Palin Is Ready? Please.

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  • Posted By: seville @ 09/29/2008 3:28:41 PM

    mccain is so hung up on being president he went and got a person who is no where in the park, presidential or vp competent.He only is using her to try and get the people who is hung up on getting a female, that can pull the votes that Hillary had gotten.He has no real interest in her other that that,which may cause his down fall. The only reason palin accepted the vp spot is because she knows mccain is an old man which health probably fail him and she would becouse president,they are two lost canidates

  • Posted By: NH Independent @ 09/29/2008 1:51:06 PM

    I agree McCain is not the same man he was in 2000, or even before he had the nom this year. It is sad to see the last true R (since the neocons took over) make such a choice for VP slot. I voted for McCain in 2000 & this yr primary; not in the final: can't do it

    • Posted By: Brother Steve @ 09/29/2008 3:28:08 PM

      I always said if I ever voted Republican, it would probably have been for the man McCain used to be. That foolish notion has now been settled forever.

  • Posted By: ApostasyUSA @ 09/29/2008 3:22:07 PM

    I think Obama is right on the mark. I mean what else can the GOP do but put lipstick on a pig? I think McCain???s VP pick is a desperate attempt to repackage the Republican ???Brand??? in a new maverick mythology, which by all stretches of the imagination is entirely chimerical.

    I think it will be difficult for Republicans to make any substantial arguments against affirmative action after this pick. Affirmative action not for individual uplift but as desperate political maneuvering is a cynical betrayal of principals to gain power.

    One question - and please answer honestly:
    Were Palin a man, would McCain have picked her? Point made.

    McCain???s desperate selection just solidifies my original prediction... Obama by a landslide. Not that I have anything against Palin, whoever she is, but, rather, McCain knows he is on the downslide, and had to gamble. I would have more respect for McCain if he selected Tom Ridge (I thought FOR SURE he would have picked him). Yes, McCain would have had a slight problem because Ridge ran as a pro-choice Republican candidate for Governor of PA (which he won). But Ridge would have at least given McCain a chance in PA, a key battleground state. Plus Ridge was the first Secretary of Homeland Security.

    This is as good a pick as Harriet Meirs was...

  • Posted By: champ157 @ 09/29/2008 3:18:11 PM

    Remember Dan Quayle? He was a punchline but we elected Bush 41 anyway. It was a simpler and safer time.
    Palin in those times would be funny and endearing, now she scares the hell out of me. McCain in this election has sold his soul for the White House. When he accuses Obama of putting himself first, is McCain just imputting his own motives to others? Let's all think very carefully about this election

  • Posted By: rube @ 09/29/2008 3:14:50 PM

    McCains record as a senator reagarding the current national crisis cant be hidden!
    Not only did McCain vote for the iraq war he was first in line, a leading advocate to push for articles of war!
    McCain record regarding finacial oversight is a dude, he has is no record! 26 years of let supply side garbage,
    trickle down deception which has lead to the current meltdown. No wonder is is constantly attacking Senator Obama, Mccain has nothing benevoloent to offer our broken union except attact attach attach- bomb bomb bomb- fear this fear that. Enough of the "Maverick fundementalism!" change we can beleive in- dump Mccain!

  • Posted By: kshortSD @ 09/29/2008 3:05:28 PM

    AAARRRGH! Selection of a VP candidate is the MOST important decision a presidential candidate makes during the campaign and McCain blew it!! He just wants to get elected. "Country first"...yeah right!

  • Posted By: Rose Black @ 09/29/2008 3:01:44 PM

    Thank you for standing up and voicing the thoughts of many Americans. Even if I was going to vote for McCain, I wouldn't after his selection of Palin as VP, when she is so woefully unqualified for this position. If McCain were younger and did not have a history of cancer, maybe she could fly ala Dan Quayle; however, this is not the case. Please put country first and vote for Obama/Biden!

  • Posted By: Achilles22 @ 09/29/2008 2:57:53 PM



    Palin is an embarrasment to all Republicans - and more importantly all Americans. I'm sure she fooled the tiny population in Alaska after she was Mayor of a town as big as the bleachers at Fenway - but this is a whole new universe. We need to get real here and make McCain pay for his irresponsible poor judgement.

