On Demand
RNC Coverage: Hour 1
Glenn Reynolds, law professor at the University of Tennessee and founder of Instapundit, John Stanton, staff writer for Roll Call, and Pilar Marrero, reporter and columnist for the La Opinión and a reporter with Feet in Two Worlds, analyze last night's speeches and preview Senator McCain's speech tonight.
Then
WNYC Meet the Delegates Series: James Brady from Shaker Heights, OH.
Then
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito talks about speech "zingers" at the Republican National Convention.
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"A perfect demonstration of the McCain-Palin ticket and future governing pattern -- act on impulse, cover it up by lying, demonstrate over and over that your own ambitions are more important than security and good governance."
Wow, red meat indeed. I could only watch part of the Palin speech. Unabashedly vicious. Someone compared her sneer to Tracy Flick. But Tracy wasn't really vicious, just ambitious and frustrated. This was something else.
On the offhand chance that, say, 90% of women have already had bad junior high experiences with a mean girl, I'd say there's hope for Obama. There's no way we're going through with any kind of Stockholm Syndrome-inspired voting support for THIS Republican woman. (Give us the ever-stylish and understated Olympia Snowe!)
The problem for Sarah Palin is that she has to convince more than just the party faithful. And in the meantime, the viciousness with which she attacked Obama will send a lot of fence-sitters to the Obama camp, and reinvigorate his supporters to donate time and money.
The "all-important" visual: finally, the hair is, if not off her face, then at least out of her eyes. (She's applying for VP, not a pharmaceutical sales rep!) When I switched from the radio to the live feed, I had the same gut feeling I had when I first saw Mitt Romney, after a year of hearing him only on the radio. I thought, uh-oh, that's the all-American, the one they're going to pick.
But in the end, Romney didn't make the shortlist, despite the enthusiasm of the Club for Growth. So maybe it's a good sign.
At its core, Palin’s speech was divisive, obnoxious, and dishonest. When she was on the attack, I was reminded of a quote from the late GOP strategist Lee Atwater. When describing the campaign he planned to run against Michael Dukakis in 1988, he said he planned to “strip the bark off the little expletive”. As an Obama supporter, I found her smarmy, mocking tone to be tasteless. As repulsive as I found her content, her delivery was pitch perfect. She moved seamlessly from telling her personal story to landing low blows on Obama. She’s one part America’s Sweetheart and one part barroom brawler. I watched some post-game reaction and Slate.com’s Tim Noah was correct when he predicted all the pundits would love her speech.
Palin and other speakers went full throttle bashing the liberal media. Palin and the Republicans are trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Because of a few salacious personal rumors that circulated in the blogosphere, they want to cut off all media scrutiny. This is baloney. Palin is a brand new candidate running for the second highest job in our govt. The media needs to examine her professional career thru an electron microscope.
The media must hold its ground and not let Palin beat it into submission. There are many legit stories to pursue on Palin without sinking into tabloid trash. She should be asked to explain her views on global warming, intelligent design, and censorship. The press needs to follow up on the bridge to nowhere because she lied once again about the position she took regarding the project. There’s also a story about her connection to a pro-Ted Stevens 527 group.
As a diehard critic of Rudy Giuliani, his performance lived down to all of my expectations. He was bullying, dismissive, and dripping with contempt – vintage Rudy. I’m very pleased he no longer holds public office and hope that he never gets elected to another position in government ever again.
The Straw-man Cometh:
All I kept hearing last night is that"they" have leveled sexist attacks against Palin. Who are/is the "they" who said Palin can't be a mother and VP? I've followed the election closely - probably more closely then is good - and I haven't seen it in the MSM, Dems or the Left's Blogs.
I did see it from Dr. Laura - the right's family maven.
http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/09/02/sarah-palin-and-motherhood/
You might get attacked form fringes - but to conflate that with legitimate questions of experience.....really?
Anyone see the "hottest VP, from the coldest state" buttons...classy
Outstanding! Hot! Hot! Hot!
Q: What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull?
