Support NeoGAF

[DancingJesus]

I just got back from school.

Obama's chances are that much easier, now. What a complete joke of a choice from John McCain. I haven't seen how the media or posters here have interpreted this decision, but my household was so full of laughter when the announcement was made. John McCain doesn't know this person, she's a two-year governor in fuckin Alaska, so you KNOW why this choice was made (to ride the coattails of Obama's historic candidacy, to highlight McCain's "maverick" appeal with this "bold" selection, and to attract disgruntled Hilary supporters.) I'm sure she is a lovely person, but when I heard her speech, I was embarassed. A high-pitched, anti-gravitas speaker. McCain just look so odd next to her when she was speaking, so uncomfortable. What a fuckin disaster. So for all that experience talk, all that so-called toughness on national security, you're going to place THIS soccer mom with the responsibility to take over.

After last-night, the flawless discipline of Obama's event, the grandeur, the gravitas, this couple is just second-rate. Amateur. It almost makes it seem like the Obama/Biden ticket is the SAFER vote. Seriously, what the hell were they thinking? Obama and Biden look professional, chic, and just generally chill together. The juxtoposition of McCain and Palein (sp?) is just ODD.

Wow. The laughter continues.

Good post and I hope the Obama camp makes these points clear in debates. But who knows, anything could happen.

 

[Chiggs]

Obama's chances are that much easier, now. What a complete joke of a choice from John McCain. .

I think you're going to be in for a little surprise. Not that Obama won't win, but if you think this election is going to be easy sailing, you're going to soon find out that not everyone in this country shares the same opinion as you and your peers on campus, be it high school or (especially) college. Worse yet, the opposition tends to be quite organized, especially when it comes voting. Must be all that brainwashing.

McCain is very much in this race.

 

[DarienA]

Leslie Sanchez grades the Palin pick as an A... and I find myself completely not surprised...

 

[ag-my001]

Actually having an Alaskan friend, I got her take on this:

I don't know about Palin as VP. I trust her as a leader for Alaska but I don't know if she is ready for VP. 4 years ago she was mayor of a town smaller than College Station. We will see.

I've tried to read up on all the analysis from the Big 3 News sites, and the image I've come away with matches with Bill Simmon's (ESPN) idea of a "VP of Common Sense". Someone with a no-nonsense approach that would be more than willing to speak up and ask "Are you sure about that?" Think about what might be different today if the Oval Office had someone like that a few years back.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

This is a screwed up thing about the USA people are more interested in voting for a "bible thumping deer hunter" than a professor of constitutional law.

How fucked up is that?

Americans deserve the crap fall-out of the Bush administration with that kind of voting.

amen

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

PHOTOS: OBAMAS/BIDENS arrive in Pittsburgh, PA, to begin weekend bus tour!

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, his wife Michelle Obama, second from left, vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., right, and his wife, Jill Biden, walk down the stairs from their plane in Pittsburgh Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with his wife Michelle Obama, vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and his wife Jill Biden walk down the stairs of his campaign plane in Pittsburgh Friday, Aug. 29, 2008.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

 

[Y2Kev]

Earlier this year Dr. Jim Dobson, President of Focus on the Family made news when he announced that he "cannot and will not vote for Senator John McCain." Today, the conservative leader changed course.

Thats the stuff Palin really offers. The republican base has been divided over McCain

Nonsense. Those tardcarts would absolutely fall in line and vote for McCain. Anyone who believes otherwise is higher than the people in charge of vetting Palin.

The reality is that younger evangelicals don't see things in such a black and white way anymore-- social justice, the environment, and global warming are becoming just as big for evangelicals are abortion rights-- so I think that Dobson's yelpings won't hold up anyway.

Not saying the evangelicals won't run out 90/10 in favor of McCain, but he was going to vote McCain anyway.

I'm still looking for the real IMPACT of the Palin move. So far I see that McCain stole a big news day from Obama and he also is making a hard push for crazy people.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Thing is, there are democrats here too, but they are much more conservative on a variety of issues than city dems.. There are also plenty of conservatives that see McCain as a party traitor.

