Palin Reignites The Culture War

Newsweek Web Exclusive

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: obzerver @ 10/06/2008 12:21:51 AM

    Anyone who vots republican is unamerican and unpatriotic, I travel the world and while foreigners laugh at Palin (and Bush), US citizens abroad are ashamed. If you don't care about the image of your country vote REP.

  • Posted By: MG of IL @ 10/06/2008 12:21:27 AM

    The problem here is the Republicans have redefined what an elitist is or at least what they think one to be.
    Sarah Palin certainly is no "every-woman show" in my estimation. She was smug, calculated and cunning. Her winking, sneering, smirking smile and tone of voice was annoying, it was also disrespectful to the many hard working career women in this country who, by the way - are also mothers, care-givers, wives and still have to clean the house, shop and cook the meals and cart the kids to every game in town. Sarah Palin is no one special - she thinks she is. There is a real difference in making something of yourself and just thinking it.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/06/2008 12:20:58 AM

    The GOP is grasping at straws. They have nothing substantive against Obama, but boy are they good at making up lies. This has been a leading Karl Rove tactic for years, and if America falls for this again we should be ashamed of ourselves. Not to mention the obvious fact that this is all a smokescreen to keep the focus off of the fact that Palin and her Alaska associates are in contempt of court for refusing to testify in the Troopergate hearings. After Nixon and Clinton, Americans are to some extent jaded, but really, would you want a VP who refuses to attend hearings in her own defense, and instructs her employees not to testify? That smells like guilt. It surely doesn't give the impression that she has done no wrong and has nothing to hide.

    This year, the GOP offers you an angry old man and a woman who, while personable, is desperately uniformed about national and international issues. Both of them are far right politically. McCain used to be a maverick, but since 2004 he's voted 90% with Bush. McCain's policies are not original or reformist, despite how he's tried to co-opt Obama's popular message of change. Please go to the websites of both of the candidates and read their platforms. Obama's Blueprint for Change has more good ideas than McCain's plan. Compare them yourself. Obama's basic premise is that tax dollars should be spent to make America stronger and to improve the lives and well being of our people. For example, he uses education programs to train a new technology workforce, contributing to energy independence, creating jobs and improving the economy. When you read McCain's plan you will find no over-arching design to get America back on track. Instead you'll find more tax cuts for the wealthy, de-regulation of the health care industry, and a stated intent to overturn Roe v. Wade.

    I'm a Republican. Although I embrace some forward-thinking social values, in the past I've rarely voted Democrat. My thinking was that since Republicans grow robust economies, by voting Republican I'd be endorsing a plan that would grow wealth for our nation, and then we'd be able to afford social programs. It was a good strategy for a couple decades, but I have to say that the tenure of W. Bush has changed my mind. Not only is there nothing fiscally responsible about today's GOP, the insidious alignment of the party with religious intolerance has really turned me off.

    On the other hand, the intelligent luminous thought of Barack Obama has ignited my passion for politics and my patriotism. I want a President who puts America first and can get the economy back on track. In my mind, values voting takes a back burner when we are faced with a meltdown of the economy. It is time for a change, a real change. The Republicans have controlled the Presidency for 38 of the past 50 years, but they have fallen down on the job. The Democrats have a stellar candidate this year, and I am voting for Obama.

  • Posted By: vstillwell @ 10/05/2008 10:21:25 PM

    My dog has a better understanding of economics and the world than Palin.

  • Posted By: LuLuBelle @ 10/04/2008 9:12:13 PM

    You can always tell an MSNBC web site because the articles are all biased TOWARD Obama. Sarah Palin was NOT short on facts. She just didn't INVENT her own like Biden did and then call them fact. Only Obama-bots don't like Palin and only women who are ugly and jealous like Sarah Bernhardt don't like her! What is to not like? She is a nice person, extremely intelligent and comes across as un-blemished by politics unlike the liars running on Obama's camp.
    Obama-bots are all excited that he is ahead in the polls. But I could be ahead in the polls, also, if the pollsters so chose to make me be ahead! The only poll that will count will be on Nov 4.

    • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 10/04/2008 9:25:20 PM


      "Sarah Palin was NOT short on facts." :O

      http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5942414&page=1

      Seriously Lulu, get real here.

      And how come I never heard Republicans downplaying the polls when McCain was ahead? I find that... odd.

      • Posted By: ObamaLies @ 10/04/2008 10:44:53 PM

        Maybe because they do things like survey 40% dems and only 30% GOP and indies, so when McCain is a head, it is really saying something. When Obama has 7% more dems than GOP being surveyed and he is only 5% a head, then he has a real problem.

        • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 10/05/2008 10:05:02 PM


          I find it funny that when your guy is behind, polls don't seem to matter. The fact is that even Gallup, which always leans Republican has Obama up by seven points. Something else to consider is that most polls are conducted using land lines, which younger people - a key Obama demographic- don't use, they use mostly cell-phones. So Obama is actually one or two percentage points above what the polls are saying.


          http://www.gallup.com/poll/110935/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Leads-Ninth-Straight-Day-50-43.aspx

        • Posted By: treetopflyer @ 10/05/2008 12:23:34 AM

          Ye-ah. Maybe the should survey 50% people who intend to vote for McCain and 50% people who intend to vote for Obama. That would be so much more representative than a random sampling of the population as a whole. Perhaps your proportions of Democrats, Republicans and independents are the same as those in the actual population. How undemocratic! How unrepresentative!

          Poor Rethugs. Never can win a game that isn't rigged.

    • Posted By: rebeccaa @ 10/05/2008 12:35:25 AM

      I love this - you imply that there is sexism against Sarah Palin in anyone who questions her but then state that any women who do not like her are ugly? Do you know what irony is?

      • Posted By: icurlamer @ 10/05/2008 8:28:18 AM

        No she carried her answers in with her,when she didnt get a question on her list,she quickly started regurgitated her ready enery responses.She ilooked as though she was in a beauty conrest not a debate.and the winks were way off the chart,if she isna feeling them she shouldnt be shareing them,Fake person is all she is

    • Posted By: treetopflyer @ 10/04/2008 9:15:02 PM

      I will earnestly pray tonight that God will show mercy and give you a brain.

  • Posted By: chuck from sc @ 10/05/2008 9:14:36 PM

    We should want a president that is better than you. How dare America strive for mediocracy. To what end? What does John McCain plan to do that is worth embarassing the nation with a dolt/idiot as a vice president. McCain/Palin will guarantee the gridlock that we already have. John McCain is promising policies exacltly like Bush. His VP pick is simply Bush in heels with lipstick. No compamy would hire Sarah Palin. It is understandable how she won government office though. Conservatives fall for pandering "lets face it.... they still think that Bush is doing a great job and that Palin would be a great president.

    • Posted By: James Lee @ 10/05/2008 9:56:51 PM

      Chuck, I agree with your point about mediocrity. However, I diverge from your conclusion in that I believe that we will be saddled with mediocrity whoever wins, McCain or Obama.

      I am not impressed.with either candidate.

  • Posted By: Harvybing @ 10/05/2008 9:15:57 AM

    Biden Made Many of his points with lies. We have NOT pushed Hamas out of Lebanon for example. Obama DID INDEED promise to sit down with the President of Iran WITHOUT Pre Conditions. McCain did NOT vote to underfund our troops, as Obama did. A debate in which many of an opponents facts turn out to be untrue should be reported to The American people. We are TIRED of this type of DOUBLESPEAK Senator. From Both you AND Obama. And We Are Tired Of The Incomprehensible rhetoric spewed from the far left wing. Lets speak the truth for a change. We want someone who speaks to us truthfully, no matter how experienced they are. Good judgment trumps Washington Experience any day.
    Mcain Palin 08

