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I see where a few of my friends on the right are calling for the McCain campaign to “unleash” Palin and just let her be herself. This is delusional bordering on willful self deception. With Palin, what you see is what you get. There is no hidden genius. There is no glib, down to earth Will Rogers-like cornpone philosopher just waiting to be freed from the McCain campaign’s efforts to prep her for the media.
The Sarah Palin we have seen in interviews – minus the deliberate cutting and pasting done by the CBS partisans – is the Palin we got: Unsure of herself, light on facts, and clearly (at the present) over her head on the national political stage.
The good news is that all of this can be overcome with a little experience. It’s no accident that Presidential candidate Barack Obama held press “avails” on average once every 8 days during the first 9 months of his campaign. Even after that he made himself available to the press only twice a week. (Every other candidate had daily avails – sometimes twice a day). One might recall the famous Obama avail held in early March where, for the first time, Chicago reporters covering the Rezko mess got to ask the messiah some questions. His response? “C’mon guys. I’ve answered like 8 questions already.”
Never again were the Trib and Sun Times reporters covering the Obama scandals allowed to ask any questions off the cuff. Only Obama “beat” reporters from those publications who were following the campaign were granted access to the candidate. (Obama sat down with editorial staffs of both papers a few weeks later – after massive preparation, of course – and managed to evade the tough questions about Rezko and his real estate dealings with the convicted felon.)
The stumbling, bumbling manner in which Obama answered those questions at the March avail revealed a candidate not ready for high office – which is the obvious reason Obama was protected and hidden by his campaign from the press during those first months.
Palin did not have the luxury of being protected from the press for months as Obama clearly was. No doubt a year from now – if she is elected – her performance in these kinds of interviews as well as press conferences will be adequate if not spectacular. She is not stupid nor does she lack quick wits. Her problem is unfamiliarity and a lack of depth when it comes to knowledge – ignorance if you will – of national issues and her performance reveals that fact painfully.
Of course, the left has jumped all over her with their tried and true personal attack, calling Palin ignorant” and “stupid.” If I had a dollar every time a liberal called a Republican candidate “stupid” I would be wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. Eisenhower (dumb, incoherent), Goldwater (crazy and stupid), Ford (dumb jock and a stumblebum), Reagan (dumb actor), Quayle (can’t spell potato), Jack Kemp (dumb jock), George Bush (dumb playboy). The harsh truth is, the personal attack works when you have the press and other media (think Saturday Night Live riffing off liberal talking points for Ford, Reagan, Quayle, Kemp, and Bush 43), buttressing and playing to that exact same argument. It is a potent combination and only the basic good sense of the American voter has saved the GOP from being shut out entirely over the last 50 years.
Lost in all of this (and the Obama campaign is breathing a sigh of relief for that) is the continuing adventures of the gaffe master himself Joe Biden. The large number of ignorant, incorrect, stupid, incredibly wrong statements by Biden over the last fortnight have been obscured by Palin’s problems. So expect the debate between the two – one ignorant of national issues the other unable to not say the first thing that comes into his head even if it is spectacularly wrong – to be a gaffe fest that will have both campaigns scrambling in the days following to correct the record or trying to undo the damage done by these two.
Biden’s gaffes reveal a shallow, unkempt mind – disorganized, arrogant, and stubbornly resistant to facts. If Palin is “stupid,” what does that make Biden? And, if liberals were honest with themselves (an admittedly forlorn hope), how much more “qualified” is Biden for the presidency than Palin given the extraordinary lack of depth of his character and intellect?
All this begs the question; is Palin qualified to be President if necessary? Right now, if she were forced to take over the top of the ticket I would have to say no. A year from now? I believe she will be as ready as anyone. A year at the center of power would give her all the experience and knowledge anyone would need to become president.
No one believes McCain chose her because she was qualified to become president “from day one.” Few are. She was a political choice as all Vice Presidential selections are. But this idea that there is a hidden Sarah Palin just waiting to be “unleashed” is kooky. She isn’t going to suddenly start speaking in complete sentences or stop repeating herself, or give anything save a thumbnail’s sketch of understanding when it comes to the issues. Perhaps she will be more relaxed during the debate and do a slightly better job of projecting herself. But that’s the best Palin supporters can hope for – for now.
Expectations for Palin are once again lower than dirt for the debate which means if she shows up, stays awake, gives us some charming one liners, and doesn’t make too many egregious mistakes, she wins hands down. I think Biden will not be able to help himself and will, when he is unaware the camera is on him, smile that condescending smile he is known for and set off the women of America on a tirade against him. He is far too arrogant and has too much belief in his own superiority not to treat Palin as he would some dumb hick from Wasilla. That’ll play great with most women in America, trust me Joe.
With Palin, it’s what you see is what you get. Imagining her as something she isn’t is only deluding yourself.
10:18 am
Rick,
I must commend you for a remarkably succinct analysis and commentary regarding Sarah Palin.
Thanks!
10:36 am
Meh. The voters have such low expectations at this point that all she has to do is speak semi-coherently at the debate and it’ll be considered a victory. Joe Biden will say at least one incredibly stupid thing as well, witch will later be used for a boost as well. I’m assuming the debate will pretty much be a wash.
