GOP veep tryouts: Romney or Pawlenty?

Mitt Romney will be announced as McCain's VP at 11AM today in Dayton OH.

Now NBC News says it will not be Romney nor Pawlenty and that the announcement will be made at Noon, not 11 AM. (9:53AM)

McCain owns 7 house. He reported 5 and later ahd to correct it.

Romney owns 4.

No word yet on former Beauty Queen Palin. Wasn't John McCain second wife Cindy also a beauty queen?

Palin has been Governor of Alaska for one year and eight months. She took office on 4 December 2006.

Palin was Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003-04.

Before that Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, population 6,714 according to the city's website, from 1996-2002. Wasilla is classified as a "first class city" by Alaska (population 683,478), which says something about the state. Its annual revenue is $12.7 million, about like Topsfield -- population 6,348, $14 million 2006 tax levy (if someone can make a more precise comparison to a Massachusetts town, please do so). In 2005, Palin's penultimate year as Mayor, there were 11 traffic lights in Wasilla according to the Anchorage Daily News: “Today, there are 20 traffic lights in the Mat-Su Borough, including 11 in Wasilla and three in Palmer, according to Scott Thomas, DOT regional traffic engineer.”

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Bristol Palin's pregnancy is off limits.

There will no discussion about teenage pregnancy in America, availability of birth control as opposed to unplanned pregnancies, choice, reversing abortion rights, religious right, or how Sarah Palin - who has some catching up to do on foreign policy and learning what VPs do - will balance the demands of campaigning or (god forbid) governing) with home life of five children and a grandchild ("a bun in the oven.")

That is all.

Well, pregnancy happens ... and it's better not to rush to judgment. But ... imagine what the Republicans would be saying if Obama had a teenage daughter who was pregnant ?! The resentment and shock people feel about something like this comes directly from the conservative right's "family values" lectures and enduring wish to judge and control the personal lives and decisions of others.

Q: Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

Actually, the McCain campaign say that it was the daughter’s “choice” to keep the baby. A choice that campaign hopes to deny to other Americans …

I love the Under God thing, that is awesome (for any who don’t know, she is wrong on two levels, the pledge was written in the 20th century, and 'under god' was inserted 50 years after it was written during the height of McCarthyist paranoia.

So my high school civics education apparently qualifies me for the Vice Presidency — nice.

They have made Sarah Palin's personal life story the focus of her credentials to be VP. Her policy positions on abstinence only education and pro life even in cases of rape and incest have to make you wonder about this very personal example.

Palin will use every power at her command if she becomes POTUS to make sure that our sisters, mothers,wives, and daughters have no choice. Even if they are raped. That is what makes this personal story so political.

What will be next? One has to wonder about the vetting.

Sarah Palin opposes abortion in all cases, even rape. South Dakota voted down such a stance, and fewer than 1 in 5 Americans agrees with it.

The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it’s close to Alaska. “Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”

Then she takes off in her seaplane and lands on the White House lawn, near the new ice fishing hole and hockey rink. The “First Dude,” as she calls the hunky Eskimo in the East Wing, waits on his snowmobile with the kids — Track (named after high school track meets), Bristol (after Bristol Bay where they did commercial fishing), Willow (after a community in Alaska), Piper (just a cool name) and Trig (Norse for “strength.”)

“The P.T.A. is great preparation for dealing with the K.G.B.,” President Palin murmurs to Todd, as they kiss in the final scene while she changes Trig’s diaper. “Now that Georgia’s safe, how ’bout I cook you up some caribou hot dogs and moose stew for dinner, babe?”

We rely on elected officials not to use the power of their office to pursue personal agendas or vendettas. It's called an abuse of power. There is ample evidence that Palin used her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. When his boss refused to fire him, she fired him. She first denied Monegan's claims of pressure to fire Wooten and then had to amend her story when evidence proved otherwise. The available evidence now suggests that she 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.

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“Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.”

- Dan Balz, WaPo

Which is good thing unless you want your chief executive to engage in the process where the candidate is vetted wherein their history is examined before putting them on the ticket.

Like Bush and Putin, McCain must have looked through her eyes and into her soul. We know how that turned out.

“For much of his long career in Washington, John McCain has been throwing darts at the special spending system known as earmarking, through which powerful members of Congress can deliver federal cash for pet projects back home with little or no public scrutiny. He's even gone so far as to publish ‘pork lists’ detailing these financial favors.”

[snip]

“Three times in recent years, McCain's catalogs of ‘objectionable’ spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time -- Sarah Palin. Now, McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, has chosen Palin as his running mate, touting her as a reformer just like him.”

“The world arrived here more than a century ago with the gold rush and later the railroad. Yet one aspect of American life did not come to town until 1996, the year Sarah Palin ran for mayor and Wasilla got its first local lesson in wedge politics. The traditional turning points that had decided municipal elections in this town of less than 7,000 people - Should we pave the dirt roads? Put in sewers? Which candidate is your hunting buddy? - seemed all but obsolete the year Ms. Palin, then 32, challenged the three-term incumbent, John C. Stein. Anti-abortion fliers circulated. Ms. Palin played up her church work and her membership in the National Rifle Association. The state Republican Party, never involved before because city elections are nonpartisan, ran advertisements on Ms. Palin’s behalf.”

NYT

The choice of Sarah Palin is good Republican politics and bad policy, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the War Party.

They rolled the dice, changed the conversation and sucked all of the oxygen out of the room, to the detriment of the Democrats. The reason it is bad policy is because Palin can offer no educated opinions on public policy. Her political values are premised almost exclusively on religious moral code, which may be fine in a small community and may be fine in a state like Alaska but on the national stage I think she’ll be beyond her depth and incapable of contributing.

Palin’s belief is that god’s will rules out abortion so that is what a righteous America should do. She hails her daughters choice to get married, and seeks to deny that choice to all other women in America.

She serves an important purpose – she satisfies the religious right thereby cementing their support, she allows McCain to move back to the center, and she gives Republicans a female celebrity – not that Clinton supporters would be the least bit interested but the conservative voters will be drawn out to vote. Until Palin, many Republicans with fine memories were dissatisfied with the maverick as a faux conservative. Palin is the post child. Rove has done it again.

I’m still hoping the ploy, and it was a ploy and likely an impulsive decision that reflects badly on McCain’s decision-making process, backfires. Dems would like to hear her to say stupid things that would demonstrate her lack of experience and depth but it’s a long shot because she’s savvy and her handlers will keep her in controlled situations... McCain too. The Republicans are playing chess, we’ll see if the Obama campaign is playing chess too. I have confidence they are.

Palin has about five or six nagging issues following her from Alaska such as earmarks, bridge to nowhere, book banning, helicopter hunting, a thin resume, and a pregnant daughter but the republican base and religious right will dismiss those issues because they have their own celebrity, an every woman, a mom, a sporty lipstick-wearing MILF, who will attack her political opponents with condescension and contempt.

I think she endeared herself to the base and the Republican Party with her mocking shots at Barack Obama and even Michelle – not about policy but about respect – and I’m hoping a well-planned counter offensive on the ticket will turn that around.

Whether Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska to attend to family, take a crash course on national and international matters, or simply to limit her exposure to the press, the fact is her withdrawal from public limits her exposure and as a result, opportunities for voters to assess the candidate for themselves.

Last week, we learned she is any every woman, a mom, a governor, a reformer, a politician who can deliver a devastating attack on her opponent with a smile on her face, a Christian who believes the war in Iraq is a "task that is from God” and that abortion - even in cases of rape and incest - should be a crime in the United Stated. She is the candidate for the second highest elected office in the land, one heartbeat from the presidency.

With 60 days before the election, what is the McCain campaign saying about VP candidate Sarah Palin by taking her off the campaign trail?

