Conservative Columnist: Palin should bow out

[Tony]

As far as how elitism plays in rural America, you might be interested in this article:

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12305147

I don't really see what that article has to do with elitism, but it was good nonetheless. I'd like to comment on this though:

“This country has been in a mess since [John Kennedy’s] time,” contends Mr McAuley. “Any time you reward people for not working, you’re creating a monster.” Mr McAuley says he disagreed with the occupation of Iraq, because “we’re not trained to be policemen.” And he worries about the economy: the family store is selling less ice cream and candy these days. But he still backs Mr McCain because he is pro-gun and anti-taxes. As for Mr Obama: “His character is whatever he wants you to see. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of substance there.”

Statements like that are a sure sign of ignorance. Any period in American history can be described as a "mess".

Then there is also this gem:

A quarter of voters in the survey say their neighbours are not ready for a black president. A few are blunter. “I don’t like Barack Obama at all,” says Glenna Smith, Mr Blair’s 72-year-old former mother-in-law. “I don’t sugarcoat things. I don’t like black people.” However, Mrs Smith says she gets on well with her niece, who is half-black.

Ignorance all around.

 

[aerosolben]

I know its so hard to recognize because he's a politician, but those aren't gaffes. That's honesty.

Yes, but they are also discordant with the campaign and potentially exploitable. The advertising one particularly, because I believe the Obama campaign has reinforced its support for airing the ad.

It could also be spun in a good way, but at the moment no one seems to have noticed, so it's a bit moot.

 

[Malerin]

Yes, but they are also discordant with the campaign and potentially exploitable. The advertising one particularly, because I believe the Obama campaign has reinforced its support for airing the ad.

It could also be spun in a good way, but at the moment no one seems to have noticed, so it's a bit moot.

Right. Obama can simply spin it as Biden has a mind of his own, and is not afraid to tell people (i.e., REPORTERS) what he thinks.

 

[chipmunk stew]

Right. Obama can simply spin it as Biden has a mind of his own, and is not afraid to tell people (i.e., REPORTERS) what he thinks.

Biden is also uncommonly gifted at re-spinning his own gaffes.

 

[BenBurch]

...
Obey the Constitution?

Impeach her at the first colorable excuse.

 

[GreyICE]

Right. Obama can simply spin it as Biden has a mind of his own, and is not afraid to tell people (i.e., REPORTERS) what he thinks.

I don't think that qualifies as spinning, as even the most ardent Republicans would probably agree that Biden has a mind of his own, and his willingness to give reporters a piece of it is well documented.

 

[R.Mackey]

The difference is, with Biden, we know that his brains sometimes disengage. It passes, and life goes on.

With Palin, we know so little about her -- and what we do know is troubling -- that we wonder if the gaffes aren't what she honestly thinks.

 

[Gregoire]

I don't really see what that article has to do with elitism, but it was good nonetheless.

Of course I (like most on this forum) don't see elitism at all an issue in this campaign, and I actually prefer my President to have gone to an "elite" University. But I cited the article to show rural voters have a different take.

Asked who would deal better with problems facing rural areas or the economy more generally, rural voters are about evenly divided. But when asked who shares their values, they prefer Mr McCain by a 14-point margin. And they love his running-mate, Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Fully 65% of rural voters in swing states think she “represents the values of rural communities”.

Though many urban voters were repelled by Mrs Palin, many rural Americans were instantly attracted, and for similar reasons. She kills and skins her own food. She talks a lot about her faith. She rides big machines. A campaign button juxtaposes a photo of her in a short skirt leaning on a motorbike outside a log cabin with one of Mr Obama bicycling in a dorky helmet, with the caption: “This settles it.”

Your point about ignorance is very important. And this has been reported about in a magazine which has a strong reputation for its journalistic integrity.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

McCain may as well pull out himself.

Didn't he pretty much do just that last week?

For Palin to back out would be to say that McCain made a colossal blunder on his first major Presidential decision. Whether or not that happens to be true, you can't admit that and stay in the campaign.

That sounds a lot like the George W. Bush philosophy of leadership. You might be running us headlong into a brick wall, but don't blink while you do it! (That's not original, but I don't remember where I heard it.)