NoCoPolitics.com

Sarah Palin

A few interesting reactions...

Powerline:

So Palin was an upstart in every possible way when she challenged Frank Murkowski, the former Senator and entrenched Republican Governor who, among other things, appointed his daughter Lisa to succeed him in the Senate. Palin was opposed by the entire Republican establishment in Alaska, including Senator Ted Stevens--after whom the Anchorage airport is named--and Congressman Don Young. Notwithstanding the hostility of her party's elder statesmen, Palin defeated Murkowski in the primary. She then faced the popular former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles in the general election. In what would have been considered an extraordinary upset just a few months earlier, Palin trounced Knowles, despite reported efforts by her own party's leaders to defeat her. As Governor, she has enjoyed approval ratings in the 80s.

And Mark Steyn is back!

Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, "all-American", but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin' Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracy.

David Harsanyi:

Palin is the most libertarian Republican that’s been on a major ticket for a long time. This ideological storyline should appeal to many Western voters.

Pro-choice Republican Amy Holmes reacts:

Today, I saw a concerted effort by the media to marginalize her as a far right winger, out of touch with moderate and pro-choice women. This is unfair to her, and to all of us who respect her admirable decision to carry to term a child diagnosed in utero with Down's Syndrome.  It's been noted here that 90 percent of parents who receive the news that their child will be born with this disability choose to terminate.  Governor Palin put her principles into practice.  And as a pro-choicer, I can say with sincerity that I admire her act of character and love.

For me, the biggest selling point is that she went after her own party when she saw that they were corrupt.  She took on two of the worst big-spending Republicans in Congress, Ted Stevens and Don Young, even though it was against all odds and a risk to her promising political career.  A lot of us who watched her primary against Frank Murkowski and her fight against the "Bridge to Nowhere" were saying: "she'd make a great national politician someday..."  We just didn't think it would be this soon.

What else should you know about Palin, other than the fact that she's a fearless reformer?

She hunts, fishes, ice-fishes, ran a commercial fishing company, owns a float plane, is a lifetime member of the NRA, runs, was the point guard on a state-champion basketball team and the runner-up for Miss Alaska, and when she was in Texas for a speech in April and her water broke with kid number five, she delivered her speech and then got on the plane so the kid could be born in Alaska.

I hope they send her husband out on the campaign trail too.  He's a commercial fisherman, a North Slope oil worker, and a four-time winner of the 2,000-mile "Iron Dog" snowmobile race.  (All while being a Mr. Mom.)

It's like John McCain picked a family from the Deadliest Catch.

Their oldest son is headed to Iraq in two weeks.  (John McCain already has two sons over there.)

Minnesota, Either Way?

So Pawlenty wasn't the pick... but did McCain just pick up Minnesota anyway?  He picked a "hockey mom" who fishes, hunts, owns a ski plane and is a lifetime member of the NRA. 

And her husband is a steelworker/fisherman who's a four-time winner of a 2,000-mile snowmobile race.

Come to think of it, Michigan... New Hampshire... Maine... Wisconsin...

Palin?

Sarah Palin would be a brilliant pick... if it's Palin.  She's a reformer and a conservative, a strong Republican voice and a double-down on the women's vote.

... if it's Palin.

T-Paw

The Intrade.com market had a huge shift at about 5:30 today in the direction of Pawlenty. 

Good choice.  (I'd have preferred Romney, but Pawlenty is a great pick.  The GOP rank-and-file is gonna love him... and so will a lot of swing voters.)

The Speech (In 250 Words or Fewer)

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

Impressive venue. 

Video: When you've got to tout your state legislative accomplishments, you're probably inexperienced.  I think I'm going to start listing "community organizer" on my CV.  Next Thursday, the McCain bio is going to be a very stark contrast.  (Not just the POW stuff, either.  Barack Obama came into the Senate too late to vote on Iraq.  McCain cast a vote on sending troops to Lebanon.)   

Class warfare.  Economic doom-and-gloom.  (Bad timing... it came out that the economy grew by 3.3 percent this past quarter.) 

And here come promises.  The government is going to send you to college, provide your health care, pay for your retirement, make us energy independent, mow your lawn, send a man to Mars, invent the windmill car, buy you a windmill car, wash your windmill car, and lower your taxes.  (I made a few of those up.)

Social issues: He's straddling every issue.  Guns?  He claims to be for the Second Amendment... or is he?  He won't come out for gay marriage, but he talks about hospital visitation.  He won't declare for amnesty, but he plays at the heartstrings of the illegal immigrant parent.  He's saying absolutely nothing.  But it sure sounds good.

He's a good speaker.  I'll give him that.  But this is a lot of smoke and mirrors, cliches and empty promises.  Obama needed substance, not sizzle tonight.  It's almost as if his charisma is self-defeating at this point. 

I'd like to hear just one original policy idea.  Something...

Al Gore Came On, So I Went Out to Mow My Lawn

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

And just to be eco-friendly, I mowed after 5 PM.

And to be sure, I mowed with my zero-emission mower. 

