Yes, compared to some of the people on "our" side, James-fucking-Dobson sounds like a reasonable man. That is a very sorry, how-low-can-you-go, state of affairs.
I recently posted the following comment at Shakesville; now I am sharing my wealth of insights here. For what its worth, etc.
No doubt the GOP is quivering in anticipation of the moment when Governor Palin can look Joe Biden in the eye and say "As we all know my daughter Bristol is expecting my first grandchild. I've seen my grandson's (granddaughter's) sonogram and listened to his (her) tiny heartbeat. There is no way you can tell me, as a mother and grandmother, that my grandbaby isn't a human life worthy of protection." And watch Biden (or Obama) scramble to try to define late term / "partial birth' abortion etc. Either or both of them will fold like.... well, folding chairs, or something.
And I'm sure they are looking forward to "Troopergate" vs. Rezko. The investigation into Palin's cop former brother-in-law began before Palin started her gubernatorial campaign and was based on legitimate (and legitmated) complaints. Even if its found that Palin did replace Alaska's top public safety guy because she was unhappy that the ex-brother in law was still on the force, given the ex-brother-in-law's record of drunk driving, drinking beer in his patrol car, threatening to kill his father-in-law if his wife hired a divorce lawyer, tasering his 11 year old stepson, and a few other things found to be true by the internal police investigation, Palin's concerns hardly seem outrageous. Nor does this sound all that troubling compared to vouching for and benefitting from Rezko. If I had to pick a scandal for my candidate to have, I'd take "why is this rogue cop still on the force" over "love me, love my slumlord" in a heartbeat, and I'd welcome the comparison. "Troopergate" makes Rezko a relevant topic of conversation again.
And as for experience - same thing. Who can honestly say that a guy who spent eight years pushing the yes, no or present button in a part-time state legislature plus half a term in the U.S. Senate, a man with no foreign policy experience, is a serious pick to be president of the united states? But here we are. If I were McCain's camp, I would welcome every opportunity to bring this up over and over again, even if it knocked down my VP candidate a bit. It's a net plus.
Choosing Palin is an open opportunity for the Dems to expose themselves as elitist, sneering, superficial, anti-family, anti-Christian, anti-ordinary folks, holier-than-thou moralists. The gamble McCain is taking is that this negative impression of the Democrats will be more potent than the hit he takes from the media for the crime of naming a female - and thus superficial and ridiculous - person to the ticket.
McCain is running with the "I'm more like you ordinary voters; you and me, we think alike; I respect and will represent your values; and just who do these highfalutin' Democrats think they are anyway" narrative against the Democrats "we're right on the issues, and we're smarter and better and younger" narrative. And when you're not smarter or better, or right on the issues, that's a very good approach to take.
To wrap it up - Palin makes lack-of-experience, scandal, and liberal snobbery "newsworthy" topics of conversation, since its the Democrats who are raising / walking into these issues.
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THEN I read this post at
Anglachel's Journal :
At this point in the election, there are only two issues that matter. One is the Republican ticket and how that will affect Republican turn out. The other is the disaffection of the Democratic base....McCain correctly identified his electoral weaknesses (loss of image as outsider, growth of image that he is not a mover and shaker, belief that he is not sufficiently conservative) and has located a running mate who helps him shore up issues without detracting from him. He has reasserted the maverick brand, positioned himself as a change agent, and has neutralized most of his hard-right defection threat. What Democrats need to understand is the VP selection was all about McCain and the problems he was having creating the right image and was not about policy, credentials, or filling an office. Our Republican friends are ecstatic about the selection of Palin because it fixes their problems with McCain. They now have a positive reason to vote for their ticket..."
"What too many on the Left see as Palin's weaknesses will not, repeat, NOT be seen that way by her base. For example, there is an article today in the NYT by Kit Seelye about Bristol Palin's pregnancy. The headline screams "Palin’s Teen Daughter Is Pregnant; New G.O.P. Tumult," but the text of the article shows one Republican after another saying some variation on "Stuff like that happens. I wish the family the best." No tumult at all. Kind of like the Pope approving of Madonna's song "Papa Don't Preach." Also, absolutely do not under any circumstances breathe that Gov. Palin should have to produce medical records related to her reproductive history. Quite aside from that being a HIPAA violation, it is what the Republicans want the power to do, so do not damage your own privacy interests.
Attacking Palin on personal integrity grounds, as was done to Hillary, will boomerang into increased conservative support because you are outsiders attacking one of the tribe and they will come to her defense. The experience issue is a non-starter. McCain has already abandoned that as a significant argument and it is now the Democrats who keep the meme alive. No one who intends to vote for Palin cares about the "experience" argument and it allows the Republicans to shoot back "But what about Obama?"
About the Democratic base, she writes:
"...The DNC and the Obama campaign denigrated and dismissed the preferred candidate of more than half the party, using misogyny and false accusations of racism and giving the CDS-afflicted media carte blanche to act out its worst impulses. When the candidate refused to be intimidated out of the race, the smears were aimed at her supporters. These smears continue to this day. These two lines of attack, one aimed at the voters, the other attributed to them, have inflicted damage that the Obamacan faction will not take responsibility for, let alone move to fix."
I don't know what "CDS-afflicted media" means, but I'm pretty sure its not good. (Constitutional Defiance Syndrome? Consistently Deficient Syndrome? Compulsive Dentistry Syndrome?)
What Anglachel wrote is really good, much better than what I wrote, and there's more to it than what I pasted here so go read it. You'll be edificationalized, I guarantee it.
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