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Open Thread: Understudy Takes the Stage Edition

by: elwood

Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 20:14:15 PM EDT
Tonight Sarah Palin introduces herself to America.

Will she talk from a generic speech written for someone else? Will she address the questions about her nomination and her record - the vetting, the earmarks, the book banning?

Will she play the attack dog? Can she play that and the hockey mom at once?

She is an accomplished candidate speaking before a friendly crowd. How will America respond?

And what of her warm-up acts? How will Mitt set himself up for a 2012 run? Will Rudy woo the delegates or just snarl at the Democrats?

This is an open thread.
elwood :: Open Thread: Understudy Takes the Stage Edition
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Open Thread: Understudy Takes the Stage Edition | 89 comments
I notice our poll (0.00 / 0)
has seen a rise in "yes" for Palin's withdrawal, but it can't crack higher than a 1/3rd.

An interesting wrinkle to that angle - if he has to let her go, he dispirits the base worse than they were before she came along.

Of course the $64,000 question is why the heck McCain thought he needed to get the base excited at the point in the cycle when you reach out to moderates and undecideds.

Mystifying.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

Joe Klein (4.00 / 3)
has fallen off the Straight Talk express.

Hell hath no fury like a tradmed scorned:

   There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.


Wonder if Sununu's fired now.
How can a woman be "pro-choice" and support (4.00 / 2)
the McCain-Palin ticket, which will name Justices committed to overturning Roe?

There's a simple explanation for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. But some Democrats don't like to hear it.

They are very rich. When the United States outlaws abortion and sends doctors and teenagers to jail, the Whitman and Fiorina families will be able to send their children to clinics in Europe.

Oh, I'm sorry. That observation was unseemly "class warfare."

Fiorina is not pro-choice n/t (4.00 / 1)
   

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin

I'm a strategist for the NH Coordinated Campaign
[ Parent ]
She seems to be keeping quiet (0.00 / 0)
on her position. Here's a profile from August saying she might be too moderate on the issue.
[ Parent ]
That's no excuse. (0.00 / 0)
Warren Buffet is the richest man in the world and he endorsed Obama months ago.  It's not about wealth, it's about selfishness.
[ Parent ]
Um, Warren Buffett is male n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Having read and re-read your post above, I still don't think it matters. (0.00 / 0)
You don't have to be of one gender or the other to know what you think is right and have the integrity to champion it.
[ Parent ]
I'm not gonna watch (0.00 / 0)
but was thinking of what words the Palin Drinking Game/Bingo might consist of:

-Bridge to Nowhere
-Hockey Mom
-Mooseburger
-Huntin'
-Reformer
-Snowmobile

Add as you see fit.

Hope > Fear

Family (0.00 / 0)
That'll dominate the cloud.

Also the return of the "good Republican cloth coat."

And G-d, of course.

[ Parent ]
Republican cloth coat (4.00 / 1)
Well, Cindy's $300K outfit certainly didn't play that up...
[ Parent ]
Uh (4.00 / 2)
-- LIFE
-- executive experience
-- troops
-- small-town
-- maverick
-- liberal media
-- feminist

Good thing I'm not planning to watch tonight either, I'd be hammered and unable to go to work tomorrow.

Waking up on November 5th with no regrets.

[ Parent ]
Murphy Brown n/t (0.00 / 0)


This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

   Dorothy Parker

[ Parent ]
I'm not gonna watch (0.00 / 0)
oh sorry friend but....

you also forgot pot smoker on the list of her credits. it's okay for Republicans to have Pot smoking on their resumes.

and yes redecorator of the Wasilla City Hall (twice)

Thanks for letting me add Mike.

Tom

"I'm not smart enough to run the economy."

- John McCain (r) Arizona
Interview with the Keene Sentinel, November 7, 2007

[ Parent ]
the McCain drinking game (0.00 / 0)
will be much more fun

POW
Torture
My friends

Oh, my - here's Willard!  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign

Willard: Washington's too LIBERAL! (4.00 / 2)
SCOTUS too! Throw them all out!

He really is a very stupid man.

I love how he complains that spending has "doubled" since 1980. (4.00 / 2)
Considering that Republicans have been in charge during most of that time and that about half of the spending is military.  And then they hit Obama on slowing development of outdated cold war weaponry that wouldn't be developed if not for the M-I complex.
[ Parent ]
Also, it was during the administration of their beloved Ronald Reagan, (4.00 / 1)
and thanks to the centerpiece of his platform, that the world's greatest creditor nation became the world's greatest debtor nation, and then Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Warren Rudman (R-NH) decided maybe balanced budgets were a good idea.  

