Sarah Palin!

Background

The 44-year-old Palin brings working class roots and appeal to female voters, becoming only the second female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket and a first for the GOP.

Being first is nothing to new to Palin (pronounced PALE-in). She is the first female governor of the Last Frontier, the 49th state to join the Union in 1959 and the 48th most populous state.

Palin is also the youngest governor in Alaska's short statehood history, taking office in 2006 amidst attempts by Democrats to turn the reliably Republican state to their column.

Gov. Palin is married with five children, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
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I don't know if you're a woman who's a Hillary supporter if this appeals to you or if the fact that she's a staunch opponent of abortion rights would scare you away.
 
chipmunk stew said:
I don't see how this works against him. Palin is a VERY popular governor, and people equate governorship with "experience".
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She's been a Governor in Alaska for two years. Hardly anyone outside of Alaska has even heard of her. McCain and his campaign will just look silly and hypocritical now talking about Obama's lack of experience. It was the biggest thing McCain had against him ... and he just tossed it out the window.

It also has to call into question McCain's judgment. Why would you hamstring your biggest attack against your opponent like this?
 
Gnu World Order said:
So, in McCain's mind, this is the second-most-qualified person to be president?

What else is bouncing around in McCain's mind?
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It brings the issue of judgment front and center. And this time it's not Obama in the spotlight.
 
This sends a very definite message the Republicans are just as open minded to breaking socials barriers as the Democrats ....24 years ago.


;)
 
David Wong said:
I totally understand the goal here, to go after the Hillary women, but McCain just robbed himself of his biggest talking point (that Obama isn't ready to lead). Nothing, NOTHING he can say about Obama's inexperience now won't blow back on his VP pick.

And please don't tell me, "She's just the VP, not the president!!!" McCain is not a young guy. She'd be half a heartbeat away from the presidency.

It's a historic pic and it's great for Palin and for women everywhere. But he really has to tiptoe around a lot of attack points he'd like to make against Obama now.
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Hey, didn't I predict that David Wong would say this was the worst choice possible?

:D

I'm thrilled. McCain just sucked the wind right out of Obama's sails.
 
She was a sports reporter on TV? Dollars to donuts that means there are naughty videos of her on the web somewhere. (Or will be very shortly.)

Hey, it wasn't my idea. I'm just stating probable facts.
 
Brainster said:
Hey, didn't I predict that David Wong would say this was the worst choice possible?

:D

I'm thrilled. McCain just sucked the wind right out of Obama's sails.
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Only if the GoP and McCain can convince votes that it wasn't a political stunt to nab Hillary's supporters away from the Democrats.

It is a gutsy move, but it is too early to tell how it will work out.
 
chipmunk stew said:
McCain made an excellent choice... Damn him. :D
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Seconded.

I think the "one heartbeat away" argument falls largely on deaf ears. Between this announcement and his congratulatory commercial yesterday, McCain is showing me what others have said about his personality. Yes, I believe he is different than Bush...

... just not different enough. The entire country needs a shift in tone. The Limbaughs and Coulters have to be seen as railing in the dark, not supporting the apparatus right to the top. The entire debate has to be framed in words other than "culture war." Religious influence has to decrease, and not-tax-and-spend economics are a failure... blah blah blah, ongoing debates...

again, good choice... damn him ;)
 
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Just a quick look at her Wiki article, she seems fairly centrist. She has that weird pro-life/pro-capital punishment dichotomy. She's against gay marriage, but seems to otherwise be supportive of the gay community.

She will probably draw more flack from the hard core conservatives than from liberals, in general.
 
Pookster said:
She's been a Governor in Alaska for two years. Hardly anyone outside of Alaska has even heard of her. McCain and his campaign will just look silly and hypocritical now talking about Obama's lack of experience. It was the biggest thing McCain had against him ... and he just tossed it out the window.

It also has to call into question McCain's judgment. Why would you hamstring your biggest attack against your opponent like this?
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That's true. On further reflection, the charges of inexperience leveled at Obama have mostly been around his foreign policy. Governor of Alaska hardly qualifies.
 
I have to wonder if this is a gimmick and she'll bow out soon because of unforseen family issues or some minor scandal. That way, McCain and the Reps can tout how progressive they were in nominating a woman and in the end, still go with someone like Romney. My uber-conservative roomie here at work is already making noises about having a pre-menopausal woman a heart-beat away from the Presidency, Republican or not. But he says she's still MUCH better than Hillary Clinton -- with only two years of political experience...
 
Alferd_Packer said:
Poor Geraldine Ferraro.
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I didn't say she was the first, it's still historic because she could be the first to actually hold the office, and because it's the Republicans.

Regardless of who we want to win we can at least acknowledge milestones or possible milestones.
 
Probably mentioned here...but she's been a propenent of teaching Creationism. Also, McCain says we're in a war....this is a war-time VP? If it were to be a woman...wouldn't Rice be that pick? THis is a pander. As was said above...McCain blinked.
 
I don't see where this help McCain's chances. Based on what I've read so far, at the moment I can't see much upside. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.

The biggest issue I see is that if McCain croaks while in office, she'd be the president, with seemingly little or no credible experience of the kind necessary for the office. Could you see her as president?
 
Upchurch said:
She has that weird pro-life/pro-capital punishment dichotomy. She's against gay marriage, but seems to otherwise be supportive of the gay community.
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Yeah, that sums up my take on the death penalty and alternative lifestyles pretty well. I like this broad. :)

ETA: I'd said on abortions too originally, but I got confused. I'm pro-choice there.
 
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I heard it here first, but I guess this will suck a lot of attention away from Obama's speech last night (more so than if the pick had been known white male Mitt Romney). The major political advantages and disadvantages have already been stated above -- identity politics and in/experience. The Democrats should spin this as questioning McCain's judgment, comparing Biden against her. Maybe it's my sexism but given the biographical snippets in this thread she seems to lack qualities one normally looks for in a President (or Vice President). She's neither a visionary nor experienced. I know the word I'm looking for for this former sports reporter and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska! She's a lightweight.

There's a threshold for attractiveness -- or for ugliness, actually. Recall Edwards being treated as a Ken doll. This is twice as bad for a woman. They're not going to pick up Hillary supporters (screw'em) but it might work on Independents.

ETA: Hillary Clinton just became more important for team Obama.
 
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