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Posts Tagged ‘palin’

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How I know Palin delivered

Posted by Richard on October 2, 2008

In my not-so-humble opinion, Palin won big. As Vodkapundit noted several times during his drunkblogging, Palin was especially good when she was "off-script." On energy in particular, she articulated McCain's position far better than McCain has. And she challenged Obama's and Biden's records much more effectively than McCain has.

But I realize it's hard for me to be objective about this, especially when I disliked almost everything Biden had to say. And I heard him say numerous things that were flat-out false.

So I'm looking for some objective standard by which to gauge the outcome, and I think I've got one. I watched on NBC. Before the debate, Brian Williams and his talking heads all agreed that this debate was an historic and highly important event.

After the debate, they all agreed that Palin did quite well, that neither candidate made any big mistakes — and that it really doesn't matter because no one cares about vice presidential debates, and it will be completely forgotten in a few days.

If that's the consensus spin of the mainstream media, then I'm pretty certain that Palin did really, really well. Because if she hadn't done well, you can be sure they'd still be talking about how important that debate was.

UPDATE: Was Ifill fair? Well, she wasn't as unfair as she might have been, and I suspect that's because of all the criticism that followed revelations about her upcoming pro-Obama book. But a lot of the questions she asked and the way she asked them made it easier for Biden to answer than for Palin. And she sure gave Biden the last word a lot.

UPDATE 2: According to Ace of Spades, I was right about Biden saying "numerous things that were flat-out false." He enumerated 14 specific instances. And he didn't even mention Biden's huge flubs regarding Article 1 of the Constitution (it's about the legislative branch, not the executive branch) and the role of the Vice President (the veep doesn't just preside over the Senate when there is a tie vote; that's just the only time the veep votes with the Senate).

UPDATE 3: There was one moment when Biden connected with me: near the end, when he recalled losing his wife and daughter (in an automobile accident) and worrying about whether one of his sons would survive. He became genuinely choked up, and my heart went out to him.

But that was the only moment during the debate that Biden seemed like a genuine human being instead of a Washington politico-bot.

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Ifill in the tank for Obama

Posted by Richard on October 1, 2008

PBS anchor Gwen Ifill will be the moderator for the one and only vice presidential debate. With the assent of both campaigns, she's been given free rein by the debate commission to run the debate as she pleases. But would the McCain-Palin campaign have agreed if they'd been better informed about Ifill? From today's Michelle Malkin column (emphasis added):

In an imaginary world where liberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else, Ifill would be required to make a full disclosure at the start of the debate. She would be required to turn to the cameras and tell the national audience that she has a book coming out on Jan. 20, 2009 — a date that just happens to coincide with the inauguration of the next president of the United States.

The title of Ifill's book? "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." Nonpartisan my foot.

Random House, her publisher, is already busy hyping the book with YouTube clips of Ifill heaping praise on her subjects, including Obama and Obama-endorsing Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick. …

…

Ifill and her publisher are banking on an Obama/Biden win to buoy her book sales. The moderator expected to treat both sides fairly has grandiosely declared this the "Age of Obama." Can you imagine a right-leaning journalist writing a book about the "stunning" McCain campaign and its "bold" path to reform timed for release on Inauguration Day — and then expecting a slot as a moderator for the nation's sole vice presidential debate?

Yeah, I just registered 6.4 on the Snicker Richter Scale, too.

Read the whole thing. Sadly, there is nothing at all remarkable or noteworthy about Ifill's obvious bias, partiality, lack of objectivity, and slanted reporting. Most of the MSM don't even make an effort to conceal it anymore, they're so contemptuous of their political "enemies" and the "bitter clingers" in flyover country. 

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The speech Palin never gave

Posted by Richard on September 23, 2008

The New York Times of Israel (both in stature and ideology), Haaretz, did what liberal Jewish groups in the U.S. wouldn't do: let Gov. Sarah Palin speak. Haaretz published the speech that Palin wasn't allowed to deliver yesterday:

In the speech which Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was to have delivered at a Monday rally protesting the UN appearance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, she was to have said that the Iranian president "dreams of being an agent in a 'Final Solution' – the elimination of the Jewish people."

