08/29/2008
McCain Makes Surprise Choice of Little-Known Woman
In a surprise move, Sen. John McCain announced Friday that he had chosen Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate, shaking up the political world at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In choosing Palin -- a 44-year-old conservative and mother of five who has been governor for less than two years -- the McCain campaign reached far outside the Washington Beltway in an election in which the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change. (NYT)
Some have already began to notice a resemblance to a face many of you are familiar with, honey!
Posted 1:49 PM EST by Kenneth Walsh | Permalink
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Obviously, she has the 'experience' to lead that Obama apparently does not.
We must seriously consider the possibility that this unknown woman could become the President at some point. A President McCain would reach the age of 80 years before leaving a two-term presidency.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 29, 2008 1:55:12 PM
Oh Look,another beauty queen:
- Carol Shepp McCain,swimsuit model
- Cindy Hensley McCain, Miss Junior Rodeo of Arizona 1968
- Sarah Palin, Miss Wasilla and 2nd place Miss Alaska 1984
Posted by: homer | Aug 29, 2008 1:59:39 PM
Is it me or does Mrs. Palin look like "Karen Walker"(esp. from the side)? Even sounds a little like her.Megan should go on Sat. Night Live as her! Fun possibilites are unlimited!
Posted by: Wade | Aug 29, 2008 2:02:07 PM
Palin will NOT get my vote. She is anti-gay... plus she thinks that 2 years as a governor makes her the one who will "break the ceiling" ?? I can't believe she thinks she can steal Hillary's thunder!
Posted by: KFLO | Aug 29, 2008 2:03:30 PM
As has often been said, voters rarely vote for the VP. However, I think this was a bold choice for McCain. And I think it was his.
For a while now I think his campaign has been running without him. They're going for mud, dirt and everything else while he just sits by and doesn't object.
But with Palin as his choice, I think he is obviously trying to court the female vote. Either way January 20th will be a historic day as either the first African American will be sworn in as President, or the first woman will be sworn in as Vice President.
But my personal thought is the choice of Palin to attract the female vote, may be using the same strategy that would say running Alan Keys would get the African American vote.
In the end, I just don't think it will play off that way.
Posted by: Dave | Aug 29, 2008 2:04:35 PM
Bizarre...but interesting. Almost everyone I've talked to is in disbelief.
I wonder if Barack had been a former beauty queen would some of y'all had questioned his "qualifications" so harshly? She's qualified, right?
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Aug 29, 2008 2:07:18 PM
What's really shocking is that her husband looks like Andy!
Posted by: anon | Aug 29, 2008 2:10:54 PM
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama convinced millions of voters that they are qualified to run this country.
Palin was selected by a single politician for the job.
It is standard VP procedure but have no doubt, the campaign for the nomination of the Democratic party was much more significant than the strategic selection of Governor Palin as a direct response to the historical power of the Democratic ticket.
Had millions of voters not cast their ballots for a woman and a (half) black man, you can bet your ass the GOP would have no desire to mix things up like this, being so fond of the status quo.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 29, 2008 2:11:27 PM
Is this really surprising? McCain is a puppet, and now he has another (more transparent) puppet running alongside him.
Posted by: gay as life | Aug 29, 2008 2:11:48 PM
Palin brought up HRC during her acceptance speech today as sort of rallying cry for women. What an insult. My mind went straight to Madonna's "She's Not Me." from Hard Candy.
Palin is no Hillary.
I didn't vote for Hillary Clinton because she was a woman, I voted for her because of the issues promoted by said exceptional person and because I felt she was best for the job.
This cynical choice will backfire.
Obama/Biden all the way!
Posted by: Marco | Aug 29, 2008 2:15:43 PM
Maybe I'm out of touch, but if I were Obama, I would have picked Hillary for a sure win. If I was McCain I would have picked Romney to really improve my ticket...as far as I'm concerned they both made shitty choices. Can't wait til one of them is in office to screw everything up for 4-8 more years. Yaaaayyy.
Posted by: paul | Aug 29, 2008 2:16:30 PM
Oh, and I think Tina Fey will be back to play her in the fall.
Posted by: paul | Aug 29, 2008 2:18:34 PM
I concur with WES, the Republicans have harped on Sen. Obama's supposed lack of experience to lead the nation, then McSame goes and chooses someone with less experience to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency should he win in November (God, forbid!!). This is yet another ploy by Republicans to do whatever it takes to win the election at any cost. I'm sure a nice, quiet, conservative woman who'll defer to the misogynistic Republican agenda fits the bill nicely. Honestly, Hillary would eat this lady for breakfast and pick her teeth with her bones!
Posted by: JerzeeMike | Aug 29, 2008 2:18:44 PM
"I want a Mint Milano!"
Posted by: Brian | Aug 29, 2008 2:21:25 PM
she's not only a transparent stroke towards Hillary's orphaned brats... she's also a gun-toting hunter with the NRA votes in her Cabela's pocket.
Posted by: A.J. | Aug 29, 2008 2:26:25 PM
How ironic that McCain would choose this CELEBRITY (beauty pageant queen and model) with absolutely NO national or international public service experience as his running mate.
