Re: The Sarah Palin corner of the Sandbox!

**mentholated** · 09-19-2008, 01:54 AM

Originally Posted by TheSkudDestroyer

I've been a 4 chan browser since '04.

The kids that do this kind of crap are terrible.

They're my idols. I have a shrine to them. I guess I'm going to prison.

**Sirusblk** · 09-19-2008, 02:58 AM

Originally Posted by leejo

I think a chicken's opinion of the McCain candidacy would have several advantages over yours. At least it would be objective.

Edit: Which isn't meant to imply that a chicken is smarter than you. A chicken's opinion on stocks is a random opinion.

I think I saw some hens on The View. Not only was I not amused I didn't understand what they were saying. Not that they actually have opinions.

Seriously though AMosely is right on the money. Mccain is hardly the candidate he was before announcing Palin as his running mate. Look at his speaches just 6 months ago. His moderate views have jumped overboard into the extreme conservative side.

Running commentary aside you can watch clips on The Daily Show and see evidence of this.

**AMosely** · 09-19-2008, 01:38 PM

So Palin's been around for a couple of weeks now, doing stump speeches and getting plenty of media coverage on all the normal-yet-annoying things like her family, her church, her general background. Yet she remains extremely guarded from the voracious media. The election is only weeks away, and this is the VP candidate - why can't Palin take direct questions from the media (other than Charlie Gibson)? Why are most of her remarks still scripted? What foreign policy experience does she actually have? What experience does she have with national security and the fight against terrorism?

Leave it to a Maine NBC affiliate to ask these questions of John McCain. I've said before, I have alot of respect for McCain (a little less now than in the past), but he does a horrible job of here of both answering and dodging questions. Granted, the journalist (Rob Caldwell) is pushing some buttons, but McCain should be tougher and more prepared than he is. I can't even understand the 'answer' he gives to the last question - what's he talking about? Energy?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXRki_WqUJY[/media]

Campbell Brown, CNN's left-wing spitfire, also hung on to the tough question of Palin's security experience with McCain/Palin campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. What actual policy decisions, or just simple orders, has she had to make? Don't ask Mr. Bounds about it, because he doesn't know.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYiw_y2qDI[/media]

Journalists ask tough questions and they try to be provocative. That's what they're supposed to do, because their readers/watchers want to know the answers. So why do the Palin questions provoke such uncomfortable, squirrely answers? I can't help from wondering why these people - Bounds and even McCain himself - can't be honest and say 'she wasn't chosen for those reasons - McCain is the one on the ticket with that experience. Palin was chosen for these (list reasons here) reasons..' She's got legislative experience in the form of governance - that counts. She's a newcomer to national politics, and therefore doesn't have experience with national decisions. But that's why she's a VP candidate and not a presidential candidate. That's a perfectly acceptable, and I think correct, answer - so why not say it? If the ticket thinks they are going to somehow float Palin right down the beauty pageant/hockey mom runway and avoid these kinds of inquiries, it's going to hurt them. Instead of trying to hydroplane this myth that Palin is all that, why not be honest and define exactly who she is - and isn't? Why is lying and/or dodging so preferrable to just being honest?

**Shottglass628** · 09-20-2008, 11:30 PM

Alaska's political landscape is littered with the bodies of those who were foolish enough to underestimate Sarah Palin. She can smile when she twists that knife. The Obomasiah sounds like an angry street marxist when he levels a charge.

**ScratchMonkey** · 09-23-2008, 12:47 PM

http://punditkitchen.com/?s=sarah+palin

**CingularDuality** · 09-23-2008, 12:58 PM

LOL

**Skud** · 09-23-2008, 01:35 PM

I don't get it guys. Is she attractive?

**snooggums** · 09-23-2008, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by TheSkudDestroyer

I don't get it guys. Is she attractive?

She's hot until she opens her mouth.

**WhiskeySix** · 09-23-2008, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by snooggums

She's hot until she opens her mouth.

must...

resist...

