McCain picks Palin as running matePopular Alaska governor to be first female Republican VP nominee
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, NBC News has learned.
She would be the first woman ever to serve on a Republican presidential ticket. The pro-life Palin would also be the first Alaskan ever to appear on a national ticket.
Palin, 44, was elected Alaska’s first woman governor in 2006. The state’s voters had grown weary of career politician Gov. Frank Murkowski, whom she defeated in the GOP primary.
“I’ve been blessed with the right timing here,” Palin said before the election. “There’s no doubt that Alaskans right now are dealing in an atmosphere of distrust of government and industry.”
On Aug. 1, she scored a major victory when the Alaska legislature passed a bill that authorizes her administration to award a license to TransCanada Alaska to build a 1,715-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope to a hub in Canada.
Is this a good pick? Yeah, it’ll possibly energize some of the disaffected Hillary Cl;inton supporters, but Governor Palin will have been in office for less than two years on election day. It might be harder to criticize Barack Obama’s lacl of experience with the even less experienced Mrs Palin running for vice president.
Now, she’s running for the number two job, not number one, but the vice president is “only a heartbeat away” from the presidency — and Mr McCain has already used up a lot of heartbeats.
BO said he wanted Change. He said Washington was broken. Too much inside the Beltway dealings. So, he chose Biden. Beltway insider for decades. So much much for the Change Mantra.
Well, Sarah Palin is as far outside the Beltway as you can get, Alaska! At least Mac is saying, it’s not business as usual, BO is still playing the inside the Beltway Politician’s game.
There was a lot of speculation about a choice that would be ‘unusual’ in that it would alienate much of the base. Note the fate of the last Republican who chose a Democrat to be his running mate.
Instead, McCain made a move that reflected the courage identified with his youth rather than confirm the ‘conventional wisdom’ of the self-appointed ‘pundits’.
Despite the slogans of the Obidenites, the Republican ticket now represents some positive change.
Too many Republicans in Congress caught the ‘victory disease’ after the Gingrich Revolution and emulated the Democrat Porksters. They should have gotten a wake-up call in 2006.
I look forward to replacing my McCain bumper stickers with the new ones.
Shocking, but courageous and clever at the same time. Palin should satisfy the Limbaugh-Right, moderates, independents and even make the frustrated Billary loyalist (esp. women) think even more about turning their back on BO.
Ha Ha!! You guys could justify sending oil to Saudi Arabia as a good idea! This decision does none of the above except proved the following:
1. McCain is desperate
2. McCain’s poor judgment
3. McCain’s reliance on inexperience.
Gave over. Game,Set,and Match to Obama-Biden
“(An Obama-Biden ticket) would represent the perfect pairing of a young lightweight with an older lightweight.” — Daleyrocks
You all should possibly consider modifying the site’s masthead in light of your approval of the Palin nod.
This is an excellent, excellent choice, sure to energize the base and drive the nutroots crazy. What a great play for conservative Democrats who are disgusted by Obama (and Biden’s) abortion positions, as well as other social issues.
The usual argument about the V.P. is “first, do no harm.” In Palin’s case, even her youth is not a detriment. The idea that, somehow, having the less experienced part of the ticket at the top is better is just more whistling in the dark from the desperate Left.
The Palin resume is not as shallow as some would imply.
Too often, “experience” is tenure at the public trough and the “service to the public” might better be defined as “servicing of the public” in the agricultural sense of the word.
The Alaska Governor appears to be more of a citizen-legislator (or executive) than a careerist who is climbing the greasy pole. She dared to take on the establishment and beat the ‘big boys’.
For all of the facade of change, Obama is a person who has done well for himself in the sleazy world of Cook County politics, where corruption is often a bipartisan thing. He has breached the gap between the firebrand radicals and the old pols who are in it for the money. His wife appears to have been the beneficiary of pork to her employer and earns more as a lobbyist that most governors are paid. Does anyone not smell any ‘quid pro quo’?
Obama has wallowed in the slime of Cook County politics and seems to smell like a rose. Perhaps the bloom is falling off this rose as the thorns appear more obvious.
Based on his claims, Obama’s legal expertise as a shyster for slimelords was that which could be expected from a typical paralegal. Then again, he may be simply evading the unpleasant.
It’s difficult to wallow through all of that nonsense (in which you cite no example of anything Palin’s accomplished), but that’s the first time I’ve seen Michelle Obama called a lobbyist.
Also, what in the world is a slimelord, and did you just now make up the stereotype that paralegals are unethical?
I came upon your site yesterday, all I can say is Thank you!!! It is good to know others still can see through all the BS.
I am thrilled with McCain’s choice in Palin.
To qoute MyGreyGhost; “Shocking, but courageous and clever at the same time.”
Ditto
Kimberly you picked a great site to visit. Dana, Sharon, York, Art and the rest are fantastic folks who treat intellectual friend or foe with courtesy and kindness. I have learned a lot by hanging around here.
Thanks to some new braces, therapy and an old copy of Dragon voice software I am capable of commenting and posting a little again.
