Make Palin a Verb!

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former secretary of state and supporter of Republican John McCain, Laurence Eagleburger, says that McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, isn’t up to the task of taking over the presidency in a crisis but could become “adequate” if not “a genius in the job.”

Neal Conan of National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” posed the following question to Eagleburger yesterday; “Are you entirely comfortable with Sarah Palin as the Vice President of the United States, that should she would be ready to take over in a crisis if she should be called upon to do so?”. After facetiously saying “That is a very good question” and stating “Of course not. I don’t think at the moment she is ready to take over the reigns of the presidency. I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either.” answers, “Give her some time and I think she will be adequate”.

Listen to the answer

I’ll keep this short. I’m terrified that the GOP is going to take this election from the ballot box to the courthouse — putting its outcome in the hands of a judge instead of the hands of the people. Reports are coming in that Republicans in Nevada are actively looking for people who would be willing to file a lawsuit over voter registrations in Washoe County (a former Republican stronghold that has turned Democratic since 2004). Both parties, and numerous unaffiliated organizations, are involved in legal maneuvering in search of an electoral advantage. But it is the GOP efforts that strike me as the scariest (note: I voted for Barack Obama, but I am a political Independent). The voter fraud allegations related to ACORN, for example, have created concern among many voters that this election will be “rigged” — despite the fact that the allegations against ACORN have been shown to be essentially false. Hopefully our courts will continue to dismiss the GOP suits as scurrilous attempts to undermine voter confidence, as they have in Pennsylvania. Nobody wants a repeat of the 2000 fiasco (except reporters — you’ve got to admit that was a hell of a story).

-Ship

Alec Baldwin was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman yesterday and he was asked about the SNL appearance with Palin.

Baldwin was very diplomatic throughout the interview up until the end where he calls her Bible Spice. LOL!

Media reports are trumpeting that Palin has effectively already thrown her hat into the ring for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Let’s take a moment to reflect on what this means for the GOP, and U.S. politics. Frankly, this could be the death of the Republican Party as we know it. A significant number of Republican pundits and flagbearers have already expressed their grave concern with the selection of Palin as a contender for the vice presidency — including former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Essentially we are watching what may become a civil war in the GOP between an increasingly despondent core of conservative thinkers (e.g., Christopher Buckley) and the waxing power of the evangelical right wing exemplified by Palin.

The Republican Party was, at one time, the voice of fiscal responsibility and conservatism on the political stage. They railed against national debt and wanted a minimum of federal government intervention in the daily lives of U.S. citizens. The Bush administration has thrown that template for the GOP out the window. With overwhelming legislative authority and a GOP president in the White House, the Republican-led federal government simultaneously ran up the greatest debt in American history, expanded the size of government, curtailed the protections of U.S. citizens and contributed to one of the greatest financial disasters in recent history. In a sense, the Bush White House has overseen the inversion of the Republican Party’s proclaimed core principles.

In short, while all Republicans still argue that they are the party of fiscal conservatism and small government, the past eight years show that this is clearly not the case. A messy divorce of the true conservatives from the free-spending neo-cons may have been in the offing regardless of this election. But Palin’s selection as the vice-presidential nominee, and her meteoric rise to prominence within the party, appear to be bringing matters to a head.

For example, her announced opinions on matters of science and education would place the U.S. at a distinct disadvantage in relation to other countries on issues ranging from genetic research to biotechnology — areas of critical importance to our economic well-being.

Meanwhile, despite these statements, public missteps related to her wardrobe and per diem pay, and significant ethical questions related to her behavior as governor, her popularity is soaring amongst many GOP faithful.

Many Republicans will soon have to decide whether their loyalty lies to their party, or to their principles of small government, conservative fiscal policy and economic competitiveness. If Palin’s brand of populism strikes a chord with Republicans who are more concerned with social issues (such as gay marriage or stem-cell research), that may give her the voting power she needs to overwhelm party faithful who are primarily focused on minimizing the role of government. These views are fundamentally in conflict. The GOP is undergoing an identity crisis, and something will have to give. It will be interesting to see what role Palin will play in that process.

-Ship

PS: Ed Stoddard of Reuters must have been thinking the same thing I was. His analysis of this issue is fairly interesting.

ABC News reports that the Palin campaign did not extend an invitation to Penn State president Graham B. Spanier for Tuesday’s closed event.

Then (campaign aide Russ) Bermel allegedly stated, “He’s a big Democrat. Why would he want to meet Palin?”

Um, I don’t know Russ, maybe because he runs the university and would like to meet with personalities visiting his campus?

What I don’t understand is why would the campaign hold a closed, invitation only, campaign stop at the largest university in Pennsylvania? The McCain/Palin campaign has stressed many times how they need to win Pennsylvania to win the White House. Do they win by only preaching to the converted?

ION: I am going to try to make it to the Palin rally on Saturday, should be good for a laugh.

The Anchorage Daily News reported this afternoon that a complaint (PDF) has been filed, accusing Sarah Palin of breaking state ethics rules by charging the state for her children’s travel.

