Do you guys think the Palin pregnancy business is benefitting either party, or just the tabloid media? Well, many GOPers interviewed say that Palin is energizing the party and making their campaign more exciting, but of course they would only say positive things about their party. Maybe all this hype is giving them more attention than their otherwise boring ticket would produce. Personal controversy obviously never hurt Bill Clinton, and the last time I checked, teen pregnancy still isn't illegal. I think attacks on her "parenting record" is walking a slippert slope, because people may find it intrusive and offensive to "go after a mom", and Palin is really adored by the GOP despite not having accomplished much (their response to Obama?). But try telling the media to tone it down on anything involving sex.
Also, is it just me, or is Joe Lieberman like the worst public speaker ever? I don't recall his speeches back in 2000. Not only was he boring and monotone last night (with a creepy looking mouth), but the content of his speech was nondescriptive and forgettable. He also forgot his flag lapel pin... for shame!
I thought his colleague Norm Coleman from MIN gave a much better speech welcoming everyone to St. Paul. But for Lieberman, Thompson, and others, I am kind of tired of them painting McCain/Palin in such broad brush strokes: "They took on the Washington power brokers and want to clean up politics." Well they say that every election, so can someone tell us specifically how each of them challenged the establishment and fought for what was right for ordinary Americans? I know after he was lightly implicated in the GOP Savings & Loan scandals of the 1980s, McCain got a lot more sober with his politics and made anticorruption a bigger part of his career, of course most famously with McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. He spoke out against Bush's torture doctrine and mismanagement in Iraq when the other GOPers fell in line, and I think co-wrote the legislation to ban torture.
From WSJ: Sen. McCain was one of only two Republican senators to oppose the 2001 tax cuts and one of only three GOP senators to oppose the 2003 reductions. Furthermore, his reason for opposing the cuts was taken straight from the playbook of the most radical left-wing Democrats. In 2001, Sen. McCain argued, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117375309308735018.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
I guess nuance like that will encourage and discourage some voters depending on their background, though of course now he promises to make Bush's cuts permanent and maybe even expand them. I thought his initial opposition to the cuts was also due to the fact that we were at war, and that requires more public sacrifice to support the war effort, not more payouts. He voted against the Dem's minimum wage increase, but also voted against Bush's uber-expensive Medicare drug bill. He has always favored privatizing Social Security, which the Dems will use to scare seniors. Well no matter who wins, it's clear that we won't be able to sustain SS for another 2 decades without drastic changes. McCain also worked with Kennedy and Edwards on the Patient's Bill of Rights, though not sure how much good it has done so far. The 2nd link below also suggests his ties to lobbyists are quite robust, and the 1st link discusses some of his campaign finance issues.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/331143/ex_reformer_mccain_attacks_ex_reformer_obama
http://www.alternet.org/election08/90006/mccain_the_reformer_you've_got_to_be_joking/
I can't find much about Palin online. I guess she voted for the Bridge to Nowhere before she voted against it. As mayor of Wasalia, she hired a federal lobbyist to help secure over $37M in earmarks for her community. But the spending was for an airport, commuter train line (that was shared by other towns too), and water/sewage, so I guess you can make an argument that it was justified, and pork is in the eye of the beholder. I've never been to Wasalia, but I'm sure it's not all posh like Midtown Manhattan. AK communities are very remote, so it's hard to connect people together and provide basic services, and their weather/geography probably necessitates more infrastructure spending than a typical lower 48 community. AK get the most earmarks and tax dollars per capita of any state, but then again they're so lightly populated that they cost Uncle Sam a lot less than say poor and old people in CA or TX. I guess she did reduce her earmark requests to Congress from $550M her first year in office to $200M her second year. She also sacked state officials and lobbyists connected to the pork game. She negotiated a deal with Conoco and BP on long-stalled new gas pipelines without having to offer them any new concessions. She sold the governor's private jet that her predecessor Murkowski purchased on behalf of the state, and prefers to get around by car and commercial air (she also declined security escort, saving the state some money there too). I guess all this contributes to her populist image and makes her very well liked in the state, causing resentment and jealousy among the traditional AK political-business elite. I guess this may be the closest thing to having a non-rich person in the White House.
A funny side-note: you know how Palin is in a bit of trouble for firing an official for supposedly not firing her sister's ex, a state trooper? Well the grounds they cite for the ex's dismissal include threatening the Palins, killing a moose without a permit, and using a stun gun on a 10-year-old. An investigation revealed evidence of the last two and he was suspended for 10 days. In his defense, the ex said that he stunned the kid at the kid's request. As if that makes it alright!?! These are the people protecting us from crime haha.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122002615833483595.html?mod=fpa_mostpop
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/09/03/goppalin.html
Well clearly she's not the most qualified to step in if McCain passes, and it kind of makes me laugh that the GOP couldn't find a better female running mate in their whole party for McCain. But maybe some fresh blood every now and then is good for politics; isn't that Obama's rationale?
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