Sarah Palin found something useful to do

[Cyrus]

I didn't say she is book smart.

If you are reporting the news every day, do you think she is going to stumble like she did her first go at the election? Not in a million years. Does she get free media exposure, day in, day out - you betcha. That makes her very dangerous to tangle with. Americans have an attention span of five minutes. They will long since forget her blunders in four years.

 

[Nebula815]

She also continues to expose herself as a crackpot.

How is she a crackpot?

The fact is that the more America got to know Ms. Palin, the less they liked her. Her polls shot up for a few weeks and continually dropped after that,

That will happen to any new fresh politician who comes on the scene then generates controversy. Plus Palin made a few blunders herself.

She will appeal to the wacky base, of course, but even after the last decade, it is hard to imagine that all but the extreme right will fall for her line of bull again.

Both sides have wacky bases if you are talking the hard social fundamentalist religious Right or the hard socialist ultra-Left

Her only real advantage was that no one knew anything about her. McCain brought her on hoping that the gun-toten mama image would be enough to last the election. It wasn't. Now even he admits that he screwed up

I would say it was McCain who lost the election. He ran a horrible campaign. Even Steve Schimdt says that despite Palin's misgivings, they would have lost by a larger margin without her (and the margin wasn't that large).

McCain had a few big negatives going for him:

1) He acted like he didn't understand anything about the economy (and he probably didn't, because earlier in the campaign he said he didn't understand the economy; why he never bothered to read any books on basic economics all those years in the Senate is beyond me, why he would admit such a thing is even stranger).

2) He never went after Obama on issues he could have, such as the tax issue, the cap-and-trade issue (as a strict politician, despite believing in global warming, he could have used the cap-and-trade issue as a way to say he believes in GW, but doesn't want to wreck the economy)

3) He was a member of what was (and still is) and unpopular party with an incredibly unpopular President of said party as well

4) He was against a very charismatic candidate

I would actually say it was Obama who made the mistake in his choice of Biden as VP. Biden could have destroyed the Obama campaign with his mouth, the media covered him up as best they could. I mean here you had the man whom Obama was choosing for his "experience" and he makes those huge gaffes? Imagine the devastation to the McCain campaign if Palin had made those gaffes She gaffed with Katie Couric to a degree (couldn't name what she read or which Supreme Court cases were most important to her), but then she managed to do okay enough in the debate against Biden to fix that.

If Obama had chosen Hillary as his VP, he would have wiped the floor with McCain easily, because that would have pulled the Hillary voters. Instead he chose Biden, so McCain picked Palin, which was designed to throw the Obama campaign off-balance, and it did. It also pulled a significant number of Hillary voters, in the end however, not enough to overtake Obama.

 

[Cyrus]

She She gaffed with Katie Couric to a degree? - a degree??

She was a blundering incoherent fool.

 

[Nebula815]

I didn't say she is book smart.

If you are reporting the news every day, do you think she is going to stumble like she did her first go at the election? Not in a million years. Does she get free media exposure, day in, day out - you betcha. That makes her very dangerous to tangle with. Americans have an attention span of five minutes. They will long since forget her blunders in four years.

Yes, she can make or break herself now. It is up to her to re-brand herself.

 

[Cyrus]

Yes, she can make or break herself now. It is up to her to re-brand herself.

Let's just say, I'm not root for her to do well - that's the polite version.

 

[Nebula815]

She She gaffed with Katie Couric to a degree? - a degree??

She was a blundering incoherent fool.

Incoherent yes, but she did not make any major gaffes to the degree Biden did. Biden made a gaffe with Couric where they literally would've had to pull Palin from the ticket if she'd done that. One other thing, do not judge intelligence by the person's coherence with the media. Look at Caroline Kennedy when they were interviewing her, when she was being considered for the New York Senate seat. She is a highly-educated woman, very book smart, but you never would have known it if you went solely by the interview.

 

[Cyrus]

Incoherent yes, but she did not make any major gaffes to the degree Biden did. Biden made a gaffe with Couric where they literally would've had to pull Palin from the ticket if she'd done that.

Which gaffe are you referring to? As far as I remember, she couldn't name a damn newspaper she read. It was pathetic, and that's an understatement.

