Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, 2008 GOP Vice Presidential nominee
And who says Republicans can’t choose a woman VP?
Of course, true-blue feminists won’t really care about this because Palin is conservative (and was runner-up to be Miss Alaska in 1984, which no doubt irks them).
We here in Illinois can especially respect Palin for how she was able to buck the corrupt GOP in Alaska. If only someone could do the same here!
Will her youth make attacks on Obama’s more difficult? No. Why? She is not running for President. There is a difference.
Would Pawlenty have brought in Minnesota? Perhaps, but doubtful. This pick was radical, but in a way no one thought would be radical. Excellent surprise.
Joe Biden gave a humdinger of a speech tonight at the DNC, no doubt about it. I’ll note quickly that no one can disrespect a man whose personal story is so tragic (death of wife and daughter in car accident shortly after he was first elected to the Senate) and who handled it with such dignity.
However, let’s talk about the substance. Surely, Biden gave one of the most substantive speeches of the week so far.
The Fear, The Worry
We’ve heard it from other speakers, but are Americans really sitting around their dinner tables, filled with fear and worry about the future, uncertain where the next dollar will come from, shivering in their homes? (well, they did in the ’70s when Carter mandated low energey use, but that’s another story). Is that really the American character? I don’t think so.
Biden says the “promise of tomorrow better than yesterday is in jeopardy”. Bill Clinton said we “must rebuild the American Dream.”
We’re often told in these speeches that Democrats especially believe in the American character. Biden himself tonight spoke warmly and well of his family upbringing in Scranton, Penn., where people believed in working hard and doing well and providing for their families. But, say these Democrats, it’s not possible anymore. The American Dream is “slipping away”.
It’s shame that Barack Obama isn’t running in Germany. Except — he doesn’t speak German. In fact, he doesn’t speak a second language at all. Not even Spanish.
And may we just add that it wouldn’t be the first time Germans didn’t have the best political judgment? Stick to the music, the Rieslings and the art, bitte. Danke.
As we’ve stated, VP choices don’t necessarily affect the campaign end-result, but they do say something about the guy who did the choosin’. I think the Biden pick says a lot about Obama — he knows he doesn’t have enough experience, and thought the Senator who is respected by some (though not by Iraqis) for his alleged foreign policy expertise would be helpful. And he probably thinks Biden’s “tell-it-like-it-is” -ness is an asset, though Biden’s more of a self-loving jerk than a straight shooter, as evidenced in Power Line’s post:
Though it wasn’t a face-to-face debate, the Saddleback Church interviews certainly served that purpose. People came away with an understanding not only of Obama and McCain’s beliefs and policy prescriptions, but their sylistic differences were striking. To that end, I think McCain may have helped himself. He was quick, decisive, and calm. Obama, just returned from his Hawaii vacation, was more typically evasive on specifics.
So Rick Warren may have come up with a rather good idea.
The interviews were held back-to-back. They asked the candidates the same questions (broadcast on both FoxNews and CNN). The audience was the same. Because they weren’t debating, the candidates could talk for more than 30-60 seconds. And they weren’t responding to one another. In essence, they could be themselves (or as much as was possible speaking in front of evangelical Christians, of whom everyone — even evangelical Christians — has an opinion).
Although news articles are pouncing on the difference the candidates had on the abortion question (Obama equivocated — and not even that eloquently, while McCain abruptly said life begins “at conception”), I think one of McCain’s best moments was his discussion of the Russian/Georgian conflict. He gave specifics, has been to Georgia, and understands Putin is probably not America’s best friend.
Of course, the media is spinning all this as the candidates “reaching out” to the evangelical Christian community. Although faith was mentioned, and the audience was the Saddleback congregation (a couple thousand), the questions were far-ranging, and were not about doctrine or theology.
I’d commend this sort of double interview moving forward, especially since Obama refuses the townhall meetings.
Rumors are swirling in some circles that Obama will soon announce he has chosen Evan Bayh, the junior senator from Indiana, as his running mate. Allegedly, team Obama has announced that the Senator will make a major announcement this week, and he will be in Indiana on Wednesday. And it’s true that he may make an announcement before the Olympics start (even if no one should be watching them).
Sure, Evan Bayh is young. Wait, so is Obama.
Anyway, I somehow just don’t think Bayh is the pick. Would this really put Indiana in play? I don’t think so. I think the much more likely possible pick is Tim Kaine.
In today’s statement Obama again straddles the line saying that he “supports public financing…but the system is broken.” Was it not broken in February 2008 when he wrote an Op-Ed in USA Today saying that he would accept public financing if his Republican opponent did as well? Let’s face it, he’s got a good deal going with his aggressive fund raising machine made up of “real people” (especially the real people in Silicon Valley c-suites), so why turn off the spigot? His comments about organized groups drowning out the voices of real people are disingenuous as well. According to OpenSecrets.org, as of May 2008, Obama has accepted $7 million from the education industry compared to McCain’s $727,000 from the oil & gas industry. Who is in whose special interest pocket?
So Hillary is actually out — Facebook users are gradually leaving the 1,00,000 Strong Against Hillary group on Facebook (they reached 1.2), and the discussion now revolves on who Obama will choose for VP (no one seems to have an opinion about McCain’s possible VP pick. Lieberman is consistently mentioned by some McCainiacs, but that’s another post.) But, for whatever reason (call me pessimistic), I’m not certain it’s really over for Hill ‘n Bill.
The silence surrounding her is decidedly odd. I have a conspiracy theory, but it is too reminiscent of the theories I indulged in the ’90s, when no one really knew (or cared) what kind of scandal was going on in the WH.
