How Sarah Palin Won The Debate

For the first time in my adult life I actually watched a Vice-Presidential debate. For starters, even though as of now I don’t know how I am voting (although I won’t be voting for Obama/Biden) I knew that Palin was not going to disappoint in her delivery or her grasp of the issues. After all was said and done, even formerly critical Peggy Noonan had praise for Palin… As to be expected, the MSM had a whole different take on the issue, unlike Team McCain which unabashedy declared that “She did it”

My initial concern was whether it would be two against one with Gwen Ifill who has a financial stake in an Obama victory, and Joe Biden who distorts reality worse than Pinnochio going like gangbusters against Sarah.

Unfortunately for them, she not only put Obama and Biden in their place as pretentious people who are totally incapable of addressing the concerns of the majority of the American Public, but also showed why she is more than capable of exercising the good grasp of issues necessary to be the Vice-President.

For what it’s worth, Gwen Ifill did a good (not excellent) job moderating, although her bias came through a couple of times. One of those times was during this exchange:

PALIN: …and here’s a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.

IFILL: Everybody gets extra credit tonight…

I mean, it might not be a big deal to others, heck, they might not even see it as anything more than a non-issue, but why does Ifill need to steal the little moment of excitement the third graders had? I think the answer is simple, it comes down to the elitist attitude that some in the MSM have about some sort of inherent superiority to folks like Palin, or maybe she was just playign the part of a campaign surrogate for Team Obama.

Anyway, that got me to thinking, while Palin’s family is full of teachers and working people, Biden’s daugther is a menace to society, and his brother and son are currently in court facing allegations of embezzlement. Ever heard of the apple not falling far from the tree?

Overall, I think what really endeared her to me was the fact that she represents who I am as a person. I mean, even though I live in New York City, have a Political Science degree from a liberal arts college in the Midwest (shout out to Butler University), and own a financial services company, I still consider myself more at home on Main Street than I could ever, or would ever feel on Wall Street.

Anyway, Sarah brought back the warm and fuzzy feelings Bill Clinton generated in ‘92 and ‘96 for his folksiness. This is in sharp contrast to Joe Biden who reminded me of quite a few academicians who seem to know everything about the nuance of everything but lack a dollop of common sense. Thankfully, Sarah called him out on his BS numerous times, including when she said the famous:

PALIN: Oh, yeah, it’s so obvious I’m a Washington outsider. And someone just not used to the way you guys operate. Because here you voted for the war and now you oppose the war. You’re one who says, as so many politicians do, I was for it before I was against it or vice- versa. Americans are craving that straight talk and just want to know, hey, if you voted for it, tell us why you voted for it and it was a war resolution.

Talking about Biden, I also noticed that even though he is a lawyer who was “at the top of his class” in law school, and is head of the Senate Judiciary committee, he has no clue as to what the constitutional role of the Vice-President is, as defined by the Constitution:

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there’s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

I know I only have a degree in Political Science, and I graduated somewhere in the middle of my class, while Biden is a genius who graduated at the top of his, but, I could have sworn that:

The Constitution states that the Vice President is always the President of the Senate, in Article I, Section 3:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

Also, what is this story about Dick Cheney Darth Vader being the most dangerous Vice-President in history, I thought that distinction went to Aaron Burr who as a sitting Vice-President killed Alexander Hamilton ? But then again, what do I know?

To me the highlight was when Sarah once and for all ended the whole Obama/Biden strategy of declaring McCain/Palin to be Bush III:

PALIN: Say it ain’t so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let’s look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. …

No, in fact, when we talk about the Bush administration, there’s a time, too, when Americans are going to say, “Enough is enough with your ticket,” on constantly looking backwards, and pointing fingers, and doing the blame game. …

But for a ticket that wants to talk about change and looking into the future, there’s just too much finger-pointing backwards to ever make us believe that that’s where you’re going.

What does Biden say as a response? To show how far removed from the thought process of average everyday Americans he is, he quotes Act II Scene I of William Shakespeare’s “Tempest” and says:

“Past is prologue”

Incidentally, someone ought to send a memo to Joe to stop contradicting Barack Obama, especially not on the national stage, Joe had the following to say about Israel:

BIDEN: Gwen, no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden.