So far, only a Democratic President has even tried (successfully) to balance the budget, or come within trillions of doing so.  And eight years of Republican rule later, our national debt is ten trillion dollars, our deficit is at record levels, and the gross debt of the American people, public and private, is approximately equal to all the money in the world.  No more years.

[ Parent ]
and... (4.00 / 1)
over 28 years it only takes an ave. inflation rate of 2.5% to double something....

Hope > Fear
[ Parent ]
Mark Shields (4.00 / 4)
said, "Calling Sam Alito a liberal - that's a new concept."

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
That Liberal Bush has ruined things ! n/t (0.00 / 0)


This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

   Dorothy Parker

[ Parent ]
Mitt: Energy conservation - let's keep (4.00 / 2)
Al Gore's private jet on the ground!

When Katrina started Gore called some friends and managed to get a private jet to help evacuate hospital patients. He claimed the privilege of helping move stuff, in the middle of the storm.

Huckabee lies about Palin and Biden (4.00 / 4)
It's a new Republican lie: "She got more vote running for Mayor of Wasilla than Biden got running for President!"

To be more precise, it is "bullshit:" a claim made by someone who doesn't care at all whether it is true.

Biden got over 15,000 votes in Florida. Wasilla had about 7,000 residents total.

The Huckabee teacher/veterans/desks story (0.00 / 0)
Nothing short of terrifying.
[ Parent ]
David Brooks (0.00 / 0)
nearly speechless thanks to Romney. "That was the most right wing speech I've ever heard."  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
He really said that? (0.00 / 0)
David Brooks?
[ Parent ]
World's slowest drinking game (0.00 / 0)
Drink every time you see a minority in the crowd.

I'm sober, how about you?


I'm plastered - (4.00 / 5)
The place is filled with Republicans!
[ Parent ]
OMG (4.00 / 2)
a row of old white ladies clapping - looks like Monty Python.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
Stop them (4.00 / 1)
before they dance again...

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

   Dorothy Parker

[ Parent ]
I feel bad for Gwen Ifill (4.00 / 2)
"These are people who don't dance very often" she said, diplomatically.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
"Community organizer!" (0.00 / 0)
Great laugh line from 9ui11iani. The crowd immediately sees how absurd that work is.
It has the two word Repubs hate most in it (4.00 / 3)
"Community" and "Organized"



[ Parent ]
Theme of the night, from what I saw n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
oh god (0.00 / 0)
Giuliani, romney. Another WWF convention.


Flip Flop (0.00 / 0)
Wants to relive the wonderful wonderful past.


Given the references (0.00 / 0)
I wonder if this is the acceptance speech rudy wrote in January.



I have to go to bed... (0.00 / 0)
My husband said, "How can you watch this?" I said, "Don't you think it's kind of funny?"  There red rally towels, their cowboy hats waving in unison to chants of "zero, zero, zero", the repeated shots to the 1-2 (oh I mean 40) African Americans in the crowd, if it weren't so absurd, it might be funny...

And, I just can't take all the shots panning to Bristol holding baby Trig, Bristol feeding baby Trig his bottle, etc... Bristol whispering to Willow who's pointing something out to her big sister... (And I'm watching CSPAN) count me as one who's not convinced that Trig's not her son (but that's not germaine to this...)

But, I just don't think I can bear to watch anymore, if this is what the night has been like, and if Palin's going to follow with "more of the same," my ears might start to bleed.  Enjoy!  Can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow.

Waking up on November 5th with no regrets.

What's the Zero stuff? (0.00 / 0)
I heard the chant, missed the reference
[ Parent ]
they're counting their collective IQs (4.00 / 2)


Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
Or maybe their answer to (4.00 / 1)
the 50-state strategy.
[ Parent ]
experience (4.00 / 1)
you know he's never lead anything, never been an "executive," never started a business that failed, never....
You know, elwood, ZERO experience.
Either that or they're calling HIM a Zero, which imho, is not very nice.

Andrew just started first grade today, and I think he even knows it's not nice to call people a zero.

Oh well...

Waking up on November 5th with no regrets.

[ Parent ]
We're all Georgians! (4.00 / 1)
Say this for Rudy: it isn't "a noun, a verb, and 9/11."

It's a stale, warmed-over mix of attacks from the past 18 months, but it isn't just 9/11.

it is interesting (4.00 / 2)
that they can't give us Palin's qualifications without mentioning Obama.

Reduced taxes, Rudy? She GAVE Wasilla a sales tax!

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign

To be fair (4.00 / 1)
She's got executive experience in ALASKA. The whole job description is getting people in other states to fund their things. (We're just pikers in NH.)

If she were Veep or President, I don't know who she'd try to stick with the tab.