I one fell swoop he just knee capped his two favorite attacks on Obama.
To be fair though, Palin probably will have very big coat tails with the regions surrounding Alaska. She'll bring in tons of votes from the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, The Northwest Territories, Siberia and what's left of the North Pole; although I don't think any elves are gonna be voting Republican this year since their houses are breaking up and sinking and their jobs got outsourced to China.
This has the potential of being a gift that just keeps giving to the Democrats.
Thanks John and Karl.
Posted by: zeke | Aug 29, 2008 2:28:15 PM
well this certainly blows my mind, never in a million years did i think mccain would pick a woman, but it's a stroke of genius (that important element of suprise in any war tactic) that i think is going to get him into the white house, i've heard her speak and i like her and i voted for hillary, so who knows...
Posted by: the queen | Aug 29, 2008 2:31:55 PM
What's really shocking is that her husband looks like Andy! ANON
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Andy is far more handsome thatn he is, just check out the pics from the DNC.
Posted by: patrick nyc | Aug 29, 2008 2:34:16 PM
And just like clockwork the Log Cabin Republicans come out of the blocks spinning and lying through their teeth about Palin's "moderate record on gay rights".
The woman has a 100% anti-gay record.
I want them to prove to us that she is a moderate on gay rights not just say so. Show us the records; show us the proof; give it to us in black and white or in video. We'll gladly wait while you put ALL the evidence together.
This is exactly why the LCR has absolutely NO credibility and why they are losing members like rats from a sinking ship.
Posted by: zeke | Aug 29, 2008 2:36:30 PM
Sis, don't you dare! You don't want us to end up like Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHaviland, do you? Never speaking agian till our graves ...or urns of ashes?
Heavens, I'll have to buy an extra bottle this weekend. Really. And it aint my liver I'm worried about, it's my wallet.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Aug 29, 2008 2:39:27 PM
Umm, The Queen, you LIKE her? You need to do some research. This is a cynical, ill-informed ploy by McCain's campaign. They think they can attract disgruntled women voters but fail to understand that those women are disgruntled because they wanted Hillary. Most are not going to vote for someone whose views are antithetical to Hillary's simply because she's a woman. A woman with very little experience and name recognition, from a state with very low population? As someone else said, it's bizarre.
Know what else is bizarre? The names of her kids. Two are Trak and Trig. I'm wondering if those were her favorite classes in high school or something. Plus, she has five kids, including a four-month-old with Down's syndrome. I'm not trying to impose a double standard on female politicians, but either those kids are going to be raised without her (should McCain win) or she won't be able to be a full-time VP. Trust me, I'm from a family of five kids. Being a parent is a full-time job.
Posted by: Paul R | Aug 29, 2008 2:40:05 PM
THE QUEEN, your "Operation Chaos" vote for Hillary doesn't impress anyone but nice attempt at salvaging this act of political suicide for your boy McSame.
Posted by: zeke | Aug 29, 2008 2:41:35 PM
Well, instead of all the TV pundits discussing Obama's speech, they were all discussing McCain's VP selection. Weird, but not one of the MSM news shows (FauX/MSNBC/CNN, etc.) were willing to cut away--except for commercials. On MSNBC Morning Joe, everybody was talking and eyeing their txtmsg on their cells. Then, the Big Announcement. I am not surprised. Palin makes a direct pitch that 18,000,000 voters cracked the "glass ceiling". It stole Obama's thunder. Biden will have to be extra careful with his loose lips when he debates her. She's smart, VERY conservative (one of those born-again "social" conservatives) and she's nobody's fool. It was a smart pick and a necessary one for McCain. If he picked anyone else, everyone would have said "yawn" and gotten back to Obama. Now, they'll focus all weekend on McCain's choice. McCain trumps Obama on this one. OK, Barry, your move.
Posted by: mike | Aug 29, 2008 2:43:08 PM
Well, instead of all the TV pundits discussing Obama's speech, they were all discussing McCain's VP selection. Weird, but not one of the MSM news shows (FauX/MSNBC/CNN, etc.) were willing to cut away--except for commercials. On MSNBC Morning Joe, everybody was talking and eyeing their txtmsg on their cells. Then, the Big Announcement. I am not surprised. Palin makes a direct pitch that 18,000,000 voters cracked the "glass ceiling". It stole Obama's thunder. Biden will have to be extra careful with his loose lips when he debates her. She's smart, VERY conservative (one of those born-again "social" conservatives) and she's nobody's fool. It was a smart pick and a necessary one for McCain. If he picked anyone else, everyone would have said "yawn" and gotten back to Obama. Now, they'll focus all weekend on McCain's choice. McCain trumps Obama on this one. OK, Barry, your move.
Posted by: mike | Aug 29, 2008 2:43:51 PM
She's Velma from Scooby Doo, but less butch and anti-gay marriage equality.
Also, she's a former beauty queen. And we all know that McCain has a bit of a weakness for them, bless him .
Is she rich too? Cindy better watch her back.
But the GOP are insulting our intelligence. And I long to repay them the favor.
Posted by: FASTLAD | Aug 29, 2008 2:45:15 PM