    • Posted By: tkandell @ 10/05/2008 9:51:33 PM

      Harvybing: Your statement that "we have not pushed HAMAS out of Lebanon" shows your extreme ignorance. HAMAS IS IN GAZA, HEZBOLLAH IS IN LEBANON. Do you remember that it was Hezbollah on Oct 23, 1983 that KILLED 283 US MARINES in one of the earliest instances of suicide terrorism? Do you know that while both are aided by Iran, Hezbollah is a SHIA group and that Hamas is SUNNI? Please explain the difference between Shia and Sunni. It's apparent that like your candidate John McCain, in Baghdad even in a Congressional hearing, couldn't remember if Al-Qaida is Sunni or Shia?
      As a Jewish-American voter, and American who is concerned about the Iraq War, and someone who is well versed in Israeli and Middle Eastern politics and history, I am ASTOUNDED AT THE IGNORANCE OF JOHN McCAIN ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST. How can the US challenge Al-Qaida and Iran, if even our potential President is completely confused as to their religous and cultural associations?
      Barack OBAMA CERTAINLY KNOWS WHERE SDEROT IS, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO ISRAEL AND OUR POLICY TOWARD HAMAS. (He viisted there, and gave a moving speech.)
      Oh, and I find McCAIN'S AND PALIN'S PATRONIZING REFERENCES TO THE HOLOCAUST EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE.
      Barack Obama is the only candidate who wiil give us a safe, sane, and rational Middle Eastern policy. The security of Israel too depends on Barack Obama being elected President. What would be the consequences for Israel if Israel attacked Iran and the US President DIDN'T TRY TO NEGOTIATE WITH IRAN beforehand? On the other hand, if the US President DID ENGAGE IN FACE -TO-FACE NEGOTIATIONS AND IRAN REFUSED TO CONCEDE, why woudn't the world SUPPORT ISRAEL DEFENDING HERSELF AGAINST IRAN? And what good does it do the US, or Israel, for the US to miilitarily support the IRANIAN-BACKED SHIA-LED GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ? (Check it, and check Iran's support of Al-Maliki vs. Muqtada Al-Sadr.)
      The disasterous policy of initiating and CONTINUING THE IRAQ WAR HAS HARMED THE US AND EVEN ISRAEL in ways most Americans cannot even imagine. As a proud American citizen and a supporter of the State of Israel as well, for both domestic and foreign policy reasons, I feel the secure future of the US lies with our electing Barack Obama as President. And yes, my priorities in this election is universal healthcare, a fair tax policy, renegotiation of mortgages by judges when people are about to lose their homes, funding education, as well as also ending the Iraq War.
      Obama/Biden '08! Jews for Obama! REAL AMERICANS FOR OBAMA AND CHANGE!

    • Posted By: D.L. @ 10/05/2008 7:28:40 PM

      why can't we talk to our enemy before waging a war? Are we American so arrogant now?

  • Posted By: pamp205 @ 10/05/2008 9:02:34 PM

    Yes, Palin can make the elitist label stick...to morons. Really, Obama came from a lower middle class background and made his way up. McCain was handed everything but yet Obama is the elistist. That's a hard one to pull off but reading some of these comments...when it comes to repubs, you're not playing with a full deck.

    • Posted By: James Lee @ 10/05/2008 9:49:14 PM

      I am curious. How did Obama work his way up? How did he get into an elitist school? Who paid for his books and tuition? Who paid for his living expenses?

      Don't worry. I don't think he is an elitist himself. As said, I am only curious.

  • Posted By: Skaym @ 10/05/2008 9:32:33 PM

    You are absolutely right. The Republicans can't win on ideas so this is what they do and they are very good at it. I thought Parker and Quinn wrote very thoughtful articles about Palin and I know how the Republicans went after them. McCain/Palin are going going to use the culture war to bring in those Walmart Moms and others who swallow this Kool-Aid. Republican/Conservative women are being very hypocritical in their support of Palin. I am always amazed at their "herd mentality" -- very little independent thought in that party. Palin is very shrewd and opportunistic and she is playing them like a fiddle. A;ll those cute little winks and "you betcha's" really have them snowed.