[ Parent ]
Rudy (0.00 / 0)
perpetuating the lie that the left is saying that Palin can't handle VP and family. It began with Tom Raum of AP.

Here comes Sarah.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign

She's reading Lieberman's speech (0.00 / 0)
Really well.


Beau Biden's silence on his service (4.00 / 4)
vs. Palin's advertisement of it.

Interesting, don't you think?


even more interesting (4.00 / 1)
Big bios for the boys. The girls just get named.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
Family First? (0.00 / 0)
That's how she makes the balance work, the girls take care of the baby for her, the boys get to play hockey and war.

Waking up on November 5th with no regrets.
[ Parent ]
Community Organizer (0.00 / 0)
Funniest joke ever, apparently. Gets a repeat.


as a former community organizer (4.00 / 4)
I'm sick of all the hating. She'll be hearing from me.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
When Republicans talk about our nation's three largest cities as something to be mocked and hated, they get applause. (4.00 / 3)
When Democrats suggest somebody might be bitter because they've gotten a raw deal, they're unpatriotic.
[ Parent ]
she left Wasilla (4.00 / 1)
with a $20 million deficit. No mention of that.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
Despite the $27 million in federal funds her lobbyist secured? (4.00 / 1)

[ Parent ]
I'm starting to worry about the the 6 yr old kid (0.00 / 0)
holding the 6 month old.

She smoothed her hair down with spit and is now picking the kids nose.



That's what you do (4.00 / 1)
I laughed when the tongue hit the palm. That was the only part of "the Palins" that I related to.

I didn't see no nose mining operations.

The giant finds its gait.

[ Parent ]
My wife thinks she's cute (0.00 / 0)
I had to agree, but I didn't get the hair smoothing.
[ Parent ]
[Obama] wrote two memoirs but (4.00 / 1)
no major legislation!

What was McCain's legislation? Oh, that's right: McCain-Feingold - which the Republican base hates...

And McCain violated n/t (4.00 / 1)

[ Parent ]
The speech is too long, (4.00 / 2)
too negative, and not responsive enough to the questions about her.

Yes, delivered well; yes, some clever lines. But the lines don't withstand scrutiny (she is the poster child of earmarks) and the delivery fades because she's outworn her welcome.

My best guess...

agreed (4.00 / 2)
too long.

And after all her nastiness, I don't want to hear her, or anyone from the GOP whining about how she's getting picked on for being a girl. If you want to play in the big leagues, you gotta be tough.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign

[ Parent ]
Yeah (0.00 / 0)
She's only going to get one or two soundbites -- make a speech out of them is not the smartest thing.

Of course, she didn't write it, not her fault.


[ Parent ]
look at her body language (0.00 / 0)
when McCain touches her, or tries to embrace her.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
Yes - he has to be stiff and awkward (0.00 / 0)
or he looks like an old lecher. But it doesn't serve him well to look stiff and awkward (and old).

If she had reassured the country that she is up to the Presidency it might not matter so much. But that wasn't even a goal.

[ Parent ]
he is an old lecher (0.00 / 0)
But watch HER when he comes at her. She doesn't want him to touch her.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
A speech for the purpose of giving a speech. (0.00 / 0)
It seems every sentence either has no real meaning, is a gross manipulation of facts that takes the those who aren't thinking it through for a ride, or a bold faced lie.

Her points were constructed very much in the way a comedian would construct a pun, except that comedians who rely so heavily on puns don't get to be on national television.

The convention managers lost control (0.00 / 0)
of the clock. They didn't have time for the video of her and she ran to 11:15 anyhow.

Obama's convention stayed on schedule.

I guess it's the undervalued executive experience of a community organizer.

Dog whistle (4.00 / 1)
Phishing for bigots:
It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.
(emphasis mine)

Over all, she kicked ass.

So now, she has stood up tall. If we bring out the dogs, will she hold steady, with honor. Or, will she demure.

Full text on HuffPo.


The giant finds its gait.

She has a point. (0.00 / 0)
It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.

People like the grandfather who raised Barack Obama, and his uncle who helped liberate a concentration camp.

I can't wait for the debates, honestly, I think it'll be an upset.

[ Parent ]
The Dunham name (0.00 / 0)
ain't on da ballot, yo.

The giant finds its gait.
[ Parent ]
But a Dunham will be in those three debates, and can make that point. (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
But that really wasn't the mission (0.00 / 0)
or at least, it shouldn't have been.

Kicking ass is great to excite the base. Motivating the base gets McCain 40% of the vote.

To get beyond that she needed to convince people who were listening with an open mind that she is Presidential caliber.

My take, anyhow.

[ Parent ]
The Apprentice (0.00 / 0)
Tonight, she looked like she can be trained.

