The Palin Problem

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  • Posted By: jeffaulk @ 10/27/2008 10:43:59 AM

    Wouldn't Palin be just another W--stubbornly clutching a far-right agenda and being steered by "advisors". Come on. Sure, she fits the bill of Pub culture war warrior, but I sense that tack is somehow less potent. A true victory for the Pubs would be to assemble a thoughtful, policy-driven platform and put forth thoughtful, policy-driven candidates. Not divisive ideological parrots.

    • Posted By: 4carol @ 10/27/2008 2:38:04 PM

      Did you say that Repubs should put together a thoughtful platform along with actual thoughtful candidates???? You just made my funny list for the day!!!!!! THANKS!

    • Posted By: floridacadman @ 10/27/2008 10:58:42 AM

      That will never happen, the Reps arent free thinkers, theyre sheep. Anything other than war, guns and God is lost on them. If they stray from the usual rhetoric, they loose their base.

      • Posted By: Unbridled Truth @ 10/27/2008 11:52:55 AM

        What does that say about the Average American?

  • Posted By: seakiev @ 10/27/2008 1:51:25 PM

    Actually if Obama wins, it will be a great thing for the Republican party that has lost its way.

    I'm a Republican, a white, middle-aged, woman. I voted early in Florida.....for Obama/Biden at the top of the ticket and Republicans for everything below the top. My hope is that the Republican Party will get the message.....we want conservative economic policies that reflect a modern sensibility.....not the racist, ill-informed nonsense we hear especially from Palin.

    I think McCain would be ahead in the polls if he'd picked Rommney.

    • Posted By: Bass Pro @ 10/27/2008 2:33:02 PM

      I appreciate what you're saying. I doubt the GOP will turn thing around for themselves until after the 2012 General election. I suggest this because they have something besides their platform and their shady campaign tactics to blame for this year's losses. Limbaugh, Hannity and the rest of the warts on the Republican Party will blame McCain for not being the right candidate for the party. In 2012, when they get the candidate they want and still lose, it will finally provide the wakeup call you are looking for.

      As far as Romney making the difference, I doubt that too. The difference this year isn't with your party, it's with the Democrats. We have decided that we're not sitting back and taking punches ala Kerry and Gore. For every distorted and sick attack the McCain/Palin campaign launched, a counter attack refuting the lies and deception was launched by the Senator Obama campaign.

      The Republicans have finally met a candidate that can block their punches and then land a solid shot t\of his own. He's done it without sinking to their level to boot. The party has been energized to and many stae races are close because of it.

      I will be so happy when those Republicans like yourself turn against those that have destroyed your party from the inside. When Limbaugh start losing their contracts with radio and TV stations, it will be the first sign of your success. Good Luck




  • Posted By: ike2000 @ 10/27/2008 11:48:22 AM

    Fact Check: Did you know? That, Sarah Palin was born Sareeha Majid -- to Hashmi
    and Naheema Majid, nee Khan. The Majids migrated to Alaska from Pakistan
    after the second world war. Hashmi Majid was a notable trader who owned a
    chain of carpet stores.

    • Posted By: 4carol @ 10/27/2008 2:29:58 PM

      Really?????? And where did we find this very interesting fact????

  • Posted By: acolgan @ 10/27/2008 2:27:28 PM

    This is a poisonous suggestion aimed at instructing an extreme politician to further divide the nation. What is the value in that for Republicans or for the US?

  • Posted By: Kboogie @ 10/27/2008 2:26:40 PM

    During the 2000 campaign, on MSNBC's "Hardball", a young woman asked McCain why her father, a doctor, should be "penalized" by being in a huge tax bracket. McCain replied that "wealthy people can afford more", and that, "the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don't pay nearly as much as you think they do." The exchange continued:

    Young woman: Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?. . .
    McCain: Here's what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.

    WOW!!!! I think McCain has forgotten his old beliefs. Sounds a little like...........hmmmm.........SOCIALISM!!

    What a joke this guy is!!

  • Posted By: acolgan @ 10/27/2008 2:26:31 PM

    This is a poisonous suggestion aimed at further dividing the US.

  • Posted By: NotFooledByDistractions @ 10/27/2008 2:22:47 PM

    God willing Nov. 5 will be the last we'll be seeing of Ms Palin.

    She is divisive, underqualified, belongs to a wacky fundie church, married to an AIP party member - no, Nov. 5 MsPalin will be heading back where she belongs. If she can't even make it through a TV interview, how the heck is she qualified to be Pres/ VP. Get real people!! She's nothing but a bad joke.

