VP candidate. Of course she's not.

Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Charlie Crist, Condoleeza Rice, Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Colin Powell are all more qualified than Sarah Palin. I'm sure you could find at least 10 candidates more qualified than Sarah Palin.

She was picked because she was a woman, charismatic, had some resemblance of executive experience, and most importantly, because she could re-energize the conservative base, which she has.

My point is, don't sit there, take pot shots at her, saying she's unqualified to step in and be President if McCain goes, and then back Barack Obama for President. It's simply hypocritical.

 

[huevonkiller]

I'm not saying she's the most qualified VP candidate. Of course she's not.

Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Charlie Crist, Condoleeza Rice, Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Colin Powell are all more qualified than Sarah Palin. I'm sure you could find at least 10 candidates more qualified than Sarah Palin.

She was picked because she was a woman, charismatic, had some resemblance of executive experience, and most importantly, because she could re-energize the conservative base, which she has.

Well I agree, let me try to explain my view then:

My point is, don't sit there, take pot shots at her, saying she's unqualified to step in and be President if McCain goes, and then back Barack Obama for President. It's simply hypocritical.

McCain doesn't hold this dynamic view of experience or good judgment being qualifications, Obama does. This is why it isn't hypocrisy on ER's part. What a rash decision, and I can show you how it was made quite hastily if you want.

 

[Real]

Well I agree, let me try to explain my view then:



McCain doesn't hold this dynamic view of experience or good judgment being qualifications, Obama does. This is why it isn't hypocrisy. What a rash decision, and I can show you how it was made quite hastily if you want.

Obama holds this "dynamic view" because he's unqualified to be President and he needed Joe Biden on that ticket to bring experience and qualifications. In other words, he believes in it because he has to.

This was not a rash decision, because the McCain campaign knew what they were doing. They weighed the pluses, drawing independents and women, reinvigorating the conservative base. And they weighed the minuses, the fact she's about to become a grandmother, and made the decision. The fact that he met her once before does not convince me otherwise.

 

[huevonkiller]

Obama holds this "dynamic view" because he's unqualified to be President and he needed Joe Biden on that ticket to bring experience and qualifications. In other words, he believes in it because he has to.

So what does that make McCain? He's at best no better than O, and Palin's small resume is troubling (purely on how she's handled her state/town for a Republican VP, I'm not including conjecture).

Personally, I truly believe in that good judgment over experience flourish, you haven't though. So why the avy? If you think she's "cute" then ok whatever, but otherwise it doesn't make sense for me. I would assume McCain would be your boy politically, not Palin.

This was not a rash decision, because the McCain campaign knew what they were doing. They weighed the pluses, drawing independents and women, reinvigorating the conservative base. And they weighed the minuses, the fact she's about to become a grandmother, and made the decision. The fact that he met her once before does not convince me otherwise.

Devoid of detail.... Let me give you a hand with that.

Conservative Ire Pushed McCain From Lieberman

WASHINGTON — In the end, the choice of his running mate said more about Senator John McCain and his image of himself than it did about Sarah Palin, the little-known governor of Alaska whose selection has shaken up the presidential race.

For weeks, advisers close to the campaign said, Mr. McCain had wanted to name as his running mate his good friend Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat turned independent. But by the end of last weekend, the outrage from Christian conservatives over the possibility that Mr. McCain would fill out the Republican ticket with Mr. Lieberman, a supporter of abortion rights, had become too intense to be ignored.

With time running out, and after a long meeting with his inner circle in Phoenix, Mr. McCain finally picked up the phone last Sunday and reached Ms. Palin at the Alaska State Fair. Although the campaign’s polling on Mr. McCain’s potential running mates was inconclusive on the selection of Ms. Palin — virtually no one had heard of her, a McCain adviser said — the governor, who opposes abortion, had glowing reviews from influential social conservatives.

Mr. McCain was comfortable with two others on his short list, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. But neither was the transformative, attention-grabbing choice Mr. McCain felt he needed, top campaign advisers said, to help him pivot from his image as the custodian of the status quo to a change agent like his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama.

Not least, Mr. Obama’s decision to pass over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate opened the possibility for Republicans to put a woman on the ticket and pick off some of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters.