  • Posted By: dnel12 @ 10/05/2008 7:19:32 PM

    Why is it that democrats seem to hate anyone who has been successful, it like it's a crime. Cindy McCain's parents work hard to develop that business and to criticize her for her parents success is particularily democrat. By the way she actually does some good with her money, her travels overseas in support of children, Georgia is the lates. the way things look you (we)may well get Obama as the next president, but in less than a year you'll understand what we really go. Obama is like an insuranc contract the big print gives and the small print takes away. I'm a middle class working stiff. My son is just finishing a six year program to become a pharmacist and my wife and I were just able to buy the home we always wanted. We saved for our sons college education starting the day he was born and we always put some money in mutual funds so we could some day own the home we always wanted. My son will leave college with 23,000 in loans, which we think is pretty good considering the cost of his education. BUT with Obama's plan to increase taxes (38%) on capital gains--I calculated that my son would have 52,000 in debt and we would not be able to purchase the home we just have. A $1000 tax refund does little to solve that issue, I guess it would give me the option to send my son to school and my wife and I to continue to live in our first home. I'm 63 my wife is 61.

    • Posted By: b dune @ 10/05/2008 9:30:59 PM

      how can you possibly link a 38% capital gain tax increase into a 38% increase to your sons student loan?
      From $23,000 to $52,000 - if this statement wasn't so funny it would be criminal! I thought the "fuzzy math" approach left long ago - one thing is certain - your son didn't major in accounting when in college!

    • Posted By: jarcher1 @ 10/05/2008 9:24:08 PM

      I believe its John McCain being criticized, not Cindy. Although of course her affair with good ol' John might earn her a smigin of criticism in some circles, apparently not yours. As for the whine about cap gains 33% of that 38% is not an increase at all, its merely the non renewal of Bush's tax breaks for the rich. Take a lesson from the Oracle of Omaha (an Obama supporter), he lives in the same house he bought in 1958, and quite modest it is too.

  • Posted By: Loden Green @ 10/05/2008 9:22:04 PM

    Sarah Palin and "culture" are mutually exclusive.

  • Posted By: ifjed @ 10/05/2008 9:20:15 PM

    "She (Palin) succeeded in quieting calls from worried Republicans that she should get off the ticket, that she had become an embarrassment after interviews with CBS anchor Katie Couric revealed her shallow grasp of national issues." Oh come on! That was NEVER an option, Ms. Clift, and you know it. So why are you so dishonest? The expectations for Palin were 0 out of 10 and she scored about a 5 out of 10. Sarah Palin is the same dimwit as before.

  • Posted By: Greg285 @ 10/05/2008 9:09:53 PM

    Since when has this great Nation under-valued education and pulling yourself up from nothing? Oh I get it, if its an African-American, then his accomplishments are not respected...Yet, McCain can finish 5th from the bottom of his class and he's celebrated? He crashed navy Jets even before he went to Viet Nam and only go to continue his military career because of his father, who was a navy Admiral..Please give me a break with this elitist label B.S....The Country is much more smarter than this, besides, it didn't work for Clinton, so what makes McCain think its going to work now?

  • Posted By: Greg285 @ 10/05/2008 9:08:38 PM

    Since when has this great Nation under-valued education and pulling yourself up from nothing? Oh I get it, if its an African-American, then his accomplishments are not respected...Yet, McCain can finish 5th from the bottom of his class and he's celebrated? He crashed navy Jets even before he went to Viet Nam and only go to continue his military career because of his father, who was a navy Admiral..Please give me a break with this elitist label B.S....The Country is much more smarter than this, besides, it didn't work for Clinton, so what makes McCain think its going to work now?

  • Posted By: john2008 @ 10/05/2008 9:01:48 PM

    After watching Palin I can see now where her son got down syndrome from.

