ghostrunner wrote:It's interesting that he thinks we've had the best convention speech ever and the riskiest VP choice ever in the space of two days.
The comment about the convention speech may have been out of fear. The second is completely plausible. Marsha Blackburn just said that Palin has more experience than Obama, citing her being a "wife, mother, PTA member, businessperson, mayor and governor" and that means more than just sitting on some committee in the senate.
Blackburn had to actually list her being a wife, mother and PTA member to thicken her resume.
I want you to clairify that a little, are you saying that being a wife and mother is an easy job and should not be listed as accoplishments?
It is an accomplishment and real-world experience--and undercuts the growing allusions to McCain's privilege.
On the other hand, she has no Washington experience, and little executive experience (although more than McCain, Obama, and Biden combined--but again, very little). Some would say the former is good, but I wouldn't.
But McCain can no longer argue that he takes experience seriously as a criterion for higher office, either.
And the expediency of the election continues to erode both candidates' patina of seriousness and putting the health and future of the country above the fray.
ghostrunner wrote:It's definitely a good pick, and worth whatever talking points they might lose. The governor/senator thing is I think a fair distinction to make. I don't buy it personally, but it's a fair point.
She seems to have very, very solid support from the base (who aren't that concerned by her experience) , and will probably attract some women voters and some Democrats. She's probably a bit more charming to your average American than Joe Biden.
Both her and McCain will have sons in Iraq soon, so that lends some weight to their position, and nobody can hang the "fortunate son" thing on them.
If nothing else, Palin's addition to the ticket really takes this election season to a whole new level. These are easily the most interesting candidates that we've had in decades. The first black presidential nominee. A war hero and former POW. An Alaskan woman. And, uh, an old white guy. (I'm having trouble finding anything interesting about Biden, sorry.)
ghostrunner wrote:It's interesting that he thinks we've had the best convention speech ever and the riskiest VP choice ever in the space of two days.
The comment about the convention speech may have been out of fear. The second is completely plausible. Marsha Blackburn just said that Palin has more experience than Obama, citing her being a "wife, mother, PTA member, businessperson, mayor and governor" and that means more than just sitting on some committee in the senate.
Blackburn had to actually list her being a wife, mother and PTA member to thicken her resume.
I want you to clairify that a little, are you saying that being a wife and mother is an easy job and should not be listed as accoplishments?
The right-wing has spent the year belittling Obama's accomplishments. If his surrogates went out and said that his experience included being a husband and father, his opponents would have a field day.
ghostrunner wrote:It's definitely a good pick, and worth whatever talking points they might lose. The governor/senator thing is I think a fair distinction to make. I don't buy it personally, but it's a fair point.
She seems to have very, very solid support from the base (who aren't that concerned by her experience) , and will probably attract some women voters and some Democrats. She's probably a bit more charming to your average American than Joe Biden.
Both her and McCain will have sons in Iraq soon, so that lends some weight to their position, and nobody can hang the "fortunate son" thing on them.
If nothing else, Palin's addition to the ticket really takes this election season to a whole new level. These are easily the most interesting candidates that we've had in decades. The first black presidential nominee. A war hero and former POW. An Alaskan woman. And, uh, an old white guy. (I'm having trouble finding anything interesting about Biden, sorry.)
ghostrunner wrote:It's interesting that he thinks we've had the best convention speech ever and the riskiest VP choice ever in the space of two days.
The comment about the convention speech may have been out of fear. The second is completely plausible. Marsha Blackburn just said that Palin has more experience than Obama, citing her being a "wife, mother, PTA member, businessperson, mayor and governor" and that means more than just sitting on some committee in the senate.
Blackburn had to actually list her being a wife, mother and PTA member to thicken her resume.
I want you to clairify that a little, are you saying that being a wife and mother is an easy job and should not be listed as accoplishments?
I'll go on the record and say it: No, not for political office.
Otherwise, I expect Obama to pad his resume with "husband and father"
ghostrunner wrote:It's definitely a good pick, and worth whatever talking points they might lose. The governor/senator thing is I think a fair distinction to make. I don't buy it personally, but it's a fair point.
She seems to have very, very solid support from the base (who aren't that concerned by her experience) , and will probably attract some women voters and some Democrats. She's probably a bit more charming to your average American than Joe Biden.