At 11 a.m. on Thursday, at the McCain vacation compound near Sedona, Ariz., Mr. McCain invited Ms. Palin to join him on the ticket. He hardly knew her, and she had virtually no foreign policy experience, but Ms. Palin was a “kindred spirit,” a McCain adviser said. Mr. McCain was betting, the adviser said, that she would help him reclaim the mantle of maverick that he had lost this year.

The selection was the culmination of a five-month process, described by Mr. McCain’s inner circle and outside advisers in interviews this past weekend, and offers a glimpse into how Mr. McCain might make high-stakes decisions as president.

At the very least, the process reflects Mr. McCain’s history of making fast, instinctive and sometimes risky decisions. “I make them as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can,” Mr. McCain wrote, with his top adviser Mark Salter, in his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For.” “Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint.”

Mr. McCain began the search for a running mate shortly after he secured the Republican nomination, with some 40 names on a list. By early spring he had cut it to 20, including, a top adviser said, at least five women: Ms. Palin; Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Carleton S. Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard; and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas.

Mr. McCain cast the process, at least in those days, as orderly and said that the last thing he wanted was the kind of rushed decision that President George Bush had made in 1988 in selecting his running mate, Dan Quayle, then a senator from Indiana.

But it was not until the last few weeks that Mr. McCain winnowed his list to five or six finalists. They included, a McCain adviser said, Mr. Pawlenty, Mr. Romney, Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Palin and Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania who also supports abortion rights. Ms. Palin, unlike the others, was barely mentioned in news media speculation.

The finalists, including Ms. Palin, were vetted, a campaign adviser said, and Mr. McCain then asked his inner circle — Mr. Salter, Rick Davis, Steve Schmidt and Charlie Black — to provide him with assessments of each. “He said, ‘Give me plusses and minuses on each of these people,’ ” Mr. Black said.

One of Mr. McCain’s closest friends, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, weighed in as well, pushing so hard for Mr. Lieberman — Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham and Mr. Lieberman are longtime traveling companions — that he vexed some of the other advisers. Others in the inner circle favored Mr. Pawlenty or Mr. Romney. Ms. Palin had no strong advocates in the group, an outside adviser said, but she had no detractors, either.

Last Sunday, 24 hours after Mr. Obama announced his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. McCain met with his senior campaign team at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Phoenix. By then, campaign advisers said, the group had long decided that Mr. McCain’s “experience versus change” argument against Mr. Obama had run its course, to the extent that it had worked at all.

At the same time, Mr. Obama’s coming acceptance speech before a stadium of about 80,000 people (and what turned out to be a television audience of nearly 40 million) loomed large. As much as the campaign was publicly dismissing Mr. Obama as a celebrity in a rock-star setting, the concern was that his command of such a large crowd on the last night of the Democratic convention would give him the aura of a president.

In any case, one campaign adviser said, Mr. McCain hated running as the wizened old hand of experience. Despite his embrace this year of President Bush and many of the administration’s policies, Mr. McCain, a campaign adviser said, still saw himself as the maverick who delighted in occasionally throwing political grenades at his own Party.

Ms. Palin, and not Mr. Pawlenty or Mr. Romney, would reinforce Mr. McCain’s self-image, an adviser said. She had a reputation as a reformer in Alaska, she hunted and fished, and she had once belonged to a union. Just as crucial, Ms. Palin, 44, was beloved by the party’s religious base but did not come off as shrill. “She’s conservative,” Mr. Black said, “but she’s not an ideologue.”

After Mr. McCain contacted Ms. Palin, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Salter met with her on Wednesday in Flagstaff, Ariz. It was not until the following morning that she traveled to Sedona to meet with Mr. McCain, who then sat down with her for his only interview of a potential running mate.

Within hours if not minutes after the interview was concluded, Ms. Palin had the job.

Over the next weeks, Ms. Palin will be prepared by Mr. McCain’s foreign policy staff, led by Randy Scheunemann, for the vice-presidential debate with Mr. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who moves easily among heads of state.

Introducing Ms. Palin at a rally Saturday in Washington, Pa., Mr. McCain praised her and spoke about her selection.

