[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

McCain just lost the Bible Belt, though.

I doubt that, she supports guns.

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by goMac 

The McCain-ites make fun of Obama, who's been in politics for 10 years, but then choose someone for VP who's been in politics less than two?

Yeah, great choice. I'm sure she knows a lot about that Iraq thing and stuff. I'm just waiting for all the defections from the Republicans over this genius move.

Actually, maybe you should check your facts.

She has more than 10 years experience in politics, nearly all of it in the Executive as Councilwoman, Mayor, Executive Counsel and finally governor. And governor of the only US state directly bordered by two Foreign countries, thereby offering international experience.

Also, Ole Pigeon, why don't you elaborate how McCain has "lost the Bible Belt?" I happen to LIVE in the Bible Belt and the buzz is electric. In favor.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

Actually, maybe you should check your facts.

.... And governor of the only US state directly bordered by two Foreign countries, thereby offering international experience.

That is so weak its laughable..so here you go HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



'Uh Oh' Its a MacCain/Palin Ticket...looks like our time is up!!!

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

I doubt that, she supports guns.

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

Also, Ole Pigeon, why don't you elaborate how McCain has "lost the Bible Belt?" I happen to LIVE in the Bible Belt and the buzz is electric. In favor.

Women are refrained from holding positions of power because they are intrinsically inferior. McCain elected a woman as Vice President, he's going against the will of God and established doctrine.

[GSixZero]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

Actually, maybe you should check your facts.

She has more than 10 years experience in politics, nearly all of it in the Executive as Councilwoman, Mayor, Executive Counsel and finally governor. And governor of the only US state directly bordered by two Foreign countries, thereby offering international experience.

This is a joke right? There are high school seniors who are their class presidents that have more consitituents than Palin had as a politician in Wasilla.

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

Women are refrained from holding positions of power because they are intrinsically inferior. McCain elected a woman as Vice President, he's going against the will of God and established doctrine for thousands of years.

Explain all the Southern female governors, senators (state and federal) and representatives (state and federal) then.

Loads of FAIL.

[Lint Police]

I was just at the DMV. Stood in line for about 20 minutes. Blah.

Anyway, she is all anyone was talking about.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

She has more than 10 years experience in politics, nearly all of it in the Executive as Councilwoman, Mayor, Executive Counsel and finally governor. And governor of the only US state directly bordered by two Foreign countries, thereby offering international experience.

I'm sure she's had tons of experience with the country that's over a large body of water from Alaska, and the other country that's over a large field of ice.

There likely has been plenty of reason for her to interact with other countries. Certainly a lot of disputes over that... water... and ice.

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

That is so weak its laughable..so here you go HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



'Uh Oh' Its a MacCain/Palin Ticket...looks like our time is up!!!

Well, considering you are throwing up a BS argument, let's see what you think of this. Just last week, Gov. Palin suggested that she could swap 2000 acres of the adjacent STATE park with ACTUAL wilflife in it for the 2000 acres of ANWR where the drilling could take place.

Bold proposal, since the STATE would drill.

[Kerrigan]

Like I said before, she's got the buzz. But also, to address some of the comments about her "eating Biden's lunch" during the debates... let's be reasonable, Biden is no spring chicken. I'd put my money on him in assessing who will have better debate performances.

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by goMac 

I'm sure she's had tons of experience with the country that's over a large body of water from Alaska, and the other country that's over a large field of ice.

There likely has been plenty of reason for her to interact with other countries. Certainly a lot of disputes over that... water... and ice.

That "large body of water" is closer at its narrowest point to Russia than England is to France.

And the Canadian side is most definitely NOT a "large sheet of ice."

Geography much?

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

Well, considering you are throwing up a BS argument, let's see what you think of this. Just last week, Gov. Palin suggested that she could swap 2000 acres of the adjacent STATE park with ACTUAL wilflife in it for the 2000 acres of ANWR where the drilling could take place.

Bold proposal, since the STATE would drill.

But shes against the endangered species act...cornering these polar bears into certain areas is like a death sentence.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

That "large body of water) is closer at its narrowest point to Russia than England is to France.

Oh right. Then I forgot those large ice fields on the other side of the water.

Those Siberia/Alaska relations sure are a lot of trouble to maintain.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

But shes against the endangered species act...cornering these polar bears into certain areas is like a death sentence.

Not to mention, she's welcome to do that in her state. The same thing doesn't apply to the national scope.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

Explain all the Southern female governors, senators (state and federal) and representatives (state and federal) then.

