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* After GOP Congresscritter Mark Kirk called Gov. Sarah Palin the “Patrick Fitzgerald Of Alaska”, and after telling the Tribune this…
Q: What do you make of the Sarah Palin pick?
A: I was encouraged. In general, it’s true in politics in India and the United Kingdom that the more conservative party is the one that breaks through key barriers. It took Lincoln to end slavery, it took Nixon to go to China, and hopefully it will be the Republican nominee who becomes the first female vice president.
…Kirk tossed the veep hopeful under the bus during a Tribune editorial board meeting…
In an interview of two of the 10th Congressional District candidates conducted by the Tribune editorial board, Kirk would not say whether he believed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had the necessary qualifications to become president.
“Quite frankly, I don’t know,” said Kirk, 49, of Highland Park, when asked if Palin could step into the job. In answer to repeated inquiries about Palin’s experience, Kirk said, “I would have picked someone different.” [emphasis added]
…Adding… Gov. Palin is getting a lot of criticism for her Katie Couric interview stumbles. But remember this little gem?…
I may have been more right than I ever knew three weeks ago.
* In other congressional news, Aaron Schock has given in to the will of the Peoria Journal Star editorial board…
Republican congressional candidate Aaron Schock came to his political senses Tuesday, saying he’d reimburse local taxpayers for the $38,000 they spent providing extra police protection and other city services to President Bush when he appeared at a private fundraiser for Schock back on July 25. […]
Schock’s initial instincts here were dismaying. To suggest the criticism was solely partisan - but not the few defenses, heaven’s no -was disingenuous and self-serving and never held up to scrutiny. There was never any question about whether Peoria should help protect a visiting president - another off-putting attempt at spinning this story - but who should pay for it when there was no public component whatsoever to the trip. Suddenly this bedrock Republican was taking his cue from a liberal Democrat?
Ultimately, this would have amounted to a $38,000 donation to Schock’s campaign from taxpayers given no choice in the matter. Stiffing local taxpayers in this fashion is not the behavior of a true fiscal conservative, as Schock describes himself.
His biggest mistake was waiting so long. Everybody knew he’d have to do it sooner or later.
* Related…
* Weller missed 35 votes in House last weekend
* Manufacturers slam 5 GOP reps over bailout vote… Five Illinois Republicans who helped defeat the Bush administration’s financial rescue bill are under pressure by the National Assn. of Manufacturers to reverse their votes when Congress reconsiders the issue.
* The GOP Blames the Victim - Capitalism sure is fragile if subprime borrowers can ruin it
* Bailout bill is creating unusual alliances … Republican Mark Kirk, in a tough battle for re-election in the 10th District on the North Shore against Dan Seals, joined ranks with Democratic Chicago Rep. Danny Davis and Rahm Emmanuel in voting in favor of the bailout.
* Local congressman hears from constituents on bailout
* Biggert targeted for vote switch on bailout
* Candidates for 6th District seat square off: The two candidates for a west suburban congressional seat mixed it up on abortion and ethics Tuesday, with Democrat Jill Morgenthaler accusing her opponent of harboring extreme conservative views and Republican Rep. Peter Roskam highlighting her previous role as a top aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
* Democrats hope Weller retirement opens door in 11th District
* Politics: The return of ‘Young and Dumb’
* Illinois Valley Community College’s Student Government Association will host a political forum for the 11th Congressional District from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Cultural Centre on the main campus.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 10:32 am
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Sarah was never going to be able to withstand the scrutiny. Ulimately, I don’t think it will matter. Nixon won with Agnew and Bush won with Quayle.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 10:38 am
Nixon won with Agnew and Bush won with Quayle. -wordslinger
Sarah Palin is no Agnew or even Qualye.
Comment by doubtful Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 10:44 am
Hey Mark Kirk, a lot of Republicans would like to pick someone different in your case too.
Self-centered arrogant ingrate.
Comment by GOP'er Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 10:57 am
This is ridiculous.
For two years we saw Obama learn how to handle press questions and turn into the guy we saw last week. Still unqualified, and still an empty suit, but OH so spiffy answering questions as though he actually has a clue.
Palin has been at it one month. Sorry she is about where Obama was one month into his campaign. But let’s throw her overboard because while she can deliver a great convention speech, she couldn’t ace either Gibson’s or Couric’s edited oral exams.
Are you tired of politics as it is played today? Then stop parroting the stupid crap written by it’s minions and open your mind long enough to give someone an opportunity to be heard longer than a four week stint.
