Palin excites base, but not Clinton fans

Among the GOP delegates gathered in the Twin Cities, we're hearing nothing but huge enthusiasm for Sarah Palin on the ticket. "All of the doubts about McCain from the hard core conservatives are erased. No question she comes to the ticket and says, "I'm going to carry that conservative banner,'' said Pasco GOP Chairman Bill Bunting. "She'll turn out the conservative base, and they're the ones that work the hardest."

But if McCain was hoping that Palin would pull disillusioned Hillary Clinton supporters, there's little evidence. Democratic former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, who had been seriously talking about not voting, is now an Obama supporter: "I emailed about twenty or thirty  like-minded Democrats that the Sarah Palin choice had pushed me over the edge.  I'll be voting for Obama and am glad to see that he is finally tackling some of  the issues that have kept me from doing so before----pay equity to be specific,'' said Freedman.

lin

Comments

Yeah a Democratic mayor with political ambitions like Sandy Freedman wasn't going to vote for Obama. Please. Give me a break. How about talking to a real person.

[dres]

First of all, i want to say that Im catholic; however i do believe that religion does not belong in politics as it says in the constitution. This lady wants to teach creationism in public schools. That threatens the civil liberties of all americans. She wants Joe the athiest, Muhammad the Muslim, Amit the Hindu to pay taxes so that their childern learn about the bible in school. THIS IS LUDACRIS! SEPERATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. Of course the "hockey mom" that has a degree from Idaho U in Journalism doesnt understand our constitution.

therefore, McCain's first presidential decision earned him exactly 0 more electoral votes. Outstanding...more of this superior judgment to come!

therefore, McCain's first presidential decision earned him exactly 0 more electoral votes. Outstanding...more of this superior judgment to come!

[Republican NeoCons Pray for Rain on the Democratic Convention.]

Republican NeoCons Pray for Rain on the Democratic Convention.

Watch video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJY0NuBC7vo

Be careful what you Pray for!

The Palin pick has done what it was suppose to do, get the base in gear.

I don't think the McCain campaign expected to pull away traditional democratic women voters. Perhaps they thought it would bring a lot of interest to the campaign because of her background and general low profile but that is just smart politics not an insult to pro-abortion women.

Good thing Nov 4th is not too far off. It will be nice when the bigotry and hate scale back to normal.

Sandy evidently had not been researching Obama's Issues.

He's always supported Families and Women. Always.

ooooooooooops!!

guess johnnie McThusela needs to re-thing the idea that all "love pitas" are equal, eh

women, esp. if she is richer and prettier than his disabled and no-longer-attractive-and-not-as-rich current wife, right?

WHO DID PICK WHATSHERNAME?:

"1. We place the focus on McCain rather than Palin. Paul Rosenberg is right; the emphasis must be on his decision rather than on her personally. As other have said, attacking her too directly is a trap: it could make us look hostile to women or elitist.

2. We undermine McCain's argument that he's an independent maverick. He emphasizes his willingness to depart from the GOP establishment, and yet that establishment -- Rove? Cheney? -- chose his running mate. It is the logical conclusion and most egregious example of McCain's decline from straight-talking centrist to sycophantic conservative, willing to do anything to win over Bush loyalists and Republican insiders. And it shows that McCain would truly represent a third term for Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.

3. We also rebut the cental theme of McCain's campaign. Country First? Really? When you're willing to place a severely underqualified person with zero foreign policy or national security experience a heartbeat away from the presidency in order to satisfy your political patrons, are you really putting country first? When you yourself are 72? And you've staked your entire candidacy on promoting American strength? Really?

4. Even more fundamentally, we call into question McCain's control and leadership over his own campaign. If he can't control his campaign, how could he control an administration? Who will be making the decisions in a McCain White House -- Rove and Cheney? Is McCain his own man? Or is he just a puppet? The new Time piece on McCain already suggests that he's being increasingly controlled by his advisors and consultants, no longer allowed to speak off the cuff or be open with reporters -- leading him to be prickly and gruff. So raising these questions could lead to a wave of media stories on McCain's weakness and frustration at being controlled. Similar stories about Kerry and Gore were devastating to their images and thus to their campaigns.

The Palin pick won McCain some initial good press, and it has raised some concerns among progressives. But it has revealed a huge weakness in McCain's candidacy -- and if we take advantage of it, intelligently, it could be a tremendous gift."

from washington note.

is mcThusela even IN CHARGE of his own campaign??

LESS APPROVAL THAN EVEN DUMMIE QUAIL!!!

Obama's chief claim to legitimacy as a candidate is that he is a US Senator.
Yet has not a single piece of major legislation to his name. HELLO!??

You can tell it is a long school weekend. Obama's supporters finished their homework and are now blogging. Whatever hapenned to the Presidential Physical Fitness Test?

What do you call it when a well-qualified woman is passed over for a far less qualified man?

The Democrat National COnvention in Denver.

Sexism is as sexism does.

