You left a tag open Greg. And it's bleeding all down your page right now. :)

Oh, and tell Ben, nice find.

I think there will be a lot of "unfiltered" quotes floating around from Palin considering she didn't have any designs on the Presidency or Vice-Presidency even two months ago.

It appears that the religious right think highly of McCain's choice. Probably the only choice that he could have made if he wanted to bring home that wing of his party.

I don't see that her addition changes things very much. She agrees with McCain so she isn't a change just more of the same on all the issues.

From the Volokh Conspiracy (a blog run by a bunch of libertarian and conservative law profs):

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[David Post, August 29, 2008 at 1:01pm] Trackbacks

Sarah Who? I've always admired John McCain (though I have to say, in the interests of full disclosure, that I'm not voting for him this Fall); he was, by far, my favorite among the Republicans seeking the nomination, and I was delighted that he prevailed. I have to say, though, that his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate is appalling and insulting to the American people. Perhaps it will turn out to be a political masterstroke, "energizing the base" and garnering lots of disaffected Clinton supporters; perhaps not. But to my mind, as a voter, the sole criterion for evaluating a candidate's VP choice is whether or not the candidate has picked someone who can plausibly be viewed as presidential timber and, no disrespect intended to Ms. Palin, who was apparently a decent mayor of Wasilla AK (pop. 9,000) and who has been serving as governor of Alaska for all of two years, McCain has failed miserably on that score. His recent complaints that Obama is too inexperienced to be President are not only fatally undercut by this choice, they look downright idiotic now -- coming from someone who would put Gov. Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency. It is the grossest form of pandering -- what happened to "putting your country first"? This choice puts McCain's candidacy first and the fate of the country a very distant second, and he should be, and Ihope he is, punished by the electorate for having made it.

See http://volokh.com/

Also:
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[Russell Korobkin, August 29, 2008 at 1:29pm] Trackbacks
A Heartbeat Away: The homepage of the town of Wasila, Alaska (population 5469 as of the last census), has links to three news stories. The lead story, as you might expect, is that the town's former mayor, Sarah Palin, has been named John McCain's running mate. The second story announces the town's new website. The third advertises the "Baby and Me Lap Sit-Program at the Library."

Before serving as Wasila's mayor, Sarah Palin earned a B.A. at the University of Idaho, worked as a sports reporter for an Anchorage television station, and did commercial fishing with her husband.

At age 72, John McCain has already lived longer than his father, John McCain Jr., who died at age 70.

Sarah Palin looks like an interesting woman, but let's hope she doesn't have to stare down Vladamir Putin any time soon.

And as another added bonus, Palin is even a celebrity!

At least that's the opinion of the web site "Right Celebrity," which has soon-to-be-famous (I'm sure) photos of Sarah Palin's beauty pageant days, when she attained the high office of Miss Congeniality.

http://celebrity.rightpundits.com/?p=3237

Pro-choice, anti-science, anti-environment and a pro-drilling ho for big oil! What more could the conservatives ask for?

KR

probably nothing but:
there is a website already up with current pix and campaign graphics:
www.vpilf.com

i thought it was just funny, but then noticed it was a prefab iweb template, that most of the entries had been done in the last two days, and that it had been registered in august even though entries go back to june. any chance this is some kind of demeaning viral marketing effort, or somehow linked to the campaign? (no evidence of this just curious if anyone has ideas on how to make sure.)

If Hillary couldn't be the first woman president, there is no way in Hell she will stand by and allow a novice former beauty queen crack the glass ceiling. Obama's problem with the Clintons just became a huge plus for him. Hillary will be on fire campaigning for Obama.

People talk about how Palin will affect the women's vote. What they should be talking about is how it will affect the male vote. Lots of Republican men who were not fond of McCain but would vote for him are seriously pissed off right now.

How about this from the New Republic, concerning Gov. Palin's alleged opposition to the BRIDGE TO NOWHERE:

---------------------

Did Palin Really Fight The “Bridge To Nowhere”?
Republicans are touting Sarah Palin's reformist credentials pretty heavily, with her supposed opposition to Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" trotted out as Exhibit A. But how hard did she really fight against the project? Here, after all, is what she told the Anchorage Daily News on October 22, 2006, back when she was running for governor (via Nexis):

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

She was very much for the bridge and seemed to be saying that Alaska had to act quickly—Ted Stevens and Don Young might not be around forever, you know! By that point, though, the bridge was endangered for reasons that had nothing to do with Palin—it had become a national laughingstock, Congress had stripped away the offending earmark, and future federal funding seemed unlikely. Now, true, after Palin was sworn into office that fall, her first budget didn't contain any money for the bridge. But when the Daily News asked on December 16, 2006, if she now opposed the project, Palin demurred and said she was simply trying to figure out where the project fit on the state's list of priorities, given the lack of support from Congress. She was quite gung-ho about squandering federal money, but state money was another bag of chips entirely. Finally, on September 19, 2007, she decided to abandon the bridge project altogther with this sorry-sounding statement:

"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer," said Governor Palin. "Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island," Governor Palin added. "Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened."

