36 COMMENTSSo far, Republicans have toed the party line on Sarah Palin, obediently parroting the McCain campaign's tenuous claims about her "experience" and "qualifications" to be vice president. At least publicly. A microphone mishap today during an MSNBC news segment revealed what some conservatives really think about the latest addition to the Republican ticket. At the end of the segment the cameras stopped running, but the pundits' microphones stayed on and caught former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former McCain adviser Mike Murphy excoriating the McCain campaign for picking Palin. When asked if Palin is the most qualified for the job, Noonan stated in no uncertain terms "No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives." Murphy went on to label the pick "gimmicky" and "cynical."
"It's over," concluded Noonan.
Noonan's prognosis is not surprising considering the alarming information about Palin that has surfaced since her nomination -- not just the soap opera stuff about her family life, but serious issues that call into question her skills, judgment and preparedness for national office.
The past day has brought even more bad news for Palin. Consortium News reports that Palin ran her campaign for lieutenant governor from her mayoral office -- a clear violation of campaign ethics laws.
Over the past two days AlterNet has compiled two lists of revelations about Palin, and our readers, much like Noonan and Murphy, have some pretty strong opinions. Many readers have weighed in on our comment boards, touching on everything from sexism to religion. From those who questioned her preparedness to those who think her nomination is an impressive Rovian tactic, here's what our readers had to say about the GOP's VP pick.
Many point out that Palin makes sense on the Republican ticket, since she shares her party's penchant for inconsistency and hypocrisy on matters of morality and religion.
Taxi-driver points to the strange disconnect between Palin's religion and her policies:
How can anyone pray to God for a gas pipeline? How can Palin and others of her ilk call themselves Christian? How can so many Christians go along with this? What Obama needs to do is to talk about true Christian values -- charity, humility, service, even (I daresay) love, and expose Palin and her crowd for what they are: impostors and charlatans who think God should work for gas pipelines in Alaska.
Ydothehatus takes on the absurdity of Palin's abstinence-only stance, especially in light of her daughter's pregnancy. They also point out that for all of Palin's talk about the importance of family, she is exploiting her daughter for political gain:
Palin ... believes in "Abstinence only Education" -- now her daughter is a poster child for this discredited myth ... she is further exploiting her daughter by forcing her to get married at such a young age, and using this pregnancy to rally the anti-abortionist core of the Repuglicans.
Many readers point out that regardless of her beliefs, Palin is simply not prepared for the job.
Badkitty writes:
Has anyone here ever been to a small town city counsel meeting? I have, and being the mayor of a small town in the middle of no place can NOT prepare anyone to be president or vice president! It is ridiculous. Palin knows nothing whatsoever about foreign affairs. We are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Health care? Home mortgage banking crisis? The economy in general? How about constitutional law? No? They got nothing. Palin's got nothing.
Foreverhope also points out that so far we have not gotten a sense of what -- if anything -- Palin thinks about foreign policy, the environment, health care and other issues that should be at the forefront of the election:
I would like to see her opinions on the illegal wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, what's going on in Pakistan, trade policy (and is Alaskan oil really sent to Japan?), the mortgage meltdown, infrastructure collapse, the economy, taxation, the bloated and unnecessary military ... the environment, especially, if she doesn't believe in man-made climate change or global warming, just how does she propose to address the issues of weather change (drought in the West, melting permafrost, stronger hurricanes, more tornadoes, etc.)?
On the bright side, some feel that Palin's unpreparedness may be one of the best things to have happened to Democrats in a long time.
Writes Atheistcable:
Personally, I hope that McCain keeps Palin as VP choice through October. I am glad that McCain is recognizing the demands of James Dobson and others. I hope that in mid-October, McCain tells the voters that he will appoint Born-Again Christian Tom DeLay as Secretary of the Treasury, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as head of Health and Human Services. I hope that McCain recommends Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania as Secretary of State. If this list doesn't result in an 89% landslide victory for Barack Obama -- I don't know what would. But picking Palin is a great start -- I think she's wonderful for the Democrats.
Not everyone is as optimistic as Atheistcable, however. Many see McCain's pick not as an embarrassing slipup that will profit Democrats, but as brilliant "Rovian" politics:
Jimidee writes:
Palin's pick was not a reckless act by John McCain, but a carefully calculated one by the McCain staff, and maybe the "Architect," Karl Rove himself. It has his fingerprints all over it. How else can you explain this act that is irrational on the face?
The fact that Palin has a pregnant daughter was part of the decision to select her. They knew full well that with the MSM's penchant for smut stories, that it would jump all over this one. This was guaranteed if they let it out after the fact, like they were trying to hide it. The MSM took the bait and swallowed the hook and ran it like they stole it. Predictably, the right wing base evangelicals felt so sorry for the girl and rallied in supported the mother. Mission Accomplished.
Meltedpriest warns:
Discount Sarah Palin at our collective peril. ... She could well help the Repugnicans into another 4 years. She plays well to crowds; she's not Dan Quayle; and she's a woman who represents a change from the status quo (at least, symbolically).
larryo also believes that picking Palin was a smart move:
I think they knew all about Sarah Palin and they nominated her as a distraction because of the skeletons in her closet and her eccentricities, knowing it would appeal to the evangelical loonies (of which she is one, in spades) and divert everyone's attention from the real issues, discussion of which is bad for them.
Bmikkelsen agrees:
You are absolutely right. This is win-win for the dark forces. They have already succeeded in 24/7 coverage of this woman, re-introducing the culture war discussion, and setting the media up as the fall guy if she ends up pilloried.
Whether a brilliant tactic or a fatal mistake, many commenters thought McCain's underlying reasons for picking Palin were sexist.
According to Spiritgirl, McCain's decision to go with Palin
... assumes that no one is paying attention to politics. This assumes that all of the women that voted for Hillary just want a woman in office! This is an insult to the intelligence of all women regardless of party affiliation! This is just another example of McShame's reasoning! To think that he could pander to the female vote by selecting a rabid right wing woman shows his poor judgment, lack of critical thinking, and his disdain for American women!
ava1984 sums up concerns about McCain's sexism with: "Does McSame think that Hillary supporters will follow just any vagina? I hope not."
With all this controversy surrounding Palin, it will be interesting to see how the months leading up to the election play out.
PaulK captures Palin's first week on the national stage quite nicely:
That's it, I'm speechless. My only regret is having temporarily run out of popcorn.
It's easy to agree. At least until we remember that this is for the White House.
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