Did anybody bother talking to this Palin lady before they picked her?

[mokin]

This is almost crazy enough to be planned. I'm half-expecting a bait-n'-switch--McCain gathers the commitment of conservative middle America with Palin, and then kicks her off the ticket and appoints someone else just before the polls open. Stranger shit has happened.

Not as easy as it sounds. Once she's confirmed as VP nom at the convention, McCain can't change the ticket without the approval of the Republican National Convention. The 168 members of the RNC would vote to find a replacement.

See this article for more info:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200809u/palin-eagleton

[<<<<<]

Roe v. Wade will never be overturned because then normal people wouldn't have a reason to vote Republican anymore.

True.  The GOP relies upon its enemies to define itself, which is why it's such a negative party.  George I's presidency basically evaporated once Communism fell.  The "Liberal media" became the new Communism after that, a project they worked on the entirety of the 90s.

[yesno]

  How about the part where she's a proselytizing religious kook who conflates politics and religious destiny?  Oh that's right, one of those is president already. 

They aren't religious kooks. The only God they know is the one that gets them elected but in reality they have no personal relationship with any God.

If you go by rhetoric alone, Obama is a pretty intense religious "kook."

[chrisfoll577]

  How about the part where she's a proselytizing religious kook who conflates politics and religious destiny?  Oh that's right, one of those is president already. 

They aren't religious kooks. The only God they know is the one that gets them elected but in reality they have no personal relationship with any God.

If you go by rhetoric alone, Obama is a pretty intense religious "kook."

Exactly, he lays on the religious rhetoric as thick as anyone.

I'm going to be just a cynical as Giily and hazard the guess that joining a Chicago neighborhood church was just another networking opportunity for the previously faithless Obama. and once his faith became a liability, he threw his Pastor under the bus.

[yesno]

I'm going to be just a cynical as Giily and hazard the guess that joining a Chicago neighborhood church was just another networking opportunity for the previously faithless Obama. and once his faith became a liability, he threw his Pastor under the bus.

My cynical view are that they're all willing to do what it takes to get elected, and that they see religion as a convenient tool to keep people in check.  I think the last time Congress passed anything unanimously was when it voted to keep "under God" in the pledge of allegiance.

My charitable view is that I think that a lot of politicians "believe in belief."  I.e. they don't actually believe in the underlying doctrines, but they think it's a good idea if everyone pretends to.

[ericluxury]

As a life-long democrat, I have to say that this woman is the biggest threat to come along in a while.  The New York Times is doing everyone a disservice by pointing out what they deem to be skeletons in her closet.  It is a waste of time.  No single skeleton they have uncovered is enough to bring this person down.  These skeletons will all be overlooked in the long run, much like Cheney's.  The Right will rally around her, seeing her as "running the gauntlet of the liberal media" and surviving.

The most we can hope for is that she slips up somewhere on the campaign trail or during the debate with Biden.  OR maybe her popularity and strength makes McCain look weak.

Her speech tonight left me very, very concerned.  The Right may have their next Reagan.

I felt that way watching her speech. But it contained lots of lies (her stance on the Bridge to Nowhere, that the only relevant experience is executive experience) and it didn't say anything new about her.
 
As far as uncovering the skeletons in her closet and all that, while I agree that I am tired of legitimate questions about a person being spun in the media as surviving the gauntlet, there is a lot to work with as long its not done by Obama or the Obama people. If Obama and Biden stay on message that McCain = Bush and attacks are made by not-Obama to portray Palin as an irresponsible choice (who uses her retarded baby as a prop), then I think the Dems will win.

Whats scary to me, though, is that I wouldn't compare her to Reagan so much as she is exactly what Bush made his image into.

[gravy boat]

My mother, who keeps the TV tuned to Fox News 24 hours a day, and has never met a conspiracy theory she didn't like, thinks that the GOP is sandbagging this election because they know, to paraphrase, "the economy is going to be shitting blood for the next 4 years."  Then, bum-bum-bum, they'll come back in a few years on their white horses.  She thinks the selection of Palin was like starting your fourth-string quaterback if the loss will help you get a better draft pick (yes, she used that analogy!).

Thought I'd share. 

Godspeed, all.

[ericluxury]

For some reason I can't get enough of written commentary about this election recently.
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/sarah_palin.php. In that op-ed James Fallows makes some good points, namely that all of those speeches, Palin's especially was aimed at the Republican base and not at the independent white female voters who everyone tells me are the key.

[John Junk 2.0]

Whats scary to me, though, is that I wouldn't compare her to Reagan so much as she is exactly what Bush made his image into.

I agree, her appeal seems exactly like Bush's appeal.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

My mother, who keeps the TV tuned to Fox News 24 hours a day, and has never met a conspiracy theory she didn't like, thinks that the GOP is sandbagging this election because they know, to paraphrase, "the economy is going to be shitting blood for the next 4 years."  Then, bum-bum-bum, they'll come back in a few years on their white horses.  She thinks the selection of Palin was like starting your fourth-string quaterback if the loss will help you get a better draft pick (yes, she used that analogy!).

Thought I'd share. 

Godspeed, all.

Is your mom Raad_Man?  I want to party with her.

[daveB from Oakland]

My mother, who keeps the TV tuned to Fox News 24 hours a day, and has never met a conspiracy theory she didn't like, thinks that the GOP is sandbagging this election because they know, to paraphrase, "the economy is going to be shitting blood for the next 4 years."  Then, bum-bum-bum, they'll come back in a few years on their white horses.  She thinks the selection of Palin was like starting your fourth-string quaterback if the loss will help you get a better draft pick (yes, she used that analogy!).

Thought I'd share. 

Godspeed, all.

Is your mom Raad_Man?  I want to party with her.

Totally. Raad_Mom sounds like a blast. I'll bring the Goldshlager.

[John Junk 2.0]

Whats scary to me, though, is that I wouldn't compare her to Reagan so much as she is exactly what Bush made his image into.

I agree, her appeal seems exactly like Bush's appeal.

Actually, that wasn't ericluxury, that was me.

[Fido]

Thanks for sharing the Fallows article, Eric.

The more I think about it, the more that speech left me feeling really cold. All the negativity and attacking everyone else -- just what I've come to expect from the Christian right. It tires and saddens me a lot.

[ericluxury]

Whats scary to me, though, is that I wouldn't compare her to Reagan so much as she is exactly what Bush made his image into.

I agree, her appeal seems exactly like Bush's appeal.

Actually, that wasn't ericluxury, that was me.

I said the important part, you sheep!

[John Junk 2.0]

I got confused.  Sorry.