Palin pick an insult to our intelligence

[BobG]

Is there any real chance of Palin being nominated in 2012? I don't have a good sense of Republican Party politics...are there enough centrists dissatisfied with her that they would vote against her in primaries?

Normal situation:

Second best way to be the next GOP nominee is to be the runner-up in the previous serious nomination. Reagan runner-up to Ford in '76; nominee in '80. Bush 41 runner-up to Reagan in '80; nominee in '88. Dole runner-up to Bush in '88, nominee in '96. Kemp runner-up to Dole in '96; some loser gets interjected into the '00 campaign. McCain runner-up in '00; nominee in '08. (Who was the runner-up this year? The guy who presented the biggest challenge to McCain or the guy that stayed in the race second longest?)

Third best way is to be an actual VP:
Nixon VP to Eisenhower '53-'00; nominee in '60. Agnew VP to Nixon; resigned and plead "no contest" to tax evasion and money laundering. Ford VP to Nixon; succeeded Nixon, then lost in election. Rockefeller VP to Ford; tossed in a ditch at the next election. Bush 41 VP to Reagan; nominee (and President) in '92. Quayle VP to Bush; never held a political office again. Cheney VP to Bush 43; TBD.

Fourth best way is to be the VP nominee, but only because it gives you a chance to be a real VP. Being a losing VP nominee is the best way to end a political career:
Lodge VP nominee to Nixon in '60; became ambassador to South Viet Nam during Viet Nam war. William Miller VP nominee to Goldwater in '64; never held office again. Dole VP nominee to Ford in '76; finally became Presidential nominee 20 years later. Kemp VP nominee to Dole; never held office again.

Best way to become Presidential nominee:
Bush 43 son of Bush 41; became President.

Palin isn't as smart as past losing VP nominees, so it would be unfair to hold her to the high achievements of past losing VP nominees.

Edit: I didn't want to go all the way back to the 1948 losing VP nominee, since that losing VP nominee did pretty good. Earl Warren went on to be re-elected as Governor California in '50, finished third in delegates for the '52 nomination, then wound up being Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Interestingly, in 1946, Warren was nominated to run for Governor of California by the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the Progressive Party. Not surprisingly, he won the general election that year, as well.

 

[phoenixy]

Oh boy, here we go. Of all place, Fox being the first one to hit the dirt. They had the inside info all along, but figured now is a good time to release it. Extremely cringe worthy.

Palin thought Africa is a country



Would had; Could had; should not had; maybe; almost; But in the end, didn't

 

[turbo]

Oh boy, here we go. Of all place, Fox being the first one to hit the dirt. They had the inside info all along, but figured now is a good time to release it. Extremely cringe worthy.

Palin thought Africa is a country



Would had; Could had; should not had; maybe; almost; But in the end, didn't

That stuff is just too good to hide. It's likely that all this stuff is coming out after the failure of the McCain campaign, as aides play CYA.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

phoenixy's link there is pretty interesting, even beyond the Africa-is-a-country claim (which the Fox correspondent is really making based on his source, they're not just quoting what another news organization said.)

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[LowlyPion]

Newsweek, according to MSNBC, is reporting more details about the clothes buying in addition to her $150,000 there are reports of $20,000 - $40,000 on Todd and another $20,000 on the kids. Buying 13 suitcases to carry the loot back with? Shopaholic? Not pretty.

The report in the video about her tantrums with clippings and yelling at staff, driving them to tears - that kind of behavior only reinforces my opinion that she has some kind of narcissistic personality disorder. She is simply not suited for National office.

As to the clothes, I've heard the Palins being called in the same MSNBC report on the Newsweek article the "Hillbillies from Wasilla".

It makes me think it's no great wonder West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky went Republican. (And as usual I mean that in the nicest way possible.)

 

[jal]

Maybe its time to close this thread with this final report.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081106.wpalin1106/BNStory/International/home
Knives come out for Sarah Palin
• Comments ( 175)
LEE-ANNE GOODMAN
Canadian Press
November 6, 2008 at 9:08 AM EST

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin wasn't aware that Africa was a continent and she and her brood behaved like a band of “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” aides to Republican John McCain are telling prominent news organizations.

=======

 

[LowlyPion]

But wait. There's more:

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

A Palin aide said: "Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin."

McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

 

[LowlyPion]

McCain Palin sure ran a disciplined campaign. I'm wondering if this wasn't Palin going rogue. What a disaster she turned out to be.