Loads of FAIL.

Christian feminists? Or more likely, their religion is only a means of convenience. Obey the word of God when it suits them.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by goMac 

I'm sure she's had tons of experience with the country that's over a large body of water from Alaska, and the other country that's over a large field of ice.

Compared to the #1 candidate of the left, senator near a large lake?

Like I said, keep pounding it home guys. Keep pounding it home. This is awesome!

[GSixZero]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

That "large body of water" is closer at its narrowest point to Russia than England is to France.

I wonder how many people live within one thousand miles of the Alaskan/Russian border compared to the number that live within one hundred miles of the France/GB border.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

But shes against the endangered species act...cornering these polar bears into certain areas is like a death sentence.

Great! You can worry about polar bears and she'll take care of the Vice Presidency. Cool?

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

Like I said before, she's got the buzz. But also, to address some of the comments about her "eating Biden's lunch" during the debates... let's be reasonable, Biden is no spring chicken. I'd put my money on him in assessing who will have better debate performances.

I think Biden is gonna flatten her...she may know how to make sure the towns baseball field is green and the baby parade goes off well...but she's gonna get stomped on in the debates.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

Compared to the #1 candidate of the left, senator near a large lake?

Like I said, keep pounding it home guys. Keep pounding it home. This is awesome!

It's hilarious how you try and draw this into a debate about Obama's experience. Her experience is not even remotely as deep as Obama's.

Keep it up though. Maybe she'll even visit DC sometime before election night!

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

Great! You can worry about polar bears and she'll take care of the Vice Presidency. Cool?

Apparently you don't understand. She's the one worrying about polar bears.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

great! You can worry about polar bears and she'll take care of the vice presidency. Cool?

god help us all!!

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

And the Canadian side is most definitely NOT a "large sheet of ice."

Ok. Please list major Canadian cities near the Alaskan border.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by goMac 

I wasn't being sexist. I didn't say she should be his secretary because she's a woman. I said she should be a secretary based on her experience.

What position does that leave Obama with? Palin's Stage grip?

[Kerrigan]

People attacking her because she's from Alaska are a bit clueless. Sure, Alaska is a small state and she doesn't have a huge number of constituents there, but Biden is from Delaware, outnumbers Alaska's population of 600k by only 200k.

Also, I love this debate about experience. Democrats will start acting like experience is extremely important for the VP spot, and then when the dust all settles, they will realize that these criticisms have backed them up in a corner, as their candidate for the more important job is just as weak, or even weaker, than Palin in this regard.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by goMac 

It's hilarious how you try and draw this into a debate about Obama's experience. Her experience is not even remotely as deep as Obama's.

Really? Obama's experience is deep alright. She's got more executive experience and energy experience than Obama.

Keep it up though. Maybe she'll even visit DC sometime before election night!

How important is DC to the "change" candidate? Of course she'll visit DC before the election, she's going to have to get her desk ready.

[Kerrigan]

For the first time in this election, I'm actually smelling a sense of urgency and fear from the Democrats.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

People attacking her because she's from Alaska are a bit clueless. Sure, Alaska is a small state and she doesn't have a huge number of constituents there, but Biden is from Delaware, outnumbers Alaska's population of 600k by only 200k.

Also, I love this debate about experience. Democrats will start acting like experience is extremely important for the VP spot, and then when the dust all settles, they will realize that these criticisms have backed them up in a corner, as their candidate for the more important job is just as weak, or even weaker, than Palin in this regard.

That's what is killing me in all this. They're going to get locked into a debate on whether their #1 is more experienced than the Republicans' #2? Let's debate y'all!

This rocks.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

That's what is killing me in all this. They're going to get locked into a debate on whether their #1 is more experienced than the Republicans' #2? Let's debate y'all!

This rocks.

On the other hand, our number two is more experienced than your #1.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

Really? Obama's experience is deep alright. She's got more executive experience and energy experience than Obama.

What sorts of alternative energy has she dealt with? Please list it.

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

How important is DC to the "change" candidate? Of course she'll visit DC before the election, she's going to have to get her desk ready.

Hilarious.

[GSixZero]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

People attacking her because she's from Alaska are a bit clueless. Sure, Alaska is a small state and she doesn't have a huge number of constituents there, but Biden is from Delaware, outnumbers Alaska's population of 600k by only 200k.