Her appearance in the rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza was cancelled in a flap between protest organizers and Hillary Clinton, who had also been scheduled to speak. Clinton aides were quoted as saying that they had been "blindsided" by the decision to invite Palin, which they called a partisan move. In the ensuing controversy, Clinton withdrew her participation, and Palin's invitation was rescinded. 

In the Bizarro world of today's Democrats, if Sen. Clinton and Gov. Palin both speak, it's partisan, but if Sen. Clinton alone speaks, it's not.

Palin's speech took a more high-minded approach (emphasis added):

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!
Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.

As I've said before, today's left is much less tolerant than today's right. 

And it's really sad that liberal American Jewish groups seem to be more left than they are Jewish.  

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Exposing Charles Gibson’s bias

Posted by Richard on September 13, 2008

There's a great post at Hillary Clinton Forum by Nancy Kallitechnis comparing Charles Gibson's interview of Gov. Sarah Palin with his earlier interview of Sen. Barack Obama. Kallitechnis concluded that "Gibson's extreme prejudice against Palin is very obvious" and her summary of the questions asked each candidate sure seems to back that up:

Obama interview:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5000184

How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?
How does it feel to "win"?
How does your family feel about your "winning" breaking a glass ceiling?
Who will be your VP?
Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?
Will you accept public finance?
What issues is your campaign about?
Will you visit Iraq?
Will you debate McCain at a town hall?
What did you think of your competitor's [Clinton] speech?

Palin interview:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09…with-abc-news/

Do you have enough qualifications for the job you're seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?
Aren't you conceited to be seeking this high level job?
Questions about foreign policy
-territorial integrity of Georgia
-allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO
-NATO treaty
-Iranian nuclear threat
-what to do if Israel attacks Iran
-Al Qaeda motivations
-the Bush Doctrine
-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan
Is America fighting a holy war? [misquoted Palin]

There's no doubt the Charles Gibson interviews showed extreme prejudice against Palin and extreme favoritism towards Obama. His manner towards Palin was much more negative. He asked her much more difficult questions and the questions were more adversarial. He constantly questioned her ability to lead but never questioned Obama's ability to lead, all the more amazing considering that Palin was the only one with executive experience and the presidency is the highest level executive job in politics. The camera angles always focused on Obama's face when he was talking making him the center of attention yet during Palin's interview the angle often focused on her back apparently for the purpose of lessening the impact of her presence.

I'm reminded of that SNL opening skit parodying the CNN debate, which had one CNN journalist ask Obama "Is there anything we can get you?" and another follow up with "Are you sure?"

HT: The Anchoress, who has much, much more about media treatment of Palin and general craziness (including some unbelievably whacko stuff from The View). Via Gateway Pundit, who has video from the Palin interview and some good comments and links.

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To the left, Palin is not a real woman

Posted by Richard on September 12, 2008

Jonah Goldberg (emphasis added):

Feminist author Cintra Wilson writes in Salon (a house organ of the angry left) that the notion of Palin as vice president is “akin to ideological brain rape.” Presumably just before the nurse upped the dosage on her medication, Wilson continued, “Sarah Palin and her virtual burqa have me and my friends retching into our handbags. She’s such a power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty, it’s easy to write her off and make fun of her. But in reality I feel as horrified as a ghetto Jew watching the rise of National Socialism.”

And that’s one of the nicer things she had to say. Really.

…

On Tuesday, Salon ran one article calling Palin a dominatrix (“a whip-wielding mistress”) and another labeling her a sexually repressed fundamentalist no different from the Muslim fanatics and terrorists of Hamas. Make up your minds, folks. Is she a seductress or a sex-a-phobe?

But this any-weapon-near-to-hand approach is an obvious sign of how scared the Palin-o-phobes are.

Gloria Steinem, the grand mufti of feminism, issued a fatwa anathematizing Palin. A National Organization for Women spokeswoman proclaimed Palin more of a man than a woman. Wendy Doniger, a feminist academic at the University of Chicago, writes of Palin in Newsweek: “Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman.”

