Saturday, August 30, 2008

A GREAT choice!


I, along with most everyone else, was shocked at McCain's choice of Alaska's Governor Sarah Pelin for Veep. But as I see it so far, it was an excellent choice. Why do I say that? She fits the bill. She's conservative through and through. She has lived a life very similar to most of our lives. She and her husband have been union members and small business owners. She's been in the PTA, a member of City Council, a mayor, and Governor of the largest state in the union (huge infrastructure issues) where she has an 80% approval rating. There is no candidate in the Presidential race with more knowledge about energy issues than Governor Pelin. There is no candidate with more executive experience than Governor Pelin. She knows how to use a veto pen. She's done it over 300 times vetoing earmarks in the Alaskan legislature. She does not suffer the fool when it comes to ethics issues and she's not afraid to speak her mind. I look forward to her going head to head with Uncle Joe.

The Dems ask, "Do you want her one heartbeat from the Presidency?' My answer to that is it would be better than handing the Presidency to BO who I believe is much less qualified than Governor Pelin. The Dems will and have already questioned her intelligence (not a Harvard affirmative action grad, apparently). I would rather have a straight shooting, common sense high school dropout in that position before some of these northeast academic elite lawyer types. They have even questioned her judgement accepting the Veep position with a Downes syndrome child at home, even to the point of questioning whether she should have had the child in the first place (not surprising, with the pro-abortion advocates out there). Her oldest son will be soon serving in Iraq with the US Army.

Another reason I support this choice is the Dems are going crazy about it. They hate this choice! And my good friend, Rush, loves it. So you know it's got to be a good choice. One thing for sure, no matter who gets elected, it's going to be an historic election. You go, girl!

6 comments:

Mike West said...

ditto

vwatt said...

Reluctantly, I have been dragged back onto the blog to make an occasional post by my good friend Rick!! So here goes, boys and girls! Today's Washington Post has a great 5 page article about one of our great Americans-John McCain. It traces his early years up to his POW years and gives a lot of great incite as to his relationship with his father and grandfather-both four star admirals. His years(over 50) of service to this country are almost unequaled by any candidate, past or present. I supported him with $$ in his 2000 run and have no doubt this country would be in better shape today , foreign and domestic wise, had he won two terms. What attracted most independents, liberal republicans and Reagan democrats to his candidacy was the belief that he would always place the nations's interests above his own and that of any political party. That said(standby, fire in the hole,incoming shells) I am totally shocked he would abandon many of his most ardent supporters and principles and place a character from Northern Exposure one step away from the Presidency: A former mayor of Wasilla, a town of 9000, who made such momentous executive decisions such as delaying the start of Rutabaga Days due to heavy rains?? Someone he met once for 30 minutes last February?? Who has been Governor of a state(population equal to Austin,Tx)for less than 20 months, that always runs a surplus due to energy royalties and therefore requires no hard budget decisions? A state whose legislature meets for only 90 days a year? My mother is a rock solid Republican(former RNC chairwoman for Weston county, Wy.) and, according to my sister tonight, is now leaning towards Obama. My sister-in-law from South Dakota(voted Bush) is now supporting Obama. My wife and daughter are insulted that McCain thinks they will support him just because he has appointed a woman-one who they say has 1/10 the qualifications, education, and experience of someone else mentioned in the running like Carly Fiorina(former HP CEO)or Meg Whitman(Ebay CEO)or even, yes, Hillary. I suppose this year that instead of sending $$ to McCain, I will send a monthly bottle of vitamins and pray for his health.
He has really hurt his credibility and unfortunately I think he has just given the Obama campaign about 20 new lines of attack-they should be overjoyed and have nothing to fear from the Miss Wasilla 1983 runnerup. Perhaps I should revaluate my position one more time before posting this: If her very low qualifications are "exactly what we need" , then I think perhaps McCain should have taken things even further. We have seen how good thngs turn out when we elect a "regular guy" to the white House so how about a single mom with TEN kids from Fairbanks, with just a two year community college degree in wallpapering-not a high falutin' four year degree in journalism! And one who does not engage in the "elite" sport of "moose hunting" but likes to fish with hand grenades to feed the family. Hey, for extras-let's throw in a few years of executive experience as summer manager of the Fun Arcade at the county fair. If less is more, let's just get dumb and dumber!! According to the local Alaska articles below, I am not a "maverick" opinion:

Quote of the day: “I think we’re going to have to examine our tag line, ‘dangerously inexperienced,’” a top McCain official said wryly.