 

[Nebula815]

Let's just say, I'm not root for her to do well - that's the polite version.

How come?

 

[Cyrus]

How come?

I think her views, politically, are BS. Her knowledge is next to nothing, and she says one thing and acts another. She needs to quietly disappear into an abyss.

 

[Nebula815]

Which gaffe are you referring to? As far as I remember, she couldn't name a damn newspaper she read. It was pathetic, and that's an understatement.

That is the specific Palin gaffe I mentioned, and yes it was pathetic. Go read my previous posts. She also couldn't name the specific Spreme Court cases most important to her. One of the first things I would have done if I was her was make sure i knew all the major SCOTUS cases, as that can be used as a gotcha question).

Biden's major gaffe was when he talked about FDR getting on the television in 1929 to calm the people down about the crash. Now I don't know what history he was reading, because:

1) FDR wasn't President in 1929
2) There was no television then

 

[Cyrus]

That is the specific Palin gaffe I mentioned, and yes it was pathetic. Go read my previous posts. She also couldn't name the specific Spreme Court cases most important to her. One of the first things I would have done if I was her was make sure i knew all the major SCOTUS cases, as that can be used as a gotcha question).

Biden's major gaffe was when he talked about FDR getting on the television in 1929 to calm the people down about the crash. Now I don't know what history he was reading, because:

1) FDR wasn't President in 1929
2) There was no television then

Wow, FRD was not president and there was no television. Wow......this matters.

Maybe if he was running for History professor. But not for VP. There is a big difference not knowing that, and not knowing relevant modern court cases or what newspaper you read.

 

[Nebula815]

Her knowledge is next to nothing,

Hence me saying she can either make or break herself now. She has a forum to fix this image of herself. I agree that her knowledge is too limited, she speaks too much in platitudes.

and she says one thing and acts another. She needs to quietly disappear into an abyss.

Depends. On being pro-life, she is very solid. On being fiscally conservative, she had the Bridge to Nowhere.

 

[Nebula815]

Wow, FRD was not president and there was no television. Wow......this matters.

Maybe if he was running for History professor. But not for VP. There is a big difference not knowing that, and not knowing relevant modern court cases or what newspaper you read.

By that standard, then it shouldn't be any problem whether Palin knew anything about SCOTUS cases or the history of anything. History is very important. And we expect our elected reprentatives at that level to know basic history.

 

[Cyrus]

By that standard, then it shouldn't be any problem whether Palin knew anything about SCOTUS cases or the history of anything. History is very important. And we expect our elected reprentatives at that level to know basic history.

No, that is incorrect. Please do not make a clownish extrapolation of my statement like this.

Knowing FDR was president in 1929 is irrelevant. Knowing that Americans did or did not have TV at the time - is a petty argument to make.

Not knowing important court cases that are going on TODAY, modern politics, or newspapers - is a very big deal. She is uncultured at best, ignorant at worse.

Your argument does not stand up.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

How is she a crackpot?

I provided one of her quotes.

Both sides have wacky bases if you are talking the hard social fundamentalist religious Right or the hard socialist ultra-Left

I wouldn't want a crackpot lefty either.

The fact is that I have a long history as a conservative voter - I am a registered Independent. Any suggestion that I am coming from the hard left is only valid from the extreme right, where everything is to the left.

 

[Nebula815]

No, that is incorrect. Please do not make a clownish extrapolation of my statement like this.

I didn't. You just said Biden wasn't running for History professor. You can't say knowledge of history isn't important for one candidate and is for the other.

 

[Nebula815]

Knowing FDR was president in 1929 is irrelevant.

Not at that level.

 

[Cyrus]

I didn't. You just said Biden wasn't running for History professor. You can't say knowledge of history isn't important for one candidate and is for the other.

.....

Would you also like to gripe about the color suit he wore? Honestly, this is pathetic.

 

[Nebula815]

Would you also like to gripe about the color suit he wore? Honestly, this is pathetic.

I disagree. But either way, I am not saying Palin didn't still gaffe big-time, so your overall point I agree with

 

[russ_watters]

The fact is that I have a long history as a conservative voter - I am a registered Independent. Any suggestion that I am coming from the hard left is only valid from the extreme right, where everything is to the left.