    Any Republican that can still support this ticket is doing anything but putting country first.

    Please is right - a great piece by Zakaria

  • Posted By: kmpeeling @ 09/29/2008 12:42:57 PM

    I agree completely with Fareed Zakaia. He hit the nail on the head. I was a Hillary supporter and wanted to see the glass ceiling shattered having dealt with denied opportunities in school as a youngster and being passed over for promotion by less qualified men. I was truly surprised and offended when I began to learn about Sarah. If McCain wanted to attract women like me, he needed to pick a seasoned, qualified woman and they are out there. I don't agree with Elizabeth's Dole's politics but she would have been an understandable pick and would have picked up more women than Sarah will but she isn't young and pretty enough. It truly points out that McCain is not putting Country first. I can live with the glass ceiling diappointment because I am putting country first and voting for Obama/Biden. they will do more to move this Country ahead and away from the mess that the republican have created. I just hope that the majority of American can see through the McCain ploy for women's votes.

    • Posted By: Mimi13 @ 09/29/2008 1:05:24 PM

      Actually Liddy Doe doe possess one requirement's McCain seems to have for "his" women -- she's a past beauty paegent winner (Duke U. May Queen). However, there are several other Republican ladies in politics who also wore a tiara --Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska!) and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are alumnae of the Cherry Blossom Princess program. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was the Oil Festival Queen in Laurel, Miss., in 1969, as well as a Junior Miss and a first runner-up for Miss U.S. Teen.
      Any one of these could probably handle a Katie Couric interview without becoming a national joke.

      • Posted By: Braes @ 09/29/2008 2:53:41 PM

        Gosh I don't wanna come off as a sexist, but Pageants used to help women advance, practice public speaking, show talent and yes.. that swimsuit gig.
        Oldschool, Miss America used to produce really good scholarship winners and ladies with serious poise, like my Aunt, who won a state competition in the 1940's. She is an active professional today, and hugely successful. When that was the only door open, women took it. Solid good women who paved the way for today.

    • Posted By: TaylorB95 @ 09/29/2008 12:54:04 PM

      Kay Baily Hutchinson...Olympia Snow....etc. There are plenty of female Republicans out there with oodles of experience that he could have chosen...but he went with Palin...putting his becoming President well before the country. I think he chose Palin because of her looks...how much more obvious could it be???

      • Posted By: lingram @ 09/29/2008 1:17:55 PM

        Please people, she looks like a stuffy Librarian. However, I am sure a stuffy Librarian could give more intelligent answers at interviews.

        • Posted By: Johnsonium @ 09/29/2008 1:28:15 PM

          Haven't you watched porn? The stuffy librarian lets down her hair and then gets busy.

  • Posted By: martinb80 @ 09/29/2008 2:10:54 PM

    first off....I support Obama because his views and ideas reflect my own. Nobody can argue that in a democratic society it is your RIGHT and RESPONSIBILITY to take part in the politcal process and within that includes choosing a candidate that YOU feel is best fit for the job. One thing that people seem to forget though is that the issues are still the most important part. As citizens it also your responsibility to seek out the truth when it comes to the issues and not always rely on one media source, or what you see on a blog. Some posters raise some interesting points about the issues and i can respect that, however it shouldn't matter what Obama's middle name is.....or why McCain chose Palin. The bottom line is that these Americans love their country, but each has a different way on how to fix some of the problems.

    • Posted By: John suncityca @ 09/29/2008 2:36:06 PM

      THE VOICE OF REASON. Well said. Hopefully other will profit from such wisdom.

  • Posted By: cbxjohn @ 09/29/2008 8:19:05 AM

    I don't get it, what makes the Community Organizer any better in the top spot? Ivy league college, I think not!
    Give me a person who knows how to pump their own gas, repair an oil burner, or dress an animal, common sense is what is needed in a leader. Sarah has the ability to sift through information relayed by advisor's and make a good solid judgment, WHAT MORE DOES ONE NEED FOR THE JOB? Remember, degrees don't Always =Smarts!