Only thing is, here’s what Barack Obama told the Pittsburgh Gazette that:

Obama “The fact is, though, that no one’s been a more stalwart ally of Israel”

So folks which one of you is really Israel’s best friend in the world? I don’t know, but I do know that if your name is Sarah Palin and you choose to speak at a Pro-Israel / Anti-Iran rally, Obama and Biden shall sic the IRS on you.

Gateway Pundit has some pictures from the afterparty, all in all, Sarah did a great job, and whatever fears anyone might have about her readiness or suitability for the Vice-Presidency should have been put to rest… McCain might have taken a gamble, but in all likelihood it is going to pay off…

Exit quote on Barack Obama from Sarah Palin:

Now, Barack Obama had said that all we’re doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians. And such a reckless, reckless comment and untrue comment, again, hurts our cause.

Posted by PUMA Pundit

Sarah Biden- Vice-Presidential meltdown.

Here it is folks, the perfunctory denoument of Sarah Palin Biden before the debate. Courtesy of Victor Davis Hanson @ NRO:

Journalists continue to ask, “What was John McCain thinking in selecting the gaffe-prone Gov. Sarah Palin?”

In what has now become a disturbing pattern, the Alaska governor seems either unable or unwilling to avoid embarrassing statements that are often as untrue as they are outrageous. Recently, for example, in an exclusive interview with news anchor Katie Couric, Palin gushed, “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’ ” Apparently the former Alaskan beauty queen failed to realize that in 1929 there was neither widespread television nor was Franklin Roosevelt even President.

Sometimes the Idaho-native Palin seems to confuse and embarrass her own running mate. Shortly after her nomination, she introduced a “John McAmerica;” then she referred to the Republican ticket as the “Palin-McCain administration;” and finished by calling Sen. Obama, “Senator George Obama.” The Palin gaffes seem to be endless: on her way to Washington to meet the national press corps, Palin, the mother of five, once again stumbled — this time characterizing Senator Biden as “Congressman Joe Biden,” who, she chuckled, was “good looking.”

But then Palin only compounded that growing image of shallowness when introducing her own snow-mobiling husband Todd, “as drop-dead gorgeous!” And when asked about the controversial McCain ad suggesting that Barack Obama had introduced explicit sex education classes to pre-teenagers, the Christian fundamentalist Palin scoffed that it was “terrible” and that she would have never had allowed such an unfair clip to run — before retracting that apology under pressure from the now exasperated McCain campaign staff. But then, according to press reports, wild Sarah only made things worse still by announcing that paying higher taxes was the “patriotic” thing for Americans to do.

This week, the gun-owning, moose-hunting Palin also promised blue-collar Virginians that she would protect their firearm rights — even, if need be, from her own running-mate: “I guarantee you, John McCain ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey. Don’t buy that malarkey. They’re going to start peddling that to you. I got two. If he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I’m not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break.”

Palin may have had some experience in Alaskan politics, but at times the former small-town mayor seems unaware of the pressures of running a national campaign in a diverse society. For example, Palin — who has had past associations with reactionary groups — caused a storm earlier when she characterized Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama in seemingly racialist terms: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Such stereotyping suggested that the Alaskan was not aware of the multiracial nature of American politics — an impression confirmed when in her earlier gubernatorial run, she had once suggested that to enter a donut shop was synonymous with meeting an Indian immigrant.

The recently-elected Governor Palin was further rattled by media scrutiny, when, in a moment of embarrassing candor, she confessed, “Mitt Romney is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly he might have been a better pick than me.” That confession followed an earlier deer-in-the-headlights moment, when the nearly hysterical Palin urged a wheel-chair bound state legislator to rise: “Sally, stand up, let the people see you!”

The Palin gaffes are no surprise to those who have followed closely her previous races. They cite her aborted governor campaign, when she was forced to pull out after fraudulently claiming that her working-class family had been Idaho coal miners — in an apparent case of plagiarism of British Prime Minister candidate Neal Kinnock’s stump speech. Palin once boasted: “I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Sarah Palin’s the first in his family ever to go to University . . . is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright . . . who worked in the coal mines of Northeast Idaho and would come up after 12 hours and play volleyball?” It did not help Palin that reporters quickly discovered that while as a student at the University at Idaho she had been caught plagiarizing and also misrepresented her undergraduate transcript.

