Looks like it's McCain - Palin

[gbundersea]

Unless this is a last-minute fake-out, it appears that McCain has chosen Alaska governer Sarah Palin as his VP.

All the major media outlets are confirming that Palin is the one.

Palin is 44, rated A+ by the NRA, anti-tax, pro-life, pro-drilling, and very popular. (Good looking too!) Apparently she's also a longtime hunter and shooter.

The RATS may try to cite lack of experience, but as governor of the largest state, she's had FAR more executive experience than ObamaSama, and for that matter, Biden too. Any "lack of experience" arguments will blow up in their face.

The hardcore conservative crowd on Free Republic is very pleased, which says a lot. The consensus is that while unconventional in that she's female, McCain picked a winner.

 

[dzelenka]

I was just about to post this - you beat me to it.

McCain names Palin as running mate: reports
43 minutes ago

DAYTON, United States (AFP) — Republican White House hopeful John McCain on Friday named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, US media reported.

Fox and CNN said that campaign sources confirmed the surprise choice of Palin, 44, just minutes away from the start of a rally here where the Republican will make the official announcement.

The choice of Palin was seen as a bold effort by McCain to attract disgruntled Democratic and independent supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton, who was defeated by Barack Obama in the race to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Palin, a telegenic conservative, has led the oil-producing northwestern US state since December 2006 and was the first woman and youngest person to hold that state's top job.

Known as an anticorruption crusader, Palin studied journalism and is on the conservative wing of her party.

A married mother of five, she is an opponent of abortion rights, a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and supporter of a pipeline to move natural gas across her sprawling state.

Palin cut her political teeth as mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska from 1996-2002, also favors oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a pillar of McCain's energy plans.

In the Republican primaries for governor in 2006 Palin prevailed campaigning on issues from transportation to education and crime.

Palin is also an avid hunter, angler and reportedly enjoys tucking into a moose-burger.

If McCain were elected in the November 4 presidential election, the choice of Palin as a running mate would make her the first woman vice president in the United States.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

Yeah they are already starting to cite a lack of experience, but I disagree, a govenor of a state, large or small, has more experience towards being a pres than a 50 year senator does. BIG differance between being the top dog and being 1 of a few hundred, state or country.

 

[tuan]

shes an NRA member. Plus she is going to help take the Hillary supporters for the GOP. I'm for her.

 

[artabr]

I think she's a good pick.


Art

 

[aroundlsu]

Picking a relatively young, attractive woman was ingenious. This was his ace card and will put him over the top.

 

[Cajun_Chuck]

I think it was pretty clever to say so myself.

 

[W1nds0rF0x]

The only thing as or more clever would have been Colin Powell.

 

[artabr]

Palin Pics.

 

[dzelenka]

The M4 she is holding looks like some sort of simulator, but at least she looks like she knows what she is doing. (Not Dukakis in the tank.) Nice young caribou. Good eats.

 

[Cybrludite]

So, assuming McCain steps aside due to age, how does Palin/Jindal sound for 2012?

 

[CEHollier]

Yes... She's got my vote

 

[nastynewt]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFjqZ_vvLNc[/ame]

 

[penguin]

interesting, during her speech last night:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

 

[dzelenka]

Yea but she looked great.

Obama's greatest acomplishment is his own self promotion. He is clearly articulate and intellegent, but I see little substance. On top of that he stands for most of what I find distasteful in government. I just do not believe that government will help me more than I can help myself or spend my money more wisely than I will.

One quote that you posted sums up alot

"He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise."

Taxing small businesses will hurt everyone. Taxing dividends and capital gains will hurt the baby boomers seeking to retire. Imagine having your nest egg invested in mutual funds and finding out that you will be taxed an additional 10 cent on every dollar of gain over your lifetime. Looks like retirement will be that much farther away.

I just cannot support a party that thinks like that.

Dan

PS and then there is the gun thing.

 

[penguin]

Yea but she looked great.

Well, she is cougar...lol

Obama's greatest acomplishment is his own self promotion.

That's not true. That's like saying the greatest thing that McCain did was to survive a prison camp. I know someone will say 'but if he didn't do that, then he would never have...blah blah blah'. That's like saying that if his mom would have swallowed. It's a moot argument.

