Barack Obama Elected President!

[Roman]

Republican Party NOW Vetting Palin

Posted by Ashish on 09.01.2008

Nervous party trying to find out whatever else they can about Palin before the media does as McCain puts the entire party at risk...

NBC reports that Republican party lawyers are now doing a legal vetting of VP selection Sarah Palin while ABC reports that Republican operatives are now headed to Alaska to find out whatever else they can about Palin. This, of course, is stuff that the McCain campaign was supposed to do BEFORE picking her. By not vetting Palin enough, the McCain campaign has basically put the party's chances in this election at risk because there is no telling what else is out there on her. Now that the media knows Palin wasn't really vetted, they are going to be very aggressive in researching her with the idea that they could break a major scandal related to her. Very dangerous decision here by McCain to not only pick someone so risky, but to not even vet her properly. And very risky decision by Palin to accept the VP nomination without making all of this known to the party. If something now comes out about Palin that seriously hurts the Republican party, both McCain and Palin will get the blame from the party itself. This is the type of stuff that happens when someone picks a person as VP based on ONE (or, some say, two) meetings. This is also going to put Palin in a very tough position once she finally starts doing interviews with reporters, something she has not done yet on the national scene. Palin has never even been on a Sunday talk show. And now, instead of introducing herself as she'd like to, she will have to defend herself from all kinds of questions including why, as a mother, she would accept a VP slot knowing that her teenage daughter would be put in the spotlight like this, and why she would put her party in a spot like this. And that is besides the obvious questions of her experience on a ticket that McCain has claimed over and over again is all about experience and about being ready to lead on "day one." Anybody who has watched how the media is covering this today, and in particular the hammering Campbell Brown of CNN gave Tucker Bounds of the McCain campaign with these types of questions (I'll post video of the segment if I can find it), knows that this stuff IS coming.

Of course, the McCain campaign claims they DID vet Palin in detail and that they knew all of today's breaking scandals beforehand. But the fact that the Republican party is now going back and vetting Palin themselves indicates that either the party doesn't trust the vetting job McCain did, or doesn't believe that they actually did vet her properly (it's hard to see how McCain would pick Palin while knowing all of the stuff we now know -- there are several other people McCain could have picked that would have excited Republicans).

And keep in mind that the issue here is not how Republicans respond to this. If McCain doesn't get 90%+ of the Republican vote, he will lose anyway. The question here is how will undecided voters respond to this, and how does all of this make John McCain's decision-making and judgment look? This puts a lot of pressure on Palin to deliver a fantastic speech on Wednesday (or Thursday).

Say what you will about Mitt Romney, but he was on the campaign trail for months and was vetted in detail by the media. This type of stuff wouldn't have happened had McCain picked him. Of course, this wouldn't have happened if the McCain campaign had of just done their job of vetting Palin properly either.

[Wales2004]

I'm not sure who some are but if HRC is 62 or 60 something then it's entirely likely that she's already gone through menopause.

Maybe instead of saying that McCain may have lost his bearings he could have said that he's knocking on the door of senility so no one could hurt their brains looking for any deeper meaning.

I don't do pc and I love it when people just say what they mean instead of beating around the bush.

You know like instead of saying he speaks well just say I don't like him.

It's like that 60 Minutes interview yesterday in which he was asked why he didn't bring up race and was he shying away from it. I'm glad he cleared it up that he's black and well people can see that (except if their blind of course).

I would have loved for McCain to have stuck to his guns about whatever reason he had for voting against the MLK holiday instead of hemming and hawing in the rain about how he'd made a mistake but I better not get started on patronizing. And I guess I better not watch that convention either.

[Roman]

As far as MLK's birthday, he seemed to not be sorry about his vote until he won the nomination.

[Southofnowhere]

They were counting on Hillary&Bill doing a real number on Obama and when it didn't happen they freaked.

[George008]

I'm glad to see a few more posters that seem to be more on the fence or leaning towards McCain. I'm getting fired up in my support of McCain and the GOP, and I'm excited to see others that are as well!

This thread is an example of what sets America apart from the rest of the world. I couldn't stay away!