Agnew! Quayle! Both of those guys had more experience than Obama. Stop talking jibberish.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 10:57 am
Today’s Rothenberg report didnt even have the Schock race listed - this means they consider it to be at limited risk for the incumbent party.
I still dont understand why Callahan would go SO negative, when she doesnt stand a chance?
Comment by anon Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:05 am
That clip is brutal, absolutely brutal. Way worse than anything Palin has done so far.
Comment by paddyrollingstone Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:06 am
That clip could be the soul evidence for impeachment. I am so proud I never even considered voting for that baffoon.
Comment by Dan S. a Voter and Cubs Fan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:17 am
Sarah Palin = Harriet Miers
Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:21 am
Anon 11:05 - Ms. Callahan is doing this to lay dynamite along the way of Rep. Schock’s yellow brick road. She figures she will lose - and possibly lose big - so she may as well draw attention to herself and to what she perceives to be his weaknesses and missteps.
Kirk is somewhat right, but I still think Palin will hold her own tomorrow night. Biden is enough of a doofus that she can tear into him if needed.
Read up on Palin’s debate history in Alaska. She did fairly well. Granted, that is much, much different than a WashU veep debate, but it is still a good primer.
Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:33 am
VMan, take your Ritalin, dude.
Since you’re the only one who doesn’t get the point, let me try again: Nixon won with Agnew, Bush won with Quayle. Both veep nominees were widely considered lightweights, yet they had no impact on the election.
See where I’m going? Can you put the rest together yourself? She won’t have an impact on the general election. That’s the point (I’d put in in caps and bold, but I don’t want to bogart your style).
By the way, it’s “gibberish,” not “jibberish.” If anyone should know that, it’s you, playa.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:34 am
VanillaMan,
You’re obviously rabidly partisan, so I won’t begrudge your your affinity, but honestly you’re reaching really far with your invective. Obama was never as inarticulate as Palin. He has always over thought and stammered (even recently, like at the Saddleback forum), but Palin’s answers to the Gibson and Couric interview were pure tripe. What wasn’t complete bull was incoherent. To top that off, McCain assertion that a common citizen was playing ‘gotcha journalism’ when he asked Palin about Pakistan and she gave Obama’s position is the height of arrogant stupidity.
Palin has ‘been at it’ for more than one month. She was a mayor and a governor. McCain and Palin do nothing but tell us she is ready without ever actually supporting it with evidence.
You ask if we are tired of politics as it is today while at the same time you’re engaging in it. I am tired of politics as it’s played today which is why I can’t stomach Sarah Palin and think that reflex, talking point comparison of Obama to Palin is beneath you.
Regarding Rich’s video addendum, I think we can all rejoice that Blagojevich isn’t on any Presidential ticket. Hopefully Obama will have the good sense to skip him when he’s handing out political appointments.
Team Sleep,
Regarding Palin’s debate history in Alaska, I agree she did better than she has so far on the national stage, but she was also reciting memorized, canned answers about her personal record. If she is allowed to do that tomorrow, she will probably be okay, but she seems incurious about national issues as compared to Alaska specific issues. If she is forced of course by follow-up questions or gets to a topic she’s is completely ignorant of, like the Bush Doctrine, I think she well do about as well as the general consensus is expecting.
Comment by doubtful Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:38 am
Wordslinger, I am reminded of when Nixon was asked why he kept Agnew on the ticket in 1972 and Nixon replied, “No assassin in his right mind would kill me.”
Comment by paddyrollingstone Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:42 am
As a Republican who has seen McCain campaign hard for Kirk over the last 9 years going back to his primary and general election in 2000, this is a really stupid thing to say which I am sure the national media will pick up. arggh.
Comment by George Bell Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:45 am
==Palin’s debate history in Alaska. She did fairly well==
I especially like her color-coded note cards she used. Don’t think that will fly tomorrow night, though…
Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:46 am
Kirk’s remarks are emblematic of the Republican Party in Illinois. Unfortunately for Republicans it’s always a party of one. They seem entirely clueless on how to form coalitions or even strike a pose of unity. They’d rather complain about the Dems and each other than spend the effort it takes to be cohesive. They sure do not add much to the public dialog, except maybe on blogs like this.
Comment by Captain Flume Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:47 am
My experience with Judy Biggert is that when she ran for office she said she’d support a UN funding bill supported by Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT). Got the commitment in writing.
Then when she got elected it was like pulling teeth to get her to follow through. Her staff made it seem like the idea was offensive to Right Wingers.