History describes where you were, not where you are. The fact that you consider Obama to be moderate despite the fact that his voting record was the most liberal of all senators is clear evidence you are not in touch with just how far to the left you really are.

Anyway, why you keep bringing that up is beyond me - are you trying to convince us or yourself?

Back to topic...

Obama did win enough true moderates to win the election, and he won them in three basic ways:
1. Not-Bush-ism
2. Palin is an idiot
3. Obamamania caused people to believe the obvious BS Obama was spewing during the election.

Why I have hope for a massive Republican victory in the upcoming midterm election and even a possible Obama defeat in 2012 is that #1 and #2 can't be in force then (unless the Republican powers-that-be let Palin run for something in 2012). And Obama's plummeting approval rating shows that #3 is losing steam. This is obvious, of course, since once in office, the "is he a liberal?" question is no longer a hypothetical, but a demonstrable reality. Simply put: as people wake up up from Obamamania and start seeing reality, they realize they were duped.

 

[BobG]

McCain had a few big negatives going for him:

1) He acted like he didn't understand anything about the economy (and he probably didn't, because earlier in the campaign he said he didn't understand the economy; why he never bothered to read any books on basic economics all those years in the Senate is beyond me, why he would admit such a thing is even stranger).

2) He never went after Obama on issues he could have, such as the tax issue, the cap-and-trade issue (as a strict politician, despite believing in global warming, he could have used the cap-and-trade issue as a way to say he believes in GW, but doesn't want to wreck the economy)

3) He was a member of what was (and still is) and unpopular party with an incredibly unpopular President of said party as well

4) He was against a very charismatic candidate

I would actually say it was Obama who made the mistake in his choice of Biden as VP. Biden could have destroyed the Obama campaign with his mouth, the media covered him up as best they could. I mean here you had the man whom Obama was choosing for his "experience" and he makes those huge gaffes? Imagine the devastation to the McCain campaign if Palin had made those gaffes She gaffed with Katie Couric to a degree (couldn't name what she read or which Supreme Court cases were most important to her), but then she managed to do okay enough in the debate against Biden to fix that.

If Obama had chosen Hillary as his VP, he would have wiped the floor with McCain easily, because that would have pulled the Hillary voters. Instead he chose Biden, so McCain picked Palin, which was designed to throw the Obama campaign off-balance, and it did. It also pulled a significant number of Hillary voters, in the end however, not enough to overtake Obama.

Items #1 and #3 are very true.

With the economy in the state it was in the fall of 2008, any candidate of the incumbent party is probably facing defeat. While #1 normally wouldn't be a deciding factor, being very, very strong on the economy was the only way a candidate could have overcome being from the party in power when the economy crashed. Realistically, I don't see how he could have possibly been strong enough on the economy to overcome what was happening last year.

The percentage of people that identified themselves as conservative, moderate, and liberal didn't change from the two previous elections. The number of people that identified themselves as Republicans plummeted in the 2008 election.

In that sense, selecting Palin was a stupid choice. She gave him one short-lived spike and that was it. Her approval ratings among people that would vote Republican no matter what stayed high. Her approval ratings among everyone else plummeted as people learned more about her. McCain needed a VP that might possibly stem the flow of all but the most hardline conservatives away from the Republican Party. Worse than not helping, pairing Palin with a candidate as old as McCain meant Palin probably hurt McCain more than you'd normally expect, since VP candidates usually have only a minor impact (if any).

I also disagree about Obama selecting Clinton as VP. Clinton would have shored up support among Clinton Democrats, but I don't think very many of them defected to the Republican Party just because she wasn't on the ticket. Turning the ticket into a way to get a semi-third term for Bill Clinton would have been a sure fire way make all of those moderate conservatives leaving the Republican Party to do an about face and go back to McCain.

I don't think either VP candidate actually helped their Presidential candidate. Obama at least avoided picking a VP that would hurt him, while McCain wasn't able to avoid that pitfall. In any event, who was VP for either candidate wasn't the deciding factor as items #1 and #3 pretty much ensured an Obama victory.

 

[BobG]

I didn't say she is book smart.