Also, I love this debate about experience. Democrats will start acting like experience is extremely important for the VP spot, and then when the dust all settles, they will realize that their candidate for the more important job is just as weak, or even weaker, than Palin in this regard.

Palin has been the governor of AK for 21 months. Biden has been a senator for 35 years. He took office just before Palin's 9th birthday. So yeah, Delaware is a small state, but he's got a ton of experience with it.

Experience is important for the VP when the President is a 72 year old cancer survivor.Life expectancy for men is 75 in the US, which means there's a reasonably good chance that he's not going to make it to the end of his term.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by goMac 

On the other hand, our number two is more experienced than your #1.

Go for it goMac. No one will bite on this one. Trust me.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

For the first time in this election, I'm actually smelling a sense of urgency and fear from the Democrats.

Part of that is that, less than 24 hours after his big speech, nobody is talking about Obama anymore. I'm sure that wasn't in their plan.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by goMac 

What sorts of alternative energy has she dealt with? Please list it.

- She installed the first ever climate change sub-cabinet in Alaska for starters.
- directed this group to consult with the president of the University of Alaska and explore ways to promote development of renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, hydroelectric, and tidal resources.
- Signed a letter adding Alaska as an observer to the Western Climate Initiative.
- Passed the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act which dictates the way the State accepts bids for its North Slope natural gas reserves against the wishes of "big oil".

What has Obama done???

[Kerrigan]

Originally Posted by GSixZero 

Palin has been the governor of AK for 21 months. Biden has been a senator for 35 years. He took office just before Palin's 9th birthday. So yeah, Delaware is a small state, but he's got a ton of experience with it.

Experience is important for the VP when the President is a 72 year old cancer survivor.Life expectancy for men is 75 in the US, which means there's a reasonably good chance that he's not going to make it to the end of his term.

Whatever the validity of this argument (and it is valid, I'll give you that), what it always boils down to is political perception. By debating who between Palin and Obama has the least amount of experience, Obama will begin to appear as a candidate more suitable for vice presidency. It will begin to appear that the Democratic ticket is backwards -- the young guy with a thin resume is at the top of the ticket, and the old guy with experience is the subordinate.

This reversal will be further complicated by the fact that the electorate did not want Biden to occupy the top spot on the ticket anyways. How does it look that the guy with the experience, the guy who is truly on the same level as McCain, is the same guy who crashed and burned during the Democratic primaries?

The Palin choice could turn out to be a very deft political move....let's hope she doesn't screw it up.

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Ok. Please list major Canadian cities near the Alaskan border.

And exactly what difference does that make? There's an entire country next door, and I suggest you acquaint yourself with where Juneau (the capital of Alaska) is located.

It becomes more and more apparent why most libs don't get the charge of snobbism on Obama, they are almost ALL guilty of it themselves.

FYI, the Polar Bear issue has little to do with the actual bears for Alaskans, it has to do with the moronic stupidity of wasting money to put an animal that KILLS many Alaskan citizens every year on the endangered species list.

You know, an animal whose population today is larger than it was in 1948? But it's "endangered." Our tax dollars in action.

Keep beating that drum - your elitism meshes perfectly with your candidate's.

[ort888]

If Palin was a man, I think everyone can agree that there is no chance in hell "he" would have ever been in consideration for VP. Not even a blip on the radar. So since Palin was picked solely based on her sex, and not her qualifications or experience... doesn't that make this pick nothing more then a type of affirmative action? Picking a minority as a purely political move. Based not on qualifications, but rather on appealing to key demographics? By the same party that is supposedly a staunch hater of affirmative action?

And the difference with Obama's lack of experience is that he threw his hat into the primary ring and was chosen by the people. His lack of experience has always been there and he still managed to rise to the top of the Democratic party heap.

McCain has now chosen a complete nobody to run only because she is a hot woman. Her experience has now been thrust on the Republican party and on all of America because McCain choose her based on focus group testing and political shrewdness... not because he feels she is the most qualified for the job.

[TheWOAT]

Hook , line, sinker.

Palin will be free to discuss her experience with reprocussion because any mention of it by Democrats will point Obama's lack of experience as well.

Palin's announcement also takes away almost ALL momentum from Obama's speech last night (which was great BTW).

Palin will be viewed as a Huckabee in the South, a "one-of-us" type in the MidWest, and will help get those "middle class white' voters in the MidEastern region that Hillary said she had. I bet Biden was chosen for that reason as well, to bring home Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana... but I think Palin will do well there too. Edit: They announced her as the VP choice in Ohio...