    • Posted By: dayvid @ 09/29/2008 2:35:17 PM

      I guess if the US needs a moose-skinner-in-chief she would be my first recommendation. Unfortunately the job description left out the animal dressing.

    • Posted By: meneither123 @ 09/29/2008 10:34:18 AM

      HUH????????/ Your comment was completly asinine. Wake up buddy, shes' not it. and Smart she's not by a long shot. Greedy yes, Hungry for power, yes, Hungry for longer than her alloted 15 minutes of glory...yes. Hoping McCain will die or get kicked out of office of OBS so she can step in...yes

    • Posted By: marksgershenson @ 09/29/2008 9:48:13 AM

      Perhaps experiece of Palin is sounding more like someone who has no brain. Experience that makes Dan Quayle sound like a genius compared to Palin. Experience that if I lived next to Canada, that I can say I have foreign policy experience. Experience to compare a Harvard constitutional lawyer who has a brain, to someone who is clueless? Do I need to go on? This is not a Republican versus Democrat issue, this is an issue that affects people on a global level too. Think MACRO!

      Kathleen Parker, an early supporter of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, said Friday recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is "out of her league" and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party. Parker's comments follow those by prominent conservatives David Brooks, George Will, and David Frum who have all publicly questioned Palin's readiness to be vice president.

      And the above list of conservative commentators are some of the most prominent on the right side of the spectrum. Considering the facts and the commentary of these well respected journalists posting what they did, can you still look someone in eye, knowing that Palin could become POTUS, and say without hesitation, or trepidation that she is ready right now to lead our country after seeing Couric's interview with Palin?

    • Posted By: jath123 @ 09/29/2008 9:33:04 AM

      I agree that education doesn't equal intelligence or ability. But I have yet to see any evidence that Sarah Palin has any capabilities whatsoever. Plus, she is a young earth creationist, which means she thinks that every museum of history in America is full of fake fossils. That doesn't make her devout, that makes her stupid. Eight years of stupid is enough.

  • Posted By: yeocarp @ 09/29/2008 2:33:05 PM

    And that was the heavily tutored Sarah Palin. Imagine if she ever had to speak off the cuff!

  • Posted By: richard iezzi @ 09/29/2008 2:27:25 PM

    Right on. In his first important decision, McCain chose a running mate who may get him elected but has nothing to offer re national leadership. So..He put himself first.. Do we really want this person representing us in foreign countries? Norm Crosby made more sense and was a lot funnier. McCain, for all he has accomplished does he look and act robust enough and mentally alert to take on the job? This is a tough job anand he is and is isand

  • Posted By: SimonSez @ 09/28/2008 1:51:45 AM

    Obama's executive experience : "managing his campaign" . I will take Palin's foreign policy experience with her executive experience anyday. McCain more than makes up for the foreign exp. and he is at the TOP of the GOP ticket.

    • Posted By: PanosQ @ 09/28/2008 2:02:01 AM

      Will you take her cluelessness too?

      • Posted By: RichardBrodie @ 09/28/2008 2:15:47 AM

        What we WON'T take is your vacuous calumniation of this eminently exemplary white American woman.

        • Posted By: PanosQ @ 09/28/2008 3:14:16 AM

          I dropped a comment on this earlier, but as I am reading this more carefully, I realized that there was a word that I missed the first time around: "white" American woman? What does her color of skin have to do with anything? Are you missing another era maybe?

          • Posted By: RichardBrodie @ 09/28/2008 11:40:04 AM

            Yeah. we're now in an era which features the multiculturalist double standard, where if someone said of Michelle Obama "she is an eminently examplary BLACK woman" no one would try to imply that a reference to "the color of her skin" was inappropriate - like what you want to imply concerning my reference to Sara Palin as a WHITE woman.

            • Posted By: Krismann @ 09/29/2008 2:19:27 PM

              It doesn't change the fact that you used the word "White" to describe Palin when it had no business being in there. Kind of like using the word "Palin" to describe a Vice Presidential candidate.

          • Posted By: marksgershenson @ 09/28/2008 3:42:27 AM

            I wonder too since you brought it up if there was some underlying meaning or context to what was said to you regarding "White" I tried to nail Richard on his $10.00 vocabulary word without paying attention to his whole message. I think consider the source with a posting like that and move forward. I know I got under his skin at least a couple times this evening.

