Palin Power
August 30th, 2008 at 10:12pm Mark Noonan
While there is also a story out there of Hillary supporters now going for Obama because McCain choose Palin (surely the most asinine bit of spin ever created, but no way to disprove it), this part rings true, and will prove verifiable as time goes on:
Here is one from an Ohio source I know to be reliable:
Speaking about GOP grass roots on fire, here in Cuyahoga County we have four victory centers, and in mine alone in the all-important city of Parma, I had 47 calls between 12:30 and 2 p.m. yesterday, all asking how they could volunteer and how they could get a yard sign…
The RNC, clearly hoping to push this angle, has also sent over an internal memo from Political Director Rich Beeson with their own examples. This one, from Waukesah County, Wisc., stands out. The rest are after the jump:
Today in Waukesha we had a woman come in who was volunteering for the first time. She told me that she heard that Sarah Palin was McCain’s choice for VP, and that she could immediately relate to her. Like Gov. Palin, our volunteer is also a mother of five, and is also a “hockey mom.” She told me that she was sitting at her table (which she said also serves as her office), and that she realized that Gov. Palin’s urging others to “get involved” was meant for her. She told me that she heard that and immediately drove to our headquarters. She stayed for over two hours making phone calls, and said that she will be back every week from now until Election Day.
Conservatives have been looking for a reason to back McCain, and he gave them one in Sarah Palin…hard core Hillary supporters have been looking for reasons to not back Obama, and I can’t imagine that someone in such a frame of mind would become an Obama supporter because the GOP has a talented, female candidate for Vice President. I’m sure the DNC will be able to dredge up a few on command, but the very concept is, well, stupid. I’m sure that PUMA will continue forward in spite of efforts on the part of Obama and his Democrats to make it go away.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, RNC08, Republicans
32 Comments
1. Magnum Serpentine | August 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
No Mark,
McSame has given them yet another ethics problem.
2. neocon | August 30th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
The following link is a must red and demonstrates how bright, resolute, and confident she is. This woman is going to kick Biden’s ass in the debates.
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/sarah_palin_vp/2008/08/29/126139.html
3. Wellington | August 30th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
This is a story of average college educated mom’s and what they think of McCain’s pick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F97J5HtgaDc
Who is over confident? You dribbled some kool-aid on your shirt Noonan.
4. navydad | August 30th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Let’s just see when Palin meets Plugs in their debate. My bet is that the McCain camp has market tested Palin and performed side-by-side analysis of the two, which will prove to be humbling for Plugs….so sorry lefties.
There’s no way to hide Plugs’ past, and if the only thing the dems can dredge up on Palin is that she fired some incompentent ahole…then Plugs has some really problems ahead of him.
5. kimberly4victory | August 30th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Four presidential scholars trashed Palin and called her the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era.
Then this:
After reading this article, the McCain campaign issued the following statement: “The authors quote four scholars attacking Gov. Palin’s fitness for the office of Vice President. Among them, David Kennedy is a maxed out Obama donor, Joel Goldstein is also an Obama donor, and Doris Kearns Goodwin has donated exclusively to Democrats this cycle. Finally, Matthew Dallek is a former speech writer for Dick Gephardt. This is not a story about scholars questioning Governor Palin’s credentials so much as partisan Democrats who would find a reason to disqualify or discount any nominee put forward by Senator McCain.”
Excellent rapid response.
6. Wellington | August 30th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Are we talking about the same Biden that has been in endless debate with REAL world leaders?
Biden who has more foreign policy experience than Palin can only dream of?
She is going the “kick Biden’s ass” in the debates?
Are we comparing WORLD leaders to her other mayoral candidates? Gee, even her other gubernatorial candidates?
GMAFB.
Hehehehe.
Ummm, geez, wow. What’s one to say?
Get real? Wake up? Yeah, right?
Laughable.
7. Nevada Pundit | August 30th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I’m sorry Wellington, I’m missing your point. Those 2 women said that they would vote on the issues and what each candidate said about them. What is wrong with that? It is what your supposed to do. Neither one said they were voting for Obama or that they didn’t like McCain. Give Palin a chance to get her issues out there and then let people make a choice. Regardless of party, everyone is interested in hearing what she has to say.