Maybe I've missed something, but it sure sounds like she was fine with the bridge in theory, never had a problem with the earmarks, bristled at all the mockery, and only gave up on the project when it was clear that federal money wasn't forthcoming. Now, Charles Homans, who knows Alaska well, says Palin's reformist credentials are fairly solid (she sold off the governor's private jet upon taking office, for instance), and a casual Nexis search suggests that she's fiscally conservative (insofar as that term makes sense in a quasi-socialistic state like Alaska), but this wasn't anything close to a "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" moment.

--Bradford Plumer

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/default.aspx

Honestly, she's a ridiculous pick. But I have to believe she'll bring the same passion to the vice presidency that she does to hunting polar bears, so I'll give her a chance.

Can you see it? Palin vs. Putin? Hockey mom vs. Hamas?

Can you see it? Palin vs. Putin? Hockey mom vs. Hamas?

Also, I read somewhere else, well she brings "guns, babies and jesus" to the ticket.

doh, double post or something. sorry

Monica Goodling, flashback

Nice, she is already running around pandering about Hillary's "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling", while she is anti-Hillary, thinks Hillary is a whiner, and is against everything Hillary stood for! Sadly, I think Palin might actually be ok with her token role:

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/08/mccains-shocking-choice-for-vp-sarah.html

John McCain's official statement says "Governor Palin... is ready to be president":

Okay, the guy is senile, he is unstable at the very least. My spouse, not a politically interested person, he even laughed at this statement.

I just had the strangest realization: my resume is better than Palin's. I say this _not_ to be self-aggrandizing. But if one substitutes any kind of executive experience for her mayoral experience and 1+ years as Governor -- I think it's fair to agree to the first substitution at least -- then quite literally I am, on paper, qualified to be a VP candidate. Plus I have graduate degrees, which I see she does not. Plus I played high-school basketball.

Millions of women around the country have to be thinking in these terms today.

The best strat. would be to ignore her entirely and have Hillary make independent attacks on her as inexperienced and unfit to lead women forward. And then in the debates Biden should just hammer her on foreign policy.

The more anyone outside of Hillary talks about her the more the GOP comes out on top.

Check

It's been about 3 hours since Palin was named and the ridiculousness of this pick has not worn off. The more I hear the pundits try to spin it, the worse it gets.

Don't bother trying to explain the upside of this clown. This pick was bad from the second it was announced and it is going to get worse with age.

I am embarrassed for Republicans.

I actually like her as a pick. I love the whining comment about the clintons. Too funny. Dems better be careful how they go after her. She is very likeable, unlike mcbush. I think that this was a shrewd and smart pick by mcbush. Much better pick than any of the other front runners.

I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary was a candidate of mine and Palin, you're NO Hillary Clinton!

Just a thought -- what will this do for Bob Barr's campaign? For any smart and self-respecting Republican out there, who truly believes in turning this economy around and dealing with our international problems and can't bring him/herself to voting Dem, it would be natural to just vote for the Libertarian, all the while knowing that Obama's going to win.

The Obama campaign needs to stay away from that experience shit. We don't have to hit her there, we can hit her on the issues and let the rest fall into play. There will be enough people questioning her qualifications already.

The Obama-Biden joint statement was the right response. The first campaign statement gets an F and whoever OK'd it needs to be fired at once or at least slapped around a bit.

This was the best thing could have done for McCain. His other potential picks lacked the biological imperatives requried. The intent was to go after the Women who supported Hillary and were upset with the Democratic party and mostly Obama for not selecting her as his VP. Now McSame can claim he is the Maverick. He believes in Change. Who did the Dems pick, an old washington insider when they could have selected the best woman candidate ever. The dems and Obama let you down, it was his choice. I McSame walk the walk.

He only has to pull in 5% of the women voters to make a difference in the election. That is not a lot. I want to again congradulate the Obamites for fighting so hard against Hillary. Did any of you think about what would happen in McSame picked a woman for VP?/ No, probably not. That is why we are blogging instead of working in the field.