  • Posted By: Bass Pro @ 10/27/2008 9:03:51 AM

    What if a newperson asks John McCain if he ever ratted out his fellow POWS as was promoted by the Huckaby Campaign in N.C. during the primary. What if Sarah Palin was asked if she would provide DNA evidence that her child was really hers. These questions are way over the top.

    the Obama campaign has no problem countering questions by Republican Pundits claiming he is a Socialist, but to use the Karl Marx comparison is also over the top.

    Would it be alright to compare George Bush to Adolph Hitler for the slaughter in Iraq? would it be alright to compare the killing of the Taliban to the holocaust?

    No, but it's certainly not beyond a Republican to make these comparisons, regardless of whether it's an attack against a Democrat or a Republican Primary opponent.

    • Posted By: Concerned Ctzn @ 10/27/2008 9:35:37 AM

      He is a Socialist! Enough said! Thanks

      • Posted By: Itchy @ 10/27/2008 2:24:36 PM

        "We???re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it???s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.??? --Sarah Palin, speaking to the New Yorker last summer.

      • Posted By: baybluv @ 10/27/2008 1:47:23 PM

        Then so is the Bush Administration since it will go down in history that his Administration bailed out Fannie and Freddie Mae, banks and investment companies. He's a socialist for the RICH.

      • Posted By: Democrat-Hillary @ 10/27/2008 12:58:15 PM

        What is SP?

        Sarah Palin and Wasilla Sports Complex land deal
        by xgz
        Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 09:39:17 AM PDT
        Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002. Her record during that time can tell us a lot about her. The biggest deal during her tenure is perhaps the construction of the sports complex that was built on someone else's land. She had to raise sales taxes to pay for it. The whole episode of incompetence, arrogance, and lack of respect for the law is exactly the style of governance that we've seen from Bush and co in the past seven years.
        The $15 million multi-use indoor ice arena was supposed to be her legacy as the mayor. This was a very big deal for a city that had a budget of $3.9 million in 96 (increased to $5.8 million in 2002). Although the city subsidy has gone down from the initial $600k per year to about $125k per year, the sports complex still does not break even.
        The biggest problem, however, was the process of how the land was acquired. The whole thing was handled with exceptional incompetence and arrogance, ultimately costing the city an extra $1.7 million in settlement and court cost for a piece of land that would have costed only $125k if they had handled it right from the beginning in 1998.
        This involved a developer by the name of Gary Lundgren. Here is the whole scoop:
        Lundgren negotiated with the national office of The Nature Conservancy to buy the land. Meanwhile, Wasilla city officials decided they wanted the land too, and began negotiating with the Alaska office of The Nature Conservancy. Offers were extended to both parties. Lundgren closed the deal.
        Without the title in their hands, the city went ahead with the sales tax increase and started the construction. Then in typical Bush fashion, as Palin was leaving office in 2002,
        Wasilla sued both Lundgren and The Nature Conservancy for title to the land. The case went to a federal appeals court, where Lundgren won rights to the property.
        The court case was finally settled several years after Palin left.
        The real legacy is, that the city is still paying for this today, while having to cut budget in library service, postponing capital improvement projects, and raising fees.
        Can we afford this kind of incompetence on the national level?




      • Posted By: Unbridled Truth @ 10/27/2008 11:16:35 AM

        Apparently, you do not know what socialism is. Why aren't you screaming about the American nationalization (socializing) of the banking system? You also need to learn a little about the characteristics of fascism (http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/14_Characteristics_Fascism.html). The American government has been embracing fascism for the past 8 years. While I am not advocating socialism any more than I believe Obama is socialist, however, Americans and the world at large would be safer with a Socialist America than a Fascist America.

      • Posted By: benkrapf @ 10/27/2008 10:45:54 AM

        Concern yourself with being less of a tool.

      • Posted By: epryor @ 10/27/2008 10:02:52 AM

        If he's a socialist, then she's a fascist, Nuff said!

  • Posted By: Kboogie @ 10/27/2008 2:20:01 PM

    During the 2000 campaign, on MSNBC???s ???Hardball,??? a young woman asked McCain why her father, a doctor, should be ???penalized??? by being ???in a huge tax bracket.??? McCain replied that ???wealthy people can afford more??? and that ???the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don???t pay nearly as much as you think they do.??? The exchange continued:

    Young woman: Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?. . .
    McCain: Here???s what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there???s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.

    WOW!!!! I think McCain has forgotten his old beliefs. Sounds a little like...........hmmmm.........SOCIALISM!!

    What a joke this guy is!!