Frank Gwartney, a retired electrical power lineman from Anchorage, filed the complaint with the attorney general Friday. The state personnel board — which is currently investigating the governor’s firing of her former public safety officer — will review this accusation too.

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I attended the Obama rally today in Raleigh, NC. It was a bit chilly, but sunny. There were a couple of people there.

click image for photo gallery

The Obama campaign finally unleashes our own Sarah on McCain:

The Talking Points Memo has an interesting graphic of Republicans and conservative publications that have endorsed Barack Obama since Sarah’s nomination. If you mouse over the images in TPM’s graphic it will pop up a quote the individuals and papers said about Sarah Palin.

Click image to go to interactive image on the Talking Points Memo

Rush Limbaugh had some interesting things to say about these same people.

Well, they have gone, and I, for one, say, “Damn well good riddance!”

And he said this about our dear Sarah.

Well, make her the head of the party, for one thing! That might be a good idea. “In the past I’ve not been one to be considered for anything by the hierarchy of the party, certainly not in my state. In some sense, I ran against them in my party,” and she’s doing it again now!

Yes! Please make her head of the party!! Nominate her for President in 2012 too.

We own palined.com, palining.com and palinthis.com. I’d hate to think that our hard earned $28 were wasted on the endeavor.

The Talking Points Memo put up this video of excerpts from this past Sunday’s talk shows. It makes me giggle.

John McCain says that stories of Sarah going rogue are “baloney” that “Sarah and I could not be working more closely together, We’re on the same team. A couple of mavericks aren’t going to agree on everything.” in this Christian Science Monitor article.

But, the best part of the story is this cartoon:

by Jake Turcotte

Maybe I need to Photoshop Palin as Bluto to go with the picture I did of John.

The Republican party and Sarah Palin are determined to keep this thing in the headlines. Now Sarah is telling everyone that the $150k in clothing wasn’t her idea and now she is back to wearing the clothes she bought at her favorite consignment shop. On Meet the Press, John McCain said that some of the clothes have been “given back”.

But, the issue was never about Sarah Palin spending the $150k, but the fact that the RNC spent the money, without her consent, that Palin let them dress her after the fact.

The party was trying to paint Palin as being this “down to earth, good ‘ol girl, who acts just like every other American like you n’ me”, giving her this folksy rhetoric to spew and so forth. But, when they go out and spurge the party’s dollars on her wardrobe, like Edward Lewis did with Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, the RNC makes all of the folksiness seem contrived and manipulative.

If the Republican Party truly thought that she was qualified to be Vice President they would have let her be herself and not try to pretty her up in appearance while attempting to make her sound like an everyman/woman. This is a prime example of palining.

Sarah wore her own clothes last night at an event in Asheville, NC, where she sang along with the godawful Gretchen Wilson song Redneck Woman.

I love the photo of giant Sarah from the AP article linked above.

Asheville, N.C. Oct. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

From AP

Four one-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch Kids dolls crafted in the likeness of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Palin will be auctioned on the eBay.com Web site.

The dolls sport outfits inspired by their counterparts, with the Palin doll wearing the Republican candidate’s signature rimless eyeglasses, red suit and heels. Also, the Palin doll will be a speaking doll that responds to your questions with generalized, vague, misleading or incomprehensible answers.

I added that bit in italics.

The auction will be listed here on October 30th. Check the seller’s page for more info.

I personally think that they should set a “buy it now” price of $150k.

Sarah Palin Doll

Hugo Chavez, proving once again that he is the funniest dictator in the hemisphere.

“I saw the vice presidential candidate, there she was talking about ‘the dictator Hugo Chavez.’ The poor thing, you just feel sorry for her,” (Chavez) said during a televised broadcast.
“She’s a beauty queen that they’ve pulled out to be a figurehead. We need to say as Christ did: Forgive her, she knows not what she’s saying.”

Say what you like about Chavez, his policies or his government, the man still knows how to turn a phrase.

Alaska’s largest newspaper made its presidential endorsement yesterday and it is supporting Obama/Biden.

I just wish that the statement:

“Since his early acknowledgement that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has stumbled and fumbled badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged.”

was shortened to:

Since his early acknowledgment that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has palined badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged.

See how nicely that reads.

I think I would have enjoyed this better if the video was of Bedevere instead of Thomas Muthee, but beggars can’t be choosers.

NY Times Article.

Politico has a report that states that Palin is getting “disenchanted with the veterans of the Bush reelection campaign, including Schmidt and Wallace”.

I guess she is getting tired of being considered a joke on late night TV.

“She was completely mishandled in the beginning. No one took the time to look at what her personal strengths and weaknesses are and developed a plan that made sense based on who she is as a candidate,” an aide said. “Any concerns she or those close to her have about that are totally valid.”

I can only hope that she goes of script more often so that there can more folksyness to report on here.

The Oval Office is a “bummer free zone”.