Target: Sarah Palin
Posted on November 6, 2008 at 1:55 pmIf you believe Fox News, Sarah Palin is straight-up ignorant. She doesn’t know that Africa is a continent not a country and she cannot name the nations which comprise NAFTA. The state’s liberal bloggers are eating up these off-the-record reports as if they were sent to us on stone tablets.
Say what you like about Sarah Palin, she is a popular politician. She likes the camera and the camera likes her. She appeals to conservatives on a visceral level. They see her not just as someone who can represent them but as someone who, in many senses, is them.
Conservative people, Republican voters, feel a cultural affinity to Palin that no smartly written right-wing column or affected folksy demeanor can match.
Put simply, the woman is dangerous to the Republican establishment.
McCain needed to change the game when he chose his Vice Presidential running-mate. He needed fire and fire is what he got. It was a risky move for John McCain to make. But the pick was even riskier for the Republican elite going forward.
McCain gave an authentic charismatic cultural conservative direct access to a national stage. John McCain created a monster that now the establishment must destroy.
John McCain has a legacy to protect and his acolytes have careers they need to preserve. This historic defeat has to be hung around somebody’s neck. It sure as hell isn’t going to be McCain.
They need her to take the fall for this.
Republicans who have designs on the presidency (Romney, Huckabee and others) also have an interest in taking Plain down a few notches. This woman, after all, was designed to be window dressing, something to gin up the base and add some energy to the ticket.
The Republican elite was willing bump Sarah Palin up several spaces up the career ladder in pursuit of an election victory, in pursuit of power.
But they lost. Now Republican movers and shakers want her to simply fade away and go back to where she came from — literally and figuratively.
Don’t get it twisted, Sarah Plain may very well be the raving idiot she can appear to be. All these stories about her stubborn ignorance may be 100% true. However, it’s naive to simply ignore the reasons why this information is being leaked.
It is not in pursuit of truth, it is in pursuit of a political goal. Cultural conservatives, to the elite, are voters, not leaders.
They are foot solders who live the simple, church going lives that the leader props up an ideal while he leads the deracinated, amoral existence so common in Washington D.C.
Whether Palin is truly intelligent or ignorant, ultimately, is of no consequences. Palin was seen by Republicans as commodity, a means to an end, a product line that now must be discontinued.
As a running-mate, Sarah Palin could be controlled. As an independent political force, she is a loose cannon. She has not “paid her dues.” She has not been jaded and compromised in the way many who have spent years in big league politics have been.
They need her to go away. Again, all this information we have heard and will hear may be very, very true. But let’s not forget who is distrusting the information and what exactly is motivating them to do do.
UPDATE: The smearer revealed.
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Just Another Victim
Posted on October 28, 2008 at 11:20 amSteve Benan on the Tennessee Republican Party’s press release of yesterday that put a thwarted attempt to kill black Americans and assassinate a presidential candidate beside an overenthusiastic Democrat hanging Sarah Palin in effigy.
There’s an odd tendency in some far-right circles for conservatives to feel like they’re victims of some kind of persecution. The problem with this bizarre complex, though, is that a) it’s absurd; and b) it leads to ridiculous comparisons like this one from the Tennessee Republican Party. The statement seems to argue, “Sure, white supremacists planned a killing spree, but everyone should feel sorry for us because we’ve been targeted, too.”
The Tennessee GOP really sees a parallel between a crude piece of art, random vandalism, and a plot to kill more than a hundred children and a presidential candidate. In Robin Smith’s eyes, there’s some kind of equivalency between the three. This is pure madness.
This is, of course, the same Tennessee Republican Party that’s been so extreme in its vile attacks against Obama that McCain and GOP lawmakers felt the need to condemn them.
We’ll see if there’s any pushback against Robin Smith’s breathtaking press release.
(TFJ: Joe Powell)
Well, At Least She Knows
Posted on October 27, 2008 at 1:06 pmA former Clinton supporter and feminist journalist on Sarah Palin:
Now by “smart,” I don’t refer to a person who is wily or calculating or nimble in the way of certain talented athletes who we admire but suspect don’t really have serious brains in their skulls. I mean, instead, a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernable pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had. Palin is more than a “quick study”; I’d heard rumors around the campaign of her photographic memory and, frankly, I watched it in action. She sees. She processes. She questions, and only then, she acts. What is often called her “confidence” is actually a rarity in national politics: I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is.