A: Lipstick
The trouble with Democrats is their amazingly thn skins. You have to look at the conventions of both sides as giant pep rallies. As the next 60 days roll out, voters should get off their butts and start reading and reading and reading. And listening to 30 issues in 30 days. It's the Obamatons vs the McCaniacs and their respective fans need to grow up and stop sniping at each other. So if a Democrat really wants to stop the atacks agsinst their guy, they have to stop their attacks against the other guy. Otherwise, forget it, get usd to it and stop the whining.
Lipstick? Maybe Max Factor will design and name a new shade for her: Palin Pink, Palinicious, Brown Sugar Sarah. VP Vermillion.
This will surely bring in the women's vote.
(eye roll)
Peggy Noonan, in today's Wall Street Journal:
"Because she jumbles up so many cultural categories, because she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist; because she wears makeup and heels and eats mooseburgers and is Alaska Tough, as Time magazine put it; because she is conservative, and pro-2nd Amendment and pro-life; and because conservatives can smell this sort of thing -- who is really one of them and who is not -- and will fight to the death for one of their beleaguered own; because of all of this she is a real and present danger to the American left, and to the Obama candidacy."
I am thinking the sarcasm and the snarky, mocking tone that was the consistent thread throughout last night's prime-time speeches may have played quite well with the base. But that isn't who the GOP needs to win.
And I also think the cynicism about community organizers will come back and bite the "pit bull in lipstick" that barked it.
Sarah Palin is John McCain's "bridge to nowhere." Hopefully a better "Palin" will give us a new BBC/PBS series soon to redeem the surname.
It was snark over substance. It sounded more like a blog entry than a campaign speech.
Palin:
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."
;)
American Wins with Palin,
Don't buy that Noonan "narrative." She was also caught on mic yesterday saying Palin was nothing but "political b****s****" and of the election, "it's over."
When are the Republicans actually going to talk about policy?
When are they going to talk about anything of substance?
The RNC is all attacks. All this "value" crap.
Same old, same old.
They don't say anything!
Palin (while applying lipstick): "It's not rocket science. It's 53 employees and $6 million...so what is it a VP does all day?"
There is a cool T-shirt on Cafe Press, with the line, "I am Sarah Palin. Her story is my story."
- hardworking moms
- PTA volunteers
- loving wives
- successful executives
- Democrats & Republicans...
Making history for American women!
Brian,
Last nights speech from Rudy Giuliani made me cringe, I am so thankful he is not the republican candidate. I noticed one thing in the speech that made me especially uncomfortable about the man. At first I couldn't believe he said it, but checking the transcript this morning, he did say it. Here's the qoute : "Please tell me, who are they insulting if they say 'Islamic terrorism?' They are insulting terrorist."
Am I reading this the wrong way or is he saying you insult a terrorist by adding the word Islamic in front of it?
how offensive to dismiss the work of community organizers. was the attack on obama really worth this display of contempt for citizens (right, left, independent) who work for the betterment of their communities?
also, i imagine its super loud in those convention halls...if theyre going to have her baby on the stage all the time shouldnt someone put some earplugs or something on him? whenever i see him up there it makes me quite anxious
One could make the case that Palin is running against Obama for the top job, as everyone is comparing THESE two -- McCain and Biden are one the sidelines.
I think that Palin tops Obama on all counts!!
Well last night told us what the Republicans are against but it sure didn't tell us what they are for.
Rudy and Palin ignited the same old culture wars that have been dormant for awhile. This was Bush on Steroids.
Community Organizing is code for helping black people.
We know the score and while Palin's speech was well written by a former Bush scribe and well delivered by Palin. We know that the gloves are off and this is going to be a very ugly campaign. THey conceded the votes of Moderate Independents last night. This was music for people without ears, Preaching for people without souls.
She did a fine job with her speech but I find it funny that "just words" have people in a tizzy over her greatness. McCain says, "See how great she is." But if that is all it takes, then why not Brooke Shields or Meryl Streep for VP. I am sure they could have delivered a much stronger speech using the same words. But as Peggy Noonan said, she is not even close to the most qualified and it is a BS political choice.
The text was very generic conservative speech, dripping with contempt for Obama. Unlike Dems, I don't think the Repugs have said one genuinely nice thing about Obama. Liberals are soft fuzzy UnAmerican community organizers who will raise taxes. We are tough patriots who will cut taxes. Very, very tepid text with a good delivery.
