Where's Sarah?

But perhaps it is better not to know and remain blissful in our ignorance...

Rod I have read you for 21 months, and absolutely loved your thoughts an writings...but the last few weeks you have swung one way and then another and then back...and you are wearing me out...do you need to see a doctor? Maybe you have become bi-polar! But you are wearing me out to the point I don't want to read you...do you need a break? Politics is politics and Americans are Americans...on to one candidate today and on to another tomorrow, whatever is popular or looks good one week, whoever does the best ad, etc...Rod just please do not fall into this trap with your writings!

Ron

Gov Palin has the media, libs, and Hollywood in a panic!... Obama Baby, you are a good public speaker, but you are also the most liberal candidate that is the product of Chicago Southside Political Machine which has a long and rich history of political corruption of the first magnitude. You are indeed a child of that system and I don''t want you anywhere near the Oval Office...have a nice day.

*sarcasm*
It is apparent that you hate American, women, and apple pie Rod. Sarah is a mother of 5 children. One of Sarah's children has Down Syndrome. Sarah's other child is joyfully not slaughtering her baby. Is this not enough for you?
*end sarcasm*

Another goodie from The New Republic. Best part, (from Michelle Cottle, who grew up in rural Tennessee), but read the whole article (emphasis added):

"Just like Ralph Peters, I KNOW Sarah Palin. Hell, in my younger days, I WAS Sarah Palin. (Well, minus being a crack shot.) The difference is I don't fetishize my regular-gal roots and assume they make me special--much less qualified to run the country. And while I have indeed witnessed my fair share of cultural snobbery from some of my better-credentialed, coastal colleagues over the years, I'm not so defensive about where I come from that I feel the need to champion a wildly unqualified fellow hick whose politics I disagree with as a way to get back at everyone I know who has ever made a sniffy comment about big hair or small towns.

Memo to Ralph & Co.: Get over yourselves and stop lumping everyone who grew up in non-elite circles into some persecuted ball of burning, self-righteous resentment. And now and again try to stop patting yourselves on the back for personally knowing someone who once went to Alaska (Did I mention that I've also been?) long enough to acknowledge that not everyone--not even everyone in the media--objects to Palin because she is an un-ivied "rube." Some of us, in fact, don't give a rat's ass where she comes from. We're too busy worrying about where she and McCain want to take us all next."

As a fellow native of Appalachia, I say to Michelle Cottle, "You go girl! Can I hear an amen?

And I was just thinking this morning,

"Well, at least the financial crisis has obliterated all mention of Palinmania on Crunch Con & elsewhere."

Ah well.

As Andrew S can't stop noting, this is unprecedented and just plain weird. Actually it's understandable -- a 2nd rate politician like this would be eaten up by freewheeling, unscripted questions. Again we ask: is McCain so in hock to the religious right that he had to make this pick? Is this the best the religious right can come up with??

Well as Mark Twain (I think?) said, better to say nothing and let people think you're dim, than to speak up and remove all doubt.

Biden is allowed to speak to the press. (How's that working for you, Mr. Obama??) Thought so.

I repeat my prediction I've said since that Friday when Palin was initially announced; this choice was a brilliant 'pop-the-nimbers' polulist choice that would cool (in the light of sober scrutiny) and ultimately repel the swing electorate.....and be said come November as the deciding factor that cost McCain the election.

PS: Better to keep her under wraps. As we learned at that Super Bowel: You cannot have Kathi Lee Gifford sing the Star Spangled Banner and expect the stadium crowd to stay on its feet.

If the polling figures are at all accurate (and it may be as hard to accurately poll Palin as it is to poll Obama) she has proven to be a net negative for McCain and his campaign, only offset by what seems to be the total worthlessness of Biden whose knowledge of American history is only equaled by his ignorance of foreign policy.

Now, we must remember that bad economic news favors Obama so the southward turn of the economy in the last couple of weeks may be the factor in his rise in the polls, but clearly it is obvious that Palin is no longer a positive for McCain with the general voting public, and, in fact the more they see of her, the less they seem to like her.

Love him or hate him, Godfrey, I don't think there's anyone who doesn't question that Joe Biden could easily take over if Obama could't finish his term. The question is, love her or hate her, do people really think St. Sarah and the First Dude are ready to lead the country. Clearly the McCain campaign has their concerns, given the way they are shielding her from the press and try to protect her in debates.

