The KosKids really are retards

[Antibubba]

Too bad wmenorr.  It's a great picture.  That is one good-looking family. 

That little girl is going to be a star, even more than her mom.

[roo_ster]

and yet the reports are that they knew when they chose her.  i think you are mistaken about how this will fly.

The latest reports are that they didn't check her out all that closely-I don't think it's clear yet what they knew when...

McCain knew the deal and decided for her, anyway.  FOlks in her home town knew about her daughter's pregnancy, according to reprts from local reporters.

Palin was a contender for the veep slot since McCain first met her in February.  She was no panic pick with little vetting.  She was on the original long list and survived every winnowing.

The top three McCain choices were Lieberman, Palin, & Pawlenty.  Palin was chosen less to shore up McCain's weakness with the Rep base than to emphasize McCain's reformer/change/maverick strengths.

[agricola]

Maybe a better way to explain the politics of this is by imagining the McCain team, sitting in its office, choosing a VP:

One member raises his hand, and says "I propose we find a family values candidate, with a child who has fathered an illegitimate child or is about to have one! That way, we'll relate to all those hard working Americans whose teens are pregnant, and give ourselves a huge boost in the polls! [insert maniacal laugh]"

The reason why that scenario is completely unrealistic is that, while this isn't fatal, it's certainly not good for the campaign.  No sane McCain proponent would ever have chosen this scenario in advance; trying to paint it as a boost in retrospect is primarily wishful thinking.

I think its more likely that they looked at Palin and all her advantages, then looked at the disadvantages (this issue perhaps, and the trooper thing) and decided to take her as the VP pick anyway, which really should be commended IMHO.

Meanwhile, could Obama's disavowal of this as a political issue be about to come back and bite him on the arse?

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/01/am-i-making-too-much-of-arcxix/#comments

[Intune]

The latest reports are that they didn't check her out all that closely

Naw, youre right.  Its not that important.  They called her in right after they finished up with the Auto Zone parts department interview.

The latest reports&  Thanks for the morning laugh.  You wouldda been a real hoot during the ticker tape era.  Does anyone still employ a town crier?

WAIT, hold the keyboards!  This just in from America's #1 news source, the Weekly Cuz...
"The latest reports indicate that there is a very real possibility that the short, curly, gray hair found in the dumpster less than two blocks from the sealskin covered, whale blubber heated, poached walrus ivory door-handled governors mansion where the caribou poaching, near-sighted, dyed hair, menopausal, breast augmented, liposuctioned, alcoholic, child abusing, cat killing, bank robbing, poo-poo headed Palin resides may be associated with her loins."

Were talkin nether regions here folks.  If DNA tests indicate a match,  Palins pubes could prove to be a hairy predicament for McCain.  When queried about this potentially blockbusting situation, McCain just smiled, gave thumbs up and said, grays in style, mofos.  Shocking indeed.

Michael Moore, the nations leading intellectual, had this to say when pumped about the pube predicament, McCain knew, everybody knew.  They thought that they could get away with deceiving the American people once again but a little grey in the carpet isnt something to sneeze at.  It defiantly proves her lack of character and failed pube policing policies.  Clairol executives are disgusted as they should be.  We havent had this big of a story since the bratty, slut of a daughter popped up preggers.  Disgusting family.   Let me tell you who to vote for cause Im smarter and fatter than you.  Back to you Jane&"

And, fyi, this is about the fifth time I've said this: I do not support Obama/Biden.

  Then WHY would something this inane/foolish about a 17yo even be on your radar?

[richyoung]

Who cares?  Maybe not you and me, but many, many voters do, especially if someone lied.  Witness Clinton's blowjob.  Nobody would have cared about the sex; many cared that he appeared to lie did in fact lie about it, and thereby commited perjury about it. That's a big thing when the chief law enforcement officer in the nation prevents someone from getting justice.
Me, I couldn't give a rat's you know what but I'm fasinated by the political process/machine.

Fixed for you...

[richyoung]

lacoochee,

On many issues I am "the other side."  I don't think this latest news sensation is going to take conservative voters away from McCain-indeed, he will probably get all of those committed conservative votes already.  They're not really in play.

What I do think is that the crowds of undecideds, who are not, by this point, committed to any particular cause, ideology, or anything else, will be affected in the negative by this.  Not because they are religious, pretend-principled, or because of any definite beliefs-but rather because they don't have any such core beliefs or firmness that would've already made them either Obama or McCain supporters a long time ago.

These are the people who are waiting to see "if they like Obama or McCain", or "what kind of guys they really are", ie, for character evidence.  And as to proving character, any scandal of this nature is a negative-it costs votes.

And Obama is already winning big on this issue: he's making himself out to be a protector figure by condemning all the criticism and vowing to fire anyone who engages in it from his campaign. 

When running for president and trying to grab the masses of undecideds two months out, you don't want to be in the position of having your opponent declaring that the illegitimate children in your family should be out of bounds for discussion. 