  • Posted By: 4carol @ 10/27/2008 2:06:07 PM

    Don't know where you got that crazy idea!!! The immigration thing is a possibility for a future Palin (God forbid), but the right will never break from business!!! After all, most of the far right got and continue to make their money from business whether it be legal or hidden!!! When it comes to money and making more of it, the far right will never give that up!!!!

  • Posted By: Kboogie @ 10/27/2008 1:48:54 PM

    At a rally in VA, this morning, Gov. Palin promised a crowd that she and McCain would balance the federal budget by tthe end of their first term.

    C'mon.........................do I really need to say anything else.

  • Posted By: bitterblogger @ 10/27/2008 1:30:41 PM

    The timing isn't right for Palin--assuming she has the smarts and the savvy to pick a credentialed team. The politics of division only work when the economy is in the dumper and classes clash over which segment is at fault--remember Pete Wilson's nascent presidential campaign? In the current situation, it's neither cultural conservatives nor immigrants that "produced" the economic mess. In 2010, the first time that Palin can re-emerge, the economy will be well on its way to being righted, and wedge issues will have little chance. In the absence of any other vehicle, I predict that by 2012 she'll have been gone too long from the national stage.

  • Posted By: zenoreo @ 10/27/2008 1:30:29 PM

    Time FOR SOME STRAIGHT TALK!!
    Okay, I'm a Republican by ideology. In fact, I???m a rare breed of Republican ??? I???m highly educated, smart, insightful, successful and very cultured.
    I???m QUESTIONING that out of all great GOP leaders in our party, the BEST CHOICE was McCain ? And Palin?
    McCain is an OLD fool that does not seem to be in his right mind. McCain cannot even keep his own set of lies straight, or even seem to know where or what he is doing at present !
    And for his judgment, just one word ??? Palin!
    Come on, Palin !
    Palin is a train wreck; SPIN any which way you want she is a HUGH mistake!
    Palin is an embarrassment to professional women, the state of Alaska, the GOP and to America.
    Is this the BEST my party can do?
    WHO EVER is running the show at the GOP, needs his/her head examined?
    AND FOR THE RECORD G.W.Bush is much more qualified to be president than McCain or Palin !
    Bush was just a little stupid, and that???s not a crime in America, because if being stupid was a crime then 93% of people in America should be locked up !
    One final word, I cannot believe that the GOP has become so BADLY misguided that the ONLY SUPPORTERS we really have are the WACKOS and FREAKS !
    Only a couple of years ago, those were the types of people we called Democrats, and NOW there are Republicans ??? the losers of society !
    Colin Powell, my apologies, I was anger at you, but NOW I understand you !

  • Posted By: dopelgangerA @ 10/27/2008 1:06:26 PM

    It could endanger either of the major political parties' viability for win major general elections, if they allowed anyone to "re-invent" them too far to the right or the left. ...However, I DO think that, if Palin decides to go on the paid lecture circuit after the election, she could probably earn a ton of money.

  • Posted By: Democrat-Hillary @ 10/27/2008 12:39:50 PM

    Hello Republicans!
    You already did a lot of damage to the country and the American people by voting for Bush and there is blood in a lot of hands.
    So, think hard before voting for McCain (who is at high cancer risk - melanoma metastasis) and a brainless Palin and MORE WARS (in plural) as promised by McCain!

  • Posted By: Democrat-Hillary @ 10/27/2008 12:31:54 PM

    "Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."
    Is this the McCain Experience and Judgment?

    Is this the VP a heartbeat away from the Presidency?

    HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Posted By: max in fl @ 10/27/2008 12:27:05 PM

    The big political intrigue over the weekend was the Politico story noting that Palin had ???gone rogue??? -- ignoring the McCain campaign???s advice, as well as seeming to break with McCain on a few issues (like raising Jeremiah Wright and the campaign???s decision to give up on Michigan). And then a McCain adviser said this to CNN: "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone. She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom." Wow. Of course, tension between the running mate -- who is looking out for his/her political future -- and the principal???s campaign is nothing new. (See Edwards, John.) But what is new is how this has become public consumption before Election Day. (We didn???t really know about the Kerry-Edwards tension until after the campaign?) No doubt Palin is looking out for her political future after this campaign. The question is whether this tension ends up damaging her for 2012???
    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/27/1596444.aspx