  • Posted By: ezet22 @ 10/05/2008 8:50:45 PM

    If elected McCain and P will tear up the Republican party and take a switch to Rush and Sean.
    McCain will never forgive them for their primary season treason aginst him.
    The GOP's best shot is to vote Obama and rebuild in sensible opposition to Obama.
    Palin would torture the Noonan's and Wills just for fun.

  • Posted By: darrelcc @ 10/05/2008 3:05:20 AM

    Personally I think we are all making way to much about this education thing. There are well educated idiots as well as uneducated idiots. Trust me a work for a few of the latter. A president is as good as the advisors he utilizes. McCain will use General Petraeus (military genius) and Mitt Romney (economic genius). Obama will have Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Need I say more.

    • Posted By: orion12 @ 10/05/2008 8:44:42 PM

      You know, your comment is very sad. Without education we are nothing. Education is the key to living and surviving. It comes in all forms. One may have a little of it but you need to have some of it. The level of you competence is what separates you from others and what defines what you do. We all do not need very high levels of education, I agree. However the POTUS and VP do need the best education that they can get. The need to have that basic knowledge and exposure, which will help them to decipher so many issues.

      Now, Palin has repeatedly shown that the education she has does not make her ready to sit in the White House. Even a well informed university graduate can do better then her. She is just too shallow.

    • Posted By: AUSTENESPER @ 10/05/2008 6:49:29 AM

      I understand that Henry "carpet -bombing" Kissinger is a friend and spcial adviser to the McCain campaign. Did he prop Sarah Palin to say that she could see Russia from her kitchen window?

  • Posted By: Woman Roar @ 10/05/2008 8:40:37 PM

    Eleanor -- With all your expertise on women's issues, I believe you have a true passion for women's rights. ..."by virtue of your intellect and accomplishments" I'm sure you are among the elite in this country. I bow to your superiority. I just wanted to tell you that you still turn my stomach when I see you on TV.

  • Posted By: Krohn @ 10/05/2008 8:36:44 PM

    he ACORN does not fall from the tree:
    http://justsaynodeal.com/acorn.html

  • Posted By: Thersites @ 10/05/2008 9:44:15 AM

    No nygirl52, just because she is a woman, as I also am, doesn't mean she should be elected. But because she is the real deal, unlike Obama (who only started sounding coherant after he hired 300 advisors).

    Think about this, his one example of executive experience consists of being Chairman of the Board at the Chicago Annenberg Project where he hand chose eduactional programs to fund, spent $100 Million dollars on them and achieved no measurable result in academic achievement or even in improved behavior!

    This guy surrounds himself with doubtful characters and then delegates everything to them.

    The massive housing project that he agitated for which made his name? Boarded up and uninhabitable and now needs to fixed at great taxpayer expense having been built at great taxpayer expense.

    Obama needs three hundred advisors to sound coherant, Palin is coherant all on her own, you should be ashamed of yourself for being so xenophobic and shortsighted when it comes to Sarah Palin.

    • Posted By: be_extreme @ 10/05/2008 9:58:00 AM

      This '"Palin is coherant all on her own" statement indicates a bit of ignorance of the facts. very laughable statement!

      • Posted By: Thersites @ 10/05/2008 10:05:54 AM

        Well, she managed to run a state and achieve an 80%+ approval rating. If you listened to her at the debate she sounds coherant, if you listen to the sliced/diced and otherwise mangled tape out of Couric's interview, she doesn't!

        Here is an Obama quote, keeping in mind that it only takes one nuclear bomb to ruin your whole day, how coherant does this sound?

        "I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us??You know, Iran, they spend one one-hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance."

        • Posted By: orion12 @ 10/05/2008 8:34:59 PM

          Obama sounds very coherent. I do not know if you understand what he is saying. He means that the threat of those nations are not at the level as that of Russia for example. And it is true. He does not minimize the threat from potentially dangerous countries. It is so sad tha some of you who are so gung-ho about fighting are the first to call for an end of war when it starts because people start getting killed. For sure Obama makes more sense that Palin. Obama does not need coaching before he talks to anyone. Palin is on the other hand locked in a room for days before she can discuss anything. I think that you are not being well informed. Too bad.

