So you really think Palin's a lousy pick?

I loved the speech.
I lost sleep to watch but I didn't care and neither did my husband.
I am going to listen to it again with my children as a study after McCain gives his speech tonight.

I am sure the nasty little smear-mongers are working on another angle.
I look forward to it.

She is like McCain in the sense that their records can handle the scrutinty. By their actions, the accusers only show their true natures/motivators. In so doing, the McCain/Palin integrity shines even brighter!
Voting.

Bottom line...Sarah is a real person. And I think that's what ticks the left wing off the most. She opened the speech admitting that her family, like every other family...has it's challenges. I personally like her better than McCain. She's down to earth, she's real and she doesn't give a happy crap about whether or not she's part of the status quo in Washington.

She's going in to this with the best interests of the American people at heart.
I don't know about the rest of you mom's out there, but if several someones had slammed my daughter (who is 16) in the national media or claimed I wasn't really the mother of my son, I would have acted a helluva lot worse than Sarah did. The woman has class.

I like her. She and her family are human. They have all the same problems that goes on in most of our famlies.
She did not grow up in a policital famly. She is fresh and without all the wasington dc influences.
She knows what it is like to balance a family and a budget.
Why is it a women is critized for working hard. When a man with a family isn't.
She is intouch with family.

It is time for us women to step up to the rolls of a man worlds. Its time for women to be in power.
Maybe this country will be in better place. Women don't just use their head they use their hearts too.

Thank you Andrew finally some sanity on this site. I swear newsvine turned into the Sarah Palin tabloid site this past week and it was getting a bit ridicules.I think this article here sums it up. I agree Sarah Palin did an excellent job. I feel McCain did the right thing by choosing her, hell even my wife who hates politics watched the speech and is pretty damned excited about her.

So you really think Palin's a lousy pick?

Yup. Let me know when we hear from Sarah Palin, and not from Rick Davis and his speechwriters.

Also, when did Meg Whitman become a failed executive? Last I checked, eBay wasn't hurting and at least she left the company of her own accord to join the campaign (rather than having been forced out like Fiorina).

I was terribly saddened by Mrs. Palin's speech last night. It sounded to me like when I was growing up in the 50's and 60's and there were good guys and bad guys and America was always right. It was simplistic, black and white, and the world we live in isn't like that any more. It doesn't take courage to slam other people. It's very easy to point out what's wrong. Real strength means treating all people with respect and explaining how you are going to improve people lives. She might be a "regular gal" but she made fun of community organizers, who work to empower the poor, to organize unions, etc. She mocked the idea of reading people their rights, because they MIGHT be a terrorist. So "innocent until proven guilty" is only important when it's easy. Some of the prisoners in Guantanamo have been released because of lack of evidence, yet they spent years in prison, and were given no rights...great thing to joke about Sarah. American strength isn't about being a tough guy and imposing our will on others, its about setting an example that the rest of the world wants to follow. It's not about following our founding principles when things are easy, but when they are tough, that's true strength. Mrs. Palin is a good speaker, probably a wonderful mother and wife, but I do not respect her as a leader. We are in a global economy, where we must cooperate effectively with other nations, and the world Sarah Palin described is the agressive, arrogant, isolated America of that other "ah shucks" regular person, George Bush.

I think she was a good pick for the "base." We'll see if she can get any of the independent swing voters. What the base likes, that she is pro-life (even in the case of rape and incest) probably isn't going to play well with the middle. Like it or not the majority of the country, while uncomfortable with abortion (and I challenge you to find anyone who LIKES the idea of abortion) still feel that it is no place for the government to be.

Let me ask you... if Obama's daughter were 17 and pregnant can you imagine what the likes of the right wing radio people would be doing to her? You don't think they would be raking her over the coals (and please know I think these poor kids should not be in the middle of this on either side of the aisle) and blasting the type of parenting she had received?!?