10:57 am
This “low expectations” jive is idiotic, i.e. the belief that if everyone thinks you’re inferior to your debate opponent, all you have to do is show up and not embarass yourself to “win”. More times than not, it works the other way. I first noticed this in 1992 when Gore debated Quayle. Gore, who flunked out of graduate school twice, had been adorned as a super-genius by the media, while Quayle had been branded a dunce. Quayle ran rings around the inept Gore, but viewers overwhelmingly crowned Gore the “winner”. Same thing with McCain/Obama last week. Even liberal commentators (without an agenda) admitted Obama was weak, pathetic, and his performance was borderline train-wreck, but post debate polls showed the opposite. Unfortuneatley, people usually see what they are told to see.
11:00 am
Unleashing would be better than trying to have a Republican debating as a running mate to a (very near) Democrat.
CC
11:03 am
the reason Palin can’t be trusted to talk to the press is the press will ask her about Pentecostal witchproofing and Young Earth Creationism.
ANCHORAGE — Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago — about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct — the teacher said.
After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.
Palin told him that “dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time,” Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said “she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks,” recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.
this isn’t a youthful indescretion with marijuana…this is genuine, whackjob crazy non-mainstream belief.
11:07 am
and that is also the reason Palin can’t benefit from A Crash Course in Absolutely Everything.
If she believes in Young Earth Creationism in the face of massive scientific data disproving it, she simply isn’t bright enough.
11:12 am
The unleashing is not to get at the “hidden intellect” but rather to tell her STOP trying to act like this wonk stuff matters. Stop searching for the “right” answer of repeated talking points, but declare quite aggressively that you’re going to address what matters to the people. It means saying stuff like “Katie, you can obsess all you want about it but Rick Davis did recuse himself and this kind of side show is NOT helping the American people, so lets get to some real questions, ok?”
Similarly she could have said when asked for more McCain examples, “I’m not running for the job of McCain’s press secretary. I’m running on my own record of reform in Alaska, and that’s what I’m here to talk about – the ethics bill, the pipeline deal, the return of thousands to each and every taxpayer.”
Giving her the confidence to assert that these press obsessions do not matter to America is what freeing Palin is about.
11:14 am
I’ve seen the interviews she did with Beck on CNN and Maria B. on CNBC as well as a long interview on C-Span before she was picked and she was very good. Relaxed and natural.
I also saw some of the debates in AK. She had a command of subjects and was very smooth.
Watching the interviews since the convention, even the Hannity interview, she was obviously coached to the point she looked very stilted and searching for the ‘right’ answer. There is a world of difference between the pre-convention Palin and the post-convention Palin.
I have a hard time not believing that the McCain campaign is mostly responsible for the change.
11:17 am
hey rick
i think team mccain agrees with you.
“Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people
are more than concerned about Palin.
The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as “disastrous.” One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, “What are we going to do?” The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is “clueless.”
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/memo-to-joe-biden-let-palin-talk.html
11:21 am
rick, dude…...
this isnt really funnie anymore.
McCain chose what the Founders would have called a Demagogue for his running mate. No one can say she is qualled at this point in time.
This is a test of the Constitution.
Will we elect a Demagogue in the Age of American Idol?
11:23 am
So why is she so popular as governor? Is it just an Alaska thing? Why is she still drawing huge crowds?
11:24 am
Fugate ,
I agree with you about Dan Quayle. I’ve always liked Quayle. He’s a very smart guy, and his overblown image as a dunce is something that he does not deserve at all.
As far as the McCain/Obama debate goes though, I thought it was pretty much a draw. Neither side was spectacular, but they didn’t suck either. I disagree about Obama being a train wreck. They both did fine. I doubt that many independents were swayed much by that debate.
11:25 am
That’s some pretty facile attempting to draw any parallels between Obama and Palin. Do we just ignore the fact that Palin probably couldn’t even READ an issue of the Harvard Law Review, let alone edit it??
Okay, so she’s an imbecile. Why is that a problem? Lots of imbeciles make it to high office. (Look at the current president.) I think it’s a terrific idea to “let her be herself”. Maybe she’ll hit a home run. And if she doesn’t, it’s bound to be the best television comedy in a long, long while.
A
11:26 am
I disagree. What you see is not what you get. The media is the power that determines what you see. Her speech in Alsaka on her return was off the cuff and great. As a Gov I’m sure she has views on national issues and forgeign policy. The trouble is that being a conservative her views will most likely be different than Sen. McCain’s. I think you underestimate Gov. Palin based on two interviews to a hostile press. If she was the one running for President she would appear totally different. The need to confirm to McCain’s POV’s is hamstringing her and is the basis for the “Free Palin” thoughts. The conservatives are saying let Gov Palin be a conservative not just a mouth piece for McCain. She will defend Sen. McCain and if she doesn’t agree with him like in ANWR she just needs to say we will agree to disagree. As long as the cental policies are agreed too the little stuff is no big deal. Americians do not want a clone in the VP office. This staying on message as been one of the worse things of the Bush years. Pres. Reagan and Bush 1 did not agree on everything, Pres. Clinton and Gore did not either. Americians want to know that there will be healthy debate within a Pres McCain admin and that conservative views will be defended by Gov. Palin.
Or and BTW the correct form of address for Gov. Palin is Gov Palin. not Palin, not Sarah Palin. but GOV. Palin. you refusal to use her correct salutation says alot about your true feelings for the woman. not once did you refer to her as Gov. Palin in your entire post.
And you will refer to me, sir, by MY proper title: “Godlike Purveyor of Conservative Truth and Scourge of the Ignorant.”
ed.
11:27 am
Demagogue ? WTF.