**Gambit7** · 09-23-2008, 02:42 PM

bwahahah
(this thread will never die)

**AMosely** · 09-23-2008, 03:04 PM

This woman is a candidate for vice president in an election that is a mere 41 days off. Why the kid gloves in debates, and why is she still being shielded from media questions? Aside from the now famous ABC interview, we've only heard scripted talk. That's not just cheap - it's weak.

I'm glad that as of 11:30 this morning, the major news outlets have refused to publish the pictures of her whirlwind meetings with various officials and characters (Kissinger, Bono) at the U.N this week due to her (or her handlers') unwillingness to answer any questions or even hold a press conference. That will probably change, but not without some kind of concession.

Those of you voting republican - how are you so sure that you're not just being sold a bill of goods here? They're letting you read the label but not open the package - is that an issue? Do you not care? Are you already satisfied? What gives here, this is completely bizarre.

**Gambit7** · 09-23-2008, 03:08 PM

She looks like more of a tourist at the UN than an official herself.

**Kerostasis** · 09-23-2008, 03:25 PM

@Mosely: How do you translate that article into "kid gloves in debates"? Is that just due to their description of her as a "neophyte" while explaining that time limits will be short? Five minutes per topic is plenty of time for a candidate to say something stupid.

And how many interviews has Biden granted exactly?

**AMosely** · 09-23-2008, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by Kerostasis

@Mosely: How do you translate that article into "kid gloves in debates"? Is that just due to their description of her as a "neophyte" while explaining that time limits will be short? Five minutes per topic is plenty of time for a candidate to say something stupid.

Have you been following this story or not? The party expressed a need to the Comission on Presidential Debates (I didn't even know there was a commission) to modify the previously agreed-to format of the VP debates.

Pact on Debates Will Let McCain and Obama Spar (Sept 20)
"On Wednesday, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal sought by advisers to Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, to have the moderator ask questions and the candidates answer, with no time for unfettered exchanges. Advisers to Mr. Biden say they were comfortable with either format."

No translation is needed. If they had to renegotiate the terms for Palin, I don't see any other translation other than kid gloves. The democratic party apparently petitioned for podiums instead of a table. This is probably so they can really corner her. These things are like boxing matches, and the republican party wants some go-easy rules on their lightweight. Understandable - but there none the less.

Originally Posted by Kerostasis

And how many interviews has Biden granted exactly?

About 80, so yes, Palin's behavior/control is highly unusual and grows increasingly so with every passing day.

I've said before that the whole 'experience' question is a foolish one. Yes, Obama isn't the most experienced presidential candidate in history (he is factually somewhere in the middle). Palin isn't the most experienced vice-presidential candidate in history. So what. They're candidates, they are there for a reason - be honest about the reasons. Don't hide from the media, carefully crafting photo-ops and public speaking engagements. She's the most private, guarded public candidate I've ever seen. I understood this during the convention week, and maybe even the week after, but we've gotten nothing since the Gibson interview. I don't understand it anymore - it's time to get real, we've got 6 weeks to go here.

What is the harm in being honest - no, she is totally lacking in foreign experience and the U.N. is a good opportunity to meet some of the characters (except for Kissenger and Bono??) that she may be dealing with in office. It's a meet-n-greet, fine. There's no shame in that. She's a VP candidate - time to start acting like one instead of some kind of pre-teen daughter whose social agenda is being strictly regulated by her parents.

**WhiskeySix** · 09-23-2008, 04:09 PM

Biden (and McCain and Obama) is a professional debater from NYC... that's what they do in congress. He's been around the block many times and has given and taken more than his share of shots. So it's not surprising that the McCain campaign is a little worried about how she'd fair in a debate. (note that debate skills != leadership or political skills)

You know why they're not letting the media corner her in a press-conference: nothing to gain, everything to loose.

I don't agree with it (or much else of the way national campaigns run), but I totally understand it. I mean... Her stance on the issues is out there... Do you think that a presser is going to be 'enlightening'?

Of course not... you know she (like every politician) would just redirect questions to the talking points.

On the other hand a reporter can make their career by asking 'the tough question'... If you're the reporter that trips her up, you're name goes out on every media outlet in the world.

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