There are democrats in my area that wouldn't vote for Obama, but might vote for Palin because of her religious views and Rural background. Identity politics.

A lot of these people voted for Hillary in the primaries, but they would not have voted for McCain in the general. They would just have stayed home. Now he has a better chance to get them, and thus turn out people in greater numbers, allowing him to get bigger margins than he would have.

I guess we'll have to see. I was a big Hillary supporter. Always have been dating back to the Clintons. And I get that Clintons have southern appeal which is something a lot of Democrats don't have but I just don't buy into this notion that was created over the primary of Hillary Clinton as the voice of the salt of the earth downtrodden rural poor. I understand the demographic breakdown but I have to assume a lot of these people were voting for something beyond just Hillary Clinton the name. Palin's politics are so diametrically opposed to Clinton's that I have a hard time seeing a reasonable mass making that leap.

 

[adamsappel]

Further proof McCain is just a party hack. He won't follow his own judgment at this point.

I just find it hard to believe she was his second choice.

For all we know, McCain's advisors could have been recommending Pawlenty and Romney, and John the Maverick went with Palin instead. McCain choosing a woman was the pick I feared the most, though Palin is less the stuff of nightmares than sweet erotic dreams.

 

[Byakuya769]

So, a lot of republicans on GAF are intimidated by the overwhelming support of Obama on PoliGAF. We have, like, three that post here semi regularly.

The RNC seems pretty likely to be a big, huge bitchfest about how awful the republicans are.

So, I was thinking, what are the chances that the repubs could have this thread (or another thread) to themselves for the convention? Of course, that wouldn't be entirely fair, especially since we had a few conservatives here bitching about the dems during the convention, so we could allow a few ObamaGAFers to post in there, but it would be interesting to read what the ConservativeGAFers think about the convention.

It's an oddball, unrealistic idea of course, but I definitely would be interested in hearing what the Repubs on GAF think of their convention, but with PoliGAF being what it is, I doubt we'll hear much from them in the sea of anger.

hahahahahahaha...

 

[reilo]

Chris Mathews: "Palin has stated that she would outlaw abortion everywhere. OUTLAW IT. I don't think that will play well in rural Pennsylvania."

 

[besada]

Bill Simmon's (ESPN) idea of a "VP of Common Sense". Someone with a no-nonsense approach that would be more than willing to speak up and ask "Are you sure about that?" Think about what might be different today if the Oval Office had someone like that a few years back.

That shows a fairly powerful misunderstanding of the VP's role. The VP is not an advisory role to the President historically. For most of the country's history, the VP wasn't even in the West Wing. Until Roosevelt, they weren't even allowed in cabinet meetings, and considering his relationship to Garner, that turned out not to be such a great idea..

The role of VP is almost completely determined by the President's desire to have their input. Considering McCain barely knows the woman, it doesn't suggest heavily that he's looking for him to advise her.

 

[Chiggs]

Nonsense. Those tardcarts would absolutely fall in line and vote for McCain. Anyone who believes otherwise is higher than the people in charge of vetting Palin.

Living in Colorado Springs, or as Ted Haggard put it, "the new Jerusalem," I can assure you that a lot of the conservatives in this town are not thrilled with John McCain. At all. They are also pretty peeved at Karl Rove for essentially using and abusing them, so don't be surprised if a good deal of Christians just sit this one out until Jesus Christ annoints Mike Huckabee as their leader.

I'm completely serious.

 

[Tamanon]

He only met her once?! They didn't even know each other. This isn't someone who was vetted.

- Andrea Mitchell


OK then!

 

[xs_mini_neo]

Man that doesn't make any sense... Palin's views on issues are directly opposite of Hillary, She's Pro-Life, Pro NRA, ect, these were the things Clinton was adamantly against. So by supporting her, they are going against all the values they hold true. Obama has much much more in common with Hillary.

In conclusion I fucking hate feminists.

You should know that elections tend to do this. People usually vote with their emotions over logic. This is why Bush got away with murder for so long. A single issue like gay marriage took Bush over the top in '04, and in '00 he was "the cool guy to have a beer with." Obama has the 'first black president' issue and it will help him in ways it couldn't help Kerry. It also helps that Obama has an actual personality. McCain picked Palin to tap into the 'scorned women' vote, and will push the sexism issue that plagued the primary season. Hillary women will feel conflicted, and young males will fight the urge to fap their vote.

This is why our government has been fucked up for so long and will now always be that way thanks to corporate media being in control of the narrative.

 

[Riddler]

I personally think she's as good a pick as McCain could have managed. She lacks the negatives that most of the other picks had, she's female, she's anti-corruption, and she shores up the NRA and pro-life bases.

She lacks everything for V.P.

Just cause she's female doesnt mean females will vote for her & America has shown it takes more than a race or gender to get approval.

She is kinda corrupt in that she abused her position in power already in less than 2yrs.

Her being Pro-life & NRA really defeates her purpose of pulling in disgruntled Clinton supporters.

McCain could have picked someone 100x better, but this is a desperation move to change their stance from "Experience" to " Reform"


edit: beaten by Dancingjesus

 

[UltimaKilo]

For all we know, McCain's advisors could have been recommending Pawlenty and Romney, and John the Maverick went with Palin instead. McCain choosing a woman was the pick I feared the most, though Palin is less the stuff of nightmares than sweet erotic dreams.

Well if it did happen like that, it is likely he changed his mind on Sunday. It seems that he was pretty confident in choosing Lieberman (according to reports) but was talked out of it. He ordered Palin flown in and spent 2 hours talking to her and then made his decision.

 

[Keylime]

...random question, and I apologize if it's been asked already.

What do you think women think about this pick? This pick was clearly made just to get a woman on the ticket, and she was deemed the most interesting female to put on the ticket.

Isn't putting Sarah Palin on the ticket pretty much a cheap shot at women? McCain's using women to build himself up. Without Palin, McCain is viewed as this stale old guy. Now he's "a total maverick" because he picked this woman out of nowhere.

How happy can you be as a woman that a major political figure is essentially using gender to build himself up?

Do not be foolish enough to compare Barack's race to Palin's gender. Barack created his own campaign. He ran and was voted into the position he currently has. Palin and McCain had only met her once or twice previous to this selection. This selection was clearly made not because McCain thought he could trust her. This selection was made to shake-up the voters, and use gender to sway voters on no issues, no political affiliation.

Do not be foolish enough to compare Hillary's candidacy to Palin's appointment. Hillary also ran her own campaign and worked to build her own supporters.

This pick shows a clear difference between the line of thinking between the Democratic candidate and the Republican one. When asked "What was the criteria for your VP selection", Barack stated that the ability and readiness for that pick to be president was at the top of his list. His VP must be ready to be president. Now look at McCain. This pick was not made based on the criteria of "Ready to be President". So what is the criteria that Palin satisfies that McCain thought he needed? Shake-up factor. She throws a wrench into the system, and give hope to his campaign.

I'm not knocking McCain for making this decision. He did what he had to in order to stay competitive, and it's a good decision for him. I just think that it shows that McCain thinks he can just use women to accomplish what he could not.

I'd be outraged, but that's from my Democratic leaning opinion.

 

[PhoenixDark]

- Andrea Mitchell


OK then!

Oh man, she just said that?

*starts looking for Palin porn*

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

- Andrea Mitchell


OK then!

Wow, this is as desperate as it gets. Fucking amazing.

 

[Branduil]

I don't see how this could be a bad choice for McCain. A normal, safe choice would have just meant he was guaranteed to lose... he pretty much had to try something risky.

 

[Y2Kev]

Living in Colorado Springs, or as Ted Haggard put it, "the new Jerusalem," I can assure you that a lot of the conservatives in this town are not thrilled with John McCain. At all. They are also pretty peeved at Karl Rove for essentially using and abusing them, so don't be surprised if a good deal of Christians just sit this one out until Jesus Christ annoints Mike Huckabee as their leader.

