Barack Obama Elected President!

[George008]

From what I've heard, read, and seen I see no reason that he would need to drop her. Republicans are behind her.

[Southofnowhere]

Most Repups are keeping their mouths shut and trying not laugh but i thought McCaim was running to be Prez of USa not Prez of the Republican Party? Guess i was wrong. So much for Maverick McCain!

[Cat]

Sorry. My thoughts are jumbled and I'm not expressing myself clearly. I meant "record" in two different senses. To Obama's people, I say attack the details of her record, to be sure, because these deserve close scrutiny. But don't suddenly turn around and say "she has no experience" because the Republicans will hold up the governorship card and declare that this carries more executive power than Obama's senatorial post.

IA about your quality vs. quantity argument. Unfortunately, at this point, pundits will use quantity to attack the candidate they dislike and pretend that it means quality.

And IA with you about the Republicans needing to overhaul their party. I have voted for both Dems and Reps at local, state and national levels, based on the issues at hands and the candidates' respective mission statements. I guess you could say that I was one of those "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" voters during the Clinton years. IMO, the Republican party has been highjacked by agendas which should not be part of the government's remit at all -- and that includes this question of who is "truly" American and who isn't. Love and loyalty to your country is not a political affiliation! Your choice of religion (or lack thereof) should not be a question of political affiliation!

That and the fact that the one area in which the Reps once dominated -- foreign policy -- has been reduced to ashes thanks to Dubya's shenanigans. He has set the Republican party back about 30 years.

[George008]

My point is that the GOP is not going to ask McCain to drop her. McCain is not going to drop her on his own, he is happy with his pick. Unfortunately, the democrats (who have the gripe with Palin) have no say in the matter until November 4th. They are going to vote for Obama anyway.

I see no need to drop her just because the dems are attacking her Bridge to Nowhere flip-flop, her daughter's pregnancy, and her firing of an official that did nothing about an abusive officer that tased a young child.

[Roman]

And this !@#$%^&*] is from my home state.

Good looking out, Wales!

[Greg's GL]

ICAM. For years, Repubs have been trying to sell us on "abstinence only" sex ed classes. Claiming that they are the best way to prevent teen pregnancy. Heaven forbid someone give a 17 year old boy a condom! Or a 16 year old girl birth control pills! GASP! I mean, really. We're living in the real world here people. Now, do I think 17 year olds should be having sex??? No. BUT, you couldn't tell that to me when I was 17, the same way you can't say say that to teenagers today. It's laughable that they promote abstinence only sex ed as a valid prevention from teenagers having sex and now it's blown up in their face. I admit I am getting a kick on how they are trying to spin this one.

The only reason that McCain picked Palin was because Obama didn't place Hilary on the Dem ticket. If Hilary were O's VP, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's a fairly transparent, desperate attempt to lure feminists over to the Repubs. I mean, this is a woman that was fairly unknown prior to last Friday. IMO it's the equivalent as having Quayle selected in 88 for Bush 1 because Bush didn't want to come across as an "old fogey".

[usetobeasoapfan]

I like her, and I haven't heard of anyone within the Party wanting to drop her, just the opposite!

[usetobeasoapfan]

The only reason that McCain picked Palin was because Obama didn't place Hilary on the Dem ticket.

I had no idea you sat in on this...WOW!

Saying "only" gives insight which I don't think you have...or do you?

[Roman]

Now, the Mccain campaign has launched a fight against the MSM, saying that they would not be vetting a man like this and that the overflow of news is because she's a woman.

The only thing that I think needs to stay out of it is this notion that a woman can be asked how she will raise her children, but a man in this same political position has never been asked that.

They can't explain how they screwed this one up, so the blame lays with everyone but them. Remember now, these are the same people who tell you and I that americans should take personal responsibility for their actions.

[Greg's GL]

This is another reason that I will probably never vote Republican. Dubya came to Washington promoting is "Compassionate Conservatism". Turns out, the only people he was compassionate to were Evangelicals. Homeless? Gay? Unwed mother? Downtrodden minority? He has shown ZERO compassion for those people. Heck, this is the first president in history that wanted to write discrimination INTO our constitution and was proud of it!