And she straight up lied about the bridge to nowhere: "I said thanks but no thanks." Yes, she said thanks for years before she said no thanks when Congress said no. And she kept the $230M and they are using some of that to build a road to the bridge to nowhere. Except now there is no bridge!
My two thoughts from watching last night were:
1. I was really surprised Palin spent so much time discussing her family, especially her son's impending military service and her infant's special needs. I thought they were trying to take her family off the table but she put it there front and center. I guess the takeaway message is that SHE can talk about her family for purposes of promoting her agenda but no one else can mention them.
2. I flipped back and forth between a couple of different stations and on each one I couldn't get over how "white" the crowd was. I think I saw one African American and that was it. To me it was shocking because it isn't remotely representative of where I live. I wonder if it was just the cameras or if the attendance at this convention is really this "white". People make jokes about it and I usually dismiss them but it was quite startling to see such a lack of ethnic diversity in a large political gathering. Didn't the Republicans used to try to have a "big tent"?
@23 Chris O
"[He] did a fine job with [his] speech but I find it funny that "just words" have people in a tizzy over [his] greatness."
there, fixed it for you.
Does anyone happen to have a copy of that messianic speech on race relations that was for SALE on the Obama website...that is before he had to FLOP and choke on it...what a few days later? Is it still available? That'll be worth some coin some day.
The hypocrisy REEKS.
Typical republican attack.
Community organizing is hard work, WITH RESPONSIBILITIES, that attempts to better the lives of those in need, often low income and minority. To belittle that work, as Sarah Palin did, is bullying.
Bullying is what George W. Bush's foreign policy has been for the past eight years. The result has been to weaken our nation.
To elect Palin and McCain would not be a change, but more of the same.
I don't want a pit bull with lipstick for our VP.
Once again the Repugs have no shame. They say, How dare you say she can't be VP with all those children and family responsibilities. BUT NO, they are the ones that say that. They speak of family values, nuclear families. The only people who think women SHOULD stay home are on the right. (Many people on the left stay home but by choice and they don't oppose those who choose otherwise.)
So this line of attack is really an attack on their fundamentalist base which roars approvingly (clueless as usual) since it is presented as an attack on liberals even though they DO NOT hold this view.
Republicans carry Hammers and
when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail
Don't think I heard any concern for the middle class mentioned during the short time I was listening.
The other thing shameless about the Repugs (one of the many other things I should say) is the celebrity thing. Obama started out unknown and far, far behind in the polls. Through a long slog or 12-18 months, he just kept swaying people. He fought his way to the top, winning admirers along the way. It is fine to oppose him, doubt him, question him. It is also fine to support him, praise him and trust him. But nothing was given to him.
Sarah Palin on the other hand appears out of nowhere and all these rightwingers who KNOW NOTHING about her (except the bare biographical sketch) swoon and practically faint over her. They are like the little girls at Beatle concerts in 1964, just hysterical in their devotion. So they are the ones falling for shallow celebrity-like qualities.
@27 Bobby G
Sure there is hard work in community organizing. But it is what it is, it is ADVOCACY -- something a minority, Harvard-educated attorney Obama would probably be good at IN URBAN CHICAGO.
But EXECUTIVE office, be it CEO, mayor, governor, president, involves balancing the interests of various groups with competing interests -- it is fundamentally different.
We need a president for ALL of US.
Obama: "above my pay grade"...
JL is right on target.
Why is it acceptable for Palin to talk so much about her son who has enlisted in the army, and her baby who she and her husband decided to have despite the high probability the baby would have special needs, and her own being "just a hockey mom," yet the press and the Democrats aren't allowed to talk about her family?
She has 22 months experience, Obama has 12 years!
She is mayor of her town b/c she knew everyone there in little Alaska town. Was she a Senator?
I don't think so. I don't want that woman's finger on the nuclear bomb trigger.
OBAMA WILL BE PRESIDENT!!
I found it rather illuminating that her speechwriters found it necessary in the teleprompter script to spell "nuclear" as "new-clear"...
@ #33 A president for all of us is not what we heard last night. Am I less American because I live in the city.
I don't know why everyone keeps saying her speech was good. It was written for her and she was coached. And Obama was right; the ticket has nothing to say about themselves, it's still all about him. I thought the attacks were horribly unfair, especially coming from someone with less experience.
