yes to your serious questions. (although talking about "smooth" was fun) Absolutely. I will be delighted to do so, but I would like to finish the night with the family, and I want to ensure I give you full attention and proper reference to my personal reasoning so please allow me to respond in the morning.
Batman, I'm moderate. I am a weirdo type that can see good things and bad things in both political slants, but I'm worried about people I like that commit only towards one political slant in full...I'm ready for 2012 glory when Palin wins, but I am worried about you when this happens. When she does win, I will be there for you in support.
No problem. It will be a pleasure to discuss/debate her in a non-emotional, non-hysterical, logical manner. Like you, I'm not affiliated with either party (never have been and never will be).
Sarah Palin, Only seems to appeal to the conservative base....I reckon, hahah <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z75QSExE0jU&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z75QSExE0jU&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nokTjEdaUGg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nokTjEdaUGg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> She's a so clueless.....
Okay, rather than do all kinds of boring research to support my opinions, I decided to have a side by side analysis on who I feel is stronger on priority issues. I will have my reasoning and if needed, I will refer to supportive links but not now...(My first 4 categories are background) Palin - Obama + education comments: On education, I feel that while both are college educated, Obama has a better quality of education and especially in issues of law. Palin + Obama - experience prior to being president comments: I don't feel Obama had as much leadership experience as Palin at all. The small town mayor bit did not necessary impress me, but being the Governor and energy chairperson experience has. Palin - Obama + "smooth" comments: okay this may seem like I'm being silly again, but what I'm actually refering to is the ability to speak well to an audience, and project yourself as intended. Palin must work on this. Palin + Obama - intangibles comments: I am not going to say Palin resigning as Governor of Alaska is a good move or a bad move. The fact remains she may choose to stay in private life and all this "analysis" is for not...However, she may also use this time to become a better participant on national issues - (especially if she runs for the state senate soon and wins). Let's face it. As Alaskan governor, you can only be exposed to national issues on a very limited basis. The above is my analysis on key background issues. To me it is scoreboard even. Palin + Obama - core beliefs comments: 2nd admendment rights is more likely to be safeguarded under Palin. Obama has not yet infringed on the 2nd admend. rights and I appreciate that, but the key word is "yet"....I also think Palin has better family values policy such as marriage and not letting it be a slippery slope Palin + Obama - energy policy comments: Slight edge here. I like Palins exp. in energy and her plans for the Alaskan pipeline energy sharing. I think she was well stated in a all of the above type of policy which can be best for lowering prices and being better foreign energy dependent. I also like Obama's initiative and efforts leading to more cars being energy efficient. Hey, don't share this but I kinda like the 3rd. generation Prius with solar roof.... Palin Obama economy - even - comments: If you were to ask me 3 months ago, Obama would have the edge, but I don't believe that now. It doesn't seem throwing billions of money at the wall will make jobs stick. Ohio is according to recent polls at only 50% approval and trending down. Although I think Obama has done well in the auto. industry intervention, many have had a sour taste about it. Despite Obama's campaign pledges, newer or higher taxes may be coming to a door near you. Palin won't throw billions at the wall, and maybe that is a good thing. Palin Obama foreign policy - even - & exp. comments: this is the toughest category and I tell you why...I don't like Obama's constant apologizing for the U.S., I don't like his sometimes seeming inaction about N. Korea, but I do like his decision on certain military leadership being maintained such as Gates and Patraeus and his ability to speak well and comunicate while carefully measuring his words. Palin like I said, needs improvement on this, but I think she is making gains. When I saw her not that long ago on the today show, Matt Lauer brought up Letterman (not her mind you), and I was very impressed at her responses, she seemed much quicker on anticipated questions than the campaign and I was proud for her. I think Palin may have a slight edge on foreign policy but this is likely the one category I feel most unsure about. Palin - Obama + healthcare & national services comments: If there is one area I sway liberal, it is healthcare and national services. I have a mother who spends hundreds on medicine per month while on a fixed income. I know Obama wants to fight this and I appreciate that on a personal basis. I also believe in other services to take care of people so I naturally sway on this category towards Obama. I also think Palin would have the best intentions and could do a lot, but Obama may be able to do more. On priority issues, Palin has the slight edge. Very close though. That was fun and actually interesting as I haven't examined like this in a comparative way before. Please keep in mind this is my opinion and reasoning. I will be happy to debate some points of view respectfully. (not right now though)
wait, tell me how resigning from your job because you can't handle the heat...how does that make a + in intangibles? Seriously, it's ridiculous how people are justifying Palin's resignation as some kind of master plan. She's a quitter, plain and simple and thank God she couldn't handle the pressure as governor because that more or less makes it sure that she will never ever be in position to handle the pressure as president.
