Wow, it's gonna be hard to stay up to speed in this thread-everybody on Eastern and Central time has a 2-3 hour head start on me!
Anyway, reading the news this morning, this was one of the top stories on Yahoo:
Heidi Przybyla
Sat Aug 30, 12:01 AM ET
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's decision to pass up conventional candidates and pick little-known, first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for the Republican ticket may appeal to undecided voters McCain needs to win. It also may blunt McCain's charges that Democrat Barack Obama isn't experienced enough for the White House.
ADVERTISEMENT
Palin, 44, who wasn't high on conventional-wisdom rankings of potential vice presidential candidates, may soothe social conservatives in her own party and may appeal to some disappointed Hillary Clinton backers. She's younger than Obama, who is 47, and has served less than half of her first term as governor.
``It's either a grand-slam home run or it'll turn out to be a bust,'' said Stu Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report in Washington. The answer will be clear over the next few days, he said.
Palin opposes abortion rights and supports gun ownership, two core Republican issues. She also has no ties to George W. Bush, an advantage as McCain seeks to distance himself from the unpopular president.
Palin, who has a background in energy policy, was elected governor in 2006 by challenging Alaska's Republican leadership and vowing to clean up a government corruption scandal.
``As governor, I've stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-old-boy network,'' she said at a rally yesterday in Dayton, Ohio, where she was introduced by McCain.
``She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics,'' McCain said.
`Off the Table'
Former Senator Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat and leading Obama advocate, said McCain's selection will make it more difficult for the Arizona senator to fault Obama for a lack of experience.
``It takes the whole experience issue off the table,'' Daschle said.
The next few days will be a critical test for Palin as the media and critics dig through her record, said Fordham University political scientist Costas Panagopoulos.
``Palin will face intense scrutiny by the media and by voters who need assurance that she is ready to assume the presidency at a moment's notice, if necessary,'' Panagopoulos said.
McCain's choice was applauded by social conservatives.
``We have a pro-life, pro-family ticket,'' said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America. ``It's going to galvanize conservative evangelicals across the country.''
Skittish About McCain
Abortion foes have been skittish about McCain, who supports stem-cell research and has said he wants to broaden the party's plank on abortion to include exceptions in cases of rape and when the life of the mother is at risk.
Palin is a member of Feminists for Life, a group that works to make health-care and child-care resources available to ``pregnant or parenting students,'' according to the group's Web site.
``All the conservatives are happy, yet she kind of offers a working-class Republican ethos, which we wouldn't have gotten with Mitt Romney,'' said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Houston.
McCain's selection of Palin is also aimed at wooing female supporters of Clinton, some of whom have been reluctant to line up behind Obama after a protracted primary battle.
Palin is the second woman to be chosen as a major-party nominee for vice president. The first, then-Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, was nominated by the Democrats in 1984.
`Glass Ceiling'
``Many Hillary Clinton supporters are desperate to break the glass ceiling for women,'' said Brinkley.
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, said McCain shouldn't assume women will vote Republican just because a female is on the ticket.
``The burden of proof, if anything, is a little bit higher, so I think there is a little miscalculation on that assumption,'' Napolitano said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Conversations with Judy Woodruff.''
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted Palin's anti-abortion stance.
``She shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies,'' Pelosi said in a statement.
Energy industry groups lauded Palin's selection, saying it reopened the possibility the U.S. could begin allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Record Prices
McCain has said he opposes opening the refuge to drilling, although new emphasis has been placed on domestic oil production as prices reached records this summer. Oil hit a record $147.27 on July 11.
Palin, a former beauty queen, high school basketball star and television sportscaster, began her political career in the 1990s as a city councilwoman and then mayor in her home town of Wasilla. The town's estimated population in 2007 was 9,780, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Considered a rising political star by state Republican leaders, she was appointed in 2003 to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a significant body in the energy-rich state.
Her biggest test may be proving her intellect, said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy expert at Washington's Brookings Institution.
``Since we all know there's nothing there in terms of national security, does she have the intellectual ability to get up to speed quickly?'' he said. ``We're going to have to get a feel for how smart she is.''
To contact the reporters this story: Heidi Przybyla in Denver at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080830/pl_bloomberg/aulhaumcz6l0There's plusses, and minuses, to McCains' choice as a running mate. As Daschle pointed out, McCain may have just blotted out his experience advantage-Palin's got even less than Obama. However, She may win over Clinton supporters, who will vote a woman into office, simply to break that "glass ceiling" that was mentioned in the article...Although, Clinton was running for the presidency itself; Vice-presidency doesn't have quite the same impact. Hard to call that one. Also, She might shut down drilling for oil in places' like the arctic National wildlife refuge, as she has had a conservationist stance. This could also stretch to offshore drilling in other places, although that hasn't been proven.
I'm thinking one thing that I really don't like about this selection. It was so completely out of left field, in terms of who she is, and what her background is, that if she goes to D.C. she will be encountering all kinds' of lobying hell that she never saw in Alaska; Only having to deal with the Oil companies' is one thing. Facing the full brunt of everything there will be in Washington, All the Major corporations, All of the special interest groups, all the religions, etc. etc., might be pretty tough if she has to assume the Presidency (McCain doesn't have to die to relinquish office, remember. If he falls' ill, becomes' debilitated, or succumbs' to old age, She will suddenly have to jump in Mid-term.)
Anyway, read the article, and check the rest of the news to see what pops up.