Palin launched her attack on Obama's association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain's advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581/page/2

The disappointing thing to me was that McCain went on to back up the questions raised about Ayers by playing into the response he was getting apparently from the base.

 

[mathwonk]

I feel the news casts devoted to trashing sarah palin are petty and inappropriate.

i am not a fan, but the voters have already dismissed her, it is cheap shots to pile on now.

 

[LowlyPion]

I feel the news casts devoted to trashing sarah palin are petty and inappropriate.

i am not a fan, but the voters have already dismissed her, it is cheap shots to pile on now.

They aren't really piling on. Newsweek agreed not to publish any of it until after the election was closed. The time value of news being what it is they published their stories as soon as they could. Most of the talk today is feeding off these accounts and of course also Carl Crawford (from Fox) channeling the McCain staffers that wanted to unload after the campaign was over. It's the nature of news cycles, and of course that Newsweek is on the stands and they are happy to boost sales.

Personally I think its their responsibility if they know this stuff to unload it. There is no public service to be gained by their sitting on it even though it may not seem to be fair play. Keep in mind that a number of these revelations fly in the face of Palin's statements that she is no diva and that she shops thrift shops.

 

[Cyrus]

Woooooooooooooooooo xmas came early. The media is thrashinggggggggggggg Palin and I'm loving every minute of it. I hate that woman.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Woooooooooooooooooo xmas came early. The media is thrashinggggggggggggg Palin and I'm loving every minute of it. I hate that woman.

Damn, and I just missed the nightly news too. Good thing there's CNN and all the 24-hr stuff.

It'll be interesting to see what she's like, say, ten years from now. I'm imagining something like Gollum.

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[LowlyPion]

Damn, and I just missed the nightly news too. Good thing there's CNN and all the 24-hr stuff.

It'll be interesting to see what she's like, say, ten years from now. I'm imagining something like Gollum.

I think her more likely to only be remembered in the same sentence with Dan Quayle.
As in "Whatever happened to ..."

 

[edward]

Caribou Barbie went on a shopping spree.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

 

[Gokul43201]

Caribou Barbie went on a shopping spree.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

Please take a look at some of the recent posts. This has been covered repeatedly - see posts #842 through #848.

 

[fourier jr]

Personally I think its their responsibility if they know this stuff to unload it. There is no public service to be gained by their sitting on it even though it may not seem to be fair play. Keep in mind that a number of these revelations fly in the face of Palin's statements that she is no diva and that she shops thrift shops.

I thought it was hilarious that Palin thought the media was taking away her right to free speech by covering her attacks on Obama. That still cracks me up & I don't think it makes any difference to her supporters if she says such stupid things or doesn't know what Africa is, or what countries are part of the North American Free-Trade Agreement. The only issue that seems to matter to them is abortion. I mean I saw a clip where the crowd went wild when McCain said "blah blah blah" in a speech. That's what matters to those people.

 

[edward]

Please take a look at some of the recent posts. This has been covered repeatedly - see posts #842 through #848.

Ah, but I put the good stuff in bold type.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Ah, but I put the good stuff in bold type.

That really did heighten the experience of reading it. It was almost like watching a 3-D movie. [PLAIN]http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/outfitted/3dglasses.gif[RIGHT][SIZE="6"]⚛[/SIZE][/RIGHT]

 

[Astronuc]

Campbell Brown - "Sarah Palin is who she is. She didn't become more intelligent or less intelligent in the course of the campaign."

Brown addresses those McCain campaign advisers and officials who promoted Palin, and who now denigrate and disparage her.

Commentary: After Palin hard-sell fails, McCain aides attack her
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/campbell.brown.palin/index.html

 

[Evo]

This commentor's sentiments reflect mine

I have little sympathy for this woman. She actually believed her own hype, that she was skilled enough and bright enough to be Vice-President. Honey, if you dive into the pool you can't complain that the water is cold.

 

[LowlyPion]

While it's true she is who she is and McCain is the one that has paid the full measure for that, the fact remains that she doesn't give evidence of having any great facility in discussing National issues, yet she is wholly dishonest in representing that she is confident and has the experience to affect any change other than into a new outfit.

I wonder would she have spent the days after winning the election engaging in a council of economic advisers and scheduling a press conference?

Or would she instead be churning a push cart through Nieman's stocking up on trendy duds?

If she hadn't had the hubris to accept something that is so clearly beyond her just in being the VP choice, while proclaiming all the while that she could do it, I might have more sympathy.

 

[Astronuc]

Palin should not have been asked, and she should have said - "No thanks."

But those who put he there, and promoted her should accept their part in it, and stop bashing her.