Sarah Palin attacked community organizers last night. As you pointed out in your intro this morning, she attacked Obama as a community organizer more than once.
The media has given us no information about community organizing, a job which, to my knowledge, has a great deal of responsibility.
Please rectify this.
Whatever caller, Trust me, she is NOT Latina!
@NYorkistan - Noonan (and what she wrote) is a joke - she got caught on an open mike saying the Palin nomination sinks the McCain candidacy.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/212920.php
I thought she was great! well done. Let the games begin!!
I'm still voting for Obama but it was a great "speech."
However, one scripted speech does not a good VP make. I just wouldn't trust her as president which is ultimately the big question with a VP and a 70+ presidential candidate.
Kate
Queens, NY
it's wonderful SHE CAN READ A SPEECH that is perfectly written for her and rehearsed.
I knew when i first saw her introduced, she was a performer and could deliver a speech.
SCARY STUFF that i haven't heard one comment about her handlers and the speech writers.
Dr. sandra mann
@34 Lance
The issue is fairness. Obama has smartly decided to take the position that family should be left off the table.
Criticism of Palin's family would lead to further examination of Obama's.
Like the fact that Obama's father was married to another woman when he married Obama's mother. Bigamy is a crime btw.
When will the Republican Convention be over. I hope today is the last day.
Republicans think we have goo goo, good government syndrome.
They are like a child with a jack in the box filled with feces and the wind up box plays the song they want to hear and when the jack in the box pops up, all the garbage and bathroom waste (****) flies in their face and they clap their hands and say "Yeah, the baby." and clap like little children.
Let's hand them a towel and reality with Obama. Let's stand strong and have Obama win.
Where were the answers on *ANY* issues... they weren't there... We are in serious trouble if the Republicans win.
Brian, would you look into the report that a Bush justice department political appointee in Colorado dismissed the charges against the two men stalking Obama in Denver last week. It surprised me at the time, now it seems that there maybe more to it.
what sexism on the part of the media RE: Palin? what examples are there of "left leaning women" being sexist can the guest cite? that is myth that the GOP made up- don't let this guy get away with spreading lies further.
yeah yeah yeah, asking for a qualified candidate is sexism. Got it. Clever. Can I get on the email list so that I can just read the talking points myself every morning? Then we could devote this radio time to something interesting.
Palin's speech was smug and sarcastic -- an exercise in, as one observer put it, "snot-nosed nastiness."
All this speech tells you is that she holed herself up in a hotel room for 5 days and practiced what McCain's Bush aides told her to say.
She made herself into a ventriloquist doll -- emphasis on "doll" -- for the production of Republican red meat.
Congratulations.
So Thanks Brian, for elevating Sarah Palin to 'rock star' status. Why, because she made one speech, and you declared it so? OK, thanks, just like the rest of the pundits who tell us what we are supposed to think.
There was nothing there for the American voter. If making a hatefilled vicious attack speech directed towards the base, with no substance, avoiding all the issues that are important to anxious American voters means rock star, go for it.
To me it sounded like someone running for Student Council. Screechy, sneery, nosewrinkling has a long way to be rock star. And stop comparing her to Barack Obama.
I was really saddened by this speech. The tone was mean, the insults very below-the-belt, the cynicism and just blatant lies cringe-worthy.
The fact that there are people out there who ate this up makes me sad for America. As an independent Hispanic woman, this is not what I want for 4-8 more years. We've already HAD this condescending political tone for the past 8 years!
@32 got news for you buddy, Palin and McCain are above your paygrade as well! lol
She a hockey mom, shoots a gun, used to play basketball, and is involved with local politics. These seem to be the points that Republicans are harping on...I hereby nominate Sarah Palin for Homecoming Queen.
Has anyone asked Hilary Clinton about this nomination? Does the nomination of Sarah Palin cheapen Hilary's rise through the ranks and struggle to the nomination?
The "community organizer" bit came from a blog at National Review.
Palin's speech was very effective and powerful from a Republican perspective.
However, as a social worker I was greatly offended by her's and Guiliani's belittling of Obama's experience as a community organizer. Community organization is very difficult work. You need patience and an ability to bring people together. You work with the most vulnerable population in our country (the poor). It is noble work and it IS a tremendous responsibility Ms. Pailn! You are working for real change when you are a community organizer.