(You can never be too cautious when the future of humanity is at stake.)

Thousands?

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

9News: "Thousands of anti-war protesters..."

DNCNow.net: "Hundreds of protesters..."

So which was it?  Well, check out the 9News slideshow. Does that look like 2,000 people?  No way.  (Also, note the lack of a wide-angle shot where you could conceivably count the number of protesters.)

My own eye-in-the-sky source says that the protest "... was lucky if it made it over one thousand... ever - and every block they would lose a few..."

The hyperbole continues from the media.

The Challenge: Write Something Positive About Everyone!

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

And we're off... Keep refreshing this post for updates...

UPDATE #1 BELOW

UPDATE #2 BELOW

UPDATE #3 BELOW

UPDATE #4 BELOW

UPDATE #5 BELOW (FINAL UPDATE)

(time for a drink and a toast to Joe Biden and his endless, endearing schmaltz)

 

A State Senator from Texas named Leticia Van De Putte leads off.  Uh oh.  I might be stumped right out of the gate.  Can I limit this just to national politicians?

Ruling: Yes.  National politicians only.

Next up: Howard Dean. This one's easy.  Howard Dean's improbable surge in early 2004 caused the voters of Iowa to get cold feet and vote for what they thought was the safest choice: John Kerry.  John Kerry's eventual nomination guaranteed four more years of George Bush.  If Howard Dean doesn't scare Iowa, who knows who the Dems would have nominated in '04. 

... and Meat Loaf's brother sings the National Anthem...

Nancy Pelosi.  Well, there are a lot of people who've been confused about Catholic teachings over the years.  Granted, most don't go on Meet the Press to claim a higher authority than 2,000 years of Catholic teaching and subsequently get rebuked by Cardinals across the country.  So let's say that Pelosi is having a bad week and that we should feel sorry for her.

Nominations are open, and here's our own Senator Ken Salazar.  This one is easy.  Ken Salazar endorsed Kathay Rennels (R) for Larimer County Commission in 2006.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.  Florida.  Disney World.  Beaches.  Spring Training.  (That's all I've got.)

Rep. Artur Davis, Alabama.  His Wikipedia page says that he won the "Best Oralist Award" at Harvard Law School.  That's pretty cool.

Here comes the roll call.  I wonder if they're going to go by the Chinese alphabet like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. 

UPDATE #1: 5:15 PM

Here come the Senate candidates.

Charles Schumer is excellent at publicity.  There's a reason for the joke about not wanting to be between him and a television camera.

Tom Udall is more eloquent than that other Udall running for Senate.

Jeanne Shaheen. I'm something of a fan of Jeanne Shaheen, even though I'd walk through fire to make sure John Sununu beats her in November.  In my first campaign, my job was to go to all of Jeanne Shaheen's press conferences, and she always noted my presence with a friendly "...and I see Andrew Boucher here from the Lamontagne campaign..."  That's fun when you're 22.  (Besides, she's the mother-in-law of a good friend of mine.)

Jeff Merkley.  So, uh... I have some cousins who live in Oregon.  (I've never heard of this guy.)

Tom Allen. If you want to taste the best lobster roll in America, go to York Beach, Maine.  About halfway between Short Sands beach and York's Wild Kingdom is the York Beach Fish Market (I think that's the name of it.) So Tom Allen is from a state with good lobster rolls.

Richard Daley.  I'll be rooting for Chicago to get the 2016 Olympics.

Robert Wexler.  He has the courage to represent a district he doesn't even live in.

UPDATE #2: 6:15 PM

Rosa DeLauro. She's Italian, which is cool.  (I'm half Italian).  And she went to the London School of Economics, which is where Mick Jagger went.  (Thank you, Wikipedia, once again.)

Nita Lowey.  She seems to be a vocal advocate for Darfur.  That's good.

... There are a lot of women Reps on stage right now.  If they all speak, we're going to be relying heavily on Wikipedia...

Hilda Solis. This is tough - she beat a relatively conservative Dem in a primary, so it's hard to find something positive here... She's from Los Angeles, and... uh... Los Angeles is... uh... in California where my sisters live.

Lousie Slaughter.  Interestingly, Representative Slaughter is the mother of professional wrestler Sergeant Slaughter.  (Okay, I made that up.)

Maxine Waters.  She's uh... also from California.

Kathy Castor. She represents Tampa, which is where the main server farm of Wikipedia is located, without which I wouldn't have been able to write this sentence.

Lois Capps.  Her husband was elected to this seat, but died after only nine months in office.  I don't know how that's "positive" per se, but it's not negative.

... and there go the women from the stage...

Elijah Cummings.  He's the congressman who backed Mark McGwire into a corner in the steroid hearings. 

Jim Clyburn.  He represents Charleston, where I got married.

Senator Jay Rockefeller. No Democrat has won the White House without winning West Virginia since 1916 and right now John McCain is up by a lot in West Virginia.  So whatever Jay Rockefeller is doing to help elect John McCain, he should keep it up.