8. PHW | August 30th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Palin has more executive and elective service than Obama…fact. Palin has led one of the 50 states; Obama is one of 100 senators and has never led anything other than a political campaign…fact. Palin has vetoed hideous laws; Obama has proposed hideous laws. Palin has entered her office from a sense of service to the people of Alaska; Obama has entered it as a means to become president, which has been his only goal.
Palin is the reason I am not voting Libertarian. that, and the fact that Obama is seen as the second-coming of Christ means he and Biden need to lose…don’t forget the economy-crushing socialized lifestyle Obama wants to impose on this country.
9. Nevada Pundit | August 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I find it funny that to dems the most important part of this campaign is now foreign policy, nothing else seems to matter. How about a debate on energy? Oh I forgot, neither dem candidate is an expert on that.
10. neocon | August 30th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Wellington darling,
You must think dealing with international issues from the confines of a Senate seat is rocket science and doesn’t speak well of you. If Obama is considered to have mastered already on one year elevating him to supreme being, how hard can it be?
Try winning the gubernatorial election as a woman in Alaska, ousting and exposing a corrupt primary opponent and then defeating a popular incumbent along the way.
You have no idea what you’re up against.
11. neocon | August 30th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
By the way,
Biden voted against the Gulf 1 war, and voted in favor of the Iraq war.
Now that’s a brilliant mind.
12. Retired Spook | August 30th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Are we talking about the same Biden that has been in endless debate
Yup, that’d be the one, although calling it debate is a little generous. More like just an endless stream of hot air.
13. Catfish | August 30th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Great article neocon. Of course news max is an openly partisan publication, so it doesnt have much stock…..but interesting nonetheless
14. Nietzsche-Is-Pietzsche | August 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
4. navydad | August 30th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
“There’s no way to hide Plugs’ past, and if the only thing the dems can dredge up on Palin is that she fired some incompentent ahole…”
Once again Navy sometimes it’s the crime and sometimes it’s the cover up………
…..Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview with The Washington Post’s James V. Grimaldi on Friday that the governor repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state’s commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin’s husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly. Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter.
Palin initially denied that she or anyone in her administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire the trooper, but this summer acknowledged more than a half a dozen contacts over the matter, including one phone call from a Palin administration official to a state police lieutenant. The call was recorded and was released by Palin’s office this month. Todd Palin told a television reporter in Alaska that he did meet with Monegan, but said he was just “informing” Monegan about the issue, not exerting pressure.
“She never directly asked me to fire him,” Monegan said.
Palin, who has previously said her administration didn’t exert pressure to get rid of trooper Mike Wooten, also disclosed that members of her staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about the trooper.
“I do now have to tell Alaskans that such pressure could have been perceived to exist although I have only now become aware of it,” Palin said.
…
The majority of the calls came from Palin’s chief of staff at the time, Mike Tibbles, according to information gathered by the state attorney general’s office. Attorney General Talis Colberg and Palin’s husband, Todd, also contacted Monegan about the trooper.
Palin said she’d only known about some of the contacts and never asked anyone on her staff to get in touch with state public safety officials about Wooten.
“Many of these inquiries were completely appropriate. However, the serial nature of the contacts could be perceived as some kind of pressure, presumably at my direction,” she said.
Okay, so first Palin claims there was no pressure. Then she learns of these calls. And while many of them are entirely appropriate, some are not. And she can see that the “serial nature of the contacts could be perceived as some kind of pressure, presumably at my direction.”
And yet, according to Monegan, she herself was doing exactly the same thing she later professed to be so shocked that others were doing. So how credible is it that she wasn’t directing her staff to pressure Monegan when she was doing the same thing herself? And what difference does it even make? It seems quite clear that all of this emanated from Pallin and that she was actively in it. So she abused her power as governor and then almost certainly lied about her involvement.
15. neocon | August 30th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Catfish,
I heard Newsmax cut and pasted her comments to make her look good.