1. Have you checked the source for these stories carefully yet ?
2. Compared to The One ?
You are all nuts.
11:27 am
I think your analysis is spot on.
Palin should be talking up energy—nuclear, coal, drilling. That would be plenty good. She could spend lots of time in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan doing it.
I’m not sure who at NRO decided that Kathryn Jean Lopez was a political analyst. Her instincts are usually a recipe for a permanent place in the political wilderness for conservatives. As for Kristol, well, he should know better.
11:30 am
One more thing Rick.
Aren’t u guyz the smallest bit peeved that Septugenarian Guy threw the Hope of the Republican Party under the Straight-talk express?
I mean…..Palin might have been a contender with some seasoning.
As it is, she was just a fresh horse for McCain.
My grandfather taold me to always vote republican.
No thanks.
You eat your young.
Jesus – can’t you do anything except repeat Dem talking points and liberal boilerplate? It’s not even original taunting. What a fucking robot.
ed.
11:41 am
[...] say CBS has two more responses on tape that will likely prove embarrassing.” I’m where Moran is right now: I’d love to “free Sarah” or “unleash Palin” or whatever [...]
11:43 am
“If Palin is “stupid,” what does that make Biden?”
A drunk? I’ve always had a small, tongue in cheek sort of, sense that maybe the Amtrak to work thing good for afternoon cocktails and a great way to avoid hangovers on the road in morning.
I really can’t figure out another reason for the abject idiocy that comes out of one of the gazzillion holes is his skull.
11:43 am
get this Rick.
This is what happens when you invite the vamphyre into the house.
Pretty soon, the vamphyres think they own the house.
And right after that, you all become vamphyres.
OH - GO JUMP OFF A CLIFF, WILLYA?
That’s your last comment.
ed.
11:46 am
No amount of “experience” with the press is going to help Sarah Palin. She IS that stupid. I can’t wait until Thursday night!
11:48 am
U guyz? srsly? l2usegrammar. Those nasty, dumb Republicans eating their young! My god, we’re so eeeeeevil! I think we need sensitivity training from those stalwart purveyors of morality on the other side of the aisle.
11:53 am
Never have I seen so much snarkiness amongst you on the left and in the press (except with the expectations for Bush in debates in 2000 and 2004). If you’re so smug, why do you write such crap? Let’s let the chips fall where they may, and if she does a crappy job, you will have done a great job of reducing expectations.
BUT IF SHE DOES WELL, AND IF BIDEN FILLS HIS DAILY QUOTA OF STUPID COMMENTS, then you can eat your words. Funny thing, do the things that Biden has said make him unqualified?
11:53 am
hey rick
i think team mccain agrees with you.
I think not.
I’d warrant William Kristol is a tad more believable than Ed Schultz:
11:55 am
Palin is a new commodity that even some of those on the right can’t figure out yet because they have spent too much time inside the beltway. The country is looking for more of her appearances with Mccain and on her own. She doesnt need to hang out with the press who, with rare exception, isnt going to be objective with her anyway. She needs to be herself. She is a political savant who will pick up on what is needed in short order. The base wants more of her nomination speech approach to campaign issues.
11:59 am
However poorly you pretend Obama may have performed a year ago, he has never said anything that comes close to rivaling the stupidity of repeatedly insisting that being the Governor of Alaska gives you foreign policy experience because Russia is close by.
12:00 pm
I think it goes like this:
In her political career to date, she’s been selling her own beliefs. She’s been forceful, resourceful, and more than competent.
Unlike Obama and his expensive Harvard Law training, and unlike Reagan and his career as an actor, and unlike McCain with his decades in politics, she hasn’t yet been trained to overcome the moral discomfort that comes with being a paid advocate – with trying to sell others’ positions as your own.
And we know that her personal views do not necessarily line up with the McCain campaign’s.
So if you ‘unleash’ her, you get a more articulate, more engaging version of what Joe Biden’s been doing to the Obama campaign. The problem, of course, is that where Biden’s continual overstepping of the reservation’s boundaries are carefully hidden by the media, anything Palin says that contradicts McCain’s positions will be headline news.
Now, the unfortunate part of all this is that a lot of us would rather be voting for her positions than his anyway.
12:03 pm
Levi – once again, if Obama had said something like that it would have gotten very friendly spin from the press, and because Palin said it it gets the worst possible interpretation.
I think it was utterly stupid of the campaign to say anything about her foreign policy expertise at all; the proper response would have been to simply point to the long list of Governors elected President or VP. Certainly nothing in Clinton’s bag gave him any better foreign-policy chops.
12:04 pm
I disagree sort of. Palin sounds like she is repeating McCain Campaign talking points. She should just express herself in her own words.
12:05 pm
greifer said:
I read a book several years ago, may have been by Jared Diamond. In the book the claim was advanced that the demise of some large land animal (I thought it was dinosaurs) was hastened by competition from bands of human hunters. The time period was an ice age after a meteor hit; maybe 25 to 50 thousand years ago.
It may have been mamoths not dinosaurs. I post this because I don’t think an error regarding prehistoric events is necessarily a disqualifier for the vice presidency (think Joe Biden would know the details on this?)
And, yes, I am arguing that if I was mistaken it’s OK for her to be mistaken.
12:09 pm
mrkwong,
I guess we’ll never know, since Obama never said something so dumb.
The press isn’t some liberal conspiracy, either, but that’s a whole different thread.
