What do you think of Sarah Palin?
 

What do you all think of Sarah Palin? Do you think she was qualified to be Vice President? Is she really a reformer?

Dick Chaney was a reformer. Do you really want a reformer? I honestly don't give her much thought. I think she was a cynical Hail Mary pass by the RNC to get the woman vote. The only way she hits the national stage again is if she places herself upon it. If the RNC still considers her a viable candidate for anything, then they're even more hopelessly lost than I thought.

Agreed....she was taken out of the oven waaaaaay too early as a "hey y'all look at me!" kind of vote.

I said it before, if McCain and the RNC really wanted a woman VP pick...there were too many other better qualified women for the role.

I thought she was a horrible choice as a running mate for John McCain. She just seemed clueless.

Why are we discussing this again? We had an entire thread devoted to her.

OP- please do a search and you can read hundreds of opinions. It was one of the most posted discussions in quite some time.

lol

I was wondering the same thing.

agreed!

Whether there is an old thread or not, I can't resist the oportunity to express my views on Palin again.

First and foremost women everywhere should have been insulted that McCain chose her in the first place. Why? Simple. She was obviously only selected to get the female vote. He apparently thought women were so stupid, that they would vote for a woman, ANY woman, regardless of her qualifications. So he picked someone he thought would just get the vote for him and then settle into obscurity once he was elected so he wouldn't have to actually include her.

Sarah Palin has proven herself to be one of the most ignorant, hypocritical, idiotic, uninformed, out of touch, simple-minded, inarticulate leaders this country has seen in a very long time.

It is frightening that a woman who thought that being able to SEE Russia meant that she had foreign policy experience was this close to having the second most powerful position in this country. It was evident from the beginning that she absolutely no clue about many important things she would have had to deal with as VP. Her sorry performance at the debate with Biden drove that point home. She had clearly rehearsed a discussion pertaining to certain subjcets and was unable to think on her feet enough to answer questions outside of the realm of what she had practiced. That point was also driven home when, in desperation, she asked, "can we please talk about Afghanistan?"

People in support of her tried to point out that she had more executive experience than Obama and Biden. When it gets down to it, no one has enough experience when it comes down to running for president or vice president unless they have actually been in one of those positions and has chosen to run again. In other words, she was equally as inexperienced as she was claiming Obama to be.

I have nothing positive to say about Palin and I can only pray that she isn't stupid enough to actually run for president ever...or VP either for that matter.

Great post! I cannot agree more. I also heard that Mccain was having some problems with the religious right and picked Palin to shore up his support with those voters.

I've made my opinion known in other threads, but essentially, as a Republican, I was disappointed by the choice (if they were going to go with a woman, I would have rather had Kay Hutchison from Texas). I will be very disappointed if she is the presumptive nominee going into 2012, or if she gets any significant support at that point.

John McCain doesn't even seem to think that's going to happen (he should have chosen Pawlenty to begin with, it might have been a whole different election if he'd gone that route): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NudpkLw0uPI

Palin was put into a no win position from the start. I think she's the right fit for Alaska, and given time, she may have gained real and meaningful experience and stature on the national level.

The McCain campaign put her out there like a lamb led to slaughter and the press had absolutely no intention of letting the VP candidate for the Republican Party gain any sort of traction. The McCain staffers were their own worst enemy and Palin was such a rookie that by the time she figured out who and where the players in the room were sitting, she was SOL, along with the entire McCain campaign.

In all my years, I've never seen such a poorly run effort on either side. But that was actually not Palin's fault.

There were candidates who were more seasoned and better prepared. But it would not have mattered. At the end of the day, it was Obama's time.

I definitely agree that it was Obama's time.

While I agree with the substance of this post, I think the angle of "qualified" is overblown - the only "qualification" to be VP, on a pragmatic level, is whether or not Americans will elect your ticket.

It's kind of being results-oriented to say "clearly she fails by this measure" since Obama was steam-rolling regardless, but there was a bump for the Republicans after her introduction (and, presumably, until she opened her mouth on national TV).

It's safe to say she didn't really do a great job as VP candidate, however we want to define that role.

I think it could have been a lot closer with different Republican candidates for President and VP, but I agree that, unfortunately, it was unlikely anyone would beat Obama.

I don't know about the person who posted that response about other qualified Republican women, but when I think of "qualified" in that respect I think of someone who is at least aware of what is going on in the world. Someone who can at least name a periodical that they read. Someone who doesn't have to be coached on all major issues that are taking place in the world. Perhaps a better word instead of "qualified" would have been "intelligent."