One thing that I don't think has been discussed much was her comment regarding support for families with special needs kids. I think that is an area that should get some attention. The federal government is supposed to pay something like 40% of special education costs but has only paid less than 10%. That is something that kills state and local budgets. I'll be curious to see if either side picks up on this and promises to finally fully fund this. Both parties are guilty of underfunding and I think making this promise would not only get families with special needs kids but could get some middle of the road folks who are involved with education who know what a problem this is. I mean really, who out there doesn't know a family with special needs kids?

She is not bad at all. Actually I like her personality. I don't like her as a politician. I don't understand how she could focus on abortion, gay marriage etc, while the people of America, that she is going to serve, that people are losing jobs, homes, dignity... I don't see anything wrong with her daughter been pregnant at 17. So what? It is her choice. I worry about kids of "the people of America", and about the future they will have. Future means jobs not the government help. Economical independence in the basis of any human freedom.
So I am sorry, and but I just not sure what she meant by her " I go to Washington to serve the people of America"... could be like in the movie "To Serve Man" - a cooking recipe?

Yes, I still think she's a horrible pick. Both due to her policy stances, and due to the sort of message she's sending by being chosen.

She is, for all intents and purposes, the Republican's female Barack Obama. They can spin her worthless experience as Mayor of Wasilla Alaska all they like (frankly, I don't get why people keep laughing about Obama's comparison of her post to his ability to handle a multi-million dollar campaign) but what she amounts to is a "rising star" that they can pit against Obama. Which is all fine and good, except *every single attack they've made in the past three months* has been about how being a "rising star" is not a substitute for real experience.

And, the daughter thing I can handle. I find it humorous that Republicans are trying to pretend they're the party that believes that "things happen" and that she's "a typical family" as it runs against most everything they've stood for since I can recall, but it is essentially a dead-end issue. I think the scandal may turn into nothing, but for those who want to push Rezko into the table -- when Obama isn't even currently under any investigation nor is their any indication that he will *ever* be under investigation -- it's hard to say with a straight face that *actually* being under investigation for abuse of power is "nothing" when one of the biggest criticisms Republicans have faced during the Bush administration is his abuse of power.

I simply cannot ignore the idea that she is repeating Bush's mistake in thinking that God wants us to fight a war. I simply cannot ignore that she (allegedly) tried to find a way to ban books for being offensive.

Her policies on social issues make are so far right that claims of Obama's extremist leftist stance become humorous, at best.

So, yes -- I think she's a short term boost for McCain who will turn into a long-term distraction that will sink his ship. Of note, she's not had to explain a single extremist opinion that she holds, nor look foolish as she *attempts* to explain them away.

I predict that as soon as it happens, the rising star will fall.

Her speech was too negative to appeal to anyone except a highly partisan crowd, desperate for a little life in a dull campaign. So, did she appeal to the hard core Republicans? Sure. Beyond that? I see little indication that she'll offer more than a temporary boost in the polls.

What are the so-called "scandals" that Palin's been "plagued" with? Basically, a whole lot of nothing. If Palin was really so bad, Palin would be surrounded by real scandals. But most of them are buckets of crap.

You are being willfully ignorant. And I am not saying that to personalize things.

The problems with her have gotten so numerous you need a crib sheet to keep track of them.

Put all the scandals aside. If this women had announced a year ago that she was going to be a candidate for President, she would have been laughed off the stage. The reason there is opposition is that she is not remotely qualified. She readily admitted to the news media that she knows almost nothing about the Iraq War, has no idea what the VP job entails, and has no foreign policy foundation. Based on her credentials, thousands of people in local government across the nation are qualified to be President. This is a farce and another embarrassment to our country.

First of all who is "they" that you keep referring to? The only "they" that continue to talk about Palin's personal life are the republicans and the media. The media talks about everyone, why should "they" be any different. Who said being a christian meant you were perfect? Oh I forgot, that only applies to everyone else, when you all (republicans) make a mistake it's just that a mistake. And then in the same breath you talk about other people's lives and the "mistakes" they've made.(C. Crist) But oh, they're not in the club right now. I get it. You all the biggest hypocrites on the Earth and it's SICKENING!
You hold the up pro-life banner as the bar for morality, but are die-hard death penalty fans. Are you SERIOUS! Even God said how can you claim to love me, who you cannot SEE but do not love your brother that you CAN SEE! Read the bible and get saved for real!