It’s funny. The left has been whining about having their patriotism questioned for so long it feels like they started griping in the Mesozoic era. Feminists have argued for decades that womanhood is an existential and metaphysical state of enlightenment. But they have no problem questioning whether women they hate are really women at all.

This strikes me as completely unsurprising and quite in character. This is exactly how the left has repeatedly treated blacks who dared to depart from leftist orthodoxy: belittle them, condemn them as "oreos" (that is to say, not authentically black), do anything and everything to destroy them as punishment for their apostasy. Look at how they treated Clarence Thomas and Ward Connerly. Look at how they caricatured Michael Steele:

 Steele smeared

The people who loudly proclaim their concern for women and minorities always savagely attack any woman or minority who doesn't fall into line and do what they're told. 

As I noted a short while ago (evoking incredulity from some readers), the left is far less tolerant and more judgmental than the right. They're convinced that anyone who disagrees with them is not just wrong, but evil. And because of their situational ethics and belief that the end justifies the means, they've convinced themselves that anything they do to defeat their enemies is morally justified.

Palin can expect more of the same. But I'm guessing it will backfire badly.  

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A spasm of hatred

Posted by Richard on September 9, 2008

Nick Cohen in Britain's Observer:

During the 1997 British general election, the late Lord Jenkins said that Tony Blair was like a man walking down a shiny corridor carrying a precious vase. He was the favourite and held his fate in his hands. If he could just reach the end of the hall without a slip, a Labour victory was assured. The same could have been said of the American Democrats last week. But instead of protecting their precious advantage, they succumbed to a spasm of hatred and threw the vase, the crockery, the cutlery and the kitchen sink at an obscure politician from Alaska.

For once, the postmodern theories so many of them were taught at university are a help to the rest of us. As a Christian, conservative anti-abortionist who proved her support for the Iraq War by sending her son to fight in it, Sarah Palin was 'the other' – the threatening alien presence they defined themselves against. …

…

Hatred is the most powerful emotion in politics. At present, American liberals are not fighting for an Obama presidency. I suspect that most have only the haziest idea of what it would mean for their country. The slogans that move their hearts and stir their souls are directed against their enemies: Bush, the neo-cons, the religious right.

…

In an age when politics is choreographed, voters watch out for the moments when the public-relations facade breaks down and venom pours through the cracks. Their judgment is rarely favourable when it does. …

Needless to say, read the whole thing. 

(HT: No Oil for Pacifists) 

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PUMAs 4 Palin

Posted by Richard on September 7, 2008

You think Bill Whittle was just blowing smoke? Check out some of these (posts and comments): 

Hillary Clinton Forum  (Click this one if you're only going to click one, and just keep reading!)

Hillary or Bust

No Quarter  

The Confluence  

PUMA PAC

Nice Deb  

P.U.M.A. 

Watch this and tell me it won't sway some Democratic and independent women:

And if you have time, read some of the 176+ comments! 

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A tectonic shift

Posted by Richard on September 6, 2008

Bill Whittle (bold emphasis added):

Sarah Palin is the anti-Obama: not a victim, not a poser, not riding a wave but rather swimming upstream — and most of all, not having run for president her entire life. She is the first politician I have ever seen — and I include Ronnie in this, God bless him — who strikes everyone who sees her as an actual, real, ordinary person. …

… I think the magic of Sarah Palin speaks to a belief that so many of us share: the sense that we personally know five people in our immediate circle who would make a better president than the menagerie of candidates the major parties routinely offer. …

Can I get an "Amen"? 

I’ve seen post after post on Hillary forums about how much they love Sarah, how they are energized and lifted out of depression by her (and the sight of an actual Roll Call made some of them weep). They gush about how she reminds them of their hero, how tough and savvy and unafraid she is. And I have seen these women, hard-core, feminist Democrats for 30 years and more, sit in slack-jawed amazement at Palin and at how fiercely Republicans — Republicans! — are defending her, backing her, and cheering her to the rafters. These Clinton supporters say they don’t know what to think any more: The Republicans are behaving like Democrats and the Democrats are behaving like Republicans!

