Category Archives: Politics: US: 2008 Elections

Add your own!

1. A fresh new face for the same old failures
2. She's no Hillary Clinton
3. Most people know the staff at the local Starbucks better than McCain knows Palin.
4. Two words: Thomas Eagleton
5. John McCain has proven that he's not a maverick, he's erratic
6. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?
7. McGimmick
8. “Either Sarah Palin has talents and skills we were not aware of”, or “John McCain fell down and hit his head” — Alaska State Representative Mike Doogan (D)
9. McCain's known her for fewer months than he has houses
10. If elected vice president, Palin would appear to have the least amount of experience in federal office or as a governor since John W. Kern, Democrat William Jennings Bryan’s 1908 running mate.

With everything going on (not least watching Gustav bear down on New Orleans), I forget to link to this extraordinarily thoughtful set of written replies to questions by Douglas W. Kmiec which appeared in the New York Times yesterday: Beliefs – For Ex-G.O.P. Official, Obama Is Candidate of Catholic Values.

Prof. Kmiec holds a chair at Pepperdine. I wonder what his Dean, a guy by the name of Kenneth Starr, makes of his reasoning.

MoveOn.org Political Action: Democracy in Action has lots to say, including these bullet points:

• She was elected Alaska‘s governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.¹
• Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.²
• She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. ³
• Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.⁴
• She’s doesn’t think humans are the cause of climate change.⁵
• She’s solidly in line with John McCain’s “Big Oil first” energy policy. She’s pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won’t be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.⁶

Sources:

1. “Sarah Palin,” Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. “McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate,” NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008

http://www.naral.org/elections/election-pr/pr08292008_palin.html

3. “Sarah Palin, Buchananite,” The Nation, August 29, 2008

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/350730/sarah_palin_buchananite

4. “‘Creation science’ enters the race,” Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006

http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html

5. “Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science,” Huffington Post, August 29, 2008

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/palin-buys-climate-denial_b_122428.html

6. “McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy,” Sierra Club, August 29, 2008

http://yubanet.com/opinions/Sierra-Club-McCain-VP-Pick-Completes-Shift-to-Bush-Energy-Policy.php

“Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past,” League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008

http://www.lcv.org/newsroom/press-releases/choice-of-palin-promises-failed-energy-policies-of-the-past.html

“Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor,” The Times of London, May 23, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3987891.ece

Boztopia, links to a funny Palin quote, “What exactly is it the VP does every day?”.

In context, it's not as bad as it could be, but I could see it in commercials out of context, over and over and over…

In case you missed history: Barack Obama at the 2008 DNC,

Hope is hard work.