Just saying
16. neocon | August 30th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
NIP,
I think you ought to really spend some time on this issue, you might have something here. Forget Biden’s plagiarism, this Palin thing has some teeth.
17. Catfish | August 30th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Dude i complimented you, and said it was an interesting article……..i simply noted a grain of salt. Every crazy leftist doesnt want to fight. I like knowin who im voting against as much as who im votin for.
18. Wellington | August 30th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Get over yourself neocon, yeesh.
Like this Republican Senator from Alaska:
Or this REPUBLICAN Senator from Alaska:
You make it sound like only manly men such as yourself live in Alaska and only a woman with Palin’s “credentials” can possibly have made it there.
Honestly, get over yourself. Your demeaning little comments like “dear” and your small minded insults do nothing to impress anybody with only half your gargantuan brain.
Palin’s a nobody who has been a mayor of a small 9000 person town and 2 years as Governor and you will give her keys to the western world?
Please. Spare us.
19. gotbrains? | August 31st, 2008 at 12:21 am
“While there is also a story out there of Hillary supporters now going for Obama because McCain choose Palin (surely the most asinine bit of spin ever created, but no way to disprove it)…”
Yes, facts are hard things to “disprove”:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003844485
“Asinine bit of spin”? Nope. The fact is this pick insults womens’ intelligence. Why? Listen, can any of you say with a straight face that Palin was picked because she was the most qualified candidate available to McCain to be VP? Come on, lets get real. OK, so if she wasn’t picked for her superior credentials, then what was she picked for? Obviously this then is a purely political pick based on who McCain thought would help him get the White House. Now, did John McCain really think he could snag Hillary supporters’ votes just because he puts a pair of ovaries on his ticket? Does he really think women are that easily bought, with a token?
And further, Hillary Clinton was very qualified and extremely intelligent. Like Barack, she’s known to be one of the smartest people in politics. Women who supported Hillary did so not just because she happened to be female, but because she was an extremely qualified female who shared their views. Do you really think that people who supported Hillary are then going to support someone like Palin, who pales in comparison in just about every measurable way to Hillary? You think they are going to be happy with supporting McCain’s pick - whose views are diametrically opposed to Hillary’s in every way - just because Palin has the same anatomical plumbing?
So this pick is very insulting to women in general, and to Hillary supporters in particular. And that is why you are seeing polling data that shows that McCain’s pick has made him even less attractive to Hillary supporters.
But I don’t expect any of you trogs to understand any of this. After, John McCain obviously doesn’t get it either.
20. Retired Spook | August 31st, 2008 at 12:34 am
Wow, Nietzsche; neocon’s right. I think you’re really onto something (#14). Have you shared these findings with the commission in Alaska that’s investigating this. You could save them 10’s of thousands of dollars.
21. Kahn | August 31st, 2008 at 12:36 am
Well now golly, we sure would like to thank all you socialist liberals for your comments and advice on OUR Vice-Presidential candidate. Yes sir, thank ya. But if it’s all the same to you, we’ll just stick with her and see how things work out.
Y’all can go pound sand in the mean time. Bye now, don’t let the door hits your butts on the way out the door!
22. gotbrains? | August 31st, 2008 at 12:45 am
Deleted - off topic.
23. Kahn | August 31st, 2008 at 1:23 am
gotbrains?The last part was pretty venal wasn’t it? She seems pretty smart to me. They’re a union family you know? Union people are stupid now? Hmmmmm.
You might be surprised if YOU actually looked at a map to see that her state actually borders Russia. She’s had to deal with them on fishing issues. We bought Alaska from them come to think of it.
I find it hard to believe that you liberal posters here had all this pent up hatred and disdain for someone you never heard of before. Kind of makes me think you’re being fed by professional haters. And, being the weak minded turds you are, you lap it right up and repeat it.
But thanks for your advice. We’ll give it all the consideration it’s due. I promise.
Not kindly go pound sand, OK? You do understand what that means… don’t you?
24. Kahn | August 31st, 2008 at 1:25 am
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pound+sand
I was thinking of definition number two
25. Mark Noonan | August 31st, 2008 at 1:28 am
Got,
The problem there is that you went to Editor and Publisher, a decidely liberal publication - if you go to Rasmussen, directly:
So, what will your next talking point be?