I wanted to thank everybody for your kind remarks and words of encouragement!
BTW – I am holding Mr. Downs personally responsible for Biden. If Art and his minions had worked a little harder maybe we would not be being punished with Joe.
Go Sarah Palin!
PG!!! So glad to see you again. You’ve been in my thoughts & prayers. Glad to see you posting again.
Talk radio is delighted. This should energize the base. A gun toting, NRA life member, pro-life conservative who could also sway dissafected Hillary voters. I was hoping for Romney, but this is fine. As for inexperience, well, she has more executive experience than Osama Bin Obama.
PGW, good to see you back.
It seems a lot of Dems are worried for McCain about his choice of Palin. Since when have the Dems been worried for McCain on anything? Or could it be they are worried about Palin on the ticket.
Sorry I haven’t added anything since this morning: today was a rough day at work, which started when one of the trucks pulled out from under the plant while still being loaded; what a mess!
The attacks by our friends on the left have already begun, and some of them hit too near the target. While there’s a real difference between having a president with experience and a vice president whose résumé is thin than the other way around — the problem the Democrats have — this selection weakens Senator McCain’s attacks on Senator Obama’s lack of experience.
Often, the vice presidential selection is someone who would make a better vice president than vice presidential candidate: Dick Cheney and the elder George Bush come to mind. With Sarah Palin, it seems like she could make a good vice presidential candidate, but I’m unsure of how good a vice president she’d make.
She has done very well at everything she has tried in the past, but this is a big leap ahead. She went from single A baseball to triple A, in short order, and now she’s being promoted to the majors early.
To use another baseball analogy, Barack Obama threw a 100 MPH fastball to John McCain, he swung and hit it to deep, deep right field; it’ll easily be out of the park, but there is some question as to whether it’ll stay fair or break foul.
But one thing is for sure: I’d rather have Sarah Palin as Vice President than Joe Biden!
Well, one thiung about Governor Palin: her selection has stirred up a hornets’ nest of hatred from our friends at Pandagon! Amanda Marcotte’s original article is full of bile:
And that’s the nicest part!
Sharon decided to beard the lioness’ in her den, with this comment.
Amanda took great offense, and responded in her own kind and inimitable way:
A “patsy for the patriarchy?” Sarah Palin took on a long-established male Alaskan politician, incumbent Governor (and former Senator) Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2006, and beat him. Wouldn’t a “patsy for the patriarchy” have said, “Oh, no, I can’t challenge such a powerful and wonderful man?” and stayed in Wasilla? In 1996, she ran for mayor against the incumbent, another man, and won; wouldn’t a “patsy for the patriarchy” have demurred rather than run against a man?
The unfortunate fact is that for the Pandagonistae feminists, a woman is good and successful only if she believes everything that they want her to believe. For so many of our friends on the left — you know, the ones who are so concerned about “diversity” — those who do not toe the political line are failures and objects of hatred.
This pick stunned and thrilled me at the same time. Absolutely brilliant move by McCain and this seals the deal, imo. Clinton supporters will be flocking to the McCain/Palin ticket, if the response I’ve seen today holds. I have a post up showing a representative sampling of Hillary supporters from Hillary Clinton Forum. They love it.
Bill Dupray of Patriot Room called her “Reagan in a skirt.” Awesome.
[Hyperlink added by DRP.]
When McCain picked Sarah Palin,
The liberals started to wailin’
This he can’t do,
’cause she’s so new,
But Barack’s campaign now is flailin.’
LOL. Always with the limericks.
Hill’ry Clinton’s anger had quelled,
But now she’s starting to yell,
“If they had picked me,
Who’d hear of SP?
Now Obama will be a tough sell!”
Joe Biden asked, “Who’s this chick Sarah?
Could this story really be an error?”
He had to hesitate
Didn’t want to debate
A woman who filled him with terror.
Scott: Just see whose website is embedded under the name The Limerick Avenger on Patterico’s site.
She’s already beat Governor Frank,
Now Joe Biden’s starting to tank!
“I should be VP,
But I’m starting to see,
That my future with Obama just sank!”
Some guy who is annoyed wrote, on Patterico’s website:
Well, let’s see: in 1996, rather than sleeping with the incumbent mayor of Wasilla, AK, she ran against him and won. In 2006, rather than sleeping with Governor Frank Murkowski, she ran against him, and won.
Now, one has to wonder: between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, which one is more likely to have obtained her current position by virtue of the man with whom she sleeps?
I think this might be the ace up the sleeve for McCain that allows Osama and Biden to get their butts handed them in November!
Way to go McCain!
Now the only thing that worries me is how this deal with the Alaska State Trooper will go
http://www.ktva.com/ci_10026165
McCain in 2008!
You wanted to know more about her. I wrote this in August of last year and have updates. Have fun. She is a great choice.
http://stoptaxing.wordpress.com/2007/08/30/why-sarah-palin-could-be-the-most-important-person-you-dont-know/#comment-1303