        • Posted By: PanosQ @ 09/28/2008 2:56:26 AM

          You can try to insult me, but I am not the issue here. I don't run for office. I can be smart or stupid, knowledgeable or ignorant. All the good or harm I can do is one good or bad vote. Palin' s cluelessness on the other hand can break the entire country. At least whatever our current president will leave standing.

        • Posted By: marksgershenson @ 09/28/2008 2:25:22 AM

          However, when prominent journalists use the word vacuous about Palin, you can't handle them either. I won't repeat the list of people on the right that disagree with you.

      • Posted By: SimonSez @ 09/28/2008 2:13:16 AM

        Absolutely .. if the choice is a guy whose only experience is managing a campaign that faltered miserably in the big important states where Hillary won convincingly. How can he run the most powerful nation based on just his "executive" experience that he dared to even point out? Again, Palin is the VP candidate - Obama is the Presidential candidate. Howard Dean ran a great campaign last year - does that make him qualified for President?

        • Posted By: PanosQ @ 09/28/2008 3:03:26 AM

          George Bush lost most of the big states but won the election in 2000 and 2004. Should I assume that your conclusion back then was that Gore or Kerry deserved to be the president? Maybe Hillary was better than Obama. I don't know. What I do know is that either is much better than McCain. I can only believe that your point is based on political ideology and not on actual observations. You cannot possibly be seriously comparing Palin to Obama. Actually, the way you argue, makes me think that you believe that Palin is SO much better than McCain too. Maybe you would like a constitutional amendment that does not allow senators to run for presidents. Only governors and mayors who have executive experience. Right?

  • Posted By: deepu_djt @ 09/29/2008 12:00:28 PM

    Unfortunately as an unbiased undecided voter, the comments here that support McCain/ Palin dont seem to have any arguments of substance as to why they should be the ones chosen to run this country. I see more of "you are dumb", "Stop reading", etc - where is the comprehensive sensible fact based arguments for why they would be better than Obama/ Biden? All I can sense is the undercurrents that make me think that the only reason that Obama could lose (based on weighing points on both sides) is his race and how many white people come election day might base their important US trajectory altering votes on that one fact. If that proves true it will be the lowest point in American history and I would be ashamed to call myself an American after that. I hope I am proved wrong but I doubt it. All I can ask is that all of you do what is right for the future of America and its people and take all bias out of your mind. Our futures are at stake and this is not an exaggeration.

    • Posted By: 003abcd @ 09/29/2008 2:15:29 PM

      So what you are suggesting is this: Despite the fact that some people do not agree with his proposed policies and points of view, they should vote for him simply because he is black? To prove to you that they are not racist? Makes sense.

  • Posted By: Krismann @ 09/29/2008 2:10:13 PM

    I feel very fortunate that my application for citizenship (thru marriage) to a European country has been approved. The concept of McCain and that vapid nothing Palin in charge at such a delicate time in US history scares the hell out of me. Especially after watching McCain sell his soul to Bush's campaign people (sticking to a rigid line of talking points, becoming as unavailable as possible to reporters, trying to completely distract voters from the issues by using scare tactics, i.e. "Obabma wants your guns!!!") I had respect for John McCain until he became a viable candidate, and changed the way his entire campaign was run. Right now, his campaign is being run the same way the Bush administration is - uninformed, ignorant, incredibly secretive, bullying, and full of lies intended to scare the hell out of their base. Listening to Palin is worse, as the only bit of consistency she has shown is just how much of a bully she is, that she is fond of patronage and cronyism (as mayor, she unabashedly told the assembly in her town that the very people petitioning the assembly were personal friends, and that she favored them), and that she has virtually no understanding of either economics, domestic policy, or foreign policy. How the hell did she get elected Governor, anyway? I ferverently hope they don't win the election, either by popular vote, electoral vote, or another Florida-type "win". I'd hate to give up my military career and move to Europe with my wife and family to avoid the impending McCain-Palin disaster. (Did I mention that I saw several lawn ads in my city yesterday .... with the name PALIN where McCain's usually is ... do these supporters even know that McCain is the PRESIDENTIAL candidate? His name was not on the ad at all......)