26. Magnum Serpentine | August 31st, 2008 at 1:53 am
Perhaps if her ethics problems were known the numbers would be far less. yet again the republics have got an ethics problem.
27. Nietzsche-Is-Pietzsche | August 31st, 2008 at 2:54 am
Mark-
Interesting that you’ve left silent that Rasmussen also says that in every poll Obama is still leading McCain, even after the Palin Hail Mary gimmick.
Oh and women were’nt fooled. Independant women are now less likely to vote for McCain than before.
28. Kahn | August 31st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Magnum, you mean like all those Democratic senators getting sweetheart loans from the now troubled lenders?
Or maybe you mean the way the campaign of a Democratic candidate made payments to his mistress?
29. gotbrains? | August 31st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Khan -
“She seems pretty smart to me. They’re a union family you know? Union people are stupid now? Hmmmmm.”
Uh, no where did I say or even imply that Palin was “stupid”. Show me where I said that. On the contrary, from what I’ve seen of her (very very little, of course - and McCain has seen very little of her as well) she seems pretty smart to me.
The question I asked was this: was she the most qualified candidate available to McCain? The answer is obviously no. That’s not a slam on her intelligence - it’s just a fact. She does not have any foreign policy experience, and national experience, nor much of an educational background. There were literally dozens of Republicans available to McCain who would be more qualified. And please, saying she has foreign policy knowledge because Alaska is close to Siberia is absurd. That’s like saying the mayor of Flagstaff has foreign policy expertise because it’s close to Mexico.
So she may be a really great person, and great mom, but she was no where near to being the best person available to McCain to do the job of VP. If her name were Barney Palin instead of Sarah, no way in hell would she have been considered. McCain picked her because he thinks she can help him get elected. Period.
They often say that the number one factor in picking a VP is whether that person can step in and do the job in the event the president becomes incapacitated. It is also said that the very first executive decision a presidential nominee makes is who he chooses as VP.
Now, you all can scream all you want that Barack is not qualified to do the job - we just disagree on that. But Barack passed his first decision as a commander-in-chief with flying colors in choosing Biden. You may disgaree with Joe Biden on every single issue, and that’s fine - but no one on either side of the aisle questions whether he has the ability to be president. Not even McCain -who has had a long association with Joe Biden - would question his capability to take over in a crisis. McCain, on the other hand, flunked his first decision as a potential president in that he picked someone who really has nothing in her background to indicate that she can competently assume the presidency in a time of a crisis.
30. gotbrains? | August 31st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
25. Mark Noonan -
You either didn’t read my post, or are purposely pretending to not understand what I wrote.
You started out by saying on this thread that it was “asisnine spin” to suggest that the Palin pick might have been more of a turn-off to Hillary supporters than an attraction. I came back with the fact that the polling data from both Gallup and Rasmussen indicate that indeed, more Hillary supporters were insulted by the pick that attracted to it.
So what do you do? You reply with the non-sequitur that Palin has high favorables. Yes, she does have high favorables (most unknowns have high favorables, by the way - particularly if they have a nice personality and apperance) - but that does not speak at all to the issue of whether Hillary supporters and feminists in general would be more or less likely to vote for McCain based on his picking Palin.
The data show conclusively that contrary to McCain’s hopes, women are not in fact more likely to vote for McCain just because he has a woman on the ticket. In fact, among Hillary women, the pick of Palin makes it even less likely they will vote McCain… because it is insulting.
Sorry if the data doesn’t support your conclusion.
31. navydad | August 31st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Once again….the kooks cherry-pick the poll numbers to match their idiocy.
Good try Sh*tferbrains, but those poll numbers (in your link) are generated in a way that cannot only be interpreted two ways, but leaves out many voter demographics. Exactly what the kook fringe wants to see and hear…negatives.
32. Jan | September 15th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Nobama will win when PIGS fly!
I say OhVomit!
Also, down with Obama bin Biden!
Go Palin Power!