Forget Palin as president, I don't think she has the talent to make a credible pitch to her own base from the position she's put herself in. She might get a commentator job or radio show.
ROXRAN, I think I understand your viewpoint on Palin. Where I differ from you is that while listing & comparing positions might be the best way to vote for a congressman/woman, there is a lot more involved in being president than stated policy beliefs. To repeat what I said earlier, Palin doesn't have the brainpower, leadership capability, attention span, organizational skills, constitution and temperament to be president of the United States. That immediately disqualifies her in my book. I may as well cast a write-in ballot for myself instead of her. I base those comments on her behavior since last September, which has been abysmal IMO. She is already in too deep over her head and is too dense to realize it, which is why she doesn't take advice very well.
Sig worthy? LOL. Indeed, make your time. Anyway, ROXRAN, just came back to this thread and thanks for that. I must admit I am having some sort of very gut reaction to her and I have from the moment she uttered a nasal syllable on television. I found the following to be interesting: Willie Brown (former mayor of SF, and one of the few to actually get anything done out here) is one of the most instinctual politicians I've ever followed, and here's his take ! (from his column in the SF Chronicle.) "The pundits are wrong. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor was a brilliant move. Palin has some of the best political instincts I have ever seen. She became a pop-culture superstar overnight when John McCain made her his veep pick, and she's still second only to President Obama among politicians the public is interested in. Even in liberal San Francisco, she'd be front-page news if she ever came to town. But that kind of celebrity comes at a high price. What a lot of people don't know is that Palin entered Alaska politics as a reformer attacking the corruption of the state's Republican establishment. As such, she was the darling of the Democrats - until she hooked up with McCain. After the election, with Palin back home but positioning herself for a 2012 presidential run, it was clear she would catch nothing but ridicule from Alaska's Democrats. It was not going to be pretty. If Palin wants to play on the national field, she has to be free to move around. She has to be able to drop into Indiana, Ohio or Tennessee and help Republican candidates raise money. She has to be available for radio and TV. She has to be like Gavin Newsom, free to roam around the country, safe in the knowledge that things will pretty much take care of themselves back home. Instead, Palin faced the prospect of being constantly pinned down in a state that is a day and a half away from the rest of America. She would have been totally isolated in every sense of the word. Now she can study up on issues where she is lacking and become a full-time political celebrity. The pundits call her a quitter, but let's be honest - the pundits never liked her to begin with. Better to take one hit for stepping down and move on than to stay in Alaska and die a death by a thousand cuts. Governor or not, Palin is still the biggest star in the Republican galaxy. After all, who else have they got?"
That is really sad for Republican party. A person like Dick Cheany you can dislike but you will never say he is clueless or stupid. But this Palin person is just so clueless on so many issues, yet because of her conservative stands on social issues she is a a big Republican star. A president does not run a country on moral values, even on the family value issues she really did a great job with her daughter didn't she?
i find it shocking that any reasonable person would consider palin worthy of the highest office in the land.
Me too, but it's how you fill in the blanks. There are so many aspects to our concept of "intelligence." For bookish people or pseudo-intellectuals, like myself (and I mean that as a pejorative), you can kind of tell that she could never survive a rigorous college curriculum. But in terms of reading a room, reading an audience, and for pure "people" intelligence, maybe she's off the charts. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree a little bit with Willie Brown, and she has some sort of weird political intelligence. So, what are the blanks? Well, there's so much we still don't know about her. Is she ego-maniacal, like some of us think, or is she truly in the fight for the right reasons? ROXRAN and some others would say the latter. Could she really run a country? That's another blank, and it's a blank for everyone. People like me think you need book smarts to do that, that a person must go through so many complex issues and digest so much data, that you need to be super smart. But others, like maybe ROXRAN, would point to some bookish presidents who now have terrible terrible legacies. Leadership, ROXRAN might say, is made up of different ingredients. I hate to say it, but if she can marshall the humility to get some really smart people around her, I would not count her out in 2012. Whether she has the confidence and security to get smart people around her is an open question. A lot of people aren't comfy unless they are the smartest in the room.
first of all, anyone running for office is a POLITICIAN, and i mean that as a pejorative. her instincts supercede survival and are focused on power-seeking/obtaining. what is appalling/frightening is her VISION. she's freaking super scary.
What is her vision? I know she's aligned herself against science at most opportunities. But she just seems like a populist, wanting to say what will resonate with the largest number of voters. My big worry is her super-snarky attitude about elites and "the media" etc etc could really speak to severe insecurity. Or again, it could just be the politics of playing victim and building a fervent base. Willie Brown has been around the block about 4,000 times more than me and you combined, I'm sad to say. And yeah, she scares the bejesus out of me. And... don't get how people find her hawt.