I'm a lifelong Democrat. I am not a delegate or any kind of muckety-muck. I don't even vote in the primaries. I just vote Democratic on election day.

I'm pro-choice. But I am a woman who's been passed over for a guy too.

What's really important is that we get equality first. Hillary hould have been the nominee. Why isn't she? A phrase you younger kinds probably don't remember: MALE CHAUVINIST PIGS.

I vote: McCain/PALIN

"What is it exactly that the President does all day?"

-Sarah Palin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak-rH0dCeA

11:52 - clean out your ears. She said "What is it exactly that the Vice-President does all day?"

- Must be all that loud music your generation loves.

[Gene Smith]

John McCain did not put country first by picking Gov. Palin as his VP running mate. He put the social conservative wing of the Republican Party first.

The fact that he selected a person who's qualifications to assume the Presidency can be reasonably questioned says a lot about McCain's judgment - and not in a good way.

11:24 AM

You are right on the money. Hillary supporters are NOT the focus of the Palin VP selection. I know the Dems are trying to rationalize that as the reason. There are quite a few men, Dems and Republicans, who will go over to her and she HAS energized the real republicans to get out and vote. The mid-western values voters will be attracted to her. If this brings the Rs back into the fold, it could be lights out for Obama. So, I wouldn't spend much time trying to analyze the "Hillary Effect". That ain't the key strategy as much as the Dems want it to be.

[John Smith]

Barack Obama did not put CHANGE first by picking Joe Biden as his VP running mate. He put the left wing of the Democrat Party first.

The fact that he selected a person who's qualifications to assume the Presidency and carry out the change mandate can be reasonably questioned says a lot about Obama's judgment - and not in a good way.

12:11....Correct. But don't underestimate the number of Hillary supporters that are so pi.... off at Obama they would even vote for George Bush! I've got three in my house. They could care less about the issues. It's all about showing Obama not to mess with the female vote. May seem crazy, but that's the way it is!

Look Biden is a non-item given his propensity to plagerize and ride around on trains all the time.

Also, the working class guy routine is a made up joke. His Grandfather was an executive with, are you ready for this liberal socialists, AMOCO OIL. THAT IS BIG OIL MONEY RUNNING THROUGH HIS VEINS FOLKS!!! His father was an extremely big spender and spent their way into the middle class.

Biden himself is not good with money either. How can a United States Senator for 29 years making that kind of salary with those benefits only be able to amass a net worth of between 59,000 and 350,000? That does not make him one of us, that makes him someone who does not exercise good judgment with their personal finances. Also, besides his BIG FAT TAXPAYER FUNDED SALARY he received social security benefits for his children due to the unfortunate death of his wife in a terrible car accident. Does his current wife work too, yes.

Think about the cash flow this guy has enjoyed and think about it for a minute. How can this guy be trusted to help manage the business of this nation and its budget. What have the voters in Delaware been thinking?

Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so.

Democrats chose Obama through voting. McCain picked Palin without vetting.

McCain's central theme has been that Obama does not have the experience to be president. Fair enough.

At 72 years old, he placed someone with even less experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Obama Biden simply outclasses McCain Palin.

12:55
- Obama got barely more primary votes than Hillary. That's hardly a ringing endorsement. Witness the nervousness that dominated the DNC Convention's first 2 days wondering what Hillary might pull.

- Palin is NOT running for President. Therefore 1) she doesn't get voted on in a Primary contest. She gets selected by the top of her ticket.
2) As Governor, Commander of the State National guard, former Mayor, Energy Commissioner, she has run plenty of things. What's Obama (or Biden, for that matter) ever run, except his mouth?

It takes real chutzpah to run for PRESIDENT on SLIM RESUME like OBAMA.

I bet all those people whi think women won't vote for Palin just because she's an R are mostly MEN.

Women know: Equality comes first.

The selection of Palin was for the right wing freaks . . . why else would there have been such a rush to pick her with little if any vetting.

[Donald Lance]

That's alright because Clinton fans don't excite me! They are almost as Socialist as Barry's fans. Almost.

Keep telling yourselves that, my little myopic Democrat friends. Nov. 5 you will wake up and find a woman is Vice-President of the US. You missed your chance to really make history.

Equality comes first. CHoice comes next. AFter all, choice is the law of the land anyway.

I'm a Clinton supporter & will be voting for McCain/Palin & I know a lot of people of the same suit.

It's refreshing to see a maverick reformer taking on the Washington elitist. It's time to take back D.C. for the people.

Go Sarah Palin!!

A COMPARISON & CONTRAST: Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama

http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-vs-barack-obama/

The hardcore Ds who vote in the D primary will vote for their party's nominee. That's a given. It is the other 85% of Democrats that Palin will appeal to.

GOV PALIN HAS THE HIGHEST GOVERNORS APPROVAL RATING IN THE NATION NEAR 80%.

What does Obama have? Grid-lock in Congress with Nancy Pelosi with an unheard of 8% approval rating.

