Obama's Rhetoric is the Real Catastrophe

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

If they picked her for the female vote they failed miserably.

It's debatable why he picked her. Many think it was an effort to consolidate the conservative republican base, since oftentimes McCain is characterized as too moderate or liberal. I would think this is more likely.

If that is the case then they didn't fail as miserably as they did if they picked her for the female vote.

After all, it's not like this was a landslide election for Obama. It was a pretty hard fought battle. So to say that Palin hurt McCain that badly would mean the same as saying that McCain would have had the election in the bag had he not picked Palin.


My dad's been a republican for 40 years. This was his first time voting for a Democrat. I can tell you he didn't give a flying fig about Sarah Palin, or Joe Biden for that matter.

Many people speculated that he brought Palin on board as a way of pulling in the Hillary Clinton supporters once she did not win the nomination.
As much as I like Obama, deep down I think McCain would have won if he had chosen Mitt Romney, or even that other female Republican (sorry, can't remember her name right now..I think she may be a governor).

I'm curious though as to what made your dad change? I know you said he didn't give a flying fig about Palin...so was that his main reasoning?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

Many people speculated that he brought Palin on board as a way of pulling in the Hillary Clinton supporters once she did not win the nomination.
As much as I like Obama, deep down I think McCain would have won if he had chosen Mitt Romney, or even that other female Republican (sorry, can't remember her name right now..I think she may be a governor).

I'm curious though as to what made your dad change? I know you said he didn't give a flying fig about Palin...so was that his main reasoning?

On my dad, besides the actual issues and who lined up where with his changing views (retirement really has changed him a lot!), he thought McCain was A. Too old, and B. Looked like a pervy old man. LOL.

If female voters really went over to McCain when he chose Palin, that shows that those female voters really don't care about the issues. At all. Because Palin and Clinton are on starkly opposite ends of the political spectrum.

And anyone with half a brain who cares to look can see that.

I'm telling you, political commentators are often not worth their salt. McCain's people are not that stupid, and they don't think voters are that stupid. More likely, it was because she's conservative. The fact that she had a vagina and is hot were a plus.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

On my dad, besides the actual issues and who lined up where with his changing views (retirement really has changed him a lot!), he thought McCain was A. Too old, and B. Looked like a pervy old man. LOL.


I'm telling you, political commentators are often not worth their salt. McCain's people are not that stupid, and they don't think voters are that stupid. More likely, it was because she's conservative. The fact that she had a vagina and is hot were a plus.

LMAO at pervy old man. I didn't think he looked like a perv. I just thought he looked...embalmed.

I got sick of hearing about Palin fulfilling the "naughty librarian" stereotype for some men. As in she takes her hair down, shakes it, removes the glasses, and gives a BJ in the library stacks.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

Many people speculated that he brought Palin on board as a way of pulling in the Hillary Clinton supporters once she did not win the nomination.

I think you're probably at least partially right, but it seems like there was at least a little more strategy involved. This view ("bringin' in the womens" as it were) was popular speculation at the time, but as inept as McCain's camp was in the "small-picture" stuff, I'd be shocked if they made this poor of a "big-picture" maneuver - it seems much more likely that Palin was intended to motivate the base with someone who could play both "attack dog" and "snake charmer" while McCain reached across the aisle for moderates. Sort of a "good cop/bad cop" thing, with the added bonus that the bad cop would be what most "common" American males would consider attractive. Remember: attractiveness matters.

It seems like this plan was not so much ill-conceived as ill-executed, since Palin went absolutely balls-to-the-wall beyond what I think McCain envisioned (and the Newsweek piece seems to back this up). She got off the leash, as far as what the McCain camp expected.

The thing is, as insane as this plan sounds in retrospect, it appeared to work for a brief moment - McCain's post-convention bump was large and quite real, and seemed to portend good things. However, once the buzz died down and the questions grew louder, Palin simply couldn't keep the ball rolling, and McCain's guys saw the writing on the wall and bailed.

It probably wouldn't have mattered, given the state of the economy at the time, but it sure would have helped to bring in someone (ANYONE) with real economic experience (like, as you noted, Romney).

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

I think you're probably at least partially right, but it seems like there was at least a little more strategy involved. This view ("bringin' in the womens" as it were) was popular speculation at the time, but as inept as McCain's camp was in the "small-picture" stuff, I'd be shocked if they made this poor of a "big-picture" maneuver - it seems much more likely that Palin was intended to motivate the base with someone who could play both "attack dog" and "snake charmer" while McCain reached across the aisle for moderates. Sort of a "good cop/bad cop" thing, with the added bonus that the bad cop would be what most "common" American males would consider attractive. Remember: attractiveness matters.

It seems like this plan was not so much ill-conceived as ill-executed, since Palin went absolutely balls-to-the-wall beyond what I think McCain envisioned (and the Newsweek piece seems to back this up). She got off the leash, as far as what the McCain camp expected.

The thing is, as insane as this plan sounds in retrospect, it appeared to work for a brief moment - McCain's post-convention bump was large and quite real, and seemed to portend good things. However, once the buzz died down and the questions grew louder, Palin simply couldn't keep the ball rolling, and McCain's guys saw the writing on the wall and bailed.

It probably wouldn't have mattered, given the state of the economy at the time, but it sure would have helped to bring in someone (ANYONE) with real economic experience (like, as you noted, Romney).

I agree.
As inane as it sounds, I also think McCain was going for the historical factor too...first female VP and all. That certainly seemed to get people revved up.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

I agree.
As inane as it sounds, I also think McCain was going for the historical factor too...first female VP and all. That certainly seemed to get people revved up.

Geraldine Farraro.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Geraldine Farraro.

Right.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

Right.

And it was sad how the media mixed up her statements.

Completely taken out of context. Yet so on point.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

Right.

I mean, they didn't win, so we could still have the first female VP, but we might continue to have female VP candidates without that.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Geraldine Farraro.

I'm aware of her but she was only a candidate.