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Sarah’s Sac Of Venom Scares Memphis Alt-Weekly
Posted on October 26, 2008 at 7:51 pmThe Memphis Flyer on Sarah Palin:
Ironically, Palin is perhaps the most macho candidate on a presidential ticket since Teddy Roosevelt saddled up with William McKinley in 1900. But unlike Roosevelt, she is woefully unread and proud of it. There would be no seasoned vice president in the background, advising her. Palin would be the boss in the White House, and she and her bizarre cabinet of dueling neo-con Rasputins could get us into nightmare scenarios we can’t even begin to comprehend.
Bush is incurious, but at heart he’s always been a part of the conservative elite. And when the chips are down (like now), he always does that elite’s bidding. Palin may be as ignorant as a post, but she’s smart like a fox. And she cares as little for what The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan thinks as she does for The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. She would be, in every sense of the word, her “own woman.” And if that doesn’t scare you, nothing will.
SEE ALSO: MediaVerse
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Fred Phones It In For Sarah
Posted on October 22, 2008 at 11:44 amFrom Townhall:
The Million Woman Townhall is a special telephone townhall focused on one million women voters in battleground states.
Former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN)’s iconic voice will launch the Million Woman Townhall by inviting women voters to participate over the telephone this Saturday. Once on the line, voters will be able to pose questions about the McCain-Palin ticket to a panel of women leaders including Jeri Thompson, actress Janine Turner, pollster Kellyanne Conway, policy expert Barbara Comstock, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser and Susan B. Anthony List General Chairman Jane Abraham as moderator.
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Palin Baits The Hook
Posted on October 20, 2008 at 11:25 pmChris Sanders is none too pleased that Sarah Palin has decided to unburden her soul on the subject of gay marriage:
Her position shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given her remarks during the vice presidential debate. But it’s still disappointing. I have to give some credit to John McCain. He’s a federalist who thinks the issue ought to be decided at the state level, and I don’t think he wants this campaign to be about bullying the GLBT community or immigrants or any other outsider group. But someone in the campaign has decided that it would be a good idea to allow Palin to talk about the issue. The next two weeks are going to be rough.
Palin Thinking About The Future
Posted on October 19, 2008 at 2:26 pmMark Mays thinks that Sarah Palin’s SNL appearance was preparation for life out of the McCain cage:
Perhaps you’ve heard; when Palin appeared on comedian Rush Limburger’s talk show previously, he asked her if she had any plans after the campaign. I suppose he could have meant, are you going to take a vacation? But he didn’t. Even the jolly fat man thinks McCain/Palin is doomed.
I think Palin does as well. At this point, I think she’s a rogue operative, looking out for her future. That future will have politics as a side bar. It’s very likely that after her term as governor is up, Fox News and a CBS radio affiliate will be waiting with zero besotted checks in hand. She’s grabbing for all the air time the McCain team will allow in preparation.
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Palin On SNL
Posted on at 12:30 am
Jonathan Martin has the write-up and Huffington Post has the video.
Making The Florida Condo Set Run Towards Obama
Posted on October 18, 2008 at 5:52 pmGovernor Sarah Palin makes a distinction between real Americans and the more cosmopolitan areas of the country:
“We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”
She continued: “This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”
SEE ALSO: A statistical analysis
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Palin Gets Got On Troopergate
Posted on October 10, 2008 at 7:36 pmVia the AP:
A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state’s public safety commissioner.
The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn’t the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.
The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated.
Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor’s sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.
(TFJ: Bay Area Brittney)
UPDATE: A statement from McCain-Palin:
“Today’s report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan. The report also illustrates what we’ve known all along: this was a partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior. Lacking evidence to support the original Monegan allegation, the Legislative Council seriously overreached, making a tortured argument to find fault without basis in law or fact. The Governor is looking forward to cooperating with the Personnel Board and continuing her conversation with the American people regarding the important issues facing the country.”
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SNL On The Veep Debate
Posted on October 5, 2008 at 1:52 ampermalink | Comment on this post
Harold Ford, Jr. On The Palin Performance
Posted on October 3, 2008 at 8:57 amVia Think Progress:
“[S]he had a set of answers to a set of questions, even if the question was not asked she was going to provide the answer.”