12:10 pm
The trouble with Governor Palin’s presentation so far is reinforcing the McCain message and campaign talking points has been the priority vs. what talents and track record she has going for her. Biden is at his worst, as most Dems are, when they are touting Obama’s non existent leadership and record. The debate isn’t going to require her to be on defense as the interviewss have been to date. She should be herself. Its like bring up a rookie hitter from the minors and then making him change his swing vs. swinging away and making it on talent. She must play to her strengths and shut down the handlers. After all, more handlers have ruined than made a candidate.
12:11 pm
I’m sorry, if you mix up dinosaurs with woolly mammoths, you should probably be disqualified from doing most things.
12:18 pm
Levi Said:
11:59 am
However poorly you pretend Obama may have performed a year ago, he has never said anything that comes close to rivaling the stupidity of repeatedly insisting that being the Governor of Alaska gives you foreign policy experience because Russia is close by.
Oh really. Obama had a similarly goofy moment when he claimed running a presidential campagin (btw, his boy Axlerod is paid 6 figures to do this job) qualifies him for an executive position. Where was the jeering press on that one, digging for dead bodies in Palin’s backyard.
12:20 pm
levi: Drink it up! Obama’s verbal missteps have been so bad, yet so ignored that most have no idea how vapid his sizzle is. He is an awful debater. The man is a gasbag with no off switch at all. The paygrade remark is the most unbelievable remark I’ve heard in awhile; the stammering and poor grammar make me cringe. have you actually read any of his transcripts. These are not well writen things at all, forgetting for a moment the hyperbole of the “moment.” Palin is much better off the cuff than all three in that she is believable, even though her range is limited. Unless she is allowed to return to her native abililities, however limited, she will fail.
12:25 pm
That’s some pretty facile attempting to draw any parallels between Obama and Palin. Do we just ignore the fact that Palin probably couldn’t even READ an issue of the Harvard Law Review, let alone edit it??
Haha!
Incredible assumptions about Obama’s abilities seeing as how could never see fit to actually write an article in it? Could he actually even read it himself?
Do we just ignore the fact that Obama was the only Harvard Law Review editor to never actually publish? And how did he keep his job at U of Chicago teaching Constitutional Law, well without Ayers help, without publishing anything? Maybe you’ve heard that professors tend to publish in order to keep thier jobs. Sounding like a pattern of affirmative action about to land us with the least qualified president in ???
12:31 pm
Biden, in the full
In many years nothing has been said that was dumber than Biden recommending Iraq be broken into three regions based on religion and ethnicity… although, I’m sure, that is the way he views the different groupings of fetid pie pieces that make up the Dem party.
12:32 pm
Levi Said:
12:11 pm
I’m sorry, if you mix up dinosaurs with woolly mammoths, you should probably be disqualified from doing most things.
So you base your view that she said this on the word of a lone person with a grudge? And you question her intelligence? words fail me.
12:32 pm
To the nutcase above that said dinosaurs couldn’t have lived at the same time as man, why not take a quick look at wikipedia and find out the truth before you make an a$$ out of yourself. Dinosaurs live today. That’s what scientists believe. Birds ARE dinosaurs. I’ve seen this particular critisism from the left in many places and wish someone would set them straight and show them for the arrogant buffoons that they are.
12:34 pm
Levi Said:
11:59 am
However poorly you pretend Obama may have performed a year ago, he has never said anything that comes close to rivaling the stupidity of repeatedly insisting that being the Governor of Alaska gives you foreign policy experience because Russia is close by.
You must have missed his 57 states comment than. I think if you want to be President you should at least know how many states are in the Union.
12:38 pm
From ABC:
Oh, That Joe! (No. 22 in a Series)—Biden and the “Real” Hockey Mom
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/oh-that-joe—17.html
12:38 pm
You’re taking Biden’s and Palin’s gaffes and treating them as equal. However, you have to look at the overall picture. Biden went to law school and no matter where you rank in your class, it’s a tough process. Palin went to 5? schools in 5? years to get a…degree in communications. On those facts alone, Biden is smarter than Palin.
Biden’s gaffes are forgivable. So he mispoke about the Roosevelt and T.V. Tell me how many Americans even knew that was a mistake? Probably not many. During a speech he asked a guy in a wheelchair to stand up. He recognized his error and played it off. These aren’t mistakes that will kill you.
Palin’s gaffes displayed a complete lack of understanding. She was clueless. You can tell that Palin is in over her head. She looks uncomfortable. Anyone can watch her interviews and tell that she is trying to BS it. Those are beyond gaffes.
Please don’t give me this crap that anyone can be President. Just like anyone can be the CEO of any major corporation? Just because it looks easy, doesn’t mean it is. Intelligent individuals ask the right questions and surround themselves with the right people. If you want to see the effects of a dumb person as President see George W. Bush
12:41 pm
“But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions and…a servant’s heart.”
Sarah Palin RNC 9/3/08
I believe Mrs. Palin has these qualities and will do this.
12:51 pm
Why Dems are so dumb:
“You’re taking Biden’s and Palin’s gaffes and treating them as equal. However, you have to look at the overall picture. Biden went to law school and no matter where you rank in your class, it’s a tough process. Palin went to 5? schools in 5? years to get a…degree in communications. On those facts alone, Biden is smarter than Palin.”
Obama went to school on the tax payers nickel and many student loans. No jobs. Just like his wife. As if going to school hard? Are you kidding? Sorry, but going to school like going to a party for 4 years on, in too many cases, on unearned nickels.