If you are reporting the news every day, do you think she is going to stumble like she did her first go at the election? Not in a million years. Does she get free media exposure, day in, day out - you betcha. That makes her very dangerous to tangle with. Americans have an attention span of five minutes. They will long since forget her blunders in four years.

I think the jury's out on her actual intelligence level.

The fact of the matter is that she wasn't stupid when she was running around Alaska. She fit in very well and did very well. She was a smart governor of Alaska.

She was definitely out of her league running for VP of the US. I think that says volumes about how different Alaska is from the lower 48 more than it says about Palin's intelligence. You would have done just as well picking the smartest guy sitting in the corner tavern and picking him to run for VP. It doesn't matter how intelligent he may be, he's going to quickly be exposed as a guy that's spent most of his life sitting in the corner tavern.

She might have done better running for Senator and spending a few years figuring out how Washington works. I'm not sure how this helps her, just as I'm not sure how Huckabee's stint on Fox helps him. I think both wind up with careers on Fox rather than viable Presidential candidates for the future.

Sheesh! Next thing you guys will be suggesting is so-so would be a great candidate because he knows that scene from that Jimmy Stewart movie by heart, or that so-so is a better candidate because you should hear him play the saxophone. Those sort of talents might supplement your political achievements, but surely it can't replace them.

 

[turbo]

I'm sure Palin will do well at FOX. They'll feed her softballs, record anything that comes out OK and erase all the gaffes. Gullible viewers will say to themselves "Wow! She's come a long way since the campaign."

 

[Alfi]

I'm sure Palin will do well at FOX. They'll feed her softballs, record anything that comes out OK and erase all the gaffes. Gullible viewers will say to themselves "Wow! She's come a long way since the campaign."

lol - erase all the gaffes

and If nothing is left over after that ... what then?

 

[cronxeh]

I really do hope she runs for Republican nomination in 2012. That is the only way she can finally be ripped apart during the debates, torn into thousand little incompetent pieces, and swept under the rug of Americana

 

[turbo]

If FOX indeed "polishes up" Palin and makes her appear somewhat competent, they will be sabotaging their own viewership. GOP strategists like McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt are horrified at the possibility of a Palin candidacy. She could easily energize the far-right and the evangelicals, while driving away the moderates. You can't win a presidential election without getting the support of moderates in both parties, and Independents. Plus she would have poor coat-tails in a national election, making it harder for the GOP to improve their minority status in Congress.

 

[Nebula815]

I really do hope she runs for Republican nomination in 2012. That is the only way she can finally be ripped apart during the debates, torn into thousand little incompetent pieces, and swept under the rug of Americana

Well if she is smart, she will be prepared for that, and the Palin you see running in 2012 will not be the Palin you saw running in 2008. And if she isn't, well then she deserves what she gets.

 

[Nebula815]

GOP strategists like McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt are horrified at the possibility of a Palin candidacy.

With her current self absolutely.

She could easily energize the far-right and the evangelicals, while driving away the moderates.

This I am not so sure of. The basic common conservative principles are pretty much supported by everyone, such as keep taxes low, balance the budget, fiscal conservatism, limited government, etc...these can attract moderates and Independents. It would depend.

You can't win a presidential election without getting the support of moderates in both parties, and Independents. Plus she would have poor coat-tails in a national election, making it harder for the GOP to improve their minority status in Congress.

I think the 2012 election will depend on the GOP's status in Congress. If the GOP gets enough seats in Congress to stop much of Barack Obama's very leftist agenda, then Obama's presidency will have the results more of a moderate president.

Or Obama might even turn and start governing like a moderate, as Clinton did.

 

[cronxeh]

Well if she is smart, she will be prepared for that, and the Palin you see running in 2012 will not be the palin you saw running in 2008. And if she isn't, well then she deserves what she gets.

I got 10 questions that will make her brain freeze. I mean I could make this woman run off the stage crying if given a chance, but what the hell, let her run for office she does not belong in, maybe she will quit in first year in the office just like she did as a governor and pursue other careers. Maybe she will start working on being an octomom and compete with Kate plus 8, she only needs 3 more kids to join the club. Oh and for what its worth, nothing is sacred. She is being treated with kid gloves right now, but if she decides to play rough, it will be on. The number of kids she has is not off-limits. She is overcrowding this country for someone who is conservative.