The Republicans were getting their yuks last night saying that Obama had
never run anything.
We know that he has run at least one thing EXTREMELY well ... his campaign
for president, a multimillion dollar enterprise where executive smarts are
essential, especially the way this race has needed to be run.
This is not a race that his daddy's buddies are handing him, as occurred
eight years ago. And the obstacle that he needed to overcome for the
Democratic nomination was enormous. I mean the Clintons. This is not a
value judgment about the Clintons' character ... just their political heft
and the resources at their disposal, which rival those of the Bush crowd.
He outorganized them and frankly outsmarted them. This was no field of
relative equals with significant flaws like the one McCain just overcame.
Obama's victory in the Democratic race says much about his ability to run
things.
Separately ... did I really vote for Rudy Giuliani for mayor??? What a dishonest, ignorant monster he has become.
Why are all the Republican women surrogates saying it is SEXIST for anyone to question Palin's decision to run for major office when she has young children at home, including a baby with special needs (and now has an unwed teenage daughter to boot)?
Isn't she running on a Christian social conservative "traditional family values" platform? (ie, women - rather than men - should sacrifice their own ambitions outside the home to the needs of their children?)
@51 - I agree, she attacked him for no cause, he has not yet said a negative word about her, neither has his campaign.
Brian, its amazing how no one in the media talks about how the republicans are avoiding the issues and harping on personalities and no one has discussed how ashamed they are about how republicans have distroyed our economy that they have not even introduce (Dick Cheney) and you have not even heard any mention of him in this convention. they are ambarressed cant talk about the issues and only harp on personalities which is all they can do to try and defeat sen. Obama!
The government is the mirror of the people", so said Maharishi Mahesh Yogi so many decades ago. Last night we saw how low we've sunk as a people when someone who can read a teleprompter well with a speech she didn't write can sweep away a convention hall as well as all the pundits. The Republicans will keep her under wraps so that she doesn't have to respond to any substantive questions and for the debate she will be drilled in how to take any question and wave the flag. And the American people will buy it. How depressing.
"Community organizer" is racist code for African-American.
Born again Christians like the Republicans because they want to get rid of abortion and deny gay marriage to same sex couples(I include both lesbians and gay couples). They are only for them because the Bible is against both, abortion is supposedly murder and gay marriage is an "abomination" to the Lord. Bush is a Christian, McCainn is claiming to be one and Palin is Pentealmostgospel Pentecoastal Christian.
@24 JL
Re: the whiteness of the crowd: I noticed the same thing from the bits of coverage I saw. Don't they usually at least push a few people of color in front of the cameras for show?
Spot on Lance.
Good night for the base. If you liked the zingers in Palin's speech, you probably weren't going to vote for Obama anyway. I think they made a mistake by not offering anything to the voters. Who is actually wooed to a party by these snarky remarks? Can we expect some policy tonight?
Why are all the Republican women surrogates saying it is SEXIST for anyone to question Palin's decision to run for major office when she has young children at home, including a baby with special needs (and now has an unwed teenage daughter to boot)?
Isn't she running on a Christian social conservative "traditional family values" platform? (ie, women - rather than men - should sacrifice their own ambitions outside the home in service to the needs of their children?)
That speech was a good way to distract from her current family issues.
I found the use of derisive laughter in last night's convention a clever response to the Greek theme of the Democratic convention's stage set. Something that ancient Greeks politicians feared most was laughter, thinking it had almost magical powers to destroy one's standing.
I have to conclude that the sarcasm and derisive tone of last night's language was intentional in this way.
What I thought was strange the Dem's attacked the policy of McCain. The Repub attacked the person. It just shows a lack of common respect for people.
While the pundits are 'plauding, and the speech was effective in ways, it is possible that as the conservative base rallies to the ticket, the independents peel away. This ramped-up polarization in such a Republican-hostile environment is a dangerous tack. It will take a few weeks to see how things shake. I tend to agree with Peggy Noonan, "It's over." But maybe Palin can save them in 2012.
Here's the link for the "community organizer" bit
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmMwODM1OWQxZDYxMDlmZjEwZDQ5YzQ4YzNlMmEwNmY=
Caribou Barbie!