  • Posted By: max143 @ 10/27/2008 12:18:03 PM

    Palin would "spawn a movement"? EEEKKKK! I cannot think of one thing she could possibly have the intellect to spawn. Well, I take that back a bit. Perhaps she could spawn a movement of the un-educated citizens who might be dazzled by her "gotcha" attitude.
    What I would LOVE to see is Sarah Palin going on Chris Mathews show. Now, THAT would be truly entertainment. Maybe she could dress up in her fancy cloths provided for her by the RNC. And by the way, isn't it funny that only when the whole disppicable thing was uncovered did she stop wearing the cloths and start wearing her jeans. She doesn't fool anyone but perhaps the truly un-educated. She is not the average, everyday person who shops at Walmart! That in itself is an insult to Walmart customers who are just trying to spend the crumbs thrown to them by the truly rich people who have been coddled to by the Bush administration and wil continue to have to spend their crumbs if McCain is elected! I'm sick to death of living on crumbs! I'm sick to death of Sarah Palin and McCains lies and dirty campaigning. Obama is so far above those clowns, it's not even funny. Obama can lead this country to pride in itself and fairness to all.

  • Posted By: lsiler80 @ 10/27/2008 9:40:29 AM

    I don't understand. Who the is anti-immigration? That is just an indirect way of calling people racist. I am against illegal immigration. Close the boarder; open the gates.

    • Posted By: Bass Pro @ 10/27/2008 9:50:45 AM

      It's easy to be torn between providing the American dream to immigrants as we always have and understanding that if you can't provide jobs and healthcare for those citizen that are already here.

      Unfettered immigration will further destroy the economy. I'm not torn, the decision to slow immigration to a crawl is the right thing to do now. I'm a liberal and that's an understatement, but lets care for those we have first!

      • Posted By: Unbridled Truth @ 10/27/2008 11:00:56 AM

        My Father was a legal immigrant. He was brought over here legally in 1952, when he was 17, by his parents who came over hear legally. He was able to live the American dream. Too bad I, born an American and a generation don't have the same opportunities he enjoyed.

        Illegal immigration drives down the salaries of the legal citizens in the same way outsourcing does.

        • Posted By: Bass Pro @ 10/27/2008 11:16:52 AM

          We're all immigrants except for the Natuve American Indians. The problem isn't just with illegal immigration right now.Illegals do lower wages because they cannot do anything about them without being deported. the country just needs to tighten up on all immigration right now. We're in tough times and it's hard enough for the citizen that live here now to make a life for themselves.

          • Posted By: Unbridled Truth @ 10/27/2008 11:51:29 AM

            It is cheaper to deport them then let them take American Jobs (tax free), collect social security benefits (that they did not pay into), give them FEMA funds when to rebuild their homes after a flood, give them free medical care which the rest of us pay for and/or jail them (at the tune of more than 60k per year) when they commit crimes. Illegal immigration is, after all ILLEGAL. Illegal immigrants should not be rewarded, If there were consistent and unpleasant consequences for their illegal activity. Otherwise, illegal immigration will continue to grow.

            • Posted By: Bass Pro @ 10/27/2008 12:03:31 PM

              Taking into account the history of efficancy for the Department of Immigration, I calculate that it will take 12 million agents to round up 12 million illegal immigrants. They're here, let's get them on the path to citizenship. We'll all be better for it.

  • Posted By: John of Tustin @ 10/25/2008 4:42:40 PM

    Two Newsweek reporters sent to Saks to find out what clothes cost there? Why not send just one of them to interview Bill Ayers on his relationship with Obama. That is a real news story and meaningful to the voting public. And, maybe the other can investigate Obama's links to ACORN. When Newsweek begins to cover the news from a balanced perspective I will renew my subscription.

    • Posted By: Amusedone @ 10/27/2008 11:49:34 AM

      Been there, done that, don't want to do it again, again and again. Your dragging around a dead horse - It aint got traction! .

      Trust me if there was something there the MSM (Liberal or not) would be all over it. They love good dirt and the more the better and they don't care who the dirt is on. Just remember the Clinton BJ lie. It was a free-for-all with each media outlet trying to see who could dig up the most dirt.

    • Posted By: Amusedone @ 10/27/2008 11:44:57 AM

      been there, done that, don't want to do it again, again and again. The well is dry - it isn't a story, its not even an issue. The nag won't run - it came out of the gate, collapsed and died. You are dragging a dead horse. It has no traction. How often do you need to hear this? This bit of non-issue has been dragged out so many times and besides inuendo there is nothing there.

      Trust me, the MSM - liberal or no - loves good dirt and they really don't care who the dirt is on. If there was something to this they would be all over it like stick on S-----! Just think back to the Clinton years - oh how the Right wanted to find something bad about Clinton and all they could find is a BJ lie. Look how the MSM jumped on that dirt. It was a free-for-all of who could get the most dirt first.

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