Palin Debates: The Reaction
Posted on at 6:56 amI’m sure the left is tremendously disappointed that Gov. Sarah Palin didn’t crash and burn. I believe many were certain she’d do herself and McCain in last night. It didn’t happen. Didn’t even come close to happening. From my seat on the couch she won because she held her own while being toe to toe with a 36 year veteran of political bloviating of the highest order.
Sarah Palin held here own with the big boys, exceeding the expectations of many Beltway Pundits. She talked directly to the camera, by-passing the media filter that has attempted to minimize her abilities and polish. She performed the role of an average American very nicely, charming the audience with her optimistic hockey mom warmth.
Dear pundits, please quit bringing up the “likability” factor when it comes to the debate. Dick Cheney is about as cuddly as a dead giant squid so just stop it. Al Gore was so cold during his vice-presidency he could have made snow cones just by willing them to be with his mind. We won’t even get into Dan Quayle.
From Nigh Seen Creeder:
Sarah Palin just field-dressed Joe Biden like a moose. She was awesome. She connected with the people. She had fun. She was relaxed. She was awesome.
Palin’s answers are great for the base. But everytime Palin is seen arguing against income distribution and what not, Biden and Obama have effectively framed it as arguing against the middle class. And McCain and Palin seem to be suckers for it. Her principles are right without a doubt, but independents are un-idealogical by definition.
Gov. Palin’s performance renewed my confidence in her ability to be a capable running mate and potential vice-president of the United States. It was certainly more memorable and impressionable than Joe Biden’s. She talked directly to the American people and yes, she even looked at her opponent when she addressed him. I think the “maverick” line she attributes to Sen. John McCain wears thin over time and Biden eventually used it to his advantage. That would be my only criticism of her overall performance during the debate.
On grounds of merit, Biden won. But context is everything. In making up the most ground, Palin scored big. Some pundits are already saying that her foreign policy answers were scripted. That’s no shock. But she knew which ones to marshal, and that’s a departure from the interviews.
She was scary pathetic. Before I criticize her further, can anyone tell me why she pronounces “nuclear” like President Bush pronounces it? It is republican code for “I’m an idiot and so are you?”
Palin and Biden debate to a snore.
Palin as a vice presidential candidate would have me up all night laughing if it weren’t for the serious possibility that her ticket could get elected.
Sarah Palin found a way to minimize the Senator’s deeply personal reflection by pasting on that former sports anchor smile and resorting to her redundant maverick script after his emotional comments. The happy hockey mom shtick looks smug and diminutive in comparison to Biden’s passionate comments. Her response was about as genuine as false eye lashes on a pit bull.
Gov. Palin flabbergasted Joe when she corrected his mistakes on Afghanistan policy, when he claimed that the commander of the forces on the ground there said the Iraqi surge strategy wouldn’t work. It turns out she knew more about what the general said than Joe did, and he was reduced to repeating irrelevant numbers.
I know politicians are good at answering questions with a prepared answer that has nothing to do with the question, but why did she think she shouldn’t have to answer some questions put to her in the debate? If she’s as ready to serve us nationally as her supporters say she is then questions from reporters and political adversaries shouldn’t bother her in the least.
She emphasized a Ronald Reagan conservative connection with our middle class. Some Republicans seem to have forgotten that it is our government that has failed us in Iraq, Katrina, the financial and our other crises.
Will tonight’s debate change the presidential race? I don’t know. Palin may no longer be as large of an issue, which is good. Obama and McCain need to fight it out on who is more experienced and who can bring change to a declining economy and an unacceptable war in Iraq.
You will hear pundits talk about who won on “points.” This is because all those journalists went to some Ivy League school where they had to take a debate class which was scored on whether you answered every point your opponent made. But this is a public political debate. It’s the political equivalent of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” The points don’t matter.
There is no question in my mind that Sarah Palin won this debate. She looked a little nervous at the very beginning, but it only took her a few minutes to get comfortable.
Bob:
There’s nothing to really say about the debate that everybody else hasn’t said. I’m just grateful that Biden didn’t beat up on Sarah Palin. In front of her family and children, that would have been awful.