Judy Biggert is the kinda rep who can be flipped on issues because she’s a “moderate” which seems to mean she lacks meaningful principles and can be browbeat into anything.
As a political decision, I think she’d lose votes flip-flopping on the bailout.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:48 am
I’m not surprised by Kirk’s comments, about Palin. She’s conservative, and he’s more liberal than many Democrats.
Comment by ConservativeVeteran Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:51 am
I wonder how conservatives here in Kirk’s district feel about him flip-flopping on the presidential ticket. And touting his support from Planned Parenthood. And knocking a pro-life candidate off the ballot.
This district is not that moderate, it’s just that the IL Republican party is incredibly weak and has no ground game to speak of.
Comment by Dennis P Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 11:54 am
Kirk is not so much throwing her under the bus, as he is being both honest; and diplomatic at the same time. Republicans that are voting for McCain/Palin already will also vote for Kirk in significantly large numbers.
Women that are voting for McCain/Palin just to see a woman advance are probably going to vote for Kirk in large numbers as well.
Democrats that are voting for Obama/Biden are more likely to vote for Seals, but Kirk gets a reasonable percentage of these people; both men and women as crossover votes every election cycle.
The district has some geographic pockets of hard R and hard D voters, but by and large there is a widespread population of moderate ticket splitters that ultimately decide the election. These people; both men and women, tend to be socially moderate and slightly more conservative fiscally due primarily to the fact that they are very highly educated and upper middle class.
Despite the fact that these people will vote either R or D depending on the candidate, the interesting thing is that for 8 years, these people have essentially become Kirk’s base.
Until just a month ago; to most people Sarah Palin was a complete unknown. Even today; there is a great deal that is unknown about her for most people, and all they know are the drive by sound bites and headlines, much of which have been unflattering from the “mainstream” national media. Some of the harsh scrutiny she has received to date is ideologically pre-conceived, and a good portion of it is sexist.
There is a good number of people that have been successfully propogandized about Palin already; from both the left and the right, but there is still a good number of voters that would be willing to give her the chance and would like to learn more.
By saying he does not know if she is qualified to be President, he has one foot firmly planted with a large number of people in the district that have not yet formed an opinion on this question, and yet he does not offend those that believe her to be qualified, and sends a message to those that deem her unqualified by signaling that he would have chosen somebody else.
Keep in mind that he never said why he would have chosen somebody else, so he does not address the qualifications question here, or their ideological differences. Those ticket splitters that don’t believe she is qualified hear this and are reassured that Kirk’s thought process and judgement are just like theirs. Those that are already supporting her; for whatever reason, while perhaps disappointed, are not automatically driven away from Kirk and he did not step out on the ledge to say who specifically, or what type of candidate he would have chosen instead.
Those middle of the road ticket splitters that have been Kirk’s base now have no reason to stray across enemy lines in this race. Republicans that are solid McCain supporters for the most part know that Kirk and McCain are close, so the vast majority of them will vote for Kirk as well. There are a wide range of moderate issues; the environment, abortion, education, etc. that Kirk has championed specific initiatives on so that many Democrat leaning independents like Kirk’s approach and cross over for him.
More than anything else; Kirk is extremely smart, and he knows the voters of the district very well, and his response in this situation seems to place him squarely in the middle of the road, which is just where the people that will decide the contest in the district would like him to be.
Comment by Middle of the Road Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 12:06 pm
Capt. Fax:
You left out a portion that shows the total blind spot for Schock — who one of their poltical writers quoted an unnamed supporter calling him Dreamy…
First, it’s worth noting that Springfield’s City Hall had essentially called Schock’s and Shearer’s bluff, deciding to bill the Obama campaign for $50,000 or more, as detailed on the front page of Tuesday’s State Journal-Register in Springfield. Second, the reversal came after a week of pretty unrelenting criticism, in Forum letters and elsewhere, including from some miffed Republicans. It was unusual for a politically gifted Schock to be so politically tone deaf.
Besides winning a write-in school board election and beating a disliked incumbent. Schock has accomplished zero.
The school district is still a disaster and his legislative accomplishments consist of following Leitch around. Meanwhile the paper calls him “gifted”
Yikes
Comment by EmptySuitParade Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 12:07 pm
Quimby, I agree, but how is that any different than the talking points used in last Friday’s debate? McCain and Obama both sounded like middle school students debating whether they liked “Harry Potter” or “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” better.
Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 12:49 pm
I think Schock gave away his lack of experience and judgement when he made that dumb Taiwan juke statement. Now, one could argue he’ll be counseled by older and wiser heads, but I think I would in that case just prefer to vote for the trainer and not the trainee. Callahan is not experienced either but has a solid head on her shoulders compared to Aaron, and some maturity.
In the Presidential race, polls are tanking for McCain over how badly Palin is performing so far. It doesn’t take any agenda journalism to turn on the recorder and let her open her own mouth. It’s more unfair for the media to let her hide out and conceal her true nature until after November. Sunlight as they say is the best disinfectant. Let the sun shine on Sarah, and we’ll see how she tans.
Comment by Gregor Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 12:55 pm
I guess Kirk does not know that the GOP party of Lincoln was the LIBERAL party. Anyone who knows history can tell you Lincoln would probably be a dem today.
Comment by POTUS44 Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 1:51 pm
Dennis, I live in Kirk’s district, and I’m disappointed that he changed his mind, about Palin. However, I not surprised, since he flip-flops about other issues. He says that he opposes earmarks, but he ensured that the federal government spent at least $15 million, in our district, for Metra, Head Start, local police depts., and HUD. He voted to authorize the use of force, in Iraq, but in May 2007, he opposed the surge.
You said that the republican party has no ground game to speak of. If Kirk runs for another office, in 2010, which Republican should try to replace him? I hope that St. Rep. Coulson would run.
Comment by ConservativeVeteran Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 1:57 pm
Biden has a long rich history of saying stupid things. He is just there to apeal to the old white guy vote Mcain has wrapped up. I would like to think V.P’s arent going to be that important. I still have the feeling we get 4 years of Mcain which will include 3 years or Obama V Hillary for 2012.
Comment by fed up Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 2:26 pm
A month. This is not enough time for those with an open mind to determine Governor Palin’s abilities. Even if she got an unbiased hearing a month is not enough time.
A month. Never before have see witnessed such partisan attacks by supposedly “news” journalists. Sure the stakes are high, but this is utterly vile. What we’ve seen isn’t journalism, it is a witch trial based on hear-say and rumors. I saw better treatment of a lady in the prom scene in the movie, “Carrie”.
A month. And all we’ve seen are partisans screaming about how their this new candidate does or doesn’t meet their stereotypes. I have read more about the tone of her voice, her hairstyle and glasses, her accent, lipstick and family than about what she believes, her experiences, her leadership style or her vision. I have read more lies about Governor Palin than I have ever read about anyone else running for office.
The news coverage of Hurricane Katrina was shockingly inaccurate, amateurish and bad. Since then we have witnessed an absolute meltdown of any semblance of quality reporting in the US. As market share dwindles and newspapers fold up, reporters have turned into tabloid paparazzis and hacks. Anything goes.
Tomorrow we will watch a moderator who has a new book she has written about one of the presidential candidates hosting the vice presidential debate. The moderator didn’t reveal this vital biased fact in our new age of journalism, and PBS pooh-poohs any suggestion that her million dollar publishing contract could be percieved as biased. Credibility with media reporters continue to drop.
24 hour news cycles do not replace honest journalism. Being forced to feed CNN, Fox or any of the other new outlets doesn’t justify using rumor and inuendo. The entire Governor Palin scenario should leave everyone wondering how we lost our marbles, and where they rolled to.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 2:37 pm
POTUS44, you might be right about Lincoln. In 1962, John Kennedy proposed cutting tax rates, similar to Reagan’s tax cuts. If JFK was alive, he would probably be a Republican. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey gave a speech in which he said that government should discourage people from having children out of wedlock, because that problem harms our society. That speech was similar to Dan Quayle’s 1992 Murphy Brown speech. If Humphrey was alive, he would probably be a Republican.
Comment by Phil Collins Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 2:38 pm
===The entire Governor Palin scenario should leave everyone wondering how we lost our marbles, and where they rolled to.===
I agree with that sentence, little else, and not for the reasons you gave. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 2:38 pm
Ditto, Rich.
VM, Sarah has a degree in journalism. Don’t you think she knew what she was going up against, or at least should have? Why should she be treated with kid gloves?
Kirk is not the only GOP member to flip-flop once thay got to see Sarah in action. Read Kathleen Parker. She is receiving threats from GOP members because at first she liked Sarah but after her blithering interviews she admitted that Sarah was in over her head. Heck, George Will is worried about McCain’s temper and judgment. You guys are imploding on yourselves. Flip-flopping implies something negative, but it is never negative to change a wrong into a right.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 2:57 pm
Also, when a campaign starts whining incessantly about the media and those who cover them and attacks numerous legit polls as inaccurate, you know they’re sinking fast.
