I think that KBH swings too far to the left. Not too good on immigration. In fact, she sides with McCain, I believe. I must admit, I don't know where Palin stands, but I bet there's not Canadians trying to break in up there, and it's awful hard for Russians to sneak across the border on a raft of some sort.
Finally a true conservative is in the running with McCain and I believe he made an excellent choice and from all reports that I've read Palin is an honest person who truly cares about the people she represents.
I am very concerned that we might have a woman in there and with the monthly and all that goes with it we could end up with some trouble over here with hormaones and that. Indeed I am beginging to think about a vote for Barr or Nader over this here business.
By LIZ SIDOTI and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writers 9 minutes ago
DAYTON, Ohio - Republican John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate Friday, a stunning selection of a fellow maverick designed to get an edge in the increasingly competitive White House race.
"She's exactly who I need. She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of 'Me first and country second,' " McCain declared as the pair stood together for the first time at a boisterous rally in Ohio just days before the opening of the party's national convention.
Palin, the first Republican woman on a presidential ticket, promised: "I'm going to take our campaign to every part of our country and our message of reform to every voter of every background in every political party, or no party at all."
"... Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties," added the Palin, 44, who has built her career in large measure by challenging fellow Republicans.
In the increasingly intensive presidential campaign, McCain made his selection six days after his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, named Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, as his No. 2 on the ticket.
The contrast between the two announcements was remarkable — Obama, 47, picked a 65-year-old running mate with long experience in government and a man whom he said was qualified to be president. The timing of McCain's selection appeared designed to limit any political gain Obama derives from his own convention, which ended Thursday night with his nominating acceptance speech before an estimated 84,000 in Invesco Field in Colorado.
Public opinion polls show a close race between Obama and McCain, and with scarcely two months remaining until the election, neither contender can allow the other to jump out to a big post-convention lead.
On his 72nd birthday, McCain chose a woman younger than two of the Arizonan's seven children and a person who until recently was the mayor of small-town Wasilla, Alaska and has been governor less than two years.
The Obama campaign immediately questioned whether she would be prepared to step in and be president if necessary.
"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," Adrianne Marsh, a spokeswoman for Obama, said in a written statement. But Obama put a statement greeting her to the campaign.
President Bush complimented McCain for "an exciting decision."
"Governor Palin is a proven reformer who is a wise steward of taxpayer dollars and champion for accountability in government," a presidential statement said. "By selecting a working mother with a track record of getting things done, Senator McCain has once again demonstrated his commitment to reforming Washington."
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who came so close to being the first major party woman presidential candidate, said in a statement: "We should all be proud of Gov. Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Sen. McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Gov. Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."
"It's an absolutely brilliant choice," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. "This will absolutely energize McCain's campaign and energize conservatives," he predicted.
Palin's name had not been on the short list of people heavily reported upon by the news media in recent days, and McCain's decision was a well-kept secret until just a couple hours before Friday's rally.
McCain's campaign said that Palin and a top aide met with senior McCain advisers in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday night. The next morning, the campaign said McCain formally invited Palin to join the ticket on the deck of McCain's home near Sedona, Ariz., and later Thursday the governor flew to Middleton, Ohio, with staff to await Friday's event in Dayton.
Describing the process that led to her selection, Palin told reporters she'd received word that she was McCain's choice on Thursday and had met privately with him that day to discuss it. She spoke briefly as the two running mates surprised shoppers at the Buckeye Corner in Columbus, Ohio, where they purchased Ohio State University sports memorabilia. McCain and Palin started a bus tour across Ohio and to Pittsburgh, where they will hold a campaign rally Saturday. Ohio and Pennsylvania are two states that figure prominently in who wins the election this fall.
Sharyl Odenweller, a retired teacher from Delphos, Ohio who was visiting the store, said she was pleased that McCain had chosen a woman and someone "very pro life." But, Odenweller also said, "I'd like to know more about her experience. If something happened to him, would she be qualified to step into the presidency?"
With his pick, McCain passed over more prominent contenders like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, as well as others such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, whose support for abortion rights might have sparked unrest at the convention that opens Monday in St. Paul, Minn.
A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, Palin became governor after ousting a state chief executive of her own party in a primary.
More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.
Palin has a long history of run-ins with the Alaska GOP hierarchy, giving her genuine maverick status and reformer credentials that could complement McCain's image.
Her husband, Todd Palin, is part Yup'ik Eskimo, and is a blue-collar North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. The couple lives in Wasilla. They have five children, the youngest of whom was born in April with Down syndrome.
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Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti reported for this story from Denver.
How soon do you think that we hear from the Democrats that a woman can't be President, therefore, shouldn't be VP? (BTW, let's just remind them that if something were to happen to President Bush, that would officially make Nancy Pelosi our V.P.)