Palin will be talked down so much that when she finally speaks, and the Americans get to know her, they will be pleasantly surprised , and given that she will have a free run to talk about her experience, many will probably see her as more than qualified when its all said and done.

Of course, this could all blow up in McCain's face... Democrats should be ready for a fight.

Edit2: Her kids have the dumbest names I ever heard. I guess 'Banjo' and 'Wingspan' were taken. I know some of you will say its a low blow and low class to make fun of kids' names, but they really are some stupid names...
Edit3: Unless those names are of some cultural significance since the husband is part Inuit.

BTW, will Palin be ready for that 3am phone call? OF COURSE!, she will probably be awake at that time anyways breast feeding her 5 month old.

[ort888]

Originally Posted by TheWOAT 

Palin will be free to discuss her experience with reprocussion because any mention of it by Democrats will point Obama's lack of experience as well.

But the opposite is also true. The Republicans will no longer be able to attack Obama on his lack of experience. It instantly renders their main attack point completely invalid.

How can McCain go out there with a straight face and say stuff like... "Is he ready?" "What do we know about him?" "He has no experience" etc...

These have been HUGE talking points for the republicans and now are pretty much off the table.

The Dems can't attack her for it... but they can throw it back in there face when they do it to Obama.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I'm really enjoying this election. Politics aside, now we have a woman for VP. Now I won't be ticked as much if McCain wins. He'll die from a heart attack or break his hip 2 years in and we'll have a woman for President. She's completely inept when it comes to being president, but that didn't stop George Bush. Couldn't be any worse, at least not for 2 years. Then (hopefully) we'll get some more interesting and actually qualified candidates.

Just a note: Geraldine Ferraro was the first female VP candidate.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Macrobat 

And exactly what difference does that make? There's an entire country next door, and I suggest you acquaint yourself with where Juneau (the capital of Alaska) is located.

You guys are arguing she has international experience in dealing with Canada. If you'd like to be more on point, maybe a list of all the interactions she's had with Canada would do.

I mention major cities because there is nothing on that border.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

Whatever the validity of this argument (and it is valid, I'll give you that), what it always boils down to is political perception. By debating who between Palin and Obama has the least amount of experience, Obama will begin to appear as a candidate more suitable for vice presidency. It will begin to appear that the Democratic ticket is backwards -- the young guy with a thin resume is at the top of the ticket, and the old guy with experience is the subordinate.

Possibly, but the ticket is what the ticket is.

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

This reversal will be further complicated by the fact that the electorate did not want Biden to occupy the top spot on the ticket anyways. How does it look that the guy with the experience, the guy who is truly on the same level as McCain, is the same guy who crashed and burned during the Democratic primaries?

I don't think he ever really seriously ran, regardless, the ticket is what the ticket is, and the candidates are who they are. It's going to be hard for McCain to criticize Biden, when Biden was usually the rep he'd send to other countries on his behalf.

[TheWOAT]

Originally Posted by ort888 

But the opposite is also true. The Republicans will no longer be able to attack Obama on his lack of experience. It instantly renders their main attack point completely invalid.

How can McCain go out there with a straight face and say stuff like... "Is he ready?" "What do we know about him?" "He has no experience" etc...

These have been HUGE talking points for the republicans and now are pretty much off the table.

The Dems can't attack her for it... but they can throw it back in there face when they do it to Obama.

Then this must mean they are moving away from the 'experience' issue.... moving to... no idea... but we can start guessing.
1. McCain announces new plans; that conditions in Iraq are adequate enough to withdraw troops in two years, thus taking the bite from Obama's "Bring our boys home" message.
2. McCain announces some sort of Green Economy plan (maybe he has already, I have no idea)
3. Russia v Georgia escalates further, making security and foreign relations experience the #1 issue amongst Americans.

yeah... where do they go from here? I dont see the economy improving drastically in 60 days, the housing market wont bounce back in that time, and the Financial/credit crisis wont be resolved by then...

[GSixZero]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

Whatever the validity of this argument (and it is valid, I'll give you that), what it always boils down to is political perception. By debating who between Palin and Obama has the least amount of experience, Obama will begin to appear as a candidate more suitable for vice presidency. It will begin to appear that the Democratic ticket is backwards -- the young guy with a thin resume is at the top of the ticket, and the old guy with experience is the subordinate.