Whiners don’t usually win. Buck up, bucko.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:10 pm
==Why should she be treated with kid gloves?==
So we read reports about her daughter giving birth to Trig, her banning books, her demands for creationism in schools, her speaking in tongues, her anti-polar bear policies, her “stupidity”, because no one wanted to give her the kid glove treatment?
Please! What we are witnessing isn’t journalism. It is more like notes being passed around class about the new girl from Alaska.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:14 pm
==Also, when a campaign starts whining incessantly about the media and those who cover them and attacks numerous legit polls as inaccurate, you know they’re sinking fast.==
You mean like: “Guys, I mean come on. I just answered like eight questions.”
Reporters are acting like hyenas in this campaign. You’d think they’d have nothing to do after November 4th.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:18 pm
Sorry, I don’t read/watch the same news as you. Though few times I have heard the “rumor” about her daughter giving birth to her son Trig was from the right. Have you honestly seen or read the Couric interview? How can you explain that away? Why would you want to? If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. This is not the minor leagues. You should be asking her to step down for the good of the country if you really believe in “Country First”, not party first.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:25 pm
VM,
Yes, she got the shock treatment as far as commentary about her family, religion etc. just like Obama got (and McCain and Biden would get if they were “exotic” in any way).
However, most folks are talking about her interviews with press people who, by and large, are not considered hyena-like. People like Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, she didn’t even do that great with Sean Hannity! A person that was trying to make her look good! She is a sitting governor, she should have an ability to take questions and give coherent answers, or at least coherently deflect the question. She has a college education, so we’re not talking about an idiot, either.
Her worst problem seems to be an inability to say, I don’t know and let the question die. Instead, she fills up the dead space with a jumble of words.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:37 pm
Whenever the men/women behind the curtain deicde to let little Sarah face the sharks, she fails miserably. When Biden was picked, he had just returned from Georgia (the country, not the state. You know, the one you need a passport to visit). She’s the one who said she’s a pitbull with lipstick. Since watching her read her convention speech, I haven’t seen her in pitbull mode…more like scardey cat mode.
Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:37 pm
==has a college education, so we’re not talking about an idiot, either==
Education is no measure of intelligence. Remember, our governor has two college degrees…
Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:39 pm
Vote Quimby! you sound quite bitter toward Sarah Palin, that’s unfortunate.
Comment by anon Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:44 pm
Tomorrow we will watch a moderator who has a new book she has written about one of the presidential candidates hosting the vice presidential debate. -VanillaMan
See, there you go again, parroting right-wing talking points.
Ifill’s book is about prominent African American politicians, and her book devotes as much coverage to Colin Powell as it does to Barack Obama.
So we read reports about her daughter giving birth to Trig, her banning books, her demands for creationism in schools, her speaking in tongues, her anti-polar bear policies, her “stupidity”, because no one wanted to give her the kid glove treatment?
Which prominent journalists made those claims? I think you’re conflating bloggers with journalists. Were you as indignant about tabloid media when Rush Limbaugh recently said Obama was from the ‘Arab’ part of Africa? How about when you couldn’t watch the news without seeing Rev. Wright?
To the specific charge or her banning books, I think it’s enough that she even inquired about it. That’s a dangerous question for a politician to ask.
McCain invited a lot of the wild speculation by shielding her from the public for the first two weeks of her candidacy. I’m not justifying the rumors by any means, but you can’t pick a relatively unknown and untested Governor who is currently involved in an abuse of power investigation and then tuck her away and not expect things to get a little out of hand.
Comment by doubtful Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 3:56 pm
See, there you go again, parroting right-wing talking points.
Are you claiming that a moderator who is publishing a book she wrote entitled “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” wrote a book about other people not named Obama? Her title speaks for itself, if she refuses to speak about her obvious bias here. Questioning the bias of a political moderator in a position as important as the one Ifill will be in tomorrow isn’t right-wing, left-wing, or left-field. It is just a damn good question everyone should ask.
I believe it was Senator Obama himself that told us that Reverend Wright was a legitimate campaign issue. I don’t recall Governor Palin making the same claim over the issues smearing her now. I also kinda remember our senator making a grand speech, that MSNBC claimed “Ought to be taught to grade school children”, about how important Reverend Wright was to him. So far Governor Palin hasn’t made a similar speech, has she?