“You know, I had a lot of good people to choose from, and I want to thank Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani,” said Mr. McCain, referring to his rivals for the Republican nomination. “And,” he added, “it’s with great pride and gratitude I tell you I have found the right partner to help me stand up to those who have corrupted Washington.”

For her part, Ms. Palin still sounded surprised to have been picked. “Well, I know that when Senator McCain asked me to be his running mate, he had a short list of highly qualified men and women,” she said. “To have made that list at all was a privilege. And to have been chosen, it brings a great challenge.

“I know that it will demand the best that I have to give, and I promise nothing less.”

Elisabeth Bumiller reported from Washington, and Michael Cooper from Pittsburgh and Washington, Pa.

Source: New York Times

It has to be one of the most silly processes I've witnessed.

 

[Real]

So what does that make McCain? He's at best no better than O, and Palin's small resume is troubling (purely on how she's handled her state/town for a Republican VP, I'm not including conjecture).

How is McCain no better than O at best?

Obama has been in the senate for how many years? McCain how many?

Personally, I truly believe in that good judgment over experience flourish, you haven't though. So why the avy? If you think she's "cute" then ok whatever, but otherwise it doesn't make sense for me. I would assume McCain would be your boy politically, not Palin.

I believe good judgment and experience flourish, which is precisely why McCain is my boy politically.

Devoid of detail.... Let me give you a hand with that.


Source: New York Times

It has to be one of the most silly processes I've witnessed.

The other team called an audible, and McCain's camp adjusted accordingly.

Doesn't mean they didn't think this through hard enough.

 

[huevonkiller]

How is McCain no better than O at best?

Obama has been in the senate for how many years? McCain how many?

Yeah McCain is a Dinosaur. It's still the phoniest move this cycle.

I believe good judgment and experience flourish, which is precisely why McCain is my boy politically.

Did you not understand my question? You didn't answer it. :]

The other team called an audible, and McCain's camp adjusted accordingly.

Doesn't mean they didn't think this through hard enough.

What he did was reckless too.

The selection was the culmination of a five-month process, described by Mr. McCain’s inner circle and outside advisers in interviews this past weekend, and offers a glimpse into how Mr. McCain might make high-stakes decisions as president.

At the very least, the process reflects Mr. McCain’s history of making fast, instinctive and sometimes risky decisions. “I make them as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can,” Mr. McCain wrote, with his top adviser Mark Salter, in his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For.” “Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint.”

 

[cpawfan]

I fail to see how what McCain did was reckless. He picked a high impact VP that is going to help him pander to the sheep he needs to win the election. At the end of the day, there are a lot of sheep that only want to vote for a pro-keeping women from controlling their bodies, pro-dumbing down science classes and pro-preventing people with different sexual tastes from living a full life person.

No matter who he selected, that choice would get slaughtered in the mainstream media (except for Fox News).

 

[huevonkiller]

I fail to see how what McCain did was reckless. He picked a high impact VP that is going to help him pander to the sheep he needs to win the election. At the end of the day, there are a lot of sheep that only want to vote for a pro-keeping women from controlling their bodies, pro-dumbing down science classes and pro-preventing people with different sexual tastes from living a full life person.

No matter who he selected, that choice would get slaughtered in the mainstream media (except for Fox News).

I wasn't talking from the sheep perspective.

 

[cpawfan]

I wasn't talking from the sheep perspective.

But sheep is the only reason for the choice.

It is a lot like complaining that a triangle doesn't have 360 degrees like a circle does.

 

[huevonkiller]

But sheep is the only reason for the choice.

It is a lot like complaining that a triangle doesn't have 360 degrees like a circle does.

Well I would like to just assume that my rivals are phony, but it is nice to have the evidence to support it.

 

[cpawfan]

Well I would like to just assume that my rivals are phony, but it is nice to have the evidence to support it.

Wait, we are talking about politics. Everyone is phony and does self-serving things. "Evidence" is simply a matter of finding things to deflect the public from looking at themselves.

<- check out the code for that smilie

All people running for major political offices are like the wizard of Oz. They are a "man" hiding behind a curtain.

 

[huevonkiller]

Wait, we are talking about politics. Everyone is phony and does self-serving things. "Evidence" is simply a matter of finding things to deflect the public from looking at themselves.