I have less respect for those that are indifferent about politics than those that may disagree with me! Thanks to everyone for posting, showing your interest, and standing up for what you believe in!

Back to politics...Whether you support Palin's views or her ability to lead, you must agree she has done her initial job. She completed the job McCain intended. She has completely stolen the media's attention away from Obama and from his acceptance speech. I am a strong believer in the old adage "no publicity is bad publicity". This rings true as McCain has closed the gap according to today's Rasmussen poll. It's now at 49% to 46%. McCain is in a great position leading up to the RNC.

[Southofnowhere]

I think Obama is fine with reporters ,GOP and DNC ops going thrrough Palin's trash and it seems like there's lots of dirt to be found.

[Roman]

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro

Two new polls of note out today… CBS/New York Times has Obama with a slight bounce, up 48%-40%. An earlier poll, showed Obama up 45%-42%. CNN/Opinion Research, however, has Obama up just one point, 49%-48%

Both surveys were conducted Aug. 29-31. Obama's convention speech was made on Thursday, Aug. 28th; Palin was picked the next morning, Friday, Aug. 29th.

The five-point post-convention jump is the biggest for a Democrat in the CBS poll since 1996 when Bill Clinton also saw a 5-point increase. It shows a big swing in independents. McCain had led with the group in the last poll by 12 percentage points, but now Obama leads with them by 7.

It also finds Obama beats McCain, 63%-41%, on who most “understands the needs and problems of people like you.” And Obama got a boost on toughness after the convention. On, “Is he tough enough?” just 48% said he was in early August, but now 58% say so. Though Obama saw an increase in the commander-in-chief question, McCain still beats him by plenty -- 45%-29% say McCain is very likely to be an effective commander in chief. 19% say McCain's not likely to be effective; 34% say the same of Obama.

Men seemed most affected by McCain's selection of Palin as VP -- 17% of men said they'd be more likely to vote for McCain now versus just 10% of women. Michelle Obama apparently helped herself last week. In this poll, her favorables went from 28% fav/18% unfav/53% undecided in early August to 41% fav/21% unfav/38% undecided.

The CNN poll, with one of the lowest undecided numbers of any poll out there, showed the candidates tied a week earlier, 47%-47%.

With regard to McCain's pick of Palin, men viewed her more favorably than women did -- 41% of men had a favorable opinion; just 36% of women felt the same. Just 45% thought she was ready to president; 52% said she wasn't. Those are the lowest confidence numbers for a VP since Dan Quayle.

And, interestingly, “Three quarters of all voters think McCain chose a female running mate specifically because he thought adding a woman to the Republican ticket would help him win in November."

[David_Vickers]

The more I hear about it, the more I think that it is true that the so-called youngest child of Sarah Palin's is really the first born child of the 17 year old daughter of Palin. Palin only took 2 weeks off maternity leave and many reports of her daughter disappearing for months and that Palin did NOT look pregnant. I think Sarah Palin may be a liar and has been covering it up. Hmmm, if this is true, then the GOP would probably have McCain drop Palin for someone else, lmfao. This like I've said before proves that McCain would be a horrible President and Palin a horrible VP.

[Jess]

The reason I brought it up was that Hillary Clinton personally used the minister's remarks against Obama and she went on Fox Television, speaking with Bill O'Rielly to do so. I think going on Fox was such a stinker thing to do. I also think that you used a pretty liberal interpretation of Obama's remarks. As a woman, I do not interpret any of those comments the same way that you do. I've never seen or heard anyone say that Obama has traditional attitudes about women or is in anyway sexist. I also want to say that Bill Clinton took a bad rap during the primary. He is not a racist and does not seem to have a bigoted bone in his body.

Father Fleglar was a guest speaker in the church. I don't think Obama should be held accountable for that.

I agree on the use of the word "bitch". I guess that I would have to ask what that had to do with my post :lol: I think a lot of things that happen and are posted on web sites are pretty offensive. That also includes Mvids that are posted. I also think a lot of things that happen on web sites benefit the process. That is another chat though.