        • Posted By: Rabid4Change @ 10/05/2008 3:02:20 PM

          Sarah Pallin's approval rating has dropped since she started campaigning for v.p. Take a look at http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/542179.html.

        • Posted By: fortherecord89 @ 10/05/2008 1:46:12 PM

          Since when are run-on sentences devoid of grammar and substance coherent? These types of responses were typical of Palin's moose-in-the-headlights ability to think on her feet. This was the case both with Katie Couric and when Joe Biden handed her her lunch. I think Alaska is the biggest challenge that she should ever face. God help us if she's ever put in the position of negotiating with our enemies!

        • Posted By: j123 @ 10/05/2008 1:05:06 PM

          poor thersite. Obviously illiterate. the obama sentences are grammatical. try diagraming any of palin's sentences in the curic interview or vp debate. And the new excuse that the incohrency is due to tape slicing?

        • Posted By: j123 @ 10/05/2008 12:55:39 PM

          poor thersite. Obviously illiterate. the obama sentences are grammatical. try diagraming any of palin's sentences in the curic interview or vp debate. And the new excuse that the incohrency is due to tape slicing?

        • Posted By: daddypeet @ 10/05/2008 12:05:29 PM

          Why do some Americans (in the country with the most nuclear weapons) think that the number 1 aim of people in place like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela is nuclear holocaust?

          The fact is, people everywhere want to be treated with respect, they want to own their own safe homes, and they want to provide for their children. Too many Americans have bought the lie that everyone in the rest of the world wants to destroy what America has. That's ignorant rubbish talk. People are people, with some bad and some good. In American for the last 8 years it seems "bad, lying, ignorant" people have been in charge. People who would sacrifice the lives of 1,000,000 Iraqis, who would destroy 3,000,000 Iraqis' home, and lie to do, just because of oil and because "he want to kill my daddy."

          With Sarah Palin, we would get more of the same: A person who swears to her God that America is exceptional, while even her own country's finest documents read that "all men are created equal," we would get a person who would "press the button" because she probably wouldn't know any better, because for her Iranians are not people, Russians are not people, Iraqis are not people the same as Americans.

          Barack Obama understands somehing that Palin and her supporters may never understand. The earth is the home of all people, and we must therefore get along with each other. The first step in that process is getting to know each other. Leave the igloo, and open your eyes.

      • Posted By: lamb413 @ 10/05/2008 10:27:38 AM

        When has Mrs. Palin been coherent? What has she said that makes her remarks coherent? She has yet to say ANYTHING of meaning!

      • Posted By: Thersites @ 10/05/2008 10:11:05 AM

        Speaking of Obama's incoherance.....

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz2nHgtMX-I&eurl=http://mrssatan.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-stammering-and-stuttering-more.html

        <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zz2nHgtMX-I&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zz2nHgtMX-I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

        • Posted By: Thersites @ 10/05/2008 10:27:20 AM

          On a related note, here is a YouTube of Obama pressing the wrong button SIX times. It's simple, Barry, you push the GREEN one for yea, you push the RED one for nay!

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyfyJMOR90A&feature=related

    • Posted By: orion12 @ 10/05/2008 8:27:41 PM

      If you say Palin is coherent then you are as bad as she is in getting understood. Listening to her talk about issues makes very little sense. Her thoughts are not well organized. She is not very intellectually sound. She repeats phrases and hopes to charm people with cute words or attack words. Then she waits for an applause. She is definitely only good at getting at Obama's throat. And then, she cries foul when people expose her. In short she is a manipulator and a coward, hiding behind the fact that she is female. America does not need a VP with such poor preparation. Her political career is over now because she has exposed her incompetence. The free ride is over.

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse