Thread: US Elections

The following is a letter to the editor of the Winchester Star, the weekly newspaper of my town, in this week's edition. The author's name is obviously edited out.

A ‘reckless and cynical pick’ for VP of the U.S.A
Fri Sep 12, 2008, 04:08 PM EDT

McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his vice president is utterly reckless and cynical, a claim that was echoed by two prominent conservatives in St. Paul when they were speaking candidly.

Palin is no substitute for Hillary Clinton and she is certainly no Joe Biden — both of whom are fluent and experienced on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues.

McCain passed over far more qualified men and women at his convention in an attempt to shore-up his floundering campaign. And it has done so but at what cost and what risk to our country? Selecting the vice president should not be a contest of personality ... the stakes are too high.

Can you imagine if Obama had made such a pick? Just having Tim Kaine on the short list drew scoffs from Karl Rove who claimed he lacked the credentials for the post.

We have much to learn about the woman that McCain has plucked from obscurity and the media is right to fully vet Governor Palin. The McCain campaign obviously did not. They have refused to discuss the vetting process and have not allowed Palin to take questions from the press. If she is not ready for a press avail, how can she possibly be ready to be a candidate for this office? This is not Wasilla Alaska!

To be fair, Palin is gutsy, a good speaker, charismatic, telegenic and she will be a quick study as the McCain campaign rushes to school her in domestic and foreign policy.

So much for the importance of experience — McCain’s first campaign theme.

For someone who has been out of the country one time, with a passport obtained last year, she has much to learn about the world. And McCain’s assertion that her foreign policy credentials include living in a state that is near Russia and next to Canada is mind-numbingly stupid.

Palin has virtually no national experience, and her stand on the issues is far from mainstream or in line with most women I know.

She wants to teach creationism in schools, outlaw abortion in cases of rape and incest, and believes that Iraq is “God’s task.”

And since when did putting the word “executive” in front of experience add exponential value?

The more that surfaces about her background, policies, record and family affairs, the worse it gets. It’s impossible to make the case that she is ready to be our second in command but the GOP is straining to do so. John McCain is 72 years old, with four bouts of melanoma in his medical history. I am terrified of the prospect of a Palin presidency ... we all should be.

For all the talk of “country first,” McCain made a purely political decision to infuse some energy in his lack-luster campaign. I realize the GOP has been demoralized over the last four years and the base was lukewarm to McCain from the start. But he had far better choices for this most important position.

Country did NOT come first with this pick … not by a long shot. McCain’s own ambitions came first, a charge he had levied at Obama. What does this tell us about McCain’s judgment and decision-making not to mention hypocrisy?

Before Governor Palin took center stage, the McCain campaign scoffed at “celebrity” pols, Hillary’s allegations of sexism, and had a love affair with the press who have been more than kind to McCain.

And can you imagine if Michele Obama had belonged to a succession group as Todd Palin did until 2002? The videos and hate America speech from the meetings of the AIP (Alaska Independence Party) would be all over cable news. With the Palin pick, McCain caved to the social conservative wing of his party, so much for being his own man.

And what we didn’t hear from St. Paul was telling by nature of its very omission. The convention was “fun” for the red meat crowd with all of it’s vitriol and lies about Obama, no surprise as McCain has employed all the dirty tricksters from the Bush Cheney campaign, but where was the beef?

We did not hear anything about GOP plans for social security, healthcare, job creation, the economy, foreclosures, and global warming. I heard no big ideas, no policy proposals beyond tax cuts and tax credits, the GOP is a two-trick pony when it comes to the economy.

Well … there was their one BIG idea “drill baby drill.”
And the party platform is the most radical and hard right it has ever been. As McCain’s campaign manager stated, “this campaign is not about the issues.” Clearly McCain cannot compete on the issues so he wants to keep voters focused on the narrative. How’s that looking out for America?

McCain and Palin are more of the same policies of Bush and Cheney. We need a REAL change not a campaign slogan adopted because the other ones weren’t working. And to all those of us who work in the community on behalf of children, students, animal welfare, the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the elderly, the sick, the disabled and with countless other causes, we are offended by the swipes levied by Palin and others at the GOP convention.

What McCain and Palin don’t realize is that “real change” comes from people who organize and work in their community. John McCain doesn’t get it and Sarah Palin is more of the same.

Dear People,

If you find an interesting article on another webpage, plz don't copy it in total.

Just quote a part of it, and provide a link to the original...

thanks

Originally Posted by Jim Thorpe

SG- I haven't seen anything from a non partisan source that says she wasn't vetted properly, Do you have a link?
Thanks!

I don't have the time today but later I'll dig back. There was WaPo, NYT, CNN and a bunch more. CNN carried a list of crucial folks that hadn't been talked to


That link only makes sense if you assume the stuff was hard to find, otherwise it backs the pretty widely accepted failure to vet. Half the stuff they came up with took 3 minutes with google.

But the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is showing that what I am saying is correct...many here feel that the attacks are unfair and it is changing their opinion of Obama.

Ha, if the rash of media reports in the last 24 hours are anything to go by, and the slowly changing poll results back to blue or statistically even, quite the opposite is true. Palin is slowly becoming the Dem's best weapon to take out McCain. She's utterly hopeless and should never have been thrust anywhere near the VP slot.

Attacks? Please show me a personal attack on McCain like the Sex Ed one which says "Endorsed by Barrack Obama"?

Jim, how you can continue to support a man who despises you so much to do this for personal or political gain. Or a party that allows 4000+ of it's own sons and daughters to die to line a few corporate pockets. Corruption and evil at the highest level.

But who trusts or wants to work with someone that just said you want to kill babies, that you are Nazis, etc.
You have dirtied the pool we all have to bathe in...

How many dead Iraqi babies are acceptable not to dirty the pool? Or don't they count?

Sorry Jim, but these are core issues and Roy is right. It's about morality or lack thereof.