Now we're talking about speech writers. Good. Here's one for you! First of all, her teleprompter malfunctioned about 1/2 way through her speech. Did you notice? I didn't. Why is that. She had one speech writer, but alot of what she said were in her own words. The speech writer helped her with the speech.

For Obama and Biden - they oftentimes have a great many helpers for their speeches, but alot of them don't get paid! Sarah at least didn't use someone else's words and make them her own without paying the speech writer!

Also, George Bush has 29% approval rating. But, the Congress has a 15% approval rating - so that must mean that McCain/Palin will get a 30% vote, and Obama/Biden will get a 15% vote. So much for that theory, Gulliver Swift.

Go Sarah Barracuda!!! You are authentic, and you are real.

Now I am going to go back to thinking her daughter got pregnant twice in record time and is only owning up to one of the babies because she has to. Yeah, it's a little out there but there is an old saying that "there's never just one cockroach." If you will lie on the big stage about one thing, you will lie about anything.

Some guys will believe anything. Are you gullible, Gulliver, or are you one of those media hypes from The Conniving Kos trying to stir up trouble?

Hey, Gulliver, you hae a sense of humor!

Gulliver - It will be worse if Obama gets in. I'll have to write about Barack and Michelle Obama's Public Allies community organization group sometime. That's REALLY scary. All of those "anarchists" we've seen just lately are just the first little taste of what's to come if the Big 0 gets elected, and they'll be paid to be "anarchists" and given free college. When Michelle Obama stated that America was a mean country, she really did mean it. And when Obama went over to Germany and apologized to all of those concert people for we Americans, he meant it, too.

Sorry Gulliver, we're going to have to disagree, and I think you're still gullible. Obama looks really good, but what's behind all of those words. Take a look at his history, and take a look at his friends. I hope that someday the truth will come out. Right now the main media hypes are sitting on their hands and not writing a thing - even though they know it.

I think she is a wonderful pick!

Enjoyed your write-up here Andrew. Refreshingly calm, and focused.

Great write-up Andrew!

I would like to apologize to anyone who felt insulted when I referred to George Bush as "the Bible thumping moron in the White House". I don't think there is anything wrong with being a Christian. I am a Christian myself and Christ is my moral compass. I get angry at politicians who use the Bible as a prop and seem to have what to me is a very un-Christian agenda.

To me using the Bible as a prop for political purposes is nothing less than "taking the Lord's name in vain."

What disturbs me the most is how little vetting there is of someone's character after someone "claims" to be 'born again'. It's easy to make such a claim and to be greeted with tearful eyes as yet another prodigal son. George Bush pulled this off and has to my eyes been guilty of great sin in the White House including lying (there were no WMDs), killing (a war without justification) and stealing (handing off tons of money to cronies in Haliburton). Claiming Christ as one's savior is not a get out of jail free card. You have to walk the walk after talking the talk.

To get back on topic, I fear Sarah Palin is a George Bush clone in many ways. They started out life in very different places but wound up in very similar political places. They are both from oil producing states, both deeply entrenched in political machines that resemble organized crime, and both have small town folksie facades which lure in key demographics of voters to the Republican Party.

I forget, does the Bible leave open the possibility that the Antichrist can be a woman?

Not in the slightest! More of a Smartest pick.....Obama picked who? Has the guy even spoke yet or am I just lucky I didn't listen?

about her lengthy list of apparent lies.

Sources? Links?
PROOF?

Lets face it, the girl has got the attention in this one. McCain did good by choosing her. Obama as usual has made another sad pick. Hillary would have been much better because like Her man, Obama is gonna need a mouth piece because he is not a good speaker when he can't answer a tuff question! That's the plain & simple of it. The man has done nothing except make promises.