I understand where you're coming from but I don't think the debate will be framed like this. The VP pick is big news today, but I don't think that comparing one party's choice for President and the other party's VP is something people do. As we move forward in the next few weeks, I think that the choices will develop into what they were meant for. Biden will become an attack dog, Palin will be a softer/youthful face to McCain's age.

My confusion about this pick is that if McCain wanted to pick a woman to draw in Hillary supporters, why wouldn't he pick one more like Hillary? There are lots of republican women who have tons more experience than Palin. Elizabeth Dole? Condi Rice? Palin has her pluses, but I think she's a pretty weak pick considering the alternatives.

Last thing, before I head out to enjoy the great weather, is I think that it's clear McCain had to pick a VP to shore up his base, while Obama had the ability to pick a VP who could go on the attack for him. That's a reality for McCain at the moment, since he's the underdog and if he can't get his base to come out this race is over.

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

This reversal will be further complicated by the fact that the electorate did not want Biden to occupy the top spot on the ticket anyways. How does it look that the guy with the experience, the guy who is truly on the same level as McCain, is the same guy who crashed and burned during the Democratic primaries?

The Palin choice could turn out to be a very deft political move....let's hope she doesn't screw it up.

Yes, picking a VP who had a failed run for president has it's own traps, but I don't think it's been a huge problem before. I think Palin at best gives McCain a small bump, I don't think she's a game changer.

[tie]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

People attacking her because she's from Alaska are a bit clueless. Sure, Alaska is a small state and she doesn't have a huge number of constituents there, but Biden is from Delaware, outnumbers Alaska's population of 600k by only 200k.

And Biden is a more powerful senator than Clinton is, even though New York's population is over nineteen million. Unlike a governor, a senator's power doesn't depend so much on how large a state he represents. Alaska is the size of a medium-sized city. Where are you from? I wouldn't trumpet my mayor's "executive experience" as making him ready to lead the whole country.

Also, I love this debate about experience. Democrats will start acting like experience is extremely important for the VP spot, and then when the dust all settles, they will realize that these criticisms have backed them up in a corner, as their candidate for the more important job is just as weak, or even weaker, than Palin in this regard.

How is he just as weak or even weaker? Doesn't compute.

In general, Obama's VP choice didn't matter so much as long as he didn't make a big mistake. Biden supports him on experience and so was fine. McCain's choice mattered more because of his age, and because of his questionable judgement on big decisions in the recent past. I think his judgement is looking even more questionable now.

The good things about this announcement are that it has eaten up the attention from Obama's fantastic speech yesterday. Palin being portrayed immediately as a featherweight can only help her in the long run by setting low expectations. Lastly, I can't think of a more amusing vice presidential candidate McCain could have picked other than Lieberman; this should be a fun election.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

I think Biden is gonna flatten her...she may know how to make sure the towns baseball field is green and the baby parade goes off well...but she's gonna get stomped on in the debates.

More sexism. I can't say it enough guys, keep up the good work.

When Biden is left speechless by this know nothing, no experience, hockey mom y'all will be wishing Obama had picked Hillary instead of the old order, white male, career politician. For people that tout change, I think you'll find a resurgence of intolerance and sexism the likes of which you knew was possible from the left, but couldn't really see first hand. Beautiful!

[Helmling]

A couple of thoughts:

One, after reading up on her, I was almost ready to say that I'd rather see her president than McCain (though not than Obama) until I saw that she supported creationism.

Two, I really think at this point we are now guaranteed to have either our first black or first woman president within the next four years. Given the job stress and his health, I doubt McCain could survive an entire term. (I really don't mean to be rude about this, but I just don't see the same man who ran for president in 2000 when I look at McCain.)

[goMac]

The town I am in has a population of 12,000. Perhaps the mayor should consider a run for vice president. After all, we're less than 300 miles from Canada! International experience right there!

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

More sexism. I can't say it enough guys, keep up the good work.

How dare you call me a sexist!! the comment was her about her mayoral experience not as a woman. An apology is expected

[Macrobat]

Originally Posted by goMac 

You guys are arguing she has international experience in dealing with Canada. If you'd like to be more on point, maybe a list of all the interactions she's had with Canada would do.

I mention major cities because there is nothing on that border.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...k&refer=canada


That's one that comes up with a quick Googling.

Of course, it's been mentioned before, but you conveniently keep overlooking it.

BTW, the Alaskan fishing fleet has "international incidents" ALL the time while fishing the Bering Sea (the Russian and Canadian fleets also), and the governor is the authority that deals with those.