GOP VP thread: Palin is the pick

I think if McCain wins, it's entirely possible he's one term and out. By then Palin would be 48.

 

Yeah, but by then she's quite possibly even less well-known than she is now, even with the recent rise in luster for the vice presidency. I'd like to hear McCain elaborate on what roles he sees her filling.

 

And for the most part, I think you're dead on.

However, I think picking someone who is clearly wrong for the position -- and I want to be clear that by this I am in no way saying anything about either VP nominee, just speaking in abstract terms -- can have a detrimental effect on the ticket's chances.

Remember 1976 when Reagan announced he would make Richard Schweiker his VP if nominated while he and Ford were locked in a tight battle that went to the convention? That pick, in many people's eyes, handed the race to Ford, who won the nomination on the first ballot.

 

Maureen Dowd checks in:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31dowd.html?ref=opinion

 

So, I take it she likes the pick?

 

"The legacy of Geraldine Ferraro was supposed to be that no one would ever go on a blind date with history again."

 

I haven't been amused by Maureen Dowd in years, but this par made me chuckle:

The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it’s close to Alaska. “Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”

 

This was the money line for me:
"They have a tradition of nominating fun, bantamweight cheerleaders from the West, like the previous Miss Congeniality types Dan Quayle and W., and then letting them learn on the job. So they crash into the globe a few times while they’re learning to drive, what’s the big deal?"

Zogby's out with the first post-Palin numbers. And it has Obama up 1, 44 - 43 erasing his convention bounce. Barr still has 5 percent and Nader 2 percent.
New theory on McCain's choice: He figures the only way he gets to where he can really enact the kind of change he wants is to get the pro-lifers on his side and pour money into his campaign. He wins, then works primarily with Dems in Congress to do what he wants. Of course, he'll tick off the righties doing that, but he really doesn't care.

 

Dear Dan: Of all the polls to cite, Zogby is the worst. His track record of inaccuracy is almost unparalleled, because he thrives in the business by ALWAYS showing numbers just a little different than his competitors.
Statistics are not a good field for contrarians.

 

That's hilarious. If this thread didn't get this long, you would be telling everyone how we're a bunch of libs who don't even pay attention to the GOP pick.

 

She might be screwed in terms of the sophistication and depth of her answers. But if Biden comes off as sounding even remotely condescending or arrogant, it's going to be a repeat of the Gore-Bush debates in 2000. And the Hillary supporters will say "see, Obama's camp was condescending towards the female candidate before and they're condescending towards the female candidate now." And McCain will win.

 

So if Palin says something that"s either false or stupid, Biden better not say anything because she's a girl? That's pathetic. If Biden says anything false or stupid, she'll call him out, or should.
This is the big leagues. POW and Woman do not equal a free pass.