I'm completely serious.

I'm sure people are pissed off, but I'd really be willing to be they'd come around in November.

I don't see how this could be a bad choice for McCain. A normal, safe choice would have just meant he was guaranteed to lose... he pretty much had to try something risky.

I agree. I don't know if he'd be a lock to lose (maybe after Obama's speech last night...), but he'd basically be trailing all the way to November. Now he's got some spotlight.

 

[GoutPatrol]

Barack = Tayshaun Prince though.

Oh please.

Tayshaun is ugly. Barack is hotness.

 

[reilo]

Like I said: Brady throwing a hail mary pass against the Giants.

 

[Door2Dawn]

Isn't Obama leading among Christians?

I read an article on huffington post some where.


EDIT: found it:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/13/poll-obama-leads-among-ch_n_118619.html

 

[maximum360]

MOOSEBURGERS!!!

 

[Stoney Mason]

I don't see how this could be a bad choice for McCain. A normal, safe choice would have just meant he was guaranteed to lose... he pretty much had to try something risky.

Some of us don't think it was a bad choice politically at least which is separate from an actual governing appraisal. I think the consensus is though that it isn't the game changer that some Republicans want/think it to be. Give it a week and half and see if people are still talking about Palin and then you know if it was a game changer. It's impossible to really say anything more at this stage.

 

[reilo]

Tonight's season premier will be epic. BTW, Tim Kaine will be on his show tonight, along with Jon Corzine.

 

[Cyan]

I think I found the perfect sports metaphor in regards to this pick:

McCain throwing this Hail Sarah pass is like Tom Brady trying to throw that game winner versus the Giants and losing.

I prefer the term "Fail Mary."

It encapsulates so much about the pick.

 

[besada]

McCain could have picked someone 100x better, but this is a desperation move to change their stance from "Experience" to " Reform"

Who? Every major possible pick had a strong negative component, other than Pawlenty. Palin's only real negative to the Republican base is the potential corruption issue, which is largely seen by conservatives as a partisan attack on Palin, and which hasn't actually turned up any evidence against her.

Unlike McCain, she's a darling of the religious right. She's so pro-life that she had a child she knew would be born with Downe's syndrome. You don't get much more tied to the ideology than that.

 

[CharlieDigital]

...random question, and I apologize if it's been asked already.

What do you think women think about this pick? This pick was clearly made just to get a woman on the ticket, and she was deemed the most interesting female to put on the ticket.

Wife just came home. First reaction: "He's panicking".

 

[Particle Physicist]

But he's right. A good argument could definitely be made that being governor is more similar to being president than being a senator is to being president, and that's an argument I'd agree with.

his argument may be valid, but he is still spewing lies. he said obama became a senator in 2006. this isnt the first time that he has been called out on complete fabrications.

 

[pxleyes]

- Andrea Mitchell


OK then!

That's...wow.

 

[reilo]

Who? Every major possible pick had a strong negative component, other than Pawlenty. Palin's only real negative to the Republican base is the potential corruption issue, which is largely seen by conservatives as a partisan attack on Palin, and which hasn't actually turned up any evidence against her.

Unlike McCain, she's a darling of the religious right. She's so pro-life that she had a child she knew would be born with Downe's syndrome. You don't get much more tied to the ideology than that.

What do you mean darling? Nobody even knows who the hell she is. Is this the new talking point? "She's a woman with five kids! What a darling!"

 

[Chiggs]

Tonight's season premier will be epic. BTW, Tim Kaine will be on his show tonight, along with Jon Corzine.

Yeah, I can't wait to watch this. Should be excellent.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Isn't Obama leading among Christians?

I read an article on huffington post some where.


EDIT: found it:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/13/poll-obama-leads-among-ch_n_118619.html

Barack is leading in a lot of areas, but you'd never guess it. It's all about "key battleground states" that ultimately won't make a dent in the final tally. PEACE.

 

[laserbeam]

his argument may be valid, but he is still spewing lies. he said obama became a senator in 2006. this isnt the first time that he has been called out on complete fabrications.

