Even if Sarah Palin’s mother-in-law is not sure she’d vote for the McCain/Palin ticket, it’s pretty harsh to say that publicly.
It will be interesting to see the reaction to Palin’s selection as time goes on- the media has been abuzz since the announcement, and rightly so, but I wonder how much digging and vetting the mainstream media are actually going to do as the weeks wear on. While I certainly don’t like anything about Palin’s politics, their is no denying the historic nature of the 2008 elections- in the primaries and beyond.
Stumble It!
4 responses so far ↓
1 gloria feldt // Sep 1, 2008 at 10:28 am
Stacy, how much do you think the Palin announcement has thrown Obama off his message? His responses so far have seemed to be pretty weak.
2 stacyb // Sep 1, 2008 at 11:39 am
I know- the guy who could have a smooth answer for everything is suddenly not articulating well, which is frustrating because most of the reaction in comment sections on lefty blogs do a better job of responding to the Palin announcement than he has done so far.
He can be gracious about congratulating her, noting the historic nature of her candidacy but then proceed to articulate why she doesn’t represent mainstream America’s view of progress on the environment, reproductive rights, alliances with Big Oil as an energy policy, social policy and that thus far she shows no evidence of a firm grasp on economic policy or foreign policy in stark contrast to he and Biden. Biden also can pound this home because he is good at getting right to the point and calling it like he sees it.
I find it hard to believe that his huge team of supposedly top-notch advisers didn’t even foresee the possibility of someone like Palin, particularly given many activists from the left and right seemed to be aware of the possibility and voiced that on the internet.
Also, if McCain thinks women, and particularly a majority of Hillary supporters, will support Palin simply because she is female, then he underestimates us and I find it totally condescending- Palin is no Hillary Clinton and I’d love for Obama and Biden to come out and say that because the media don’t seem to “get” that. Obama and Biden can focus on McCain and Palin’s stance on the *issues* and not just the non-substantive “People Magazine”-type personality traits of McCain and in particular, Palin.
3 tehehehe // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:35 am
This is a consistent failure of the Dems I have see so far. The Palin selection is viewed as a “gimmick” to try and capture female voters. This is the wrong view. It is “hype” McCain selected who he thought would be the best candidate.
McCain has weak credentials as a “conservative” that he would like to shore up. He also has little local government experience, and is weak on economics. Palin helps McCain on all of these issues as a former City Council Member, former Mayor, and Governor. She knows economics not only as a person who must help negotiate budgets, but she was also a small-business woman (commercial fishing). She helps McCain where he is weakest.
McCain is also plaueged by complaints that he is old and that he is “from Washington inside politics”. Palin counters both of those arguments. She is young, dynamic and not from inside the beltway.
The McCain campaign has been wrestlying with their effort to represent “change” and counter Obama’s message to the same effect. Obama has been building the case that electing McCain is “just four more years of Bush”. By appointing Palin as VP, McCain breaks out of that box and shows he is a bigger “chanage agent” thatn Obama, and has youth on his ticket as well. And she has more experience than Obama has.
And NO ONE on the Dem side can now get away with arguing that the next four years of McCain will be like the last 8 years of Bush-Cheney. It just won’t sell! It throws the Dem strategy into a cocked hat! They basically have to find a new line of argument.
(Harping on Palin’s pregnant daughter won’t carry much weight when people compare it to the Obama and Bill Ayers relationship. Mistakes of a 17 year old girl and a 50 year old terrorist are not judged the same.)
4 stacyb // Sep 2, 2008 at 5:28 pm
And the McCain camp will have to find a new line of argument when it comes to Obama’s lack of experience.
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