I do not think Hillary lost because of sexist remarks. I think people that like those kind of comments would never support her to begin with. I think most reasonable people found those remarks offensive. I do.

As far as Palin, I do not think she is qualified. I also think appointing a woman was a good strategic move and it was time for the Republicans to get over that hump and have someone but a white male on the ticket. I do not think he picked the most qualified woman.

As far as the most recent stuff about her family, I do not think it makes one bit of difference. I'm a little bit disgusted that the McCain staff "leaked it out." Hell just stand up and say it. It's not a crime.

[Southofnowhere]

Looks like team Obama did the right thing by usinf the NNC to let voters get to know him and his family. I also think he's doing the right thing by letting this Palin mess work it self out and keeping his hands clean. If something major comes out he should pouch but he should let the voters make their own mind up about the daughter and the brother inlaw. If Plain was Obama's running mate Fox News would be running with all those sick rumors like crazy.

I think it's very strange that Obama is the 1 with the old Fashion type Family with 2 perfect kids and what turns out to be a major asset in his wfie. Whole the Rups are the ones with the morden type families.

I never thought the day would come that the GOP's VP pick would be a 45 year old Mother of 5 soon to be GrandMother!

[Southofnowhere]

If she were Obama's VP Fox News would be spreading those rumors 24/7 . Obama's not going to touch it and either is the mainstream news. The Blogers will blog about it and if McCain wins and it's true it will comeout then.

[Roman]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/01/sanitized-coverage/

[David_Vickers]

I disagree, I think it will come out before the election. This is hot button news right now, so I think if it's true it will come out and slap Palin and the GOP in their faces, lmfao.

[Wales2004]

Since I don't care about poll numbers then I never get impressed either way.

McCain's ploy worked to get the focus on his VP candidate but not him. I guess any focus on his campaign is a plus for him.

I don't believe in bad publicity being a good thing.....especially when it's about a pregnant 17 year old. And I hope someone in the GOP diverts from the party line and admits that it's not a positive thing for the teen. It's not the end of the world but it's the end of her ability to be an average teenage girl.

I should also throw in the hypocrisy of the GOP on this subject since they're touting is as a real problem families face. Had it been q Democrat then it would have been indicative of their lack of family values, etc and their inability to control their children. Even worse if Obama had a 17 year old pregnant daughter then Fox News would have gone racial with it. They would have called her a baby mama......oh wait they did that with Michelle Obama and claimed it was okay because she referred to her husband as her babies' daddy. And they would be having a field day with the fact that the father refers to himself as a blank redneck who doesn't want kids (I' assume he meant in the near future).

There are a lot of things that irk me about the Democrats but I do notice that they generally own up to problems and they don't practice onespeak to the point of looking like clones that are either devoid of individuality or hoping the public are brainless lambs. I thought as the years go by that the GOP would be more progressive in 2008 but tacking a woman on the ticket is not enough to make up for their lack of real movement. The only thing I can applaud them for this election year is shutting down the primaries to avoid contention.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Mike Huckabee are the only two members of the parties that I've heard speak in recent months who don't have clone syndrome.

McCain actually threw Obama a bone since the focus on dirt digging on Palin led to the media not spending hours upon hours dissecting the convention or Obama's speech. They still reported that he had 84,000 people in attendance and 40 million watching. Thanks to McCain he is left with that favorable.

[Wales2004]

Unless Palin is lying about how far along her daughter is in her pregnancy, it's unlikely that the baby is her daughter's.

I know there is a desire to see the GOP have their hypocrisy stare them in the face (which I think it already does) but I can't celebrating something that's not good for a teenage girl.

Palin has already been caught in a lie over her position on the Bridge to Nowhere and there is probably more forthcoming problems that are political in nature.

The only potential backlash she may suffer regarding her children is if people turn away from her as a sympathetic mother and start empathizing with the kids and the fact that she knowingly placed them under such scrutiny.

Some working mothers do so out of financial necessity and not because they are career minded. There are probably some who are career minded that would sacrifice their careers for their children and attempt to pick the career up when the children are older. Who knows? Some of them might come to disagree with Palin even if they empathize with what's going on.