You've gotta love it. Now, they're already saying that she won't have the time to do her job because of the care that she has to give the baby. Interesting how she could go the entire time of the press conference without even having one care for her baby. I mean really, who was watching her baby for that time? Oh, that's right, there's other people in the family that could take care of the child, whether it be the older children that she has, or, God forbid we look at role reversal...her husband? You think that if she's elected VP that he'll ever go back out to the oil fields? Only after she's out of the office, to be sure...and that's if she doesn't run for the Presidency herself in 2012. Then, neither one of them will probably ever work again.
Hey, upon this line, I finally figured out what it is that is holding the glass ceiling together. It's probably millions of pages of contracts for interviews and books. Imagine all the paperwork that's sitting on top of that glass ceiling that will have to be filled out by the first woman who breaks through that glass ceiling.
I wanted to post a couple things here before it changes other places. There is an issue that has already been brought up about V.P. nominee Palin. Here's the story as it currently appears on here Wikipedia page (which could possibly get edited anytime).
Quoted Text
Public Safety Commissioner dismissal
Palin at Alaska Airmen's Trade Show in Anchorage, Alaska (2008-05-10)On July 11, 2008, Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan for not adequately filling state trooper vacancies, and because he "did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues."[50] She instead offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.[51][52] Her power to fire him is not in dispute, but Monegan alleged that his dismissal may have been an abuse of power tied to his reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.[53]
Palin replaced Monegan with Chuck Kopp.[54]Palin knew that Kopp had allegedly sexually harassed an employee, but thought the claims had not been further substantiated and did not know that he had been removed from supervision of the employee while he was investigated and received a letter of reprimand.[55][56]
Palin said that her dismissal of Monegan was unrelated to the fact that he had not fired Wooten. Palin said that members of her staff had made contact with public safety officials regarding the trooper, though she said that her staff's contacts with the commission were not directed by her and she had little knowledge of them. She also took disciplinary action against one member of her staff who had mentioned her and Wooten's family connection to Monegan's staff.[57] Palin replaced Monegan with Chuck Kopp, who had allegedly sexually harassed an employee.[58][59]
In August 2008, the Alaska Legislature hired Steve Branchflower to investigate Palin and her staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal.[60] Democratic State Senator Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation, says that the Palin administration has been cooperating and that subpoenas are unnecessary.[61]
Then, I also heard that the following could possibly be used against Mrs. Palin in a commercial, so I wanted to make sure that at least everybody here has the full story...
Quoted Text
On August 29, 2008, Palin was announced as presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain's vice-presidential candidate, or running mate.[62] Palin's selection surprised many Republican officials, several of whom had speculated about other candidates[63][64] such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, United States Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.[65] Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, previously considered the frontrunners for the position, reportedly 'feel manipulated' over the surprise announcement for being 'used as decoys.' [66]A month previously, Palin had said:
Quoted Text
"[A]s for that V.P. talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that V.P. slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question."[67]
From what I heard, the above statement (shown in italics) may be used against her without the rest of the paragraph. It seems that she is a real go-getter, but if this statement is shortened at the end of the italicized section, it seems as though she was looking to see if she could get into a nice cushy job and it wasn't too much work. She was looking for anything but.
Quoted Text
Palin is considered to have similar policy positions to John McCain in most respects. One exception is drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Palin strongly supports and McCain has opposed.[68] She has supported aspects of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's energy plan.[69][15][16]
A major consideration in Palin's selection was her appeal to former Hillary Clinton supporters in the contentious Democratic primary.[70] Palin, when asked about Senator Clinton's complaints regarding her coverage by the press, said "that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, women in general, wanting to progress this country...when I hear a statement like that from from any woman, I think that there is a perceived whine."[71]
Palin is the second U.S. woman to run on a major party ticket, after Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee of former vice-president Walter Mondale in 1984.[62]
Quoted Text
Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose, hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, has run a marathon, and owns a float plane.[16][80] Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. She admits that she used marijuana at a time when the state had legalized possession of small amounts (though possession was still illegal under federal law). She says that she did not like it and does not smoke it now.[13] In December 2007, Palin posed for a photo spread in Vogue.[81]
My very first impression when I heard that Ms.Palin was picked for the veep nomination, was...'McCain just committed political suicide'. Now even though my thoughts may change as the days and weeks go on, I can't help think of how secure or insecure I would feel having Ms. Palin as my president in the unfortunate event that McCain should die.
It hasn't even been 12 hours since we heard of the name Sarah Palin. So we have a lot to learn about her. One thing is for certain....the office of the president/vice president will now forever be changed. With Obama(black) and Palin's(woman) lack of experience and the fact that they are running in opposition for the the most powerful position in THE WORLD, has got to have the 'good ole' boys' in Washington, shaking in their boots.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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