Friday, August 29, 2008

Prescience

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, August 29, 2008 -- 10:44 AM ET
-----

McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate

Senator John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to
be his running mate, according to Republican sources.

-----

Just remember where you heard it first.

18 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Way to go Skipper! Pretty soon the national media will be turning to the Daily Duck for political predictions.

I have a new friend who's a libbie, and she called to say what a political novice Palin is, and that Joe Biden will wipe the floor with her at the debates. Do you have any sense as to how she'll handle herself?

August 29, 2008 2:33 PM  
Blogger Hey Skipper said...

Political novice?

She won two heavily contested elections against entrenched incumbents -- what are Obama's, Biden's, HRC's or McCain's records on that score?

She has an 80% approval rating in the state.

When becoming governor, the first two things she did were to ditch the governor's private jet, and tell Congress where to put the bridge to nowhere.

She is poised, articulate, and easily smart enough to master a brief.

From what I know of Biden, his main claim to debating skill comes from verbal equivalence to a pit bull.

Regardless of Palin's own skills in this area, human nature is such that her femininity will make any Biden pit bull attack a very bad idea, indeed.

August 29, 2008 3:07 PM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

Reminds me of Nixon picking Agnew, although Agnew did have a slightly thicker resume.

August 29, 2008 5:43 PM  
Blogger Susan's Husband said...

Presuming that's true, would you rather have that inexperience in the Vice President or the President?

I would love to hear an explanation of how someone could not vote for Palin for VP for that reason while being willing to vote for Obama.

August 29, 2008 6:58 PM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

Beats me. I would never vote for a man who treated his granma the way Obama treated his. I'd be afraid what he'd do to my granma.

He's got too much experience along that line for my taste.

I don't know anything about Palin. Wbat's to know?

August 29, 2008 9:32 PM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

So now does Palin get around?

No other governor can better justify having a personal plane, although not a jet.

August 30, 2008 12:07 PM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

Well, well, short resume or not, apparently there are things to know about Palin.

1. Global warmenist.

2. Thinks it's OK to 'teach the controversy' in biology class.

August 30, 2008 12:16 PM  
Blogger Hey Skipper said...

Harry:

She is not a global warmenist -- she has strenuously argued against calling polar bears an endangered species, and wants to drill in ANWR.

As for creationism / ID, see this at LGF.

If what she said accurately reflects her feelings -- it is nuts not to discuss it if it comes up in class -- then, like Charles Johnson, I don't have any problem with it.

August 30, 2008 5:26 PM  
Blogger Hey Skipper said...

Read this transcript of a Time interview from a couple weeks ago. (h/t LGF)

She gives clear, direct answers.

Contrast that with, say, the answer Obama gave Rick Warren about the war in Iraq.

August 30, 2008 5:55 PM  
Blogger Hey Skipper said...

Harry:

So now does Palin get around?

SFAIK, airlines, like the rest of us.

August 30, 2008 6:02 PM  
Blogger Bret said...

harry eagar wrote: "So now does Palin get around?"

"One of Palin's first acts as governor was to sell the governor's jet on eBay."

So, um, apparently not by private jet.

August 30, 2008 9:13 PM  
Blogger Ali said...

The Republican incumbent came third in a primary of four. Palin beat him and so did the next guy down.

From a conservative Alaskan aquaintance:

"Meaningless. The Republicans loathed the incumbent even more than the Democrats did. The guy was a disaster. And the Democrat was already a former governor who'd been merely okay, and we don't generally go for Dems anyway."

Palin was consistently in favour of the Bridge to Nowhere but couldn't go for it after federal funding disappeared. Now she's claiming she was against it all along.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/08/29/did-palin-really-fight-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx

It's an astonishingly reckless and hubristic pick for a 72 year old multiple cancer survivor. Obama's not ready to be President and CINC. I don't see how anyone thinking that can approve of this.

August 31, 2008 3:14 AM  
Blogger erp said...

Ali, the difference is in character and temperament. Obama is an elitist egotist who doesn't have the confidence to reveal who he really is to the public. He may or may not be brilliant (I think not), but he hasn't been tested at any level of public service.

He's gotten by on his vaunted looks and oratory with absolutely nothing to his credit for his almost 50 years on earth except a couple of books full of hyperbole and nonsense. All his adult life has been affirmative action and adoring admirers eager to prove they aren't bigots.

His associations with very the far left and questionable "money men" are becoming legendary. McCain surely has plans to roll out a narrative that will make these associations crystal clear to the voting public. At least Ayers has made it clear that he still believes the same leftwing "destroy America" ideas he had 40 years ago.

Obama is the last person we need to lead us.

Palin's life OTOH is an open book. She's an intelligent person with conservative opinions who has a clear picture of herself and what she wants to do in the public sphere and has gone out and done a lot of it.

You may disagree with her views, but at least you'll know "what you see is what you get." With Obama, you have no idea what are his core values, if he, in fact, has any other than fulfilling childish fantasies of himself as an epic hero.

August 31, 2008 5:48 AM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

Sorry, I went back and realize I misread the post about Palin and warming.

Her accomplishments seem as thin as Obama's. Are we to suppose that, if elected, she'll sell Air Force 2 on eBay?

I haven't cast a vote for president the last 2 cycles, on the grounds that none of the candidates could be trusted to run as much as a hot dog stand. Events have proven me correct, at least for the winner.

I dunno if I'll vote this year. I'd like a president who at least supports the Bill of Rights, and that's not McCain.

The Palin and Obama uprisings do raise the question: what knowledge or qualifications does it take to be an effective president of the United States?

August 31, 2008 10:09 AM  
Blogger erp said...

Harry, which of the Bill of Rights does McCain disdain?

August 31, 2008 10:48 AM  
Blogger Susan's Husband said...

erp;

The First Amendment (i.e., campaign finance "reform") at a minimum. I am not confident of his commitment to the 9th or 10th either. But even that would put him 7 ahead of Obama.

Remember, "Global warming doesn't kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does, frequently with her bare hands."

Well, Mr. Eagar, if you not going to vote for President because you don't think any of the four can be trusted with the office, I am not sure I can provide a good argument against that.

August 31, 2008 11:24 AM  
Blogger erp said...

Sorry, senior moment. CFR didn't turn out to the bugaboo we thought it would be and as soon we get rid of the rest of the lefties on the Supreme Court, we'll overturn it.

The best thing we can do with people like Harry is gently urge they not waste their time voting.

August 31, 2008 12:56 PM  
Blogger Harry Eagar said...

The nice thing about democracy is that over time it fixes its problems. We no longer have to worry about the convertibility of gold and silver coinage, for example.

That leaves less and less for a chief executive to do. Of course, idle hands are the devil's playground, but genrally the mischief is minor.

Going into 2000, the nation faced only one real problem, Islam, and Bush boloed that one. He also could have, but didn't, do anything to forestall the immminenet collapse of the world financial apparatus.

Neither Gore nor Kerry could have done any worse on Islam, and while they might not have forestalled the financial collapse, who knows?, they might have.

I was amused to read, at Thought Mesh, that this year both Democrats and Republicans are anticipating an October surprise.

I was for Romney, the only candidate who kept his eye on the all, but the Christians but the kibosh on that.

Now you're gonna get Obama. Enjoy!

August 31, 2008 2:03 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home