Voters love her – but why not the legislators?
How come they’re investigating her?
How can they do that to a woman politician, who worked right up to delivering? Who postponed medical care to give a political speech after her water broke? Who flew 10 hours to Alaska to deliver her special needs baby at home in the tiny hometown hospital? How dare legislators investigate a woman governor with a special needs baby? How dare they investigate a woman whose oldest daughter was so sick she had to miss months and months of school this winter and spring? How can they accuse a new mother of mixing political power and a family feud?
She’s photogenic! She’s got a special needs baby! She can postpone delivery! She returns to work immediately! And for that the legislature rewards her with an investigation?
Something is fishy here!
But not for John McCain!
John McCain loves a maverick. He believes that this lady, whose own party is investigating her – after only 18 months into her governorship – deserves to be promoted. His campaign was mired. It lacked excitement. Like the CEO who seeks a trophy wife, John McCain has found his trophy running mate. Someone to give a spark to the campaign! Someone photogenic. Someone to generate news! Someone with a story! A story of pregnancy and a special needs baby. A son going off to battle! An embattled governor with family secrets – but oh, so photogenic!
This is a hard campaign to attack. How can you attack someone who’s been tortured? Who somehow survived torture but can’t abide criticism? How can you attack a mother who’s viewed as a saint for having her special needs baby in a hometown hospital after giving a speech and taking two long flights and car ride – bypassing world class medical care for the home town touch?
That’s the problem we’re faced with here, folks: Trophy Running Mate. Aging politician. Needing spark.
Now why is that a problem? Ummmmm.... Aging politician. Trophy Running Mate!
Vogue model “eye candy” is our future, folks! Unless somehow we overcome our reluctance to criticize a prisoner of war and his femme fatale with the special needs baby.
Now, if you read up on the Trophy Running Mate you will find that she is really, really good at connecting with voters. And she loves to fly around and go to meetings. Can even give a speech with her water leaking. But she’s not all that interested in the nuts and bolts of governing. And her legislature, despite the special needs baby, is investigating her after only 18 months in office – for mixing a family feud with politics.
Now, I don’t know about you. But honestly if someone can’t get along with the legislators in her own party and is engaged in a family feud that spills over into politics, and they tend to avoid the nuts and bolts of governing.... that makes me a bit nervous. Especially, when chosen by John McCain, a man of 72, a man with a past history of cancer.
What we need now is to focus on the Trophy Person’s political past. Why is it that the town that elected her as mayor twice is now embroiled in a huge financial fiasco related to a hockey rink she convinced everyone to build? Why is it that she’s changed her story on the Bridge to Nowhere? Is her resume thin? Or are we missing parts of it? Are those missing parts the parts deleted from Wikipedia? Or the info deleted from the state website? And from other websites?
Lots of info and photos have been scrubbed from the web! Related to the Trophy running mate! Why is that? How does it relate to this woman’s biography or resume? Inquiring minds want to know this. It’s like the dog that didn’t bark. It cries out for explanation!
I don’t care whether this post gets much traffic. Because I’m more concerned about lots and lots of posters digging into this lady’s political past. And fast!!! I’m more concerned that people have been side tracked by her family secrets rather than the mystery of why a Trophy Running Mate is being foisted onto the American public. Frankly, it’s like giving us the finger, folks! And if you’re a woman, as I am, it’s insulting to have a Trophy female, rather than someone with a long list of accomplishments, slated for an office which so far exceeds her experience or her political skill, that the whole world is a risk should John McCain be incapacitated.
Leave it to the Inquirer to find the family secrets.
But find every fact related to this lady. Facts. Not theories. And publish. Give links. Critique. You have your mission.
(cross posted at Kos)
PERMALINK
Comments (29)
http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/palin-is-mccains-bridge-to-nowhere-thanks-but-no-thanks/
Palin is McCain's Bridge to Nowhere, it says.
a. Make a list of all the examples of this woman's judgment and decision-making. In areas both personal and political - where she's revealed herself, put her story out there for the public. When you do that, you begin to wonder about her. There's Trooper-gate, as they're calling it. There's the Bridge to Nowhere - and differences in how she's describing her role now versus a historical record in her former statements and actions.
b. Keep the focus on judgment and decision-making. No matter what the topic or issue. And that's fair game!
Judgment. Character. Decision-making. And there should be no topic where this woman has left a public record, and which relates to her work as a politician, that is not open to scrutiny.
c. As long as we focus on the facts (as told by her, gleaned from medicine or any other factual evidence, emails, eyewitness accounts, and the like) - and use those facts to evaluate her capacity for judgment and decision-making - in effect her character under stress - it's part of the vetting that needs to happen here.
Frankly, having taken a lot of time to assess the available evidence on this woman, the thought of her being one step away from leading the nation scares me to death!
At this point all these arguments have no relevance. People are going to vote for Governor Palin because they see themselves in the Governor. She is a working woman, a mother to 5 kids, a wife, a business owner, a hunter, fisherman, ex cheerleader or basketball player, she can shoot a gun and seems like a REAL person. In the American world (our world) there is no City Park, Broadway, Taxi Cab or uppity eating establishments. We have diners, high school football, the great outdoors and we call it America. We cheer for our teams to win and don't pull our stars off the field when we are winning. When we lose, we lose with grace. We come together for a prayers on Sunday and wave at our neighbors. You don't know us but you think you know everything. You can continue to be as smart as you think you are and we will vote like we always do. We don't like those that just talk it. That's why we also walk it. See you at the polls.