<- check out the code for that smilie

All people running for major political offices are like the wizard of Oz. They are a "man" hiding behind a curtain.

Haha, nice smilie code.

Well this is very true, I just want to try and understand the magnitude of the deception and on what issues.

 

[Dumpy]

Wait a minute, if having foreign affairs experience, saying no to pork barrel spending, and having an actual record is qualifications for running for Vice President, then why the hell is Barack Obama running for President?

Again, why must you insist on continually relating things to the Democrats? Do you so lack the ability to be objective that you can't rely solely on the "we're no worse than them" retort?

for what it is worth, though, as I explained earlier, Obama was selected by millions of voters who weighed his inexperience against his other qualities, and those of the other primary candidates. The voters believed that he had other strengths that outweighed any potential weaknesses. They may turn out to be wrong, but it was a conscous choice. Who chose Sarah Palin? On what basis? Who does she represent? What do people really know about her other than her socially conservative views?

 

[Dumpy]

I fail to see how what McCain did was reckless. He picked a high impact VP that is going to help him pander to the sheep he needs to win the election. At the end of the day, there are a lot of sheep that only want to vote for a pro-keeping women from controlling their bodies, pro-dumbing down science classes and pro-preventing people with different sexual tastes from living a full life person.

No matter who he selected, that choice would get slaughtered in the mainstream media (except for Fox News).

Precisely. The goals of the republican party are different from those of the voters. Their goal is to get elected, even if they have to pander, mislead, or lie (same with the democrats, of course). They don't care about whether someone is qualified to take over in a crisis; the V.P. will just be controlled by the senior party decision makers and only has to look serious when giving a speech. remember W insisting that he wouldn't conduct any "nation building" and that was what differentiated him from Gore? How did that turn out?

Palin will help him get elected. On that basis, it was a fine choice. As an american, though, objectively, I am completely disgusted.

 

[Denny Crane]

Again, why must you insist on continually relating things to the Democrats? Do you so lack the ability to be objective that you can't rely solely on the "we're no worse than them" retort?

for what it is worth, though, as I explained earlier, Obama was selected by millions of voters who weighed his inexperience against his other qualities, and those of the other primary candidates. The voters believed that he had other strengths that outweighed any potential weaknesses. They may turn out to be wrong, but it was a conscous choice. Who chose Sarah Palin? On what basis? Who does she represent? What do people really know about her other than her socially conservative views?

From what I saw, Obama was selected by a bunch of superdelegates who had the voting power of tens of thousands of individuals' votes, while the votes of millions of people in Michigan and Florida weren't counted. To boot, we saw and (really) heard about how Democratic voters came out in 3:1 and 4:1 kinds of ratios during the primaries, yet Obama isn't leading in national polls by a margin that is indicitive of that kind of turnout. That's with the pollsters multiplying the Obama poll votes by a factor of something like 5:3.

And then the people who support Obama seem to want to believe the worst about the woman, especially the disproven rumor that her last child was actually her daughter's. That's downright shameful.

The whole argument against her presented here is like Six Degrees of Separation. Oh my goodness, she's a heartbeat (1 degree) away from being president. If you're going to play that game, Obama is ZERO heartbeats away if elected. The argument flies in the face of logic.

Especially if you understand the basic truth - that the party chooses its candidate, not the people. This is true of both parties.

If you want to vote against McCain and Palin because of her stands on various positions, then go for it. That's a Reasoned choice.

 

[huevonkiller]

From what I saw, Obama was selected by a bunch of superdelegates who had the voting power of tens of thousands of individuals' votes, while the votes of millions of people in Michigan and Florida weren't counted. To boot, we saw and (really) heard about how Democratic voters came out in 3:1 and 4:1 kinds of ratios during the primaries, yet Obama isn't leading in national polls by a margin that is indicitive of that kind of turnout. That's with the pollsters multiplying the Obama poll votes by a factor of something like 5:3.

And then the people who support Obama seem to want to believe the worst about the woman, especially the disproven rumor that her last child was actually her daughter's. That's downright shameful.