[Roman]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/03/a...ning-books-too/

[Greg's GL]

Do I have insight into the Repub's machinations? I certainly don't. You got me there. But the move is very transparent nonetheless.

Well said. ICAM.

[Roman]

ALASKA Governor Sarah Palin was a risky choice for John McCain - and the Republican presidential candidate is about to find out just how risky.

A national poll shows most US women are unimpressed as her stance on issues like abortion and pre-school education becomes public.

They have thrown their weight behind the Democratic ticket in the race for the White House, with 52 per cent of women polled saying they will vote for the all-male Democratic ticket of Senator Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and just 41 per cent said they would back Senator McCain and Governor Palin in the November election.

The poll comes as the McCain camp defends the vetting process used to select Governor Palin.

Governor Palin was hired during only her second face-to-face meeting with Senator McCain last week. She underwent a three-hour interview and had to answer 70 extraordinary questions.

As well as being asked whether she had ever paid for sex, Governor Palin was asked to answer a series of additional queries about her sex life.

One was: "Have you been faithful in your marriage?" In America, where more than one president has been involved in sexual scandal, claims of marital infidelity can become national property and have the potential to ruin a White House run.

Governor Palin was also asked whether she had downloaded pornography or ever used or purchased drugs.

Palin has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past. In a 2006 interview she said: "I can't claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled."

While those issues might not trip her up, 56 per cent of the women polled said they were put off by Governor Palin's legislative record and her position on moral issues, such as abortion.

"When women voters learn that Palin opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, opposes stem cell research and, as governor, opposed funding for state pre-kindergarten programs... a majority say... (they) feel less favourable toward her," research group Garin-Hart-Yang said.

Governor Palin's scant experience as an elected official - she was mayor of a small town for six years and has been governor of Alaska for less than two - "squanders" McCain's advantage over Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in terms of experience in office and readiness to lead, the women voters said.

"Women voters see the choice of Governor Palin as being driven by politics rather than by any sense of conviction on Senator McCain's part that she has the experience and qualities to make a good vice president," the research group said.

McCain's gamble hinges on Palin, 44, today delivering the most important and high-pressure speech of her short career.

Governor Palin will address the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota, and will be out to stare down controversies that have already emerged.

First there were claims Palin's fifth and youngest child, Trig, aged four months, was really the son of her 17-year-old daughter Bristol.

Palin countered claims that she had faked her own pregnancy by allowing it to be revealed that Bristol is currently pregnant to her high-school boyfriend, Levi Johnston.

She is also embroiled in a state ethics investigation looking at claims she misused her position to settle a personal score with her ex-brother-in-law in a scandal now called "Troopergate".

Her husband, Todd Palin, twice registered as a member of the fringe Alaskan Independence Party, which wants the state to secede from the US. The McCain campaign said Palin was never a member of the group.

She also accepted at least $US4500 ($5400) in campaign contributions in the same fund-raising scheme involved in a public corruption scandal, which led to the indictment of Alaskan senator Ted Stevens.

The liberal US blog website the Huffington Post said the Intrade prediction market had opened trading on whether Palin would be withdrawn as the nominee.

While some Republicans are privately anxious about McCain's risky choice, others came out swinging against Palin's critics, labelling them "sexist".

As the controversy swirled, Democrat Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said McCain made an "impulsive" choice.

McCain had wanted to put forward close friends Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, or the former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge.

But both men support abortion and conservatives forced him to back down.

Palin opposes abortion and is expected to make political mileage with America's powerful religious right after she chose to give birth to Trig despite learning he had Down syndrome.

On the defensive yesterday, McCain said he was "excited" to have Palin as his running mate.

[MichaelGL]

And that is why I'm never going to vote Republican either. The party seems more like a church rather than a political party.

If McCain's campaign a example of how he's going to run this country then god have mercy on us all. This campaign has crashed and burned several times, while Obama seems to have made one smart move after another.

[Southofnowhere]

Obama needs to sit back and let this Palin stuff play out and keep his hands out of it. It's very wierd that McCain picking a woman RM is what causing Obama to get of his hurdle with women!

The VP debates will be interesting because the GOP are already putting out there that if Bieden is hard on her it's because he's sexist. IMO that dog won't hunt.