He is clearly articulate and intellegent, but I see little substance.

v

I disagree. Irrespective, the majority of presidents in our history had about as much or less experience than Obama has.

On top of that he stands for most of what I find distasteful in government. I just do not believe that government will help me more than I can help myself or spend my money more wisely than I will.

But you're not the one building roads, or fixing dams or doing all those other things that the government does.

Taxing small businesses will hurt everyone. Taxing dividends and capital gains will hurt the baby boomers seeking to retire. Imagine having your nest egg invested in mutual funds and finding out that you will be taxed an additional 10 cent on every dollar of gain over your lifetime. Looks like retirement will be that much farther away.

I agree with that. I think there should be taxes, we can't live without them, but that the taxes we get should be better spent. I think Obama can do that better than McCain. It's not like the Republicans haven't had 16 years to do something with those funds...

PS and then there is the gun thing.

Got no argument with that!

One thing I noted is that you didn't touch any of the other points made. Had this been Obama's speech and that many discrepancies were found, I'm sure I would have seen a thread on here lambasting him and calling him a liar and that you could never trust someone who would stand up to the public and do that. However, what do you expect from her speech - it was written by a Bush speechwriter. So to think that this won't be the same old same old, to me, is without merit.

 

[dzelenka]

I guess that I just assume political speeches contain some puffery in them (I look at them as I would a commercial). I don't have any trouble with what Palin said that you quoted above. I have been reading a bit. Alaska has more earmarks per capita than any state. That is probably understandable given its small population compared to its huge land mass. However, under Palin, Alaska has reduced its dependence on earmarks. Also, Palin has an 80+% approval rating in her home state. That says something.

With respect to Obama's record, I ran his name looking for bills that he authored and didn't find any. He did co-sponsor a few (not the same as authoring). He hasn't really spent much time around the Senate. His voting "present" 130 times in the state house bothers me a bit since it indicates a lack of commitment to a position. Perhaps you can enlighten us as to what Obama has actually accomplished (and why it was good for us).

The tax thing we have already covered with one exception - I have no problem with the government building roads or fixing dams or providing for the common defense. I do have a problem with "entitlement" programs. The Democrats won't do anything to reduce entitlements because if you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. Johnson's "Great Society" has been a failure and I see Obama/Pelosi/Reid as just promoting more of the same. I don't think we can afford any more programs (hell, I don't think we can afford the ones we have now).

Dan

 

[dzelenka]

On the experience thing, I thnk if you look you will find that the vast majority of presidents had much more experience than Obama. Since the turn of the last century most were former governors or vice-presidents. Off of the top of my head, I can only think of Kennedy as having as little experience as Obama, but at least he was willing to put his ass on the line for the country as a PT boat skipper. He was alot about self promotion (and promotion by his father). There was one vice-president who's experience was 2 years as a governor before taking office as VP. He turned out to be pretty good. His name was Teddy Roosevelt. Being a part time state legislator and a partial term US Senator does not provide you with executive experience. Fortunately for Obama, you don't need actual experience, you only need to convince voters to vote for you. he seems pretty good at that.

I will finish with the following thought: George Bush is vilified by a large portion of the country his approval ratings are in the tank (although not as low as the democratic controlled congress). John McCain is not well liked by a large part of the Republican party. Yet, in spite of all of the advantages that a democratic candidate should have, Obama has yet to take any meaningful lead in this election. Is it possible that this is because he is a weak candidate and the voters have serious reservations about his qualifications? Just food for thought.

Dan

 

[penguin]

I guess that I just assume political speeches contain some puffery in them (I look at them as I would a commercial). I don't have any trouble with what Palin said that you quoted above. I have been reading a bit. Alaska has more earmarks per capita than any state. That is probably understandable given its small population compared to its huge land mass. However, under Palin, Alaska has reduced its dependence on earmarks. Also, Palin has an 80+% approval rating in her home state. That says something.