 

[turbo]

If she hadn't had the hubris to accept something that is so clearly beyond her just in being the VP choice, while proclaiming all the while that she could do it, I might have more sympathy.

The fence-post turtle "didn't even blink".

 

[physics girl phd]

I'm just worried that Stevens will get kicked out of the Senate too soon and she'll appoint herself to the vacant spot. She wouldn't blink at doing that either.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I agree, it seems likely she'll be going to Congress for Alaska one of these years, unless she completely flubs something while governor.

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[BobG]

Campbell Brown - "Sarah Palin is who she is. She didn't become more intelligent or less intelligent in the course of the campaign."

Brown addresses those McCain campaign advisers and officials who promoted Palin, and who now denigrate and disparage her.

Commentary: After Palin hard-sell fails, McCain aides attack her
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/campbell.brown.palin/index.html

I'd pretty much agree with Campbell Brown's comments. Regardless of Palin's qualifications, the behavior of McCain's campaign staff is pretty embarrassing.

About the only justification for winding up with these guys is the fact that McCain had to rebuild his campaign staff twice during his campaign - once because he ran out of money and once because he had to purge the lobbyists from the staff.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I'm just worried that Stevens will get kicked out of the Senate too soon and she'll appoint herself to the vacant spot. She wouldn't blink at doing that either.

If Stevens gets kicked out and Palin wins his seat in a special election, I'd be fine with that. I mean, if Alaskans want her in the Senate, then I think that is the point of representation, isn't it? Hell, maybe she would learn something, too.

 

[SticksandStones]

I too would be fine with Palin being in the senate. Better her than someone competent who would make it hard to pass Obama's legislation.

 

[phoenixy]

Secrets of the 2008 Campaign

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582

Everyone keeps posting excerpts from the actual Newsweek article. It is long but very well written and revealing. And by long, I mean I have seem shorter thesis (7 chapters x 6 pages per chapter). Nevertheless, the well-constructed multi-branch narratives made it a very entertaining read.

 

[Astronuc]

Secrets of the 2008 Campaign

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582

Everyone keeps posting excerpts from the actual Newsweek article. It is long but very well written and revealing. And by long, I mean I have seem shorter thesis (7 chapters x 6 pages per chapter). Nevertheless, the well-constructed multi-branch narratives made it a very entertaining read.

Great series!

The Final Days - http://www.newsweek.com/id/168017

 

[LowlyPion]

I too would be fine with Palin being in the senate. Better her than someone competent who would make it hard to pass Obama's legislation.

I think she may be stupid enough to grab at it. But while it does give her a more National stage, it would place her out of her element. The World of Washington DC won't be revolving around Carribou Barbie.

Like what would she do? Commute to Alaska? Bring her hillbilly family act to Washington like anyone there will give her the time of day when she tries to "get in there and mix it up with the other senators"?

An ignorant, ill equipped member of a minority party with no power to initiate legislation, and likely no one with any interest in sponsoring legislation with her?

Ignorant. Impotent. And a continent away from her element? Sounds like a repeat of the same trashy novel we just finished.

 

[turbo]

I just saw Palin on NBC whining about how the press imposed a double standard on her. "Those aren't my clothes. Those are the RNC's clothes." She also claimed that the press wasn't letting her "set the record straight" as if it is somehow the media's job to parrot her spin verbatim. She is NOT ready for DC - thin-skinned, narcissistic, unable to take criticism, and just plain dumb. She is a perfect exemplification of the Peter Principle - she has managed to rise to a level at which her abilities are insufficient for her position - yet she aspires to more. Heaven help us.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

If Stevens gets kicked out and Palin wins his seat in a special election, I'd be fine with that. I mean, if Alaskans want her in the Senate, then I think that is the point of representation, isn't it? Hell, maybe she would learn something, too.

I've been hearing that if he gets removed from his seat Palin can appoint herself to his seat, no election needed.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I've been hearing that if he gets removed from his seat Palin can appoint herself to his seat, no election needed.

Well, I don't know what the laws in Alaska are, but if them's the rules, then so be it.

It would be quite an act of hubris, though, and a political foot in the mouth. A smarter move would be to appoint someone other than herself.

 

[LowlyPion]

I've noticed remarks from Sarah Palin about her plans for 2012 and she says she will be making plans for Trig to be entering kindergarten by then and it's way too early to be worrying about that.

Trig was born back in April. April of 2008. He's going to be ready for kindergarten in just 4 years? That seems a bit odd given his Downs Syndrome. Or is this merely a case of poor math skills.