McCain's Choice

[WinJStar]

Just passing on an Email received to open a discussion.



John McCain is turned 72 yesterday. In 8 years he will be 80. It has now come to our attention that Reagan had alzheimers while in office. Do we want such a mature person in the White House? If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin, Buchananite

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
adn.com | elections : 'Creation science' enters the race

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
Kevin Grandia: Palin Buys Climate Denial PR Spin - Ignores Science

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
Sierra Club: McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor - Times Online

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
McCain met Palin once before yesterday? - First Read - msnbc.com

[bluffmanxx]

Like most chain e-mails, it has some truth with lots of distortion and hype.

Not a surprise that many who would not be voting for McCain anyway don't like her.

As for her lack of experience, that argument is a bit odd - what is worse a President with little to no experience or a VP with little to no experience?? I think most people are smart enough to figure that out. Don't the Obama supporters realize that they should not be drawing attention to the experience issue??



visiting Alaska National Guard troops

[WinJStar]

I can't find it anywhere. Do we not have a poll asking if members are Dem? Rep? Und? etc... Curious where we are at.

[LadyWrestler]

In regards to the title of this post, I think John McCain made a great choice in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate!

I have no comment about the original post e-mail, except to say that the more the Democrats attack her the more it will backfire on them, IMO.

[LadyWrestler]

"Let Palin Be Palin
Why the left is scared to death of McCain's running mate.
by William Kristol
09/08/2008, Volume 013, Issue 48



A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and Washington--the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the taint (fair or unfair) of the Bush administration and the recent Republican Congress, able to invigorate a McCain administration and to govern beyond it.

That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader.

So what we will see in the next days and weeks--what we have already seen in the hours after her nomination--is an effort by all the powers of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream media, to exorcise this spectre. They will ridicule her and patronize her. They will distort her words and caricature her biography. They will appeal, sometimes explicitly, to anti-small town and anti-religious prejudice. All of this will be in the cause of trying to prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgment of Sarah Palin.

That's why Palin's spectacular performance in her introduction in Dayton was so important. Her remarks were cogent and compelling. Her presentation of herself was shrewd and savvy. I heard from many who watched Palin--many of them not predisposed to support her--about how moved they were by her remarks, her composure, and her story. She will have a chance to shine again Wednesday night at the Republican convention.

But before and after that, she'll be swimming in political waters infested with sharks. Her nickname when she was the starting point guard on an Alaska high school championship basketball team was "Sarah Barracuda." I suspect she'll take care of herself better than many expect.

But the McCain campaign can help. The choice of Palin was McCain's own. Many of his staff expected, and favored, other more conventional candidates. The campaign may be tempted to overreact when one rash sentence or foolish comment by Palin from 10 or 15 years ago is dragged up by Democratic opposition research and magnified by a credulous and complicit media.

The McCain campaign will have to keep its cool. It will have to provide facts and context, and to hit back where appropriate. But it cannot become obsessed with playing defense. It should allow Palin to deal with the charges directly and resist the temptation to try to shield her from the media. Palin is potentially a huge asset to McCain. He took the gamble--wisely, we think--of putting her on the ticket. McCain's choice of Palin was McCain being McCain. Now his campaign will have to let Palin be Palin.

There will be rocky moments. But they will fade if the McCain campaign lets Palin's journey take its natural course over the next two months. Millions of Americans--mostly but not only women, mostly but not only Republicans and conservatives--seemed to get a sense of energy and enjoyment and pride, not just from her nomination, but especially from her smashing opening performance. Palin will be a compelling and mold-breaking example for lots of Americans who are told every day that to be even a bit conservative or Christian or old-fashioned is bad form. In this respect, Palin can become an inspirational figure and powerful symbol. The left senses this, which is why they want to discredit her quickly.

A key moment for Palin will be the vice presidential debate, to be held at Washington University in St. Louis on October 2. One liberal commentator--a former U.S. ambassador and not normally an unabashed vulgarian--licked his chops Friday afternoon: "To steal an old adage of former Secretary of State James Baker .  .  . putting Sarah Palin into a debate with Joe Biden is going to be like throwing Howdy Doody into a knife fight!"

Charming. And if Palin holds her own against Biden, as she is fully capable of doing? McCain will then have succeeded in combining with his own huge advantage in experience and judgment, a politician of great promise in his vice presidential slot who will make Joe Biden look like a tiresome relic. McCain's willingness to take a chance on Palin could turn what looked, after Obama's impressive speech Thursday night in Denver, like a long two months for Republicans and conservatives, into a campaign of excitement and--dare we say it?--hope, which will culminate on November 4 in victory.

--William Kristol



© Copyright 2008, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved."

[Niccivan]

Originally Posted by LadyWrestler

In regards to the title of this post, I think John McCain made a great choice in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate!

I have no comment about the original post e-mail, except to say that the more the Democrats attack her the more it will backfire on them, IMO.

I agree.

And a very good article Shay!

[WinJStar]

No way does McCain get my vote, but if we are stuck with this man in office, she is the one redeeming quality (in my eyes at least). Her views on Women Rights are rather alarming though. Again, in my opinion. Lol, and I am not even gonna dare to start on Global Warming in here.

[bluffmanxx]

Did someone mention global warming???

[LadyWrestler]

Originally Posted by bluffmanxx

Did someone mention global warming???

Whoever mentioned it needs to spend one winter in my area of the country...then we will talk.

[LadyWrestler]

A liberal democrat writes about McCain's choice:

A BRILLIANT TRAP MAKES DEMS THE MALE CHAUVINISTS - New York Post