Gov. Palin had to work her fanny off to be able to achieve the completely nebulous value of a college degree. My degree at Berkeley, in History, gave me great potential to be witty and charming at cocktail party’s, but everything I learned that helped me become the Prez of two different insurance company’s earning millions, employing hundreds and insuring thousands had nothing to do with hanging out, pretentiously, at Sproul Plaza.
It had to do with learning on the job. How about you? And, speaking of learing on the job: “Present”.
I hope this helps.
12:59 pm
“In many years nothing has been said that was dumber than Biden recommending Iraq be broken into three regions based on religion and ethnicity…”
Well, except for maybe his spitballing a “no strings attached” bribe of $200M to Iran (Persians) during his first staff meeting after 9/11. To show the ARABS we don’t blame them. What a tool. Of course Democrats are smarter – watch the YouTubes of them defending Fannie Mae.
12:59 pm
Biden, in the full:
New York Times
E. J. Dionne
Mr. Biden said today, as he did 22 years ago, that he had misunderstood the rules of citation and footnoting.
‘’I was wrong, but I was not malevolent in any way,’’ Mr. Biden said. ‘’I did not intentionally move to mislead anybody. And I didn’t. To this day I didn’t.’’
The faculty ruled that Mr. Biden would get an F in the course but would have the grade stricken when he retook it the next year. Mr. Biden eventually received a grade of 80 in the course, which, he joked today, prevented him from falling even further in his class rank. Mr. Biden, who graduated from the law school in 1968, was 76th in a class of 85.
The file also included Mr. Biden’s transcript from his days as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware. In his first three semesters, his grades were C’s or D’s, with three exceptions: two A’s in physical education courses, a B in a course on ‘’Great English Writers’’ and an F in R.O.T.C. The grades improved somewhat later but were never exceptional. Biden’s Defense on Speeches
As for the issue of borrowing speeches, Mr. Biden was insistent that he had done nothing wrong. He said it was ‘’ludicrous’’ to expect a politician to attribute all the quotations of others, and he cited two examples to support his argument.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DB143FF93BA2575AC0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
1:01 pm
Rick,
I agree. Palin is not bookish or a wonk, simply a sincere, authentic woman with a compelling personal story.
She’s in over her head. I’d like to see her step down, without rancor, and I think she’d be met with sympathy and admiration by all Americans.
Then McCain can pick someone, quickly, with credentials and experience.
1:05 pm
Biden, in the full
Biden was speaking in Missouri yesterday and began thanking local officials, including State Senator Chuck Graham. Biden then said to Graham, “Stand up Chuck, let them see you.”
Biden soon realized that Graham, a paraplegic, is confined to a wheelchair.
Oof-fa!
He did his best to smooth over the clumsy moment.
“Oh, God love you. What am I talking about? I’ll tell you what, you’re making everyone else stand up though, pal. Thank you very much. I’ll tell you what, stand up for Chuck,” Biden urged the crowd.
Our senator then walked into the audience to shake Graham’s hand and told him, “You can tell I’m new.”
http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/2008/09/biden-steps-in-itbig-time.html
1:10 pm
As has been written many times…the Alaska landscape is littered with people who underestimated Gov. Palin.
I suggest that it takes a bit of time to get your sea legs in the storm that is a Presidential campaign. If she gets hers, watch out.
1:11 pm
This video, below, is a classic of pre-plugged Biden.
It goes back 20+ years where, in a party, someone asks him about his plagiarism situation. He goes on to LIE his ass off about his academic “achievements” and his IQ.
Can you imagine an adult actually bringing up his IQ at a party as a way to say how smart he is? Seriously? I’ll bet, if he were eligible, he’d have a MENSA license plate frame on the car he doesn’t drive.
The combination of his abject insecurity and his flagrant lying make him a perfect choice for the Dem ticket.
Enjoy, it’s truly awesome:
http://minx.cc/?post=271413
1:12 pm
Shivas iron:
why is it dumb to divide Iraq into three regions because that is the way it is anyway. Do you see the Kurds ‘rejoining’ Iraq? Shia and Sunni Arabs are already more or less separated. Iraq was an artificial construction by the British and only time will tell if it can survive as a nation (I wouldn’t bet on it and I certainly wouldn’t want American soldiers sacrifices just so the three can get along).
Even today there are Sunnis in the south, Shias in the west and central Iraq, and Kurds everywhere. The idea that you could possibly move millions of people their “designated” regions is absolutely, off the wall loony. You would have a humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the tens of thousands who perished when India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1946. More than 5 million Muslims left India and an almost equal number of Hindus left Pakistan. It was a nightmare of starvation, bloodletting, people dropping dead along the route from exposure and disease.
It was not just a bad idea, it was an incompetent idea that showed the shallowness of Biden’s intellect and his inability to think a proposal through to its logical conclusion.
ed.
1:16 pm
McCain/Palin – Unstable and Unable!
1:26 pm
“I agree. Palin is not bookish or a wonk, simply a sincere, authentic woman with a compelling personal story.” -Lec
She’s way more than that, Lec. She is a courageous American woman who has been asked to serve and she will if elected.
1:31 pm
Brat said:
Oh really. Obama had a similarly goofy moment when he claimed running a presidential campagin (btw, his boy Axlerod is paid 6 figures to do this job) qualifies him for an executive position. Where was the jeering press on that one, digging for dead bodies in Palin’s backyard.