She has an 80% approval rating of one of the smallest concentrations of people in the country (like you said). This year, she sent to Sen. Ted. Stevens, R-Alaska, a proposal for 31 earmarks totaling $197 million — more, per person, than any other state. You're talking about more than California and NY. That's huge. Why, if AK was flush with money from this record setting year, did she not put the money she gave to the citizens ($1,200 each) to fund those projects? That might have something to do with her approval rating... As for her reduction in earmarks, Palin's earmarks request (which was a reduction) came just days after President Bush promised in his State of the Union address to veto any spending bills from Congress unless lawmakers cut earmarks in half. There goes her impetus for doing it on her own. She had been a huge proponet of earmarks prior to Bush making this speech. Even as far as getting 27 million for her old town of...8,000 people... Besides, Palin requested $254 million in earmarks, not $550 million last year, so her cuts this year were only 22 percent, not the 63 percent she claimed. Heck, she even wanted earmarks that were FOR the bridge to nowhere (the bridge that McCain lambasted). Only well later did she say it was a bad idea.

With respect to Obama's record, I ran his name looking for bills that he authored and didn't find any. He did co-sponsor a few (not the same as authoring).

During the first eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.

His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included

1. Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law,
2. Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law,
3. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
4. 2007 Government Ethics Bill, became law,
5. Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.

In all, since entering the State/U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096.

Does that answer that?

He hasn't really spent much time around the Senate. His voting "present" 130 times in the state house bothers me a bit since it indicates a lack of commitment to a position.

He has spent plenty of time around the senate. "Obama's aides and some allies dispute the characterization that a present vote is tantamount to ducking an issue. They said Obama cast 4,000 votes in the Illinois Senate and used the present vote to protest bills that he believed had been drafted unconstitutionally or as part of a broader legislative strategy." It's blatant politics to argue otherwise when his voting record is contrary to what tends to be thrown about by many GOP followers. Now, I don't have a problem with opinions. You don't like or you think are fine. But when people try to distort facts (i.e., number of bills, number of votes, etc) then it becomes political. Your opinion on why he voted a certain way is fine, but when it comes to trying to mislead (not saying you are, but others) people by just throwing out random unfounded crap, it irks me. Besides, voting present is very common. I think 130 out of over 4,000 is pretty minimal.

Perhaps you can enlighten us as to what Obama has actually accomplished (and why it was good for us).

Pick and chose the legislation above.

The tax thing we have already covered with one exception - I have no problem with the government building roads or fixing dams or providing for the common defense. I do have a problem with "entitlement" programs.

And the GOP has? The GOP has enforced boondoggles and pork barrel spending for over 16 years. All of these wonderful problems we're having have occured under the GOPs watch. I could see if the GOP only had control for 4 or even 8 years. But the GOP ran both houses for 16 years. I have a problem with enforcement of entitlement programs, but not the programs themselves. Welfare? Fine by me. But it needs to be reformed. Max amount of time on it, random drug screening and job search/placement must be mandatory. This generational crap bothers me.

The Democrats won't do anything to reduce entitlements because if you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. Johnson's "Great Society" has been a failure and I see Obama/Pelosi/Reid as just promoting more of the same. I don't think we can afford any more programs (hell, I don't think we can afford the ones we have now).

Johnson's programs were a failure? Wow, that's total Neo-Con talk there . They were GREAT programs. If it weren't for them, we would probably still be a hard core racially divided country that only espouses God in school and that there can be nothing more than a baptist preacher in the classroom and our environment would be in the tank. For those of you that don't know what the Great Society programs were, look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society

I won't argue that it didn't have faults (war on poverty - but alot of that had to due with politics itself and not the program). Any large governmental program will. You'll never get around that. But is has far improved the country than it has hurt it.

Good debate, Dan!

 

[dzelenka]

I see that you are very up on your Obama "facts". It seems that some do not coincide with what I have seen. If accurate (which I shall not doubt until I do more research), I will hold a special fondness for his introducing 15 gun control bills during his 8 year tenure in the IL senate. Gotta love the guy. I did do a quick search for an Obama website where your information came from. I didn't find it, but I came upon this one. http://www.theobamafacts.com/ Perhaps you can cite to some of the facts contained therein to support your candidate.

I'll get back to this when I have more time.

Dan (the unrepentent pro-gun Republican)