The Obama campaign needs to stay away from that experience shit. We don't have to hit her there, we can hit her on the issues and let the rest fall into play. There will be enough people questioning her qualifications already.

The Obama-Biden joint statement was the right response. The first campaign statement gets an F and whoever OK'd it needs to be fired at once or at least slapped around a bit.

Thank you Keith:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/29/olbermann-rips-ap-reporte_n_122290.html

I predict that the howling and whining we hear from the Oilbama campaign about Billy Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist who bombed the US. Capitol and has been linked to candidate Obama at least for the last dozen years, will get louder, and more hysterical and more damaging because we will find that not only did Billy Ayers work closely with Barack Oilbama to fund left wing school schemes in the hands of Maoists (Mike Klonsky) and Neo-Stalinists (Bill Ayers) but also Billy Ayers himself, now, regularly, is talking part in strategy sessions with major Oilbama advisers as to how to bury the truth about the terrorist and the candidate.”

Does anyone think that this maybe... just maybe is all a head fake?

They want McCain to look like she is supportive of woman's rights - but then she will "drop out" after the scrutiny of her controversy as well as "taking care of my down syndrome child".

I can see it now - "As much as I would love to serve my country, I have come to the realization that now is not that time for me with my child and issues in Alaska I cannot leave them with. I applaud McCain for his support of women, and wish him best of luck in the campaign."

Then McCain gets to look like some woman-lover and pick who he actually wanted all along: Romney.

I can't wait to see what George Will has to say about this. He blasted the pick of Harriot Myers on the grounds that she did not have the credentials.

There is a part of the Republican party that likes to think of themselves as dispassionate analytical thinkers that vale competence above all else. They are going to be mighty offended by this pick.

Little off-topic.

Answering a question about whether or not Palin had any national security experience, Lindsey Graham said:

"If Gov. Palin can take on Ted Stevens, she can take on the Russians."

An absurd comparison for sure. But it worries me that the McCain campaign keeps inserting how dangerous Russia is into our national dialogue.

She made one heck of a mayor of that whistle stop in the permafrost, and even though she was for the bridge to nowhere before opposing it, she took stands on that issue!

I'm so enthused about her that I'm tempted to get out my atlas and try to figure out where Alaska is, by golly!

If Hillary created 18,000,000 cracks in the glass ceiling...

according to wikipedia,

Palin created 114,697 cracks.

As a Clinton supporter who is now ever so slightly leaning toward Obama (or not voting at all, never McCain) this pick makes for the perfect storm of confusion. On both sides there is immesne uncertainty now. Unless there is something trule horrific in Palin's background this will still be a close race as people become more familiar with her in the coming weeks. If she should do well against Biden in the debate all bets are off.

This is still about the swing voters. Emily's list will support her, if she seems competent enough some of the more moderate and conservative Clinton supporters might gravitate to her.

As a skeptic I have to say that Obama's speech was not persuasive. He seemed to be playing to the choir. Some of his statements and promises gave me pause.

This pick should doom McCain. But with the market already in turmoil over Obama my guess is that there are still many instances of unintended consequences still to come.

Probably a better hunter than Cheney,...
maybe she knows if Iraq is east or west of Alaska?

Ouch. Clyburn compares Palin to Quayle and Ferraro:

"I think (her selection) would be something similar to Dan Quayle — Dan Quayle proved to be sort of an embarrassment as a campaigner, being thrust on a national stage like that could be very tough," Clyburn said. "Now Mondale tried to shake things up by going with Geraldine Ferraro, she proved to be a disaster as a running mate. And as a campaigner, she was absolutely awful."

I suppose the next thing we'll hear is that Palin will choose Dick Cheney as her Administrative Assistant.

Hehe: http://andrewgraham.tumblr.com/post/47947939/esandberg-mikehudack

Sarah Palin is a female George W. Bush, and we know where he ended up.

Palin is firing up the far-right base, which means they are now going to contribute time and money and effort to McCain, where before they were sullen and uninspired. That is bad news for Dems.

Palin will be a darling of the media. She's hot, she's new, she's a sexy, pistol-packing momma who looks like Tina Fey. She will get a ton of coverage and most of it will be very positive. Count on it.

Palin will be difficult for the media and the Obama campaign to criticize without coming across as condescending and/or sexist. Hell, they will be accused of being condescending and sexist no matter what they say or do.

Watch out. The freeper base is fired up.

I do see a future for McCain and Palin as characters in a new season of Northern Exposure.