David Gregory:

“There has got to be a concern in the McCain camp that her initial appearance, as dazzling as it was, might represent a high water mark. Senator Biden is going to appear on meet the press Sunday with Tom Brokaw but McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis was on Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough this morning and said there’s no plans yet for her to do any interviews. Listen to this:”

Joe Scarborough: Can we expect Sarah Palin on Meet the Press and other one on one interviews throughout the course of this campaign?

Rick Davis: We’re going to do whatever we think is the best to win. We have 60 days left and if we think it’s a good idea to go out there and do those shows, we’ll do ‘em.

I think McCain’s campaign manager just admitted that it may not be a good idea for McCain’s prospects to have Sarah Palin answer questions in one on one interviews on the usual nationally televised programs.

Joe Scarborough: Can you avoid it? Can you avoid Meet the Press?

Rick Davis: We can afford anything we want to do.

As recently as last night, John McCain promised to set a new standard for transparency and accountability. One would think that would include requiring the VP candidate, an admitted new comer to the national scene, to campaign and to answer questions in one on one interviews as is expected of VP and other holding elected national office. I’m left wonder whether John McCain and Rick Davis expect you and me to buy a pig in a poke.

between a pit bull and a pig?

been decrying for generations.

After Barack Obama said that “you can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig,” the McCain campaign claimed he was referring to Sarah Palin. Should Republicans be angry, especially when John McCain has said the same phrase in the past?
VIDEO

Ok, is it just me or does Palin's ignorance about the Bush Doctrine set a pretty low bar for "formidable" foreign policy experience?

Alaska is right next to the Russian Federation on the globe. That's what McCain's surrogates said about her foreign policy experience.

She thought a doctrine, The Bush Doctrine, was akin to a person's worldview. Will someone please get Palin a dictionary, a white paper, and take her off the ticket?

If she's on the ticket, and McCain - the oldest ever presidential candidate - wins, there's a real chance that she'd have the launch codes before his term his up.

Think twice before voting this ticket. She's completely out of her depth and I for one think is was completely irresponsible and selfish of McCain to put her on the ticket to get the religious right vote and female votes. Choose a qualified candidate for chr*st sake.

Gibson: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin: In what respect, Charlie?

Gibson: What do you interpret it to be?

Palin: His worldview.

Gibson: No, No, the Bush Doctrine. He enunciated it in September 2002, before the Iraq War. ...

Palin: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is to rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hellbent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership--and that's the beauty of American elections and democracy--with new leadership comes the opportunity to do things better.

Gibson: The Bush Doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory defense. We have the right to preemptively strike any other country that we believe is going to attack us.

Palin: I agree that a president's job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

Palin says Alaska supplies 20 percent of U.S. energy. Not true. Not even close.

Palin claims Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." That's not true.

Alaska did produce 14 percent of all the oil from U.S. wells last year, but that's a far cry from all the "energy" produced in the U.S.

The idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men...

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Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it’s a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren’t sent by Eddie Burke, we’ll be doing good...

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by....

So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around (links are appreciated) to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say....

Rachel Maddow in GOP fibs video 4mins.

Jerome Corsi's "The Obama Nation" is a mishmash of unsupported conjecture, half-truths, logical fallacies and outright falsehoods.

* Corsi claims that Obama "could claim to be a citizen of Kenya as well as of the United States." But the Kenyan Constitution specifically prohibits dual citizenship.

* Corsi falsely states that Obama, who has admitted to drug use as a teenager, "has yet to answer" questions about whether he stopped using drugs. In fact, Obama has answered that question twice, including once in the autobiography that Corsi reviews in his book.

* Corsi relies on claims from one of Obama's "closest" childhood friends to "prove" that Obama once was a practicing Muslim, without revealing that the witness later said he couldn't be certain about his claims and confessed to knowing Obama for only a few months.

* Corsi claims that despite Obama's "rhetorically uplifting" speeches, the candidate has never detailed any specific plans. In fact, Obama's Web site is full of detailed policy proposals.

more

[Corsi was a member of the Swiftboat Veterans for (un-)Truth(iness)]

The Beauty and the Veep
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Alaskans tell their stories about Mayor and Governor Palin.
Three videos 5 mins. each. Good stuff.

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