If you think that’s an insult, you’ve got it exactly backwards. That is not only a huge compliment from these abandoned, centrist Democrats who bemoan the loss of their party to the radicals, it is an early rumbling of a tectonic shift in American politics which we are only dimly beginning to grasp. Who are the real feminists? A significant portion of our former hard-core opposition is now rethinking in a fundamental way who it is that actually does what their former allies only talk about.

That, my long-suffering and now giddy and sleepless friends — that is the smell of victory. That is conservatism with a future. And we started on that path not by nominating a Democrat-lite, but the polar opposite. The nomination of a woman with perfect conservative credentials is causing some significant number of Democrats to re-examine everything they believe. I say: Welcome Home. Welcome to the party of individual achievement, regardless of race or gender.

Whittle was won over by McCain, too, and you should read his reasons. For the first time, Whittle, a Republican, believes "we deserve to win more than they deserve to lose." Read. The. Whole. Thing. 

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McCain “workmanlike”

Posted by Richard on September 4, 2008

Last night, Sarah Palin brought me to my feet. Tonight, I stayed planted in my comfy chair. I've heard McCain's speech described as "workmanlike" several times already, and I suspect that will be the consensus assessment. It emphasizes that McCain has made a big mistake by agreeing to meet Obama strictly in the moderated set-piece type of debate, rather than insisting on at least some of the more free-wheeling "town hall" meetings he originally proposed (and Obama originally agreed to). McCain is much better in that forum than reading from a teleprompter.

The Palin phenomenon is still the story of this convention. By far the loudest applause during Cindy McCain's speech and just about the loudest in John McCain's were for their remarks about Sarah Palin.

Content-wise, I heard a few things I liked — some good, solid free-market, free-trade. low-tax rhetoric, the candid talk about Republicans having abandoned their principles and lost their way, and that terrific bit about education being the civil rights battle of this century.

But there was plenty that left me cold. I was reminded, as I listened to him, of something Bob Bidinotto wrote yesterday (emphasis added): 

… My enthusiasm for Palin is that she arguably moves McCain to the right on economics and limited government, which is something that desperately needs to happen to his campaign and — if he wins — to his governing agenda. The convention's banner slogans of "Service" and "Country First" are the GOP's way of creating a comfort zone for McCain's morality of altruism and self-sacrificial duty. At Reason Online, Matt Welch reminds us in an outstanding column that in McCain, we aren't getting a champion of individualism, but an adversary: a champion of "national greatness" progressivism. Self-sacrifice to the nation is at the heart of such a political outlook.

I therefore need to reiterate emphatically that my only reason for supporting the McCain ticket — especially now that Palin is aboard — is that national-greatness progressivism represents a far-less-damaging and more mixed alternative to the utterly destructive, anti-American, left-Wilsonian "progressivism" of Obama. This is especially the case on the paramount issues of national security and energy production. Sadly, in this political environment, stopping Obama requires us to sign on to a philosophically chaotic and often damaging Republican candidate. The Palin pick indicates that free-market, limited-government influences at least will have a seat at the table in a McCain administration, tending to blunt his worst inclinations. 

By the way, Bidinotto has posted a ton of outstanding stuff this week, mostly about Palin. Just go to his main page and start reading. Be sure to follow his link to David Harsanyi's The Libertarian Case for Palin.

UPDATE: I thought Cindy McCain's speech was rather pedestrian, and I was in and out of the room during it. But I just heard something from a talking head that puts her speech into perspective: she's never done this before!

Apparently, her speech writer wanted to see some other speeches she's given in order to get a sense of what would be appropriate for her. There aren't any. This was her debut. In front of thousands in the hall and millions on TV, she was doing this for the first time! That it was merely pedestrian and not embarrassing is something of a triumph.