That’s not goofy in the slightest, that makes sense. When you run for office you are extremely busy, talking with the press multiple times a day, traveling frequently, holding all sorts of meetings, giving speeches, debating, coordinating a very large organization, etc. Certainly those experiences prepare someone for the Presidency, since you’re doing the same sorts of activity.
On the other hand, claiming you have foreign policy experience because of your geographic proximity to a foreign country is absolutely ridiculous. And to pretend like Obama actually believes there are 57 states is to be exceedingly dishonest, especially coming from a crowd that elected George Bush to two terms.
1:35 pm
unseen said:
So you base your view that she said this on the word of a lone person with a grudge? And you question her intelligence? words fail me.
I was responding to another commenter, that tried to pretend that anyone, be it Palin or otherwise, mixing up woolly mammoths and dinosaurs was some minor misunderstanding of prehistory that doesn’t mean anything.
Try to keep up.
1:39 pm
“this isn’t a youthful indescretion with marijuana…this is genuine, whackjob crazy non-mainstream belief.”
Don’t you mean youthful indiscretion with cocaine? And, right or wrong, the view that the world is 6000 years old is, according to many polls, the prevailing mainstream view in America. It’s not the mainstream view among scientists, but then again polls show only about 2% of the top ranking scientists believe in any God at all which is far outside the mainstream for Americans as a whole.
Her ideas, if those are actually her ideas (I’d like to see HER say they are or are not), aren’t too uncommon.
1:44 pm
Josh Bozeman said:
“Don’t you mean youthful indiscretion with cocaine? And, right or wrong, the view that the world is 6000 years old is, according to many polls, the prevailing mainstream view in America. It’s not the mainstream view among scientists, but then again polls show only about 2% of the top ranking scientists believe in any God at all which is far outside the mainstream for Americans as a whole.
Her ideas, if those are actually her ideas (I’d like to see HER say they are or are not), aren’t too uncommon.”
That’s crazy. You’re allowed to hold batshit-insane views so long as they’re not uncommon? What kind of attitude is that?
Just curious, do you believe the Earth is 6,000 years old?
1:45 pm
Rick,
ok I agree division could be risky business. However, just now you had an incident of the Kurds not letting in the Iraqi army into some town (too lazy to look it up) and ultimately whether the Shia themselves will be able to work together is written in the stars. So the question remains how do you create a stable country/region that doesn’t harbor significant number of militant Jihadists. I’m still not convinced that can be done with a weak central government in the long run. Anyway, I could obviously be wrong here.
1:47 pm
From #51
Shivas iron:
why is it dumb to divide Iraq into three regions because that is the way it is anyway. Do you see the Kurds ‘rejoining’ Iraq? Shia and Sunni Arabs are already more or less separated. Iraq was an artificial construction by the British and only time will tell if it can survive as a nation (I wouldn’t bet on it and I certainly wouldn’t want American soldiers sacrifices just so the three can get along).
Simply said, I didn’t say that.
1:50 pm
I beg to differ completely.
What we’ve seen is what we’ve got. And I’m damn proud.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_091508/content/01125113.guest.html
OBAMA: A nuclear Iran would pose a great threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
RUSH: And Charlie Gibson talking to Sarah Palin on the same subject.
PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they’re going to have nuclear weapons.
She’ll chew Biden up and make him wish he’d gone moose hunting instead.
2:06 pm
Re: Biden and Partition of Iraq
It’s dumb to partition Iraq because the Iraqis themselves are terrified at the idea. Saddam ensured that there were Sunni Arabs spread all around the country. After a partition, those who have not left already will likely be ethnically cleansed. But there are areas of the country where the Sunni/Shia divide isn’t so easily broken up. So you’ll have majority minority enclaves inside each of the partitioned regions, which will be where the really brutal cleansing occurs.
It would be all-out civil war as each of the three partitioned regions would fight to create states where they had no ethnic challengers.
As for the Kurds, if you wanted to see a NATO ally at war, creating a de jure independent Kurdistan would be the best way for that to happen. Turkey has long insisted that an independent Kurdistan would be a non-starter for them. They have their own large Kurdish minority and if there were a breakaway Kurdistan, the Kurds of Turkey would agitate for their own breakaway region to be joined with the ethnic relatives across the border.
So you’d have the Sunnis and Shia fighting to the death in Baghdad and the Turks and Kurds fighting for generations in the mountains of Kurdistan.
It’s beyond stupid. So now I wonder, how does “funny man” not know this? Is he an idiot?
As for Biden, we know he’s the Tommy Flanagan of the Senate and so most of what comes out of his mouth is just nonsense and lies. So there’s no reason to believe that he actually believed the partition idea was a good one. And that’s exhibit A for why the man can’t be President. Or a heart-beat away from the Presidency. Not with a running mate whose family has very poor longevity (both parents died young: BO Sr. died age 46 from a car crash, Ann Dunham died of ovarian cancer at age 53) with a family history of cancer and an unresolved addiction to tobacco.
I hope this helps.
2:15 pm
I have a hard time not believing that the McCain campaign is mostly responsible for the change.
Same here. Unleashing Sarah Palin is not about thinking she’s a secret superhero, it’s about keeping the wonks in the McCain campaign for overcoaching her and telling her everything that worked for her before the nomination, and at the convention, is wrong. She doesn’t need to be prepped for every pop-quiz question about whose the Vice Grand Poobah of Whogivesadamnistan, she needs to have some good stock answers that redirect the questioning and reframe the debate, and she’s demonstrated in the past that she’s perfectly capable of that. Why isn’t she doing it now?
