Barack out with your caucus out - Election '08 talk

[putty]

thoughts on the recent goings on?

[harrymcq]

Palin is terrible! I was a bit afraid of her role until I watched part of her speech last night... She's a terrible public speaker and they are feeding her the attack dog lines! If she were a bit more charismatic or experienced I would be more afraid but I think McCain messed up big time... Like those Republican pundits caught off-mic on MSNBC I think he might have lost it with this choice. She is ultra-conservative which will appeal to the religious right but anyone with half a brain wouldn't want her near the presidency which is a real risk considering McCain's age and health problems... Personally I think Lieberman (even though I don't like him at all) would have been a slam-dunk.

The only thing which still makes me afraid is that the American people were stupid enough to vote for 2 terms of Bush... who knows what will happen.

I do think the Dems have to go on the attack a little more. Not in the nasty sarcastic way that Guiliani and Palin did last night but really pointing out things like this woman would make abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest!

[percyboyd]

wow, what speech did you see? I think she hit it out of the park. She was far and away the best speaker the Reps have put forth at their convention so far. Maybe it's because you only saw part of it, but we underestimate her at our own peril. Don't let your guard down!

percy

[harrymcq]

I did watch/listen to about the first 20 minutes of it. She did have some zingers, like the one about John McCain being the same person wherever he goes, not being different in Scranton and San Francisco and making fun of the columns at the Democratic convention. Also the one about being a mayor is a little like being a community organizer but with real responsibilities was catchy but also more than a bit mean-spirited and classist...

I did think her delivery was rather wooden and the sound of her voice annoying. Hillary isn't my favorite public speaker but she is much more charismatic than this lady. I watched Biden's speech as well and even though he tends to make a lot of flubs I think he is a much better speaker. People went nuts for her but it was the Republican convention after all.

It also was kind of disturbing the way they were parading that poor baby around to brandish their pro-life credentials.

I totally agree however about not underestimating them and not letting our guards down. If they can put Bush/Cheney in there twice they can put McCain/Palin in there for sure. Having not seen or heard her before however I was afraid she was going to be much more formidable. I knew I disagreed with her politics but I was afraid that she was going to impress me in terms of her delivery and charisma which she just didn't at all.

[rhythmicstorm]

she scares the hell out of me. she utterly sickens me. i could only watch a few minutes.... when she started insulting barack's community work i felt like i was going to puke. to think we could have 4 more years of this immoral unethical party.... i will seriously consider a move to canada. i don't trust the voting system, either.

yuck!!!

sara a

[johnhk4]

For instance, the AP cited Palin's claim that "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

The reality, of course, was much different.

As the AP noted. Palin, as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla, hired a lobbyist and made annual treks to Washington seeking earmarked spending that totaled $27 million, and then as Alaska's governor for less than two years, she sought nearly $750 million in special federal spending, "by far the largest per-capita request in the nation."

And as for that $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents, the truth is that Palin enthusiastically supported the project before she reluctantly opposed it, rejecting the "Bridge to Nowhere" only after it had become politically indefensible.

The Los Angeles Times discovered that Sen. McCain had specifically cited several of Palin's earmarks on his annual list of wasteful pork-barrel spending.

In 2001, for instance, McCain's list included a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla, and in 2002, he criticized $1 million targeted for an emergency communications center that Palin sought but local law enforcement said was redundant and a source of confusion.

Remaking Palin

Now, however, Palin has been transformed into a maverick reformer. McCain's campaign even cites her experience as an abuser of the earmark process as part of the reason she supposedly understands why it must be scrapped.

McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin said Palin's successes in getting earmarked funds "was one of the formative experiences that led her toward the reform-oriented stance that she has taken as her career has progressed."

Nevertheless, Palin wrote in a newspaper column just this year that "the federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship." [For more details, see Los Angeles Times, Sept. 3, 2008]

found at: http://www.truthout.org/, Sept. 5, 2008

I have to admit however, that McCain touched on some good points in his speech. Let's be fair, there was a tinge of honesty.

I just get tired of these same old tactics. Push the big lie, and hope that the general population is too lazy to seek out the truth. Then brand anyone who takes issue with it as being 'defensive' and therefore 'guilty'. Pretty sad stuff.

- john