I also just saw a clip of Scott Palin speaking. I'm not sure, but I think they said he was introducing Cindy McCain. Anyway, he was great — down to earth, relaxed, and funny. Like his wife, he seemed so damned genuine. The kind of guy you'd like to go drinking with and listen to his stories about fishing.

I've looked for the text or a video, but no luck. If someone knows where to find it, please post a link.

One bit that struck me (paraphrased and not all that exact) went something like this: "When Sarah talks about making a difference and cleaning up corruption and changing things …<pause for effect>… it's best to just get out of the way."

UPDATE2: You know, "I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war" is still one of the great statements of all time. And it's even better when you're subsequently proven right.

UPDATE3: I liked this a lot: "I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a safer, freer, and more prosperous world … and how to stand up to those who don't." 

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Palin hit it out of the park

Posted by Richard on September 4, 2008

Wow. Just wow. Last week, I was impressed by Barack Obama's speech. He's a fine orator and it was elegant rhetoric. Tonight, I was blown away by Sarah Palin. No, she wasn't an elegant orator. She was something better. She was poised, strong, smart, charismatic, funny — and genuine.

If you missed it, the video is here.

My favorite line (out of many great ones): "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

I have an idea for John McCain's nomination acceptance speech tomorrow night. It goes something like this:

My friends, some people have tried to make an issue of my age. I submit that the examples of Ronald Reagan and my 92-year-old mother, who's here with us tonight, demonstrate that I'm not. I'm strong and healthy and ready to serve as your president.

But by the time we meet again to select a presidential nominee, I will have served my country for almost 60 years. I think that's enough. I will have earned the right to retire.

Four years from now, I plan to ask you to accept Vice President Sarah Palin as your candidate for President. <thunderous applause>

 

I can see the ticket now:

 Palin/Jindal 2012

 

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LGF outs anti-Palin smear site

Posted by Richard on August 31, 2008

It looked like a right-wing, anti-gay attack on Gov. Sarah Palin, complete with this warning (emphasis in original):

A vote for McCain/Palin is a vote for gay marriage.

But Little Green Football's Charles Johnson knows a little something about investigations on the internet, and it didn't take him long to discover that the source was not what you'd think. It didn't take long after that for the whole thing to quietly slink away. 

Read the whole thing (scroll down past Zombie updates) — it's hilarious. Good work, Charles! 

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Palin sounds like a great pick

Posted by Richard on August 30, 2008

McCain isn't called a maverick for nothing, and he's not averse to taking chances. Gov. Sarah Palin is a daring, but risky choice. Her name recognition must be in the single digits, and an Alaska politician doesn't bring a lot of electoral votes to the table.

But everything I've read suggests Palin is bright, articulate, hard as nails — and a genuine fiscal conservative who's done a lot to clean up Alaska's politics. Since she became governor in 2006, her approval ratings have been mostly in the 90s and have never dropped below 80% — astonishing numbers. That means most of the people who voted against her think she's doing a great job.

The Club for Growth PAC really likes her:

“At a time when many Republicans are still clinging to pork-barrel politics, Governor Palin has quickly become a leader on this issue,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “She is a principled reformer who understands how badly wasteful spending has marred the Republican brand.”

Governor Palin has proven herself to be a reformer unafraid to take on the establishment, which she did early on when she took on the incumbent Republican governor of Alaska in 2006. Only nine months in office, Governor Palin instructed the state to abandon the notorious pork project secured by Alaska’s politicians, the $223 million “Bridge to Nowhere.” While many Republicans in Congress are afraid to antagonize Washington’s biggest porkers, Sarah Palin stood strong for fiscal responsibility. Palin is also a persistent advocate of drilling in ANWR and expanding America’s domestic oil supply in general.

Sounds like a fine choice for veep. I'm with Zombyboy, who said "it’s a choice that I like almost regardless of outcome." Me too. If Obama wins and replicates the disastrous Carter presidency, I can see the Palin 2012 stickers already.

UPDATE: For that matter, given McCain's age, Palin 2012 is a strong possibility regardless of what happens this November. 

(Oh, yeah — don't miss the picture at Babalu Blog that Zombyboy linked to!) 

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