Palin jsut anounce that her 17 year old daughter is pregnante... how about them family values

Something about 11:52 post just does not sound legitimate.

What excites me is cheaper gas!!

http://www.cngnow.com

Does anyone know if Palin's youngest "child" is hers or her daughter's baby? This could be the mother of all scandals (no pun intended).

Men tend to vote on the perception on power and leadership and women tend to vote on percpetion of issues and security. Palin is a bad pick for McCain because his base (white men) will not perceive a "soccer mom" former "beauty qeen" mother of five as power and leadership and will migrate away from him. Can call this sexist, but is the factual trend at least at this point in our history. When one looks at pervious women in this role, the Hillary Clintons, Elizabeth Doles, Geraldine Ferraros..if there is one thing all can agree on..these women did not convey an image of "soccer mom"/"former beauty qeen" mother of multiple because most dont view this as someone with the time or top priority that a person will have to be in a leadership role (not that it is good or bad to be these things. People just see it as the person will be wrapped up in their own personal family issues and not the countries of their..aka Plain just announced prgnancy of her unerage daughter..notice her husband, the man, wasn't the one commenting on this..it was Palin, the woman. If Palins husband was the nominee it would still be Palin the comunications would be coming from). And yes, this is unfair as women suffer from this this far more than men, why well because in our westernized society women still carry the the majority perception view role of the family rearers while men are viewed as the go out and get it bread winners. I predict McCain base, white men, supporters will start migrating to Obama to vote for perceived power and leadership from that ticket. Lastly, if McCain had picket another well established women more "equivalent" to hilary i.e. Sen Elizabeth Dole, it would have been a brilliant move, so it is not purely sexist..it has more to do the the perception of "power and leadership" and the ability and percieved time priority to "lead and address issues" and not be caught up with ones own family issues..it has more to do with just where our society is at this point and how we tend to view groups of people and traditional "roles".

Who cares about her daughter. It's a private family matter.

Lots of rumors about Obama too that I won't mention.

OBAMA'S MOM WAS AROUND SAME AGE WHEN SHE HAD Barack.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/rnc/1138831,CST-NWS-react01web.article

okay, time to put this to rest. Take the number of women registered as democrats, divide that number by 4, and that will be how many vote for McCain because it is that time of month on election day...

The dems,or should I say the NEW far left young Nancy Pelosi dems,won't underestimate Palin,they'll just trash her like they did my girl Hillary and her TWO TERM democratic president Bill who I proudly voted for twice.. And now you can see why they're in the fight of their lives ...Does any normal thinking person believe that the Clinton's are racist or that Bill Clinton meant what he said about Obama at the convention? Obama's first big decision was his pick of Biden,an old man and Washington insider like McCain,(real change Obama dude!!) to be VP and snobs the Clintons...Poor first decision Obama!!! For months I've had to listen to Obama's supporters on here post TRASH Hillary for voting for the war and pump up Barry's good judgment on Iraq but I've yet to see them trash Biden for supporting the same war...And now they'll trash Palin because they're afraid of her..This old dem will be supporting McCain...I'd rather see Clint Eastwood in the white house than Mr. Rogers.....

4:15 PM

WRONG!! You think REAL MEN are going to vote for a couple of wimps like Obama and Biden. You are living in another world. I'm with Palin. I'd rather have her with me on a hunting trip or even in a foxhole when I was in 'Nam than either of the limp wristed Dems. You don't know men very well.

Palin may excite the base, but not all Republicans, especially pro-choice Republicans. The "base" are the minority, the party workers, who are trained to support any of their own candidates. The average Republicans not involved with local paty politics are not thrilled with McCains choice.

[Tom]

I wonder if the major networks will give the handful of Republican convention members who are disgruntled with Governor Palin the same amount of TV time as they did Hillary diehards at the Dem convention.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S "IN THE TANK COVERAGE BIAS" WILL GIVE MCCAIN/PALIN A LANDSLIDE WIN IF IT CONTINUES.

Is Sandy Freedman always angry?

[Bryan]

I have been reading various articles over the past couple days and the one thing that I have been able to conclude is that it is McCain's questionable judgement that should be called in to question here. If McCain wanted to pick a woman, there were a lot of other, more qualified choices that he could have made: Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, Gov. Jodi Rell, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the list goes on. The reason he didn't pick any of them and chose Palin instead is because they are all Pro-Choice. This pick was not meant to pander to women, it was meant to pander to the base of the party. This is going to prove to be one of the worst choices for VP in American History. I am a registered Democrat, but I don't vote straight party line, never have. I was really on the fence on this one. However, I am now firmly behind the Obama/Biden ticket. Not because of who Sarah Palin is or what she stands for nearly as much as the fact that her selection exemplifies McCain's poor judgement.

The basis of the Democrats only rational argument against Palin - her inexperience - rests fully on a "what if" assumption.

Grasping at straws much?

"Palin excites base"
---
What a golden opportunity for multiple meanings.