Am I nuts, or did McCain just nominate a younger version of his wife Cindy to be Vice President of the United States? Let's look at the Tale of the Tape:

Signicantly younger? Yep, McCain just turned 72, Cindy is 54, Palin is 44.

Former beauty queen? Yep, Cindy was "Junior Rodeo Queen of Arizona"; Palin was "Miss Wasilla" and runner-up of the "Miss Alaska" pageant.

Businesswoman? Yep, Cindy is chairman of her family's beer distributorship, one of the largest in the country; Palin owned a commercial fishing business with her husband.

Socially conservative? Yep, both women are social conservatives.

Masculine hobbies? Yep, Cindy is an amateur pilot and race car driver; Palin hunts, fishes, rides snowmobiles and owns a floatplane.

Special needs child? Yep, Cindy found her adopted daughter Bridget at an orphanage in Bangladesh for cyclone survivors; Palin's son Trig has Down's Syndrome. (Note: I'm not knocking the ladies for caring for special needs children, just the opposite; however, is it just a coincidence as far as McCain's judgment is concerned?)

Minor drug issues? Yep, Cindy was once addicted to prescription pain-killers; Palin once used marijuana, but states that she didn't like it.

Whiff of scandal? Yep, Cindy and her father invested in a shopping center project with Charles Keating of "Keating Five" fame; Palin is under investigation for allegedly firing Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

I'm not saying these women are bad people, per se, but isn't it eerie that McCain apparently feels that the same qualities and attributes that make someone an acceptable spouse for himself are the same qualities and attributes that would make someone an acceptable VP of the USA?

Vogue Cover Girl
http://bp2.blogger.com/_uExTzMIDd1Y/R2O5nKq9_tI/AAAAAAAAATE/At2bb_K_3ao/s400/Sarah-Palin-Vogue.jpg

RNC's calling for contributions of Viagra in lieu of cash

I am a firm Obama supporter and find McCain's nomination of Palin to be utterly cycnical, exploitative, and demeaning. Nonetheless, Palin ostensibly saying that Hilary was "whining" is not an appropriate tack to follow; this is not what she was saying – rather, she suggested that it may be a perception of hers, that she does not necessarily agree with – and it will only hurt us if we say it was. There are countless means by which to attack her – and, more precisely, McCain, for the mockery by which he chose her –, and this should not be one of them, quite unfortunately.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0808/Palin_on_Israel.html#comments

Good for Palin. Hillary was whining about the boys picking on her and that they were being sexist. Can you imagine Obama or McCain or Romney ( who was picked on in debates by everyone) complaining about that. That made many of us women cringe.

Say this for Palin: She made it on her own. Unlike Clinton, was elected on the coattails of her famous husband.

I suspect Palin is a lot tougher than some people here are giving credit for. I'm sorry - a woman just don't become a governor of a testosterone-laden stated unless she's tough.

Sen. Clinton's initial comment might just be setting the stage for a sucker punch, kind of like saying "McCain is a great hero for his service, BUT..."

Give me a break. Why do you want Hillary to do Obama's dirty work? He has made his choice. Let us see if he has chops. Bill, Bush'es, Reagan all had to make it on their own to reach where they were, not counting on their predecessars or competitors solely. I would most likely vote for Obama but let him earn my vote by making his case. That will give me confidence. It is democracy after all.

I am independent (leaning democrat), professional woman. Women have to fight twice as hard to reach a high position as it is. I have seen it first hand at every step of the way. Let Obama sink or swim on his own (with Biden) rather than reaching to the pinnacle on Hillary's shoulders, especially since he did not select her as VP.
pnnj

From Raw Story news site: McCain VP pick laughed as radio host called Alaskan Senator a 'b*tch' and a 'cancer'

If you go to the link for the radio show/audio, you'll see a photo of these 2 DJs against a background of people flipping the bird to the camera -- just what America needs @ this time.

An experienced, mature politician would have rejected the DJ's profanity/hate talk characterization of the politician Palin had a grievance with.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_VP_pick_laughs_as_radio_0830.html

This is funny. This is not a full quote. Only pick out one word and hoping Hillary supporters (in particular) and democrats annoyed with Palin's word. What Palin was saying was that one "can't complain about press coverage, because it comes across as whining. One has to work harder to over come it." Typical out of context attack news...

Talk about a waste of cyberspace. What an insignificant topic...what someone's VP pick said about someone's non-VP pick...what an upstart said about a dynast...

Big deal. This isn't a tabloid, is it? Maybe it is. He said, she said etc.