McCain & Palin are empty shirts.
Not well educated.
No thoughtful policy ideas. Or ideas in general.
McCain not a war hero. Please enough already.
Obama not my favorite however well educated.
A lawyer!
A president and a VP work with laws. It would be nice to have someone who knows what a law is.
washington elite. is she talking about mccain??
she had some good one liners, unlike rudy's hate filled rant
should the baby be in that noisy room? seemed a bit cruel
Brian
I love this show! With your callers -- and posters here -- all one has to do is substitute Obama's in name for Palin in any criticism of Palin.
The hypocrisy is incredible.
Like: Palin has no experience.
Translation: Obama has no experience!
Obama is running for the TOP JOB ...carrying the football.
When did the Culture Wars end? I don't think the (center)left gets it; for two decades, they've been bringing squirt guns to this shootout. And wouldn't you know it, they keep getting decimated.
Smug sarcasm will only preach to the converted. I'm from a small town and this tack doesn't seem very small-town to me. She's not trying to communicate to women in the middle of the political spectrum, she's attempting to consolidate the base.
Shouldn't the governor of Alaska need a jet? My impression is that many towns don't have road access and one has to fly or boat into them. Just sayin.
I found it absurd that the speakers spoke as if the people in the audience were somehow not responsible for the past eight years. If John McCain was so great what happened eight years ago when he ran. They speak about how pivotal an election this is but G W Bush is their guy. This was a weird experience watching them clap about the problems they caused.
I am a community organizer, and the philosophy behind community organizing is pointedly NOT partisan. Organizing is concerned with marshaling power to solve problems--potholes, bad schools, whatever. It is a supremely pragmatic approach to politics. "No permanent friends, no permanent enemies," is a basic tenet. To say that Obama's life is a community organizer makes him a creature of the left betrays a lack of awareness of what organizing is. Obama's work as an organizer makes him a pragmatist.
why hasn't brian et al done a basic fact check on the pain speech? it was full of lies about her and Barack's record. do the facts matter??
i believe in career and family, but how does one learn to be president/stand-in with an infant, down syndrome son, an infant grandchild, 4 other children?
and, what happens to this infant when she is traveling all over the country? no attachment, bonding, attention needs of this and her other children - especially her teen-age daughter. what makes her think it's just fine for a 4 month old infant with a nervous system of an infant to be on a podium with 30,000 screaming people why is no one commenting on her judgement as a mother?
dr. sandra mann
dedicated feminist, child advocate, career mother
This is nuts - she's not being attacked because she's a woman, she's being attacked because she's an inexperienced revenge-seeking dispensationalist.. She thinks Iraq is a messianic war. She thinks rape victims should be forced to have the child. She thinks creationism should be taught in schools and that our activities don't have anything to do with global warming. In other words, she's a joke - she is deeply ignorant and so far right that it's beyond belief. She's a horrible choice.
"Palin Electrifies Convention?"
Sarah Palin's rhetoric never rose above juvenile sarcasm. At least in America's disastrous affair with Dubya, media gatekeepers were seduced by a college frat boy. Eight years later, are they now falling for a high school mean girl?
This time, let's tune out the buzz long enough to think like responsible adults before voting.
"America Wins with Palin" from NYorkistan states: "Brian I love this show! With your callers -- and posters here -- all one has to do is substitute Obama's in name for Palin in any criticism of Palin. The hypocrisy is incredible. Like: Palin has no experience.
Translation: Obama has no experience! Obama is running for the TOP JOB ...carrying the football."
If running the local PTA and being a mayor of a remote town of less than 6,000 people is 'executive experience', she also has more of it than McCain. After all, he's never run an organization larger than his campaign. In one form or another, he's been a government employee all his life, like his father & grandfather. He's raised on government benefits and whines anout people without them that complain too much.
Brian - both McCains and a Fox commentator have said that she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is close to Russia. Please ask your panel what they think.