I was off by 1 year oh no what a crime. Fact remains My point is valid.

 

[reilo]

I was off by 1 year oh no what a crime. Fact remains My point is valid.

No, you were off by 2 years total as you said that Palin became Governor in 06.

Palin became Governor in 2007, Obama Senator in 2005. They ran for elections in 2006 and 2004 respectively.

 

[UltimaKilo]

That's...wow.

What the hell did she say?

 

[alr1ght]

wow, wikipedia has everything. A complete listing of Obama's ancestry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Barack_Obama

 

[TDG]

Jon Stewart: "Really?!"

I guess I just haven't paid much to your posts :lol

Yep. I was an Obama supporter al throughout the primaries, and I probably had the most embarrassingly overjoyed posts of anyone here during Obama's speech in Minnesota when he became the preumptive nominee.

I just try to think things out and be fair, and in the end I get a bit of hate from everyone. The few conservatives (and some Obama people) get pissed at me from time to time, like yesterday when I said that it was "idiotic" to think that McCain's congratulatory ad was just a nice gesture, and when I go against the flow, like when I said I thought that Obama would have voted for the war had he been in the senate at the time, the Obama fans get mad at me and think I'm conservative. Oh well.

 

[besada]

What do you mean darling? Nobody even knows who the hell she is. Is this the new talking point? "She's a woman with five kids! What a darling!"

The media may not know who she is, but the religious right do. There's been a campaign to draft her for VP going on since before the primaries finished. When she had her fifth child, there was a flurry of articles and blogs about how strongly she held to pro-life principles.

 

[UltimaKilo]

No, you were off by 2 years total as you said that Palin became Governor in 06.

Palin became Governor in 2007, Obama Senator in 2005. They ran for elections in 2006 and 2004 respectively.

December 06

 

[thekad]

RubxQub: Yeah, I'm offended by the pick, and I'm not even a woman. But I doubt many Americans will share our sensitivities, if Andrea Mitchell is anything to go by.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

What the hell did she say?

Palin and McCain have only met once or twice.

 

[Chiggs]

Who? Every major possible pick had a strong negative component, other than Pawlenty. Palin's only real negative to the Republican base is the potential corruption issue, which is largely seen by conservatives as a partisan attack on Palin, and which hasn't actually turned up any evidence against her.

Unlike McCain, she's a darling of the religious right. She's so pro-life that she had a child she knew would be born with Downe's syndrome. You don't get much more tied to the ideology than that.

Agree 100% with this post. A lot of people just can't seem to get past the fact that this country is religious, and the issue of abortion will supercede stuff like foreign policy, experience, etc, etc.

Once you get past that, it's easy to see why this choice made sense. Abortion is the single most divisive issue in this country. But on this forum, most people think abortion is fine and dandy, so that when the issue comes up they're stumped as to why it's even an issue. This is what happens when you surround yourself with people that share similar viewpoints. Lack of perspective.

 

[Shiggie]

Yeah, I can't wait to watch this. Should be excellent.

this is live rite?
I dont have hbo, is there a way too see it live, like stickam?

 

[theviolenthero]

Has Obama released a ad yet to counter this announcement?

 

[Particle Physicist]

I think she already showed lack of leadership and initiative to keep people safe. I mean come on, she let a whole town be decimated by vampires for 30 whole days and never raised one finger to help. Imagine how she would be with terrorists??!!

thats a good fucken point. obama better make a commercial with this shit!

 

[Riddler]

Who? Every major possible pick had a strong negative component, other than Pawlenty. Palin's only real negative to the Republican base is the potential corruption issue, which is largely seen by conservatives as a partisan attack on Palin, and which hasn't actually turned up any evidence against her.

Unlike McCain, she's a darling of the religious right. She's so pro-life that she had a child she knew would be born with Downe's syndrome. You don't get much more tied to the ideology than that.

Tom Ridge or Liberaman I guess. Really everyone has some type of negative component, but she(Palin) seems to be picked just like Harriet Miers.