Senator Harry Reid.  Senator Reid is indirectly responsible for an impromptu $4.2 million donation to charity. He wrote a nasty letter to Rush Limbaugh.  Limbaugh put it on eBay with the proceeds going to charity.  (Besides, he's been great to the GOP with his near-daily missteps as Senate Majority Leader.)

UPDATE #3: 6:45 PM

Patrick Murphy.  Veteran.  Thanks for your service.

Madeleine Albright. Really brought out the champagne aficioanado in Kim Jong Il when she went to Pyongyang.  (Also, first woman Secretary of State).

Evan Bayh. Q: Who got his big break in politics when, at the age of 33, he defeated Evan Bayh's father, incumbent Senator Birch Bayh?  A: That's right... J. Danforth Quayle.  Enough said.  (I think Bayh should have been Obama's VP choice).

Jack Reed.  Who?  Well, he's a Senator from Rhode Island.  (I lived 45 minutes away and I had to look this guy up.)  Anyway, Reed was in the 82nd Airborne.

Tom Daschle.  He inadvertantly (by losing to him) gave us U.S. Senator John Thune.  Thanks, Tom.

UPDATE #4: 7:15 PM

Kendrick Meek. Interesting nepotism angle here.  He took over the seat from his mother, and he's never actually faced an electoral challenge (it's a very safe D district).  That''s resourceful... in a way.  Captain in the Florida Highway Patrol, too.

Bill Clinton.  Really, there's a lot to work with, here.  He gave hope to failed Governors around the nation.  He almost single-handedly gave us the first Republican House majority in 60 years.  Some would say he crippled Al Gore's campaign in 2000.  This speech will likely be shorter than his speech in 1988.  Made everyone utter the phrase: "Gary Hart was a man ahead of his time."  I could go on, but from here on out it loses the G rating...    

UPDATE #5: 8:30 PM

John Kerry. If I had told you in December of 2003, as the Democrats trudged through the snows of Iowa, that John Kerry would be the Democrat nominee in 2004, you would have called me crazy.  He was running third or fourth (or worse) in almost all of the polls.  And yet the voters of Iowa decided to go with Kerry.  (Remember, he won Iowa, not Dean.  The "scream" took place after Dean had already come in third and was effectively done.)  So Kerry became the nominee.  And that's a positive.  (Well, for Republicans, at least.)  Oh, and he once nearly ran me down in Boston: He was on rollerblades and I was jogging and it was a near collision on the Charles River trail.

Chet Edwards. Who?  Seriously, who?  This guy was apparently on the short list for VP and ends up with a prime-time speaking spot in Denver, and I had never heard of him until last week.  I'm going to tip my hat to his meteoric rise to national prominence.

Joe Biden.  Okay, I have a soft spot for Joe Biden.  Don't get me wrong, I disagree with him on just about everything.  But there's something delightfully kitchshy about Joe Biden.  He's absolutely enamored with himself and the sound of his own voice.  He exudes such a palpable arrogance that it's mesmerizing to watch.  I was talking about this yesterday with an old political pro, and he seized on the perfect analogy: Joe Biden is the William Shatner of politics.  And as a Shatner fan and a fan of cheese in general, I find myself liking Joe Biden... in a way.   

 

Oh, and one final note... I'm absolutely disgusted by the networks non-airing of the Clinton and Kerry speeches.  (I had been watching on C-Span and hadn't realized that the nets weren't covering the 7 PM hour). 

Here is a former president and a former presidential nominee addressing a party convention, and NBC ran "America's Got Talent" and ABC ran "Wife Swap."  These are the same people who bemoan the apathy of the American people and the "sound-bites" that they're fed by the candidates, but they're the ones cutting down these speeches into packaged sound bites.  Pathetic.

Tonight's Plan: Mr. Positive!

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

Through the magic of C-Span and TiVo, I'm going to try to write something nice about every single Democrat politician who speaks from the podium today and tonight.

How is this going to work?  Well, for example, last night Hillary Clinton, Bob Casey, Dennis Kucinich and Mark Warner all spoke.  So my evening would have gone something like:

• Hillary Clinton: I like the color orange.  So, apparently, does Hillary Clinton.

• Bob Casey: Fine undergrad degree noted.

• Dennis Kucinich: Well, we have him to thank for this comedy gold.

• Mark Warner: I have cousins who live in Virginia, so, uhhhh... that's positive.  (I might have to break out the "I have relatives who live in..." fallback quite a bit.  We'll see.  But it's nice to know that I have California, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Missouri and Connecticut covered.)

Glancing at the schedule, I'm seeing Jeanne Shaheen (nice woman) and John Kerry (almost ran me over while rollerblading once (he was the one on rollerblades)). 

Bill Clinton?  I'm going to have to think about this.  So stay tuned. 

Hillary

Cross-posted at www.dncnow.net...

Was I the only one who found it despicable and offensive when Hillary Clinton began quoting Harriet Tubman last night? 

She compared the struggle of the Democrats to that of escaped slaves on the Underground Railway being chased by torch-bearing slave-owners.

Is there anything these people won't say?