How can you attack someone who’s been tortured? Who somehow survived torture but can’t abide criticism?I agree; we have to go after facts, which it seems the McCain campaign didn't bother to do. I've noticed in the past few years that people like George Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, and others, that their ability to "connect" seems to me to be based on a fraudulent personality. Sarah has that same mien, and I truly think she is as phoney as the others from what I have been reading. All you have to do is tune in on Sunday mornings to find snake-oil preachers that people do not question in any way. That is the same population who think Palin is "wonderful." If it stays at the 30% of Bush-lovers, fine with me.
The VOTEMASTER posited an interesting thought experiment on why McCain chose Palin:
http://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Aug30.html
Worth a read....
People who appear to be martyrs (or have been martyrs) can exercise a kind of control over others - a kind of "Tyranny of the Weak." This is what we're up against. We need to see it for what it is. And we need to unflinchingly go after the issue of judgment. Because even "saints" may exercise poor judgment. And you don't necessarily want one in the White House.
Given the choices we've got, I'll take the temperaments of Obama and Biden - along with their better judgment and decision-making skills.
I personally think we'll see Palin withdraw to spend more time with her family. Can't say when. But regardless of McCain's reasons for choosing her, and regardless of her naivete in accepting his offer, this pressure cooker of scrutiny may be more than her family can bear. (And this lady seems to react poorly under stress.) She was extremely naive or deeply unrealistic to accept the VP slot. The sooner she recognizes this and decides to withdraw, the better for her and her family. And the country.
I like the Votemaster's analysis -- if McCain wants to run a woman, he has limited choices. I just wish he had picked Christine Todd Whitman. As you know, she's been my favorite dark horse for quite a while. Maybe they were worried thought about her comments during 9/11 (although she has been recently acquitted of any wrong doing).
She was extremely naive or deeply unrealistic to accept the VP slot.Dunno. In politics, if you are tapped, it's very difficult to turn something down unless you are already very, very powerful. If she isn't ready, I don't fault her for saying 'yes', I fault McCain for making the offer.
Glad I never got into politics. Was offered. Turned it down! So, either you're very powerful or you simply don't need power. I don't.
Lets see if our republican devious plan has worked.No Bush impeachment!, Check!
No Cheney secret governments, Check!
No 911 inside jobs, Check!
Congress forms committees to investigate Bush for naught, Check!
No AG scandals, Check!
We win in Iraq, Check!
Afghanistan, Check!
Blazing Hot Governor Palin becomes the Vice-President, Check!
Conspiracy Complete!
Arggg! HaHa!!!!!
The good looking people win!
you can keep the plastic and the fake eyelashes and silicone boobs and the lot of it.They may not do much for you, but there's a lot of people making money from this so *someone* likes it!
Ditto with make-up, high-heels, jewelry and a bunch of other accouterments women adorn to make them more attractive.
We now know from his aides that McCain actually wanted Lieberman.Do we know this for real? I haven't seen anything about it except idle speculation. It would be interesting if you can provide a link, please!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/us/politics/31reconstruct.html?scp=1&sq=McCain wanted lieberman&st=cse
New York Times (8/31/08):
"For weeks, advisers close to the campaign said, Mr. McCain had wanted to name as his running mate his good friend Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut" (etc)
"Although the campaign’s polling on Mr. McCain’s potential running mates was inconclusive on the selection of Ms. Palin — virtually no one had heard of her, a McCain adviser said — the governor, who opposes abortion, had glowing reviews from influential social conservatives."
The article does not report a long careful process, with regard to Palin, but a pretty impromptu phone call after a discussion. Followed by inviting her to AZ - where the offer was made.
"He hardly knew her, and she had virtually no foreign policy experience, but Ms. Palin was a “kindred spirit,” a McCain adviser said. Mr. McCain was betting, the adviser said, that she would help him reclaim the mantle of maverick that he had lost this year.
"The selection was the culmination of a five-month process, described by Mr. McCain’s inner circle and outside advisers in interviews this past weekend, and offers a glimpse into how Mr. McCain might make high-stakes decisions as president.
"At the very least, the process reflects Mr. McCain’s history of making fast, instinctive and sometimes risky decisions. “I make them as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can,” Mr. McCain wrote, with his top adviser Mark Salter, in his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For.” “Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint.”
That is why I think this was an impulsive, rash decision on McCain's part. And now they're making it up as they go along. While the bloggers are finding out the facts (contradicting their assertions) even faster than they can make it up!
We've said much of the same thing at http://tpzoo.wordpress.com along with the possibility that has been floating around (and I hope Josh Marshall is on this to prove or disprove) that the baby was her daughter's and not her own.
No matter. If she got on a commercial airliner after her water broke it was reckless beyond words. It could have been fatal to her, her child and an absolutely inconsiderate thing to do to fellow travelers.
If she's lying about the birth, well, that's a whole new level of lying and the social conservatives will completely walk away.
Either way, this woman is a slap in the face to all American's who take their government seriously.
August 31, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll check out your link.
Honestly, I think we need to move on from the baby issue. And simply question her judgment. Over and over and over.
We need to get all the fact out. Fast. And we need to understand one thing really well: Why have members of her own party voted to investigate her?
That's a simple question that bears repeating and repeating.
August 31, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
August 31, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
August 31, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
August 31, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
She put a plane-load of people (actually two plane loads!) at risk, if her water had broken - as she claims.
We don't need to assess the claims. Just her judgment!
August 31, 2008 7:17 PM | Reply | Permalink