If the polling figures are at all accurate (and it may be as hard to accurately poll Palin as it is to poll Obama) she has proven to be a net negative for McCain and his campaign, only offset by what seems to be the total worthlessness of Biden whose knowledge of American history is only equaled by his ignorance of foreign policy.

I think McCain has thought this out before he made his pick. If he loses, he can blame it all on sweet Sarah and the conservatives who backed her so willingly. Lord knows, the fools deserve it. Kristol, Podhoretz, et. al. will sing, "We should have picked Lieberman", even though he was a clear non-starter, and McCain and his backers will wriggle off the hook.

"Clearly the McCain campaign has their concerns, given the way they are shielding her from the press and try to protect her in debates."

This may be true to an extent, but on the other hand, considering the fact that the drive-by media is unquestionably biased against McCain/Palin, why should the latter play the former's game? I believe there is a certain amount of McCain's giving the MSM the middle finger here, as well as the 'shielding.' The McCain people want Palin out there on THEIR schedule, not the MSM's.

By the way, is anyone ever going to ask Obama any tough questions?

The only time I saw someone ask Obama tough questions, and stick to them, was his interview on Bill O'Reilly.

November 4 will be an interesting day.

According to CNN's Campbell Brown, hiding Sarah Palin smacks of sexism.

Video at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkemPwvi_qY

Partial transcript:
"Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment. This woman is from Alaska from crying out loud. She is strong. She is tough. She is competent. And you claim she is ready to be one heart beat away form the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Allow her to face down those pesky reporters... Let her have a real news conference with real questions. By treating Sarah Palin different from the other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves. Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one."

Six weeks is an eternity in today's political and media environment. While I would prefer to see Palin out in the open and (hopefully) doing well right away, my hunch is that she will remain mostly under wraps until the debate with Biden. If that goes poorly, it is probably "game over" for her anyway. However, if it goes well, then I would expect her to be more accessible during the subsequent sprint to the finish. Everyone will be pleasantly surprised at her good performance, and McCain will be saying, "I told you so!" We shall see.

"I would rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy." - Dorothy Parker

I might first need the former to happily vote for McCain-Palin, but I would definitely need the latter to vote for Obama-Biden.

YMMV.

This may be true, but the GOP also has to consider that without Palin, McCain would be even further behind in the polls among likely GOP voters. Numerous conservatives got behind McCain only because they see Palin as a bit of a bright spot, however small.

I think McCain would have been in better shape had he picked someone like Pawlenty, who met all the requirements and had a term and a reelection in a blue-leaning state under his belt. The one thing McCain had to sell was his image as the "safe bet", and he tossed it away, proving that he was never all that safe in the first place.

As far as the social conservatives go, that they'd throw their support behind McCain based on such a thin reed says nothing good about them. Palin had nothing in the way of experience that justifies her selection, and she's clearly not ready for the job. Yes, the same things can be said of Obama (though not to nearly the same degree), but that's not the point. We on the right are supposed to oppose identity politics, and that's what Sarah Palin was all about. The social conservatives have effectively ceded one of their most compelling, secular arguments to the left. And for what? The opportunity to send one of their own to foreign funerals?

The choice was nuts, and social conservatives were suckers for backing it. They have truly proven that all a Republican has to do to get their support is position himself only slightly to the left of his Democratic opponent and hand out a few sinecures.

It occured to me during the two-week frenzy after the Palin pick that the Republicans were peaking too early. Since I don't think Palin is qualified, at the present moment, to be Vice President, and I don't think McCain is the right choice for President, I am happy the Republicans peaked too early.

McCain would have to be crazy not to have noticed that Palin is an attractive woman, Sheila. It's human nature to notice attractive people. But I don't think it means anything.

I don't believe we've necessarily heard the last of Palin, but I certainly hope McCain-Palin loses in November.

I feel your pain, Rob. I was for Hillary Clinton, now I'm for Obama because I think we need someone steady and sane at the helm, Marxist or no.

After now watching Gov. Palin with three different interviewers, I'm increasingly concerned. This woman, possibly only a heartbeat from the presidency, appears at times incoherent, unknowledgeable, and lacking any insights beyond the talking points she's been stuffed with. I'm honestly beginning to fear Sen. McCain has picked his running mate in much the same way failing banks picked their subprime lendees.