I am an independent male. First and foremost, I'm fiscally conservative, but I'm socially liberal as well. My first impression, and her track record suggests, is that Palin will push fiscally conservative policies. As a still undecided voter, this makes me lean toward voting McCain.
It's amazing how differently people of goodwill can see the same thing, sometimes. I realize that you didn't like Hillary Clinton before the Democratic Convention and continue to not like her ("not like" is probably not strong enough, I'm sure!), much like my good friend, thumbs, but it still astonishes me that you and others could watch that convention and still come away thinking conspiracy.
The feminist kind who just care about a woman getting into the white house. Policies, qualifications, political affiliations, etc . . . are just trivial details.
This previously undecided male (though certainly not independent) has been placed firmly in McCain's camp with this VP choice and Bob Barr looking like an idiot on Glenn Beck yesterday. (Fewer Wars, more Black Ops!)
Is your opinion that she is a fiscal conservative based on her record leading the 700,000 citizens of Alaska, the 8000 citizens of the great city of Wasilla, or her kids' PTA?
ok this is driving me crazy seeing people say this is a hail mary pass to the women of america to try to garner votes from them. this does get some attention from the women of america but it does a lot more to garner support from the conservatives of america. when you listen to conservative reaction about the palin pick it seems they are pretty happy with her record and the pick. i do think the conservative douchebag glenn beck said it best right now on CNN when he said this pick makes him think about voting for mccain now because of her fiscally conservative reformist record. yes her experience is clearly lacking but if she is ready then it will be shown in the next 2 months. i am interested to see how this will develop.
That you would vote for a McCain/Palin ticket if you are socially liberal, with all due respect. In my opinion. Have you pondered Supreme Court appointments? Lifetime Supreme Court appointments? Lifetime appointments to the Federal bench? The next President, regardless of who it is, is going to have a huge impact on socially liberal issues simply with that one issue. I could name several others, but I think that's good enough to make my point. Just food for thought.
You raise some good points but I don't think you can dismiss that there are some very big potential pitfalls to Palin. I think you, Major and myself all agree that this is a still a close race and given that it is a gamble to pick a relative unknown for the VP slot.
I understand your point, but as I mentioned, first and foremost, I'm fiscally conservative. So I have to make a choice, neither party offers everything I believe in. I'll have to do more research, and I'm still undecided, but early indications are that Palin fits my economic beliefs pretty damn close to perfectly. It would be a welcome change from the Bush spending.
no, hillary won't say she's not qualified. but palin just implicit said she'll finish the fight hillary started and fight for women everywhere. unfortunately, that will piss hillary off b/c let's be real, hillary has been more passionate and adamant, according to what she stands for. palin is pro-life and gun control, which is against what most women stand for. you can't just claim you're for women just b/c you're a woman and that's what hillary is gonna tlak about. you're talking about bill clinton, one of the best presidents of our time. what has palin done to get a pass? please you're comparing alaska to alabama? check the economics of both state. she's not gonna attack her as a woman/mother... we all should be proud of that. hillary is gonna talk to her voters and say: you voted for me b/c of what i stood for and what i fought for all my life: for women's rights. what has palin done for women's rights that make her say she can do what i do. the things palin is for is against what most women want.
I think you missed the point of her speech. Her speech was primarily directed at her supporters and especially the ones who still feel some lingering bitterness over the primary. As I mentioned in another thread given the historic nature of the primary you can't just expect Clinton supporters to all of a sudden embrace Obama. Like it or not a lot of people had invested a lot of energy and emotion into Clinton's campaign and it would be unlikely to expect them to suddenly drop that and support Obama. Clinton's talked about her issues and accomplishments because that is why people supported her but then added the crucial caveat, that if you believe in those issues and liked those accomplishments you should support Obama since out of the two candidates left who will likely win Obama is the one that is closer to those issues. In terms of her plotting to undermine Obama, I won't completely rule out she isn't, but Clinton has shown almost her whole adult life that she is a very loyal Democrat and also understands that if Democrats think she is undermining her that will doom any chance she has down the rode of either another presidential run or some other higher position like Majority leader.
If it's aimed at women, they'll get the women that were never going to vote Dem anyway. She's anti-choice and a Creationist. She's anti-Social Security and universal health care. And check this out... That means drilling in ANWR. She's Cheney in a velvet glove.