Palin was VERY well coached. Also, props to her for memorizing her talking points. Beyond that, nothing substantive, though she will continue to thrill what remains of the Republican base.
Governor Palin was damn good. There may be some debate among those who want to debate such things about who scored a higher point tally, but only those hopelessly rooting against Gov. Palin could say that she didn’t hold her own against a Senator with over thirty years experience after this night’s performance.
Having watched Palin’s acceptance speech, and now her performance in this debate, I’m tempted to say she’s channeling Ronald Reagan. In truth, I hope that in the next presidential debate, John McCain is channeling Sarah Palin.
Regardless, this debate probably moved the needle a point or two in favor of McCain, but not enough to change the basic dynamics of the election which show Obama ahead by 5 or 6 on aggregate.
As for why there weren’t any embarrassing moments for Palin tonight, I think TPM has it right: No follow-up questions. Not only were there not any follow ups (which is where Palin generally tripped up with Gibson and Couric); Ifill didn’t even really push Palin to stay on topic at all. I think Publius may be on to something when he suggests that the right-wing got into Ifill’s head with the conflict of interest stuff.
Sarah is no Dan Quayle. And she is no Tina Fey cartoon. And she is no drooling moron.
Democrats set the debate up better than we ever could have. If you accuse someone of being a drooling boob, you darn well better make sure they are one. Palin showed up and made all those who ridiculed her look like idiots.
If there is any doubt remaining that she is the female George W. Bush, that should have erased it. Also, she said “There you go again” towards the end. Who told her that was a good idea?
Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.
Who won? Oh, that depends so much on the rubric you use to determine a debate winner. The Governor is still a Rorschach test. Few that hated her before have changed their minds. It’s all in the undecideds; strategically, that’s really the only demographic either campaign should care about now. Just like with the first post-debate polls, the results are all over the place.
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The Green Hills McCain/Palin HQ Grand Opening
Posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Photos available at the usual place:
State Senator Jack Johnson and Representative Beth Harwell helped kickoff the event which featured entertainment from The Redd Hot Mamas. The Redd Hots made Vice President nominee Sarah Palin an honorary member of their group.
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Plausible Deniability
Posted on September 24, 2008 at 1:41 pmDavid Oatney wonders why David Kernell, accused Sarah Palin email hacker and son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, was not a member of the College Democrats.
The UT Democrats’ rush to distance themselves from this situation begs the question: Why wasn’t David Kernell, the son of a Democratic State Representative, involved in the College Democrats at the University of Tennessee? If this young man is as interested in politics as this kind of activity would seem to indicate, he should have actively sought out the College Democrats. Because his father is a State Representative, Kernell very likely would have been placed on a leadership track in the organization very quickly. He had a wonderful opportunity to really become a “Big Man On Campus.” Yet he apparently chose instead to hack into Sarah Palin’s e-mail.
The No Talk Express
Posted on September 23, 2008 at 1:04 pmThe press is shut out of a meeting between Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and leaders of Afghanistan and Columbia:
This means that the Palin camp has the benefit of pictures of her shaking hands with world leaders and have that video broadcast all over the world, but there would be no risk of her having to answer even one question from a reporter at the beginning of the meetings. It is many television network’s policy, including Fox News Channel to not provide a camera if an editorial presence is not allowed in. Once the campaign realized that these pictures would not be seen they relented, but the print pool is still not allowed to enter the Karzai event, which is about to begin.
Delivery Could Use Some Work
Posted on at 11:18 amBut on the reasons why Democrats should avoid attacking Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton is right on:
“People look at her, and they say, ‘All those kids. Something that happens in everybody’s family. I’m glad she loves her daughter and she’s not ashamed of her. Glad that girl’s going around with her boyfriend. Glad they’re going to get married.”‘
Clinton said voters would think, “I like that little Down syndrome kid. One of them lives down the street. They’re wonderful children. They’re wonderful people….”
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SERVED: State Representative’s Son Gets A Visit From The Feds
Posted on September 21, 2008 at 4:22 pmBecky Simmons reporting:
A person who identified himself as a witness tells 10 News that agents with the FBI served a federal search warrant at the Fort Sanders residence of David Kernell early Sunday morning. Kernell lives in the Commons apartment complex at 1115 Highland Ave.
David Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative from Memphis.
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