And, even though I don't need to defend myself from being labeled as sexist (I am), or chauvinistic (I am), this is neither. If I had to chose between Obama and Hillary, I would've chosen Hillary. I personally met Senator Clinton and I know her to be quite intelligent and witty

 

[edward]

At first I thought this must be a joke.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/13/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6092956.shtml

 

[Nebula815]

I got 10 questions that will make her brain freeze. I mean I could make this woman run off the stage crying if given a chance, but what the hell, let her run for office she does not belong in, maybe she will quit in first year in the office just like she did as a governor and pursue other careers. Maybe she will start working on being an octomom and compete with Kate plus 8, she only needs 3 more kids to join the club. Oh and for what its worth, nothing is sacred. She is being treated with kid gloves right now, but if she decides to play rough, it will be on. The number of kids she has is not off-limits. She is overcrowding this country for someone who is conservative.

And, even though I don't need to defend myself from being labeled as sexist (I am), or chauvinistic (I am), this is neither. If I had to chose between Obama and Hillary, I would've chosen Hillary. I personally met Senator Clinton and I know her to be quite intelligent and witty

This extreme dislike of Palin is what I do not get.

 

[lisab]

This extreme dislike of Palin is what I do not get.

It's a strong feeling, for sure, but I don't think it's dislike. It's closer to incredulousness, I think...just plain disbelief that so many people really think she should be president. Incompetence isn't well tolerated, and the thought of another incompetent president really raises people's passions.

You keep saying she's not ready now, but she can study hard and catch up. I don't like that idea one bit - I don't want someone in that office who has to cram just to take the entrance exam.

It's not that I dislike her personally, but I strongly dislike the thought of her as my president.

 

[Nebula815]

It's a strong feeling, for sure, but I don't think it's dislike. It's closer to incredulousness, I think...just plain disbelief that so many people really think she should be president. Incompetence isn't well tolerated, and the thought of another incompetent president really raises people's passions.

True, but one could make that argument about many of the candidates who ran, from McCain to Biden to Hillary to even Obama (I do not dislike Obama personally, but I do still have some disbelief he is President). And they all have their skeletons, I mean Biden got caught plagiarizing in the 1988 Presidential election, and had to suspend his campaign. McCain had Keating 5. Obama had his odd and questionable background. Even Hillary has some questionable stuff in her background. Palin seems to engender a real fire-through-the-ears response the others do not generate though.

Also, I would not say President Bush (I am assuming you were referring to him) was incompetent. Controversial, yes, but not incompetent.

You keep saying she's not ready now, but she can study hard and catch up. I don't like that idea one bit - I don't want someone in that office who has to cram just to take the entrance exam.

Well Bill Clinton did (on foreign policy). So did Obama. Also McCain (who was clearly unqualified).

 

[cronxeh]

True, but one could make that argument about many of the candidates who ran, from McCain to Biden to Hillary to even Obama (I do not dislike Obama personally, but I do still have some disbelief he is President). And they all have their skeletons, I mean Biden got caught plagiarizing in the 1988 Presidential election, and had to suspend his campaign. McCain had Keating 5. Obama had his odd and questionable background. Even Hillary has some questionable stuff in her background. Palin seems to engender a real fire-through-the-ears response the others do not generate though.

Also, I would not say President Bush (I am assuming you were referring to him) was incompetent. Controversial, yes, but not incompetent.



Well Bill Clinton did (on foreign policy). So did Obama. Also McCain (who was clearly unqualified).

The difference is that McCain did not quit on his country in first year of his military career.

 

[Nebula815]

The difference is that McCain did not quit on his country in first year of his military career.

Well on this I honestly do not believe Palin had any choice. She had to handle all the lawsuits on her own financially and was unable to do anything else. What else could she have done? It's not as if she couldn't stand the criticism in the media and decided to step down. And she certainly couldn't serve anyone while dealing with all the lawsuits. The other thing to keep in mind is most of the people who hate Palin hated her before she had stepped down as well.