The whole argument against her presented here is like Six Degrees of Separation. Oh my goodness, she's a heartbeat (1 degree) away from being president. If you're going to play that game, Obama is ZERO heartbeats away if elected. The argument flies in the face of logic.

Especially if you understand the basic truth - that the party chooses its candidate, not the people. This is true of both parties.

If you want to vote against McCain and Palin because of her stands on various positions, then go for it. That's a Reasoned choice.

No that is not the whole argument.

And it is clear that the people chose Barry, counting the superdelegates or not.

 

[cpawfan]

The goals of the republican party are different from those of the voters.

Based upon what?

The vast majority of voters are dumb sheep that vote based upon a couple of emotional issues and under the direction of sound bites.

The correct statement is that the goals of the republican party are different from those of the illerati.

 

[Denny Crane]

No that is not the whole argument.

And it is clear that the people chose Barry, counting the superdelegates or not.

It is the whole argument presented in the article you chose.

"Barry" didn't win enough delegates to be nominated, unless you count the superdelegates. The primaries were a tie.

 

[Dumpy]

Based upon what?

The vast majority of voters are dumb sheep that vote based upon a couple of emotional issues and under the direction of sound bites.

The correct statement is that the goals of the republican party are different from those of the illerati.

the party doesn't give a damn about the issues. They want to get elected. They will argue that coffee should be flavored with shit if they thought it would help.

 

[cpawfan]

the party doesn't give a damn about the issues. They want to get elected. They will argue that coffee should be flavored with shit if they thought it would help.

Neither party cares about the issues and both are corrupt. The republicans are not any worse than the democrats when it comes to only caring about getting elected.

No politician cares about the "informed" voters that you ascribe to the American public. This is a nation filled with voting sheep that are easily manipulated. Heck, dead people win elections.

 

[huevonkiller]

It is the whole argument presented in the article you chose.

Well I disagree, I touched upon other issues in this thread, although I suppose I should post another fun article to clarify even further.

Sarah Surprise
Palin's candidacy is fun to cover but raises serious questions about McCain's judgment.
By John Dickerson
Posted Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, at 9:06 PM ET
John McCain and Sarah Palin. Click image to expand.John McCain and Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin sure is an exciting candidate—to you, to me, and maybe even to John McCain. Monday we learned that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. The news probably won't change the political landscape—especially since Barack Obama declared it out of bounds—but the pregnancy is a fitting metaphor for the gestating and growing surprises associated with the Palin candidacy.

Each new fact we learn about Sarah Palin—her reversal on the bridge to nowhere, her disagreements with McCain on issues from windfall profits to global warming, emerging facts about troopergate—contribute to the feeling that this whole Palin thing is being made up as we go along. It may be fun to read about, and it sure is fun to cover, but it also supports the judgment of the Palin pick that I first heard from a Republican veteran shortly after the announcement: "Reckless."

Obama was supposed to be the risky candidate. That's certainly how Republicans have painted him. Judging from how he's run his campaign, though, he's very conservative. Nevertheless, polls have shown that voters think McCain is the less risky pick by as much as 20 percentage points. Now that McCain has made a high-profile decision essentially defined by its riskiness—observers have called it a "Hail Mary pass" so often, I'm starting to think it's a play for the Catholic vote—the question is whether McCain has squandered his advantage with voters on the question of risk.

All vice presidential rollouts have bumpy patches. (Biden seems to have missed any big problems, but there's still time.) Yet because McCain chose Palin quickly, at the last minute, and with little personal contact, the little inconsistencies now bubbling up may reflect more negatively on his judgment than they would have with a more considered pick.

McCain likes to joke about President Bush putting faith in Vladimir Putin based on Bush's famous ability to see into the Russian leader's soul. Now McCain has made a high-profile decision based largely on his gut. Maybe he has perfect instincts. But McCain's campaign has been improving lately because his staff has tempered McCain's impulses—cutting off his access to reporters, making him speak from cue cards rather than off the cuff. The campaign's response to Hurricane Gustav shows how disciplined it can be. The vice presidential decision, on the other hand, has the feel of an old-fashioned McCain careen—and he might yet pay the price for it.