Wow....This is post number 3 that the OP has started against conservatives! lol!!! First a sorority's political choice, than country music, now Sarah Palin....What next, a discussion on the separation of church and state?

As to the actual thread....dittos to AnchorAlum.

I know that's what you think of - but that's not really the functional definition here.

Let's put it this way: does the Republican party think that "intelligence" or "public service" or "seniority" are the most important factors for a VP? Clearly not, or they would simply put that into an equation like some sort of UAW promotion calendar. So yeah - Palin was a failure, not because she wasn't smart enough (how many Americans can give a rational answer to what to do about Georgia?), but because she was not capable of turning enough people on to her to get elected.

Also - every politician is coached on major issues. Every single one. It's why Senators have a staff, it's why the President has a cabinet, et cetera. I know it's an aside, but just saying.

IMHO, the thing that made Palin unqualified was her theocratic views.

As for the party, the Republicans made a mistake in not letting Palin be Palin. Mind you, I don't think she was the appropriate choice, but then they tried to make her fit a mold she was not meant to fit.

KSigkid, you're right ... the media annointed the messiah from the start. The only question was whether the media could overcome the Clinton machine.

Well, to be fair, that's not exactly what I said. I was disappointed that Obama had so much momentum coming out of the primaries, but I didn't say it was a media thing. It was a combination of a bunch of factors and, unfortunately, the Republicans never overcame that.

ETA: As a former member of said media (and staunch Conservative), I'm not going to say that the media "anointed" a certain candidate. Maybe I'm a bit of an idealist in that regard, but the point remains...

There is a difference between being coached on issues and being ADVISED on how certain issues should be handled. It isn't about being able to necessarily give a rational answer about what to do about Georgia on the fly, but more about at least knowing that there is an issue with Georgia in the first place. Not to mention the fact that when she said that she had foreign policy experience because she could SEE Russia, that showed just how clueless she really is about what foreign policy experience entails. I think many people who were able to take a step back and view Palin with an objective eye realized that she really wasn't smart enough for the job. Longstanding ected Republicans switched sides because of her presence on the ticket. That says quite a bit.

Um, that was Tina Fey.

Ummm...no...Palin did actually say it and Tina Fey made a parody of it...which the public blew out of proportion.



GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.



http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...5782924&page=2

Actually Palin said that.

This is a LOT different than "I can see Russia."

Don't get me wrong - Palin was ripe for parody, but the SNL skit was a face-smashing for Palin and really helped shape public perception.

I think we are more or less are saying the same thing...it was said, it got blown out of proportion, parodied and the public rolled along with the misconception for God only knows whatever reason.

But oh well...

I don't know why everyone keeps bringing up the SNL skit. I didn't even see that. I'm just going by what I heard when she did her interview with Katie Couric.

It was one of the most-discussed portions of the campaign season. Tina Fey (and Sarah Palin, for that matter) has gotten a lot of publicity out of those skits.

Yeah, agreed - although I think it's pretty clear that Palin herself gave people plenty of reason (as deepimpact is indicating).

Tina Fey has been named one of the most influential people in 2008. That kind of says something.

I actually dressed as Sarah Palin for Halloween. On the back of my shirt, I had iron-on letters that read, “I can see Russia from my house!” Almost everyone that read it laughed, and made comments, some saying that Palin was incredibly stupid. I would tell them that she didn’t actually say that, it was Tina Fey, and about 95% of the people I said that to, replied with something along the lines of, “Yea, but she (Fey) only said that because Palin did first.”

McCain might have been reaching for votes from women by running with Palin, but as far as I can tell, it shouldn't be insulting to anyone. The intelligent women know better, and the dumb ones voted for McCain simply because of Palin. And yes, I guarantee you there are quite a few people in this country who voted for McCain because a “regular old soccer mom” was on the ticket. Just as there are some people who thought Palin was stupid because of what was on SNL. Just as there are some people who voted for Obama because he's black. I could go on and on.

And if you’re surprised that a politician used such a tactic to get votes that they might not otherwise have received, then you obviously don’t pay that much attention to politics.

Again, dumb move on McCain’s part to pick HER. But I understand his thought process. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that some people who voted for Clinton did so because she’s a woman.

WHen you keep feeding cheese to rats, guess what happens...

I mean mentioning it in reference to my comment. I would never accuse Palin of saying something based on a parody.

I think she would have shaken alot of things up in the white house. I am not sure if she ruined or helped her chances by the things that happened. I would love to see her make it though!