Most recently on the campaign trail, Governor Palin apparently promised a vocal supporter that the United States would certainly not burn coal to produce electricity — even though roughly half of current U.S. power production is coal-fired. The same uncertainty seems to extend to foreign policy. Under cross-examination, Palin appeared confused about her own recent trips abroad, first claiming that her helicopter had “been forced down” in Afghanistan, although other passengers suggested the landing was a routine cautionary measure to avoid a possible snowstorm. Palin likewise had alleged that she was shot at while in Baghdad’s Green Zone, although there was no evidence from her security detail that she had, in fact, come under hostile fire.

The Obama campaign has lost no time in hammering at the former hockey-mom Palin’s foreign-policy judgment, alleging that shortly after September 11 she once suggested sending $200 billion to Iran as a “good will” gesture, and reminding journalists that in repeated interviews, Palin had called for dividing Iraq into three separate nations, despite Iraqi resistance to such outside interference. Palin, the nominal head of the Alaskan National Guard, has also falsely insisted that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen had once suggested that we were losing the war in Iraq and that the Bush administration had sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to Teheran to meet with Iranian officials.

In response to Palin’s unbridled misstatements, journalists have coined the term “Palinism” — the serial voicing of sweeping declarations that are either insulting, or untrue — or both. No wonder rumors mount that Sen. McCain is now seeking a possible graceful exit for the gaffe-prone Palin, even as the Obama campaign continues to make the contrast with their own sober and circumspect Joe Biden.

Biden: Ready To Gaffe…

McCain Suspends Campaign To Focus On Fixing Economic Crisis…

For John McCain / Sarah Palin, it is always “Country First“.

John McCain asked the Presidential Debate Commission on Wednesday to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate with Barack Obama so that he can work on the financial crisis bailout plan now on Capitol Hill.

The Arizona Republican senator said he will suspend his presidential campaign on Thursday to return to Washington to help with bailout negotiations. He urged Obama to do the same.

Obama meanwhile insists that the debate is still on

“I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me,” McCain planned to say in New York City, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign. “I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama “intends to debate. The debate is on.”…

Obama is willing to return to Washington “if it would be helpful.” But Obama intends to debate on Friday, an official said.

To back up his commitment to suspend the campaign, McCain is yanking his campaign ads.

McCain was responding inter alia to yesterday’s call by Harry Reid :

“We need, now, the Republicans to start producing some votes for us. We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.”

Incidentally, Harry Reid had a different tune today when McCain called him on his bluff:

A Democrat tells ABC News that, in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, D.C., to work on the Wall Street bailout bill.

“This is a critical time for our country,” says the Reid statement. “While I appreciate that both candidates have signaled their willingness to help, Congress and the Administration have a process in place to reach a solution to this unprecedented financial crisis. I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op. If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now.”

A source close to Reid said McCain didn’t have much to say after that.

In the final analysis from Hotair:

I think Reid fears more than just the idea that McCain will “risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy.” What Reid fears is that McCain will return to lead the Republican effort to reach a compromise, and the Senate and House GOP will let him do it. If McCain takes ownership of the bailout effort and manages to get his suggestions on limiting executive compensation and so on as part of the finished product, he will be able to trot McCain-Dodd on the campaign trail as yet another reform he’s accomplished by working across the aisle. And in a time of crisis, no less.

And what will Obama be able to say? He gave a couple of speeches and raised cash for himself while McCain went to work for the nation.

Meanwhile it seems McCain wants to postpone the VP debate as well, good move Maverick. Can’t be like Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned…

It also seems that McCain will NOT take part in the debate if there is no resolution reached in Congress by Friday on the bailout.

Posted by PUMA Pundit

The Pandering Coalminers…

It seems Obama and his mentor are getting their wires crossed...

Posted by PUMA Pundit

P.U.M.A-In-Chief Bill Clinton Says It’s Ok to vote for McCain/Palin…

Appearing on The View today, PUMA-in-Chief, Bill Clinton said “it’s ok” to vote for John McCain/Sarah Palin… He also talks about PUMA Lynette Long’s article on feminists voting McCain/Palin based on Principle over Policy. What Bill Clinton basically did in this interview was say it’s ok to vote McCain/Palin with a clear conscience. No one can hold it against you. Was I surprised? Hardly, he is the PUMA-in-Chief, afterall…

Here is the vid.