Even if the McCain campaign knew everything that might be problematic about Palin—and it doesn't appear to—her national introduction has had a few ragged patches. Her role in opposing the bridge to nowhere—the poster child of federal pork—is the first loose thread. Both Palin and McCain mentioned her opposition to it as a central part of her reform credentials. "I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge to nowhere," Palin said when her candidacy was announced. This is no small deal. McCain talks about the bridge to nowhere all the time as the symbolic reason Republicans lost the Congress in 2006.

But it turns out Palin was for the bridge before she was against it, changing her mind just as the politics did. She wins points for being politically nimble, but maybe not for being a rootin' tootin' reformer. Maybe, had the campaign time to reflect, it would still have put the same emphasis on the bridge to nowhere. In that case, we reporters would undoubtedly have dismissed this talking point as bad spin. Instead, because Palin was a surprise, we can dismiss this taking point as the result of hasty decision-making.

Another ad hoc element to the Palin pick is the curious defense of her foreign-policy credentials. Republicans and Cindy McCain have mentioned that she understands national-security issues in part because she is governor of Alaska, whose borders nearly touch Russia's. A day and a half ago, I asked the campaign for an example of her dealings with Russia or the Russians. I'm still waiting. Again, maybe there's a bad-spin explanation here: They're swamped and are working to get back to me. Or maybe they just made the claim in haste without checking it.

Then again, people like me asking questions may be just the thing Republicans need to feel better about Palin. For many Republicans, press scrutiny is in and of itself commendable. If the press is challenging you, then you must be worthy. And polls suggest Republicans are rallying around McCain, with a CNN poll showing that the Palin pick may have erased any bounce Obama might have gotten from his convention.

But it's not just journalists who have questions. Undecided independent voters may, too—not just about Palin, but about McCain's judgment and decision-making process. With each new surprise, the pressure increases on Palin to perform well and validate McCain's instinct. It's the first most important thing she can do for her new boss.

Source: Slate

"Barry" didn't win enough delegates to be nominated, unless you count the superdelegates. The primaries were a tie.

The same technicality you keep talking about. It is true, yet his popular vote lead is not in question; he finished the Dem primaries ten points ahead of Hill.

 

[Denny Crane]

Well I disagree, I touched upon other issues in this thread, although I suppose I should post another fun article to clarify even further.
Source: Slate

Consider the source and who they're rooting for to win, of course. The same can be said about the superdelegates' decision making process.

The same technicality you keep talking about. It is true, yet his popular vote lead is not in question; he finished the Dem primaries ten points ahead of Hill.

"Barry" won 48.1% of the popular vote to Hillary's 48.0% in the primaries. That's not 10 points ahead, it's .1 point. You're only off by 2 orders of magnitude.

 

[huevonkiller]

Consider the source and who they're rooting for to win, of course. The same can be said about the superdelegates' decision making process.

What's wrong with the article? The superdelegates were ultimately redundant this cycle.

"Barry" won 48.1% of the popular vote to Hillary's 48.0% in the primaries. That's not 10 points ahead, it's .1 point. You're only off by 2 orders of magnitude.

Lol, I was talking about the RCP polling done at the end of the primaries, I'm not off by anything. It was only close because of Hillary's Brand name at the start of the whole process; Barry had a great campaign and it showed at the end.

 

[Denny Crane]

What's wrong with the article? The superdelegates were ultimately redundant this cycle.




Lol, I was talking about the RCP polling done at the end of the primaries, I'm not off by anything. It was only close because of Hillary's Brand name at the start of the whole process; Barry had a great campaign and it showed at the end.

Barry lost all but a few of the last bunch of primaries. He backed in, and only got the nomination because of the superdelegates. The superdelegates didn't even vote the way the people they represented voted.

The party needs a new name - they haven't figured out what "democratic" means.

 

[huevonkiller]

Barry lost all but a few of the last bunch of primaries. He backed in, and only got the nomination because of the superdelegates. The superdelegates didn't even vote the way the people they represented voted.

The party needs a new name - they haven't figured out what "democratic" means.

That's assuming I cared what the electoral college was. Hillary won based on the arbitrary process of determining what groups of counties become a state, and there were no big upsets. The nation didn't want her, and the Democrats supposedly care less about the electoral process anyway.