Both her and McCain will have sons in Iraq soon, so that lends some weight to their position, and nobody can hang the "fortunate son" thing on them.
If nothing else, Palin's addition to the ticket really takes this election season to a whole new level. These are easily the most interesting candidates that we've had in decades. The first black presidential nominee. A war hero and former POW. An Alaskan woman. And, uh, an old white guy. (I'm having trouble finding anything interesting about Biden, sorry.)
History no matter what happens.
I think we can all agree (on both sides of the isle) that this election is the best thing to happen to US politics...possibly ever.
ghostrunner wrote:It's interesting that he thinks we've had the best convention speech ever and the riskiest VP choice ever in the space of two days.
The comment about the convention speech may have been out of fear. The second is completely plausible. Marsha Blackburn just said that Palin has more experience than Obama, citing her being a "wife, mother, PTA member, businessperson, mayor and governor" and that means more than just sitting on some committee in the senate.
Blackburn had to actually list her being a wife, mother and PTA member to thicken her resume.
I want you to clairify that a little, are you saying that being a wife and mother is an easy job and should not be listed as accoplishments?
The right-wing has spent the year belittling Obama's accomplishments. If his surrogates went out and said that his experience included being a husband and father, his opponents would have a field day.
They have said he is a husband and father, and have his wife and kids at just about every photo -op possible.
When you consider that up until now there have been zero black and only one female presidential or vice-presidential candidate in 200+ years of presidential elections compared with a few hundred white males, I think it's a bit unfair to criticize women or African Americans if they turn out in bigger numbers to support someone based on gender or skin color. I wouldn't vote for Allan Keyes or JC Watts, but I would have voted for Colin Powell and I've never voted for a Republican for anything.
As far as my own support for Obama, it has very little to do with his very obvious strong oratory skills. It is almost entirely based on his content, his positions, his ideas, and what I perceive to be his skills in the role as a head of state.
Not that it's limited to any party, but I'm finding it funny already how Republicans are championing Palin's executive experience of leading a state (for not even 2 years yet), when one of their biggest criticisms of Clinton back in 1992 in addition to his lack of experience (again) was the small size of Arkansas not being a good qualification as an executive.
At the end of the day, I don't think Palin or Biden are going to win many votes for either of their candidates. As the adage goes, you need to try to "do no harm" in picking a VP. I think Palin will probably be a wash on this, but I do think there is a danger that she will be perceived as being grossly underqualified (that was the knock on Ferraro). You could say that Obama is also underqualified, but at least he was elected with people's votes. In Palin's case she was chosen by McCain who has made experience the primary tenet of his campaign.
clement wrote:When you consider that up until now there have been zero black and only one female presidential or vice-presidential candidate in 200+ years of presidential elections compared with a few hundred white males, I think it's a bit unfair to criticize women or African Americans if they turn out in bigger numbers to support someone based on gender or skin color. I wouldn't vote for Allan Keyes or JC Watts, but I would have voted for Colin Powell and I've never voted for a Republican for anything.
As far as my own support for Obama, it has very little to do with his very obvious strong oratory skills. It is almost entirely based on his content, his positions, his ideas, and what I perceive to be his skills in the role as a head of state.
Not that it's limited to any party, but I'm finding it funny already how Republicans are championing Palin's executive experience of leading a state (for not even 2 years yet), when one of their biggest criticisms of Clinton back in 1992 in addition to his lack of experience (again) was the small size of Arkansas not being a good qualification as an executive.
At the end of the day, I don't think Palin or Biden are going to win many votes for either of their candidates. As the adage goes, you need to try to "do no harm" in picking a VP. I think Palin will probably be a wash on this, but I do think there is a danger that she will be perceived as being grossly underqualified (that was the knock on Ferraro). You could say that Obama is also underqualified, but at least he was elected with people's votes. In Palin's case she was chosen by McCain who has made experience the primary tenet of his campaign.
Arguments always change when trying to get elected.
clement wrote:At the end of the day, I don't think Palin or Biden are going to win many votes for either of their candidates. As the adage goes, you need to try to "do no harm" in picking a VP. I think Palin will probably be a wash on this, but I do think there is a danger that she will be perceived as being grossly underqualified (that was the knock on Ferraro). You could say that Obama is also underqualified, but at least he was elected with people's votes. In Palin's case she was chosen by McCain who has made experience the primary tenet of his campaign.