I don't quite get the experience thing; it's so confused. Last night Giuliani and Palin skewered Obama's lack of executive experience, but ignored McCain's lack. "The least experienced candidate in a hundred years," Giuliani said, avoiding a peek at Lincoln who had less, but what about Kennedy, who had little experience (none "executive"). [I haven't heard the snickering appropriate to Huckabee's calling Lincoln the "founder" of our party....]I am especially annoyed by the inarguable awe in the face of McCain's Vietnam experience, this from the very people who felt perfectly comfortable with dragging John Kerry's war experience through the mud.... And I hope we will not ignore Sarah Palin's snide remark about Obama wanting to be sure we read the terrorists their rights... I reacted especially to this as I am reading THE DARK SIDE...
I see a lot of comments as to how sarcastic and "mean" Palin was last night; but, let's be realistic: as a female, if Palin showed less fire, the country (including WNYC listeners) would brand her weak and ill-prepared for the world stage. She can't win with Obama supporters either way. That said, she was charismatic enough to impress my sister, a very independent voter, who was extremely skeptical about McCain's choice until last night. Doesn't mean she will ultimately vote for Palin, but it does show that she has the potential to sway independents.
1. the woman who was just defending palin on the experience issue sounds JUST as pathetic as any democratic die-hard who insists the same of obama.
2. palin was the first mayor of wasilla to run up a deficit. 22 million dollars in 6 years.
3. yesterday on npr mike huckabee said palin was much more experienced in the nuts and bolts of governance than joe biden because he is only 1 legislator among many in the senate. i agree with huckabee. of course this means she is also more experienced than john mccain as well.
4. the only difference between a conservative and a horse is which end the crap comes out of.
5. peggy noonan off mike on msnbc unwittingly summed it up for all the puditocracy. she wrote a glowing column in defense of palin. and then admitted that she thinks the choice is a joke. they're ALL (left and right) full of crap. peddling talking points and standing up for their side no matter what the facts may be.
How absurd to suggest that "community organizer" is racist code for urban or African-American. I don't think most Americans even know what the hell community organizer means, or specifically what Obama accomplished during those years.
And yes, it certainly is sexist for the media to keep "reporting" on her inability to juggle her family and the vice-presidency. Yesterday's ABCnews.com suggested the demands of becoming a GRANDMOTHER might preclude her giving all her attention to the office. Give me a break!
It's amazing to me that the American election comes down to little back-and-forths about silly issues that seem to be totally irrelevant once these people are elected. Where is the debate about policy, the reasoning, the accountability and the reaction to eight years of George W. Bush? The Democrats are going to drown in the swamp of nonsense topics that the Republican party manages to centre the debate around.
Comedy Central had a couple of great clips from Karl Rove and other Republican shouters lined up in last night's episode of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, worth the watch: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=184082
Also sexism is when you are okay with women being paid less then men when working the same job.
REPUB101..She does not have to win with "Obama supporters" she needs to win with the people in her party and even some of them use words like smug and sarcastic to describe her...scroll up!
You lefties are inocuculated in your NYC bubble and utterley clueless as to why Palin is such a home run. Keep talking only amongst yourselves, and preferrably, your Democratic representatives. You are going to give away the White House in what should by all rights be a cakewalk for you this year. Have fun watching the SCOTUS confirmation hearings next year.
She did ask for it - fundamentalists run on family values and their ability to keep their children "pure" - Palin's family is a trainwreck, and it's fair to ask her how she can run the country if she can't even run her own family to her (admittedly ridiculous) standard.
Derek from Brooklyn asks: "Shouldn't the governor of Alaska need a jet? My impression is that many towns don't have road access and one has to fly or boat into them. Just sayin."
A small plane with one propellor might be necessary since the state is as large as the entire US west and doesn't have a lot of roads, but a jet requires the large, paved runways of an airport, which few alaska towns have.
Good job caller!
The comparison with John Edwards is weak and irrelevant. Edwards was off the stage way before his affair came out, while Sarah Palin is the Republican nominee for Vice President. She's poised to be their attack dog, so she better get a thick skin.
To respond to your guest although i agree the media's sentiment seemed different on the Edward's scandal he was not the VP nominee which could be a reason there was less focus on that scandal. He is a private citizen not running for office.
Why isn't Brian challenging the comparison of press coverage of the John Edwards story with the Palin story? He wasn't running for office at the time the affair was revealed! Of course the press was less interested than it is in a nearly unknown vice-presidential candidate.
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