No one really expects McCain to die in the first hundred days. Point is, she just crossed the VPOTUS threshold in the eyes of those who are inclined to accept the premise in the first place.

Maybe we are saying the same thing?

The giant finds its gait.

[ Parent ]
Not really - (0.00 / 0)
I agree that it was a strong speech if the metric is exciting the base.

But I think it was counterproductive in appealing to anybody else.

She called herself a pit bull. Perhaps she can be trained - but as what sort of President? Not one that voters want.

Your mileage may vary.

[ Parent ]
So, she leaves the middle wanting? (0.00 / 0)
My gut says,...yes!

The Joe Sixpacks in PA, MI and OH, belly up and say, "Nice ass. I ain't voting for her."

7 out of 10, anyways.

The giant finds its gait.

[ Parent ]
PA, MI, OH (4.00 / 2)
All of which she MENTIONED. She threw in West Virginia too, lest there be any doubt.

I say strong speech -- the noise of the last few days really lowered expectations. In general, I'm with Elwood, too negative. But for the competence test, a grand slam. A grand slam over a low fence.

[ Parent ]
Colbert gets it. (4.00 / 3)
Republicans are the party of change.  They change the meaning of words, like "freedom", "enhanced", and "Justice Department".

Thank you, GOP - Honest! (4.00 / 2)
Josh has the transcript and notes the following:
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources...

I applaud the attempt to teach our political leaders to pronounce nuclear. Hear, hear! If I were in the balcony I would rattle my jewelry (joowillree).

sorry dude (4.00 / 1)
I'm gonna have to look that up at the lieberry.  

Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
Sorry Susan (4.00 / 2)
That book's not there anymore, Palin banned it.

Waking up on November 5th with no regrets.
[ Parent ]
bwaaaahahahahaha! (0.00 / 0)


Netroots Outreach Director for the Carol Shea-Porter campaign
[ Parent ]
I wonder whether she allows her children to read Harry Potter books. (0.00 / 0)
Not because they're about witchcraft, but because noted lifelong elitist J. K. Rowling has several Ivy League honorary degrees, and like Obama's mother, knows what it's like to be a single parent in elitist poverty.

Also, they're books.

[ Parent ]
Excited Florida delegate, to Ann Curry (0.00 / 0)
To paraphrase:

"She really showed she has what it takes to be vice president!"

That line could have been written by Woody Allen, in his early movie years (I'm thinking specifically of Bananas)

Hammer the Bridge to Nowhere to death (4.00 / 1)
This was a very effective speech to the hate-filled, frustrated "base" that is dramatically smaller in size than it was four or eight years ago.
But it was 1992 all over again, with Palin substituting for Pat Buchanan and talking about culture wars.
Clinton wiped out the GOP after that in the election - and I remind all those fretting about polls that Bush 41's numbers went UP 10 points after Patty Patty Buch Buch's speech and after the convention in general.
I see Barack as a candidate very similar to Clinton, and after all the dust has settled from Palin's squeaky little rant tonight, people in the middle are going to wake up in the morning and stop off to pay $3.99 for a gallon of gas, go to work and worry about the stability of their job and come back home to their house that has gone down 20 pecent in value over the last four years.
Here's what I'd do, starting tomorrow: Hammer, hammer, hammer Palin's lie that she was against the bridge to nowhere. She was against it, after she was for it.
Catch her in that lie, ask her why she sent so many emails wanting a mid-level state trooper fired and let her get back on the defensive. A couple weeks from now, this speech will be a forgotten memory, and she'll be out on the campaign trail, ducking press questions. And the more she ducks, the worse she'll look. Basically, tonight was the last time we're going to see Sarah Palin for a while, because they're going to want her to shut up after this, or else risk being asked that gotcha question that she'll surely boot.
And if the press doesn't ask those questions or isn't allowed, Joe Biden damn well better. And I'm sure he will.
Olbermann: Palin's comments about community organizing could be seen as "elitist" (4.00 / 2)
BAM.

In all seriousness, though I want the ratings.

Memoirs (4.00 / 2)
As Sarah Palin reminded us, Obama has written two memoirs.

But McCain has written FIVE. From Time:
http://www.time.com/time/polit...

There's a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?
Read it in my books.

I've read your books.
No, I'm not going to define it.

But honor in politics?
I defined it in five books. Read my books.



The difference is: (0.00 / 0)
Barack Obama actually WROTE his books himself, and hence knows what's in them.
[ Parent ]
I read his backwards (0.00 / 0)
The first book made me vote for him. I heard him differently after that and I shed a lot of my skepticism (not all of it, but a lot of it).


[ Parent ]
Open Thread: Understudy Takes the Stage Edition | 89 comments
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