Since yesterday's shocking arrival of Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate there has been the usual cable news and print blathering about the pick from those who know little about her. But what about the journalists close to home -- in Alaska -- who know her best and have followed her career for years?
For the past 24 hours, the pages and web sites of the two leading papers up there have raised all sorts of issues surrounding Palin, from her ethics problems to general lack of readiness for this big step up. Right now the top story on the Anchorage Daily News web site looks at new info in what it calls "troopergate" and opens:
"Alaska's former commissioner of public safety says Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's pick to be vice president, personally talked him on two occasions about a state trooper who was locked in a bitter custody battle with the governor's sister.
"In a phone conversation Friday night, Walt Monegan, who was Alaska's top cop until Palin fired him July 11, told the Daily News that the governor also had e-mailed him two or three times about her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, though the e-mails didn't mention Wooten by name. Monegan claims his refusal to fire Wooten was a major reason that Palin dismissed him. Wooten had been suspended for five days previously, based largely on complaints that Palin's family had initiated before Palin was governor."
A reporter for the Anchorage daily, Gregg Erickson, even did an online chat with the Washington Post, in which he revealed that Palin's approval rating in the state was not the much-touted 80%, but 65% and sinking -- and that among journalists who followed her it might be in the "teens." He added: "I have a hard time seeing how her qualifications stack up against the duties and responsibilities of being president.... I expect her to stick with simple truths. When asked about continued American troop presence in Iraq, she said she knows only one thing about that (I paraphrase): no one has attacked the American homeland since George Bush took the war to Iraq."

His paper found a number of leading Republican officeholders in the state who mocked Palin's qualifications. "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Lyda Green, the president of the State Senate, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

Another top Republican, John Harris, the speaker of the House, when asked about her qualifications for Veep, replied with this: "She's old enough. She's a U.S. citizen."

From the Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks:
Sen. John McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate was a stunning decision that should make Alaskans proud, even while we wonder about the actual merits of the choice.... Alaskans and Americans must ask, though, whether she should become vice president and, more importantly, be placed first in line to become president.
In fact, as the governor herself acknowledged in her acceptance speech, she never set out to be involved in public affairs. She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land. Republicans rightfully have criticized the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for his lack of experience, but Palin is a neophyte in comparison; how will Republicans reconcile the criticism of Obama with the obligatory cheering for Palin?
Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation's when he created the possibility that she might fill it.

And from the Anchorage Daily News:
It's stunning that someone with so little national and international experience might be heartbeat away from the presidency.
Gov. Palin is a classic Alaska story. She is an example of the opportunity our state offers to those with talent, initiative and determination...
McCain picked Palin despite a recent blemish on her ethically pure resume. While she was governor, members of her family and staff tried to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers. Her public safety commissioner would not do so; she forced him out, supposedly for other reasons. While she runs for vice-president, the Legislature has an investigator on the case.
For all those advantages, Palin joins the ticket with one huge weakness: She's a total beginner on national and international issues.
Gov. Palin will have to spend the next two months convincing Americans that she's ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency....

vwatt said...

I forgot to add these comments to my other blog entry. It looks like even Charles K. also agrees that McCain has now decided he can only win by using the old 3G (God,Guns,Gays) attack and Palin is the perfect poster child for it. I know many of you out there really like and ALWAYS agree with his views but I think there is trouble in LaLa land when even the "Kraut" makes a post like this:


Posted at 4:15 PM ET, 08/29/2008
The Palin Puzzle

McCain had been steadily gaining on Obama (before the inevitable convention bounce) and had the race in a dead heat in a year in which the generic Democrat is running ten points ahead of the generic Republican. He had succeeded in making this a referendum on Obama. The devastating line of attack was, "Is he ready to lead?"

The Palin selection completely undercuts the argument about Obama's inexperience and readiness to lead -- on the theory that because Palin is a maverick and a corruption fighter, she bolsters McCain's claim to be the reformer in this campaign. In her rollout today, Palin spoke a lot about change. McCain is now trying to steal "change" from Obama, a contest McCain will lose in an overwhelmingly Democratic year with an overwhelmingly unpopular incumbent Republican administration. At the same time, he's weakening his strong suit -- readiness vs. unreadiness.

The McCain campaign is reveling in the fact that Palin is a game changer. But why a game changer when you’ve been gaining? To gratuitously undercut the remarkably successful "Is he ready to lead" line of attack seems near suicidal.

Posted by Charles Krauthammer | Permalink | Comments (1115)
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Brodad Unkabuddy said...

An interesting read - http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/the_case_for_palin_updated_wit.html

twest said...

After Mr. Watts' discourse I would still trust her values and judgement over Obama's. I have yet to hear anything from Obama to convince me he's not an empty suit, and the people propping him up I really don't want running this country.

Mike West said...

I have a hard time understanding how anyone who supported Bush (A conservative) or McCain (A moderate posing as a conservative) could vote for Obama (The most liberal senator in the senate) just because McCain put a woman on the ticket who happens to be more qualified than the Presidential candidate on the Democratic side. I agree that adding Palin may appear as a somewhat shallow attempt to gain female voters but if I were McCain, I would put Bozo on the ticket if I thought it would help me win. I personally wanted to him choose Romney but the more I learn about Palin the more I like her. The more I learn about Obama, the more I dislike him. It's no surprise the liberal press is confounded by Palin. She certainly doesn't fit into their molds. I get where Krauthammer is coming from. This is the one time I hope he's wrong; which he almost never is. I didn't see his post on this. I often wait to take a position until I hear from him first.