  • Posted By: gffish @ 09/29/2008 2:07:22 PM

    Sarah Palin's rambling, non-sensical answer to Katie Couric's question about the bailout sounds like many of my students, who write exam essays containing all the terms which they remember from the semester, but when combined don't come anywhere close to answering the question. Her responses to Couric made George W. Bush seem like Socrates.

    Prior to the 1992 election, Molly Ivins wrote about George H. W. Bush (reprinted on page 137 in her book, "Nothin' but Good Times Ahead,") "The fact is that unless someone else writes a speech for him, the president of the United States sounds like a borderline moron." One wonders what Ivins would say about Sarah Pallin's unscripted performances.

    Palin proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she does not have the intellect to hold any national office.

  • Posted By: Krismann @ 09/29/2008 2:07:01 PM

    I feel very fortunate that my application for citizenship (thru marriage) to a European country has been approved. The concept of McCain and that vapid nothing Palin in charge at such a delicate time in US history scares the hell out of me. Especially after watching McCain sell his soul to Bush's campaign people (sticking to a rigid line of talking points, becoming as unavailable as possible to reporters, trying to completely distract voters from the issues by using scare tactics, i.e. "Obabma wants your guns!!!") I had respect for John McCain until he became a viable candidate, and changed the way his entire campaign was run. Right now, his campaign is being run the same way the Bush administration is - uninformed, ignorant, incredibly secretive, bullying, and full of lies intended to scare the hell out of their base. Listening to Palin is worse, as the only bit of consistency she has shown is just how much of a bully she is, that she is fond of patronage and cronyism (as mayor, she unabashedly told the assembly in her town that the very people petitioning the assembly were personal friends, and that she favored them), and that she has virtually no understanding of either economics, domestic policy, or foreign policy. How the hell did she get elected Governor, anyway? I ferverently hope they don't win the election, either by popular vote, electoral vote, or another Florida-type "win". I'd hate to give up my military career and move to Europe with my wife and family to avoid the impending McCain-Palin disaster. (Did I mention that I saw several lawn ads in my city yesterday .... with the name PALIN where McCain's usually is ... do these supporters even know that McCain is the PRESIDENTIAL candidate? His name was not on the ad at all......)

  • Posted By: ThePeoriaKid @ 09/29/2008 2:04:15 PM

    Thank You, Fareed Zakaria! I agree 101%
    Sad thing is this: John McCain is making a wager with someone or many, that there are enough ignorant, uninformed, and/or bigoted morons in this country, that he could win an election with ANYONE or ANYTHING! (?) McCain is insulting the collective intelligence of this country just to make a point to his "peers". What a miserable excuse for a "patriot" John MCain is.. Country First, my ass.

    Obama/Biden '08

  • Posted By: ObamaBidenNOW @ 09/29/2008 2:00:51 PM

    In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future. I follow a economist named bob proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly. He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown ,and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years Is terrifying. He thinks it will be worse then the great depression. Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest morgage bank in the world Bear Stearns and Lehman brothers , and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top 5 wall street firms. And now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States. The goverment took them over because they are essentially bankrupt. If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash And we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president
    Bush just like Mcain doesn't understand the economy.

    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it
    He does not understand exactly what is broken. Its no surprise that he doesnt. The people that make up these
    securities use complex math models very few people understand.
    Bush and mccain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.


    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks take risks with all of our future.
    Now Phil Graham is the head of mccains economic policy ,and mccain wants to make him the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time bush met with his economic advisors was in march. He either didnt realize or didnt care that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy in our lifetime.
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as bush has done mccain would be
    incredibly worse because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like bush did but a tanking economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 deficit. Most of Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
    If you do what you have always done then you will do get what you have always __________

    When it comes to policy bush and mccain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    So why are the polls even close then ?

    The chairman of mcains campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues

    they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell you personality instead of results.
    He believes people will vote against there own self interests.

    Lets teach him we are smarter then that .
    Hold them accountable now while it will still help
    Elect Obama Biden 2008

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