The McCain camp is keeping her on a short leash. Simple as that.
The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as “disastrous.” One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, “What are we going to do?” The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is “clueless.”
This sounds like lefty wishful thinking, or a rope-a-dope, to me. Maybe what McCain was trying to do with his debate, and failed.
If that’s what the McCain wonks are really thinking, then they are indicating that they are clearly part of the problem—if not, in fact, the sole cause.
Frankly, I don’t have the huge problem with Obama and Biden that my right wing brethren do. But I love Sarah Palin, and I think the McCain camp is holding her back here. She’s clearly not going with the same instincts that got her to where she is, and it shows, and it’s a bad idea.
I’m looking forward to the debate, in hopes that the McCain camp has gotten their heads screwed on right by then. I’m doubting it, but we’ll see.
Palin/McNugget ‘08!
2:19 pm
Don’t you mean youthful indiscretion with cocaine? And, right or wrong, the view that the world is 6000 years old is, according to many polls, the prevailing mainstream view in America. It’s not the mainstream view among scientists, but then again polls show only about 2% of the top ranking scientists believe in any God at all which is far outside the mainstream for Americans as a whole.
I’m a Christian (late to that game, I was an atheist for years). I believe the world is very, very old, and that evolution was the mechanism for the creation of man. So, I’m not a creationist. That being said, do I give a flip if Sarah Palin is a Creationist or thinks the world is 6000 years old? No. Is it going to have any bearing on her governing, other than giving liberals ammo to self-righteously declare she’s ignorant, crazy, and anti-science? No. And they’d do that, anyway. Is the criticism of Palin as anti-science and a crazy, snake-handling religious nut fair? Not remotely. Accurate? Not exactly. Typical of the left? Oh, completely.
They want to go that route as a way to win, they are more than welcome to. But I don’t see it as being a substantial argument.
2:29 pm
I think both Obama and Palin still have their training wheels on. They reach for what to say on world affairs and sometimes their lack of experience leads them to say funny things. And I agree—some of the interviews with Palin were bad, and even if she had been free to say whatever she wanted, they probably still would have been bad (although her throwing in jabs at Obama would have certainly been very gratifying to me as a Republican to watch). But you know what? Palin has one distinct disadvantage Obama doesn’t have: she doesn’t have the media on her side. In fact, they deliberately edit her interviews to make them even worse than they are. They know foreign policy is her weakness and that’s all they want to ask her about. They don’t ask her the touchy feely inspiring questions they ask Obama, like “why did you decide to become President?”. Instead, it resembles an interrogation session: questions along the lines of “What made you think you were qualified?”.
But Palin’s strengths don’t lie in foreign affairs. Her strengths lie in connecting with everyday voters. Maybe, just maybe, she might end up being a politician who listens more to regular Americans than corporate money and interest groups. Here we are on the right, always complaining about how politicians never are out there for the little guy: and now we have one right under our noses, and she’s so inexperienced that we can’t even appreciate it. I think we should wait and see what happens.
But let’s face it, even if Palin was the next Margaret Thatcher, she would still be getting attacked. Why? Because she’s the mythical “everyday man” type politician—the kind every politician struggles to be, the kind that really connects with voters. The kind that makes people like John Kerry think they can win a few votes by dressing up and going hunting to appear “normal”. So I would assert that no matter what Palin does or says, she is always going to be a target, especially for the media. The left is always complaining when they think no one can hear about how middle America doesn’t understand what’s best for them. Now that they have a real living and breathing everyday American politician, you can bet there is going to be a feeding frenzy. They have something to prove and they are not going to stop. The left will never be able to produce a politician like Palin who connects with everyday Americans, so they have to take her down however they can. Obama is the closest thing they have to Palin and they will stop at nothing to make sure he wins.
2:30 pm
Wow, Rick… I didn’t realize how exceptionally penetrating your agile mind has become. Imagine, you’ve seen, what, like 60 minutes of her interviews, and you can state, categorically, that’s all there is. Your prescience in these areas is quite impressive indeed!
Or maybe not. Has she been calling you, confiding that she really doesn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground? Are you betraying her trust? Shame on you.
It’s possible that you are correct, but “the reality of it is that” (and I hate that phrase) nobody reading or writing your blog knows either. You’ve made a callous, slanderous judgment based on 2 interviews- interviews in which she received more “gotcha” questions than Barrack Obama has received in his entire life. Could it be that she was incredibly nervous, knowing that 1) she was being interviewed by a hostile press and 2) any major gaffe could wreck McCain’s campaign. Could it be that she was coached to the point of having to remember specific things that she MUST NOT say?
But thanks for jumping on the bandwagon with the mainstream media. I personally would have looked for more evidence before aligning myself with them.
3:30 pm
Turn the girl loose.
3:39 pm
Shivas:
ok, maybe I’m an idiot then. However, in order for your solution to work you would need a strong central government and I’m not exactly sure that can be done with a ‘democracy’. You are right about an independent Kurdistan causing more harm then good but then the authority of Baghdad is not exactly forceful in Kurdistan. However, neither me nor you really know if any of the current proposals will work.
3:43 pm
I am not sure that what you see is what you get.