If anyone can post a transcript, that would be perfect…

IMPLOSION WATCH: New York in Play for McCain/Palin?

Intersting, simply interesting. New York (the state where I proudly reside) is as Blue as can be. I work in Midtown Manhattan, and on any given day, I see numerous Obama badges and campaign materials, I never, ever see any McCain or Palin stuff. However, based on this article, this might not be an accurate reflection of the way things are.

The New York Post shows that Obama’s hold on NY is slipping, here are a few choice excerpts:

BOOSTED by the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Republican John McCain has experienced a surge of support among women in heavily Democratic New York state - where he has closed the gap with Barack Obama, new private polls show.

The internal Republican and Democratic polls, details of which were provided to The Post, have stunned members of both parties - and produced deep worries among Democrats.

and

The private polls have consistently shown the Obama-Biden ticket still leading but with less than 50 percent of the vote in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by over 2.3 million voters.

The polls found McCain closing the gap with Obama during the past 10 days - in the wake of Palin’s sensational GOP convention speech, Obama’s crack that “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” and amid a swirling controversy over Palin’s credentials to be vice president.

The polling data track the findings of a little-noticed Marist College poll of likely New Jersey voters late last week that found Obama barely ahead of McCain, 48 percent to 45 percent. New Jersey generally votes Democratic, though its enrollment is not as heavily Democratic as New York state’s.

Interesting times, can anyone remember Regan vs. Mondale in 1984… Hmmmm

Posted by AD76

Rasmussen: McCain/Palin extend lead over Obama/Biden

As the Obama campaign continues to implode, Rasmussen’s latest poll shows McCain/Palin have extended their lead to 3 points over Obama/Palin, the widest lead since the end of the DNC convention.

A few excerpts:

McCain now attracts 48% of the vote while Obama earns 45%. When “leaners” are included, it’s McCain 49%, Obama 46%. Yesterday, the candidates were tied

It is unusual to find a three-point jump in one day on the tracking poll. Daily tracking results are collected via nightly telephone surveys and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Today’s gain for McCain comes partly from a good night of polling last night and partly from the fact that a good night for Obama on Monday is no longer part of the sample.

McCain leads by fourteen points among men while Obama holds an eight point advantage among women. Obama has the edge among voters under 40 while McCain leads among older voters.

and in what is probably the most interesting data:

McCain is now viewed favorably by 56% of the nation’s voters while Obama earns positive reviews from 55% (see trends). Sarah Palin is viewed favorably by 56%, Joe Biden by 53%.

I guess despite the $400 Million raised, the MSM kissing Obama’s behind every chance they get, and the constant clobbering Paling gets in the media, Palin and McCain are both viewed more favorably by a larger segment of the population than Obama and Biden.

Posted by AD76

Biden: You Know Who Would Have Been A Better VP Pick? Hillary…

I guess the number of people who think Biden was Obama’s best choice is now down to two: Barack and Michelle…

Even Obama’s mentor, Joe Biden thinks Hillary would have been a better pick for VP than himself.

If ever a campaign was destined for implosion, this is it.
Here’s the video of Biden saying Hillary is a better choice for Vice-President:

Taking a trip down memory lane, here he is saying Hillary is qualified to be the President, and here is what Biden said about the qualifications of  the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy

Posted by AD76

Biden: Voting For Palin is a “Step Back For Women”

Excuse me for having lived under a rock for ages, but how on earth is voting for Palin a step-back for women? Last I checked she is still the sitting governor of Alaska, and women aren’t exactly leaving that State in droves.

Oh well, who am I to question Joe, he is smarter  than all of us. Or maybe, just maybe, the fact that McCain/Palin has had a 20 point shift in its favor from white women has something to do with it?

I think Biden needs to crawl back under whatever rock he’s been hiding under. It is one thing for rabid newsmen such as Keith O. @ MSNBC to spew that nonsense, it’s quite another for a candidate for the Vice-President of a major party to do same…

Posted by AD76

Next Page »