Almost everything Rush Limbaugh says makes me indignant. I’ve never listen to Rush Limbaugh. I don’t believe the rumors about Obama, (I voted for him twice in 2004), so why do you believe the rumors about Palin?
Obviously talk is more important to you than action, or you wouldn’t be supporting our junior senator on his current quest to author his third autobiography. But action matters. What kind of governor is Palin? What has she done in the two years she has been in office? Has she been as productive as Blagojevich, or Obama?
Her actions discredit those claiming she is an ideological fascist. Instead they show she has made a few incredible accomplishments in a very short time.
She fought her own political party because she believed they were corrupt and wrong. Gee, sounds just like your guy doesn’t it? She vetoed millions in spending approved by her own party and had the support of Alaskans to make the vetoes stick. Yup - sounds just like our junior senator, “Mr. New Politics!”
She dumped the oligarchy of special interests keeping us from getting a natural gas pipeline by allowing the state legislature to draw up the conditions of the pipeline, and then let the open market to bid up a price that save Alaskans millions. Gee, she let others do the work? She must be lazy, right? Or stupid? Thanks to the work she shepherded through, we will get a new source of energy, driving down our energy prices.
So, instead of crabbing about what a pro-Palin librarian recalls about a question asked of her years ago, you can look at the accomplishments of this governor. Actions - not words. After a month of watching heated discussions over comments she made during edited interviews, we can look at what she has done.
She is the VP pick. She’s qualified to sit in a chair preciding over the US Senate.
Give her a chance, just as you would if she has a itty-bitty (D) after her name, willya?
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 4:24 pm
Her title speaks for itself… -VanillaMan
Does it? Explain to me how?
From the Amazon.com synopsis:
She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the “black enough” conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.
If anything, the book title suggests she wants to sell books and knows how powerful having the word ‘Obama’ in the title will be for sales. There’s a very good chance the publisher had a hand in naming the book, I suspect.
But go ahead, judge a book and a person by the title. Gwen Ifill has a robust resume for a journalist. New York Times, Washington Post, and the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
I think you should at least give her the chance you’re begging us to give Palin. Or set up a self-fulfilling prophecy of imagined bias which you will undoubtedly catalog tomorrow and wield like a cudgel on Friday morning.
It is just a damn good question everyone should ask. -VanillaMan
Then it’s a question that has to get asked of everyone. Like Bob Scheiffer who moderated a 2004 debate with Kerry and Bush and will moderate the third debate between Obama and McCain, who is a Bush family friend.
What has she done in the two years she has been in office? -VanillaMan
Fired her former brother-in-law’s boss under suspicious enough circumstances to warrant an investigation. Accepted per diem pay for sitting around her own home for her and Todd. Left Wasilla with $22 million dollars in debt when they hadn’t carried debt before. Accepted the money for the Gravina Island Bridge and then decided not to build it. Charged victims the cost of their own rape investigation kits. Sold the state’s private jet at a loss to a campaign contributor. Shall I go on, or do these fact have a liberal bias?
She is the VP pick. She’s qualified to sit in a chair preciding over the US Senate. -VanillaMan
Fortunately, I get to make that decision on my own, as well as the rest of the citizens of the country. (And it’s not looking to hot for the agree column on this one.)
Peace.
Comment by doubtful Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 5:21 pm
A month, VMan. What are we waiting on? What hasn’t been revealed? What should we expect?
The only presidential or vice presidential candidate who didn’t take a pounding from the other party or the press was George Washington. It’s not a recent phenomenon.
It’s reasonable to argue she’s not qualified to be president. It’s reasonable to argue that Obama is not experienced enough to be president. Neither positions are necessarily evidence of sinister motives.
It’s the NFL, daddio, and that means Not For Long if you can’t take the heat.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 6:41 pm
VM, are you Fosterdad on SJ-R?
Comment by Shallow Pharynx Wednesday, Oct 1, 08 @ 8:50 pm
If Obama is elected, and Ifill’s book makes it to the NYT bestseller list, she will become a millionaire.
That makes Obama’s win a person enrichment. She never told the Commission about her book although she was in the middle of writing it. She wasn’t honest then, and she isn’t honest about her bias now.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Oct 2, 08 @ 9:03 am
==VM, are you Fosterdad on SJ-R? ==
I don’t post on SJ-R.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Oct 2, 08 @ 9:03 am