The over blown adulation of Sarah is not her fault, neither is the outlandish deep seated hatred displayed by the likes of Katie, Chris, Keith, Whoopi, and the other left wing ass-holes.
She did reasonably well at the beginning, even when high-jacked by Charlie Gibson.
I do not think there is any unleashing quality here , but I do believe she has more than has been revealed thus far. Perhaps the Biden debate will show us something.
3:55 pm
First you want to tell the religous conservatives to shut up and vote party and not conscience, and leave the thinking up to sooper-geniuses like yourself; now this elitist, whining rant…
Tell us all, Rick: How long have YOU been a Democrat?
4:00 pm
I figure Biden will be his usual smug, supercilious self at the debate and that’s all it will take to put Sarah back in the “+” column.
4:06 pm
“Lec” said:
“She’s in over her head. I’d like to see her step down, without rancor, and I think she’d be met with sympathy and admiration by all Americans.
Then McCain can pick someone, quickly, with credentials and experience.”
Doofus: she’s the GOVERNOR of Alaska! And McCain would end up looking indecisive and unsure of himself. Spare us your fake sympathy for Sarah.
4:10 pm
[...] that she’s been all but rooting for Obama since Mitt Romney dropped out. Rick Moran has a more even-keel analysis that’s neither too Debbie Downer nor too [...]
4:11 pm
If McCain drops Palin, I’m not voting for McCain. And I betcha I’ll have a whole lot of company in voting a straight Republican ticket, except when I get to president.
6:27 pm
I am going to have to disagree here. I don’t discount that you may be right, but I believe we are going to see her take Joe Biden apart Thursday night.
Personally I think McCain’s handlers are afraid to let her loose because she will overshadow the top of the bill if they do. Just my humble opinion.
But well written, as always.
7:46 pm
She took out a sitting Republican Governor in Alaska’s primary then a former Democratic Governor in the election. Now some would tell me Biden is going to wipe the floor with her on Thursday. Good luck Biden fans you are going to need it.
After the debate Obama’s campaign will be in full spin mode trying to turn Biden’s major defeat in the debate into a win. Will Obama’s campaign spin machine succeed? That remains to be seen.
11:06 pm
Has anybody defending Palin watched her recent interviews? If she performs anything like that in the debate, she will lose for sure! I certainly hope she does better against Biden, otherwise it will be embarrassing to watch.
12:11 am
Who cares who wins Biden/Palin. It won’t matter either way. I’m more concerned about the economy than who of these two losers will look ‘sharper’. Surabaya: I did watch the Couric interview. That was painful, with Putin flying over Alaska, LOL!
1:00 am
liked this one:
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/oct/06/00008/
1:21 am
McCain/Palin have destroyed their argument that Obama is risky and unstable!
5:18 am
I think you are missing the point about her intellect. No one has ever claimed she had some hidden genius, only that McCain and his boys have tried to make her one of them. They need to let her be who she is, not some ridiculous talking point parrot. Her talents and abilities have been so demeaned by the onslaught of the press in their attempt to Quaylinize her that people never got a chance to really know her and what she is capable of. Obviously, their protecting her has not done any good, they are behind 8 points and it is no fault of Palin.
5:37 am
No matter what she says in the debate does not matter diidly squat with a partrisan moderater like Gwen Iful (sp). Heard she has an upcoming book due out before the election regarding her support of obama. Palin outta congradulate her on her book so everyone will know this is a rigged debate, jut like the Presidential ones are. I am so friggin tired of the biased in the tank media.
Just ordered me some big time POLITICAL INCORRECT bumper stickers for my AMERICAN MADE CAR….. thats the only way I can get point across since libs try and shout you down …. they are not for free speech.
7:46 am
You guys must all be smokin’ some really good dope. Your perception of reality is completely warped.
Palin is not ready for prime time, McCain is an angry old man who obviously wants to re-fight the vietnam war in Iraq.
You guys just can seem to understand they hate us for what we did to their country…almost a million dead Iraqis. It’s like if you had a termite problem in your house, called a pest control company to treat it and they came and burned your house down to get rid of the termites.
That’s the Iraq, that’s the Bush doctrine.
1:50 pm
So breaking up Iraq is a “loony” idea, like, oh I don‘t know, breaking up Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR? Yes here is a good chance of external fights as the Pakistan/India model suggests and there is no doubt that these newly created states still have problems but the idea is not totally without merit. Once these states are created there is a good chance that the animosity would be internal. You can make a good case that factions would fight over the spoils of a government they can get their hands on rather than going after their neighbors.
3:37 am
[...] Rick Moran, Pajamas’ Chicago editor and PJM Political host Steve Green, forecast Thursday’s debate. [...]
7:34 pm
The rationalization of the evident ineptitude of Gov. Palin is astonishing. Oh wait, evidence and the current iteration of pseudo-conservatives are mutually exclusive. See WMD, see Iraq as bearing responsibility for 911, see Barrack Obama is a closet Muslim. Hofstader’s paranoid style is alive and well amongst your insularity.
11:36 pm
“Has anybody defending Palin watched her recent interviews? ”
They were spliced by CBS. Watching SNL would be a more entertaining attempt to make fun of Gov Palin.
If I were in the campaign shoes, I would only give live interviews and/or insist on my own tape from the interviews. Dont let the liberal MSM edit and splice these things!
Palin showed in the debate that she could hold her own.
... “Hofstader’s paranoid style is alive and well amongst your insularity.” good description of the BDS sufferers.