Whooosh!  That was the sound of lacoochee's point sailing right over your head. 

Daughter got pregnant on Prom night?  Trying to do the right thing about it now?  Welcome to real life.  Elitist, out-of-touch politicians need not apply.

It isn't about character, it's about being real.  It's about being able to relate to voters.  All politicians talk about being able to relate, but Sarah Palin and her family really do it.  It's about voters actually liking their elected representatives, not just for being good representatives, but for being good, decent people.

The public is going to hang on this family's every move.  The public is going to root for this family.  The more we learn about Palin's family, struggles and all, the more people are going to vote for her and McCain.  Count on it.

+1.  Think "The Gilmore Girls Go To Washington"...

[Intune]

s'student-

The latest reports are that they didn't check her out all that closely-I don't think it's clear yet what they knew when, but in any case, knowing of a fact and choosing anyway doesn't imply that it's a good thing.

ST. PAUL, Minn.  Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain's campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican's vice presidential search.

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., the lawyer who conducted the background review said that Palin underwent a "full and complete" background examination before McCain chose her as his running mate.

Then came the campaign's disclosure that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant.   In addition, the campaign also disclosed that Todd Palin, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence of alcohol.

At several points throughout the process, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

First, a team of some 25 people working under Culvahouse culled information from public sources for Palin and other prospective candidates without their knowledge. For all, news reports, speeches, financial and tax return disclosures, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces were reviewed.

Reports, 40-some pages and single-spaced, on each candidate then were reviewed by McCain, Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and top advisers Mark Salter and Charlie Black.

Among the details McCain's campaign found: Palin had once received a citation for fishing without a license.

Palin, like others on the short list, then was sent a personal data questionnaire with 70 "very intrusive" questions, Culvahouse said. She also was asked to submit a number of years of federal and state tax returns, as well as any controversial articles she had written or interviews she had done. The campaign also checked her credit.

Then, Culvahouse conducted a nearly three-hour-long interview.  He said the first thing she volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband's DUI arrest.
"We came out of it knowing all that we could know at the time," he said.

As for the financial records review, Culvahouse said: "It was very clean. We had no issues there."




Well, hopefully that will put your mind at ease s'student and allow you to vote for your candidate (which is not BO) with all your I's crossed & your T's dotted.  I know what put you off of the McCain/Palin ticket and it's nothing to be ashamed of.  The citation for fishing without a license.    She is a disgusting, flagrant law flaunter who deserves to be strung up with her own monofilament and treble hooks.  If it saves one sockeye...  Do it for the schools... The salmon will thank you. 

[Matthew Carberry]

Apparently she took over her sister's set net permit but didn't change the name. 

We take our fisheries resources serious up here.

[De Selby]

and yet the reports are that they knew when they chose her.  i think you are mistaken about how this will fly.

The latest reports are that they didn't check her out all that closely-I don't think it's clear yet what they knew when...

McCain knew the deal and decided for her, anyway.  FOlks in her home town knew about her daughter's pregnancy, according to reprts from local reporters.

Palin was a contender for the veep slot since McCain first met her in February.  She was no panic pick with little vetting.  She was on the original long list and survived every winnowing.

The top three McCain choices were Lieberman, Palin, & Pawlenty.  Palin was chosen less to shore up McCain's weakness with the Rep base than to emphasize McCain's reformer/change/maverick strengths.

I do think he knew the deal on the pregnancy, and chose her despite it (not because of it, which seems to be about the furthest stretch of wishful thinking I've seen yet this campaign season.)

Pretending that this benefits the ticket would be like Barack Obama claiming that his past drug experimentation actually helps him, because it shows that he "struggled with temptation just like everyone else."  Uh huh...sorry folks, but soap opera/ABC afterschool "don't let this happen to you" versions of real life are a proven loser for national elections.

Just how closely she was vetted is clearly in doubt, though, based on the latest reports.  How much he knew about corruption scandals, ties to lobbying groups, and her overall political history is not obvious at this point.

[Monkeyleg]

If this had happened to a liberal candidate, the media would never have had a story to run with because: a) the girl would have had an abortion and b) she would have had it without the parent's consent, so they'd never know about it.

[Ezekiel]

If this had happened to a liberal candidate, the media would never have had a story to run with because: a) the girl would have had an abortion and b) she would have had it without the parent's consent, so they'd never know about it.

You act as if that is a problem.

If she is old enough to get married, she's old enough to make her own decisions.

Not just in politics: we cannot have it both ways. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

if if  but in the real world in alaska they can't marry without parental permission

[Ezekiel]

if if  but in the real world in alaska they can't marry without parental permission

Which -- I am certain -- was very expediently offered, if necessary.

Hell, after the election, who even knows if the kid gets married?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

but in the realworld shes not old enough to get married  as you imagined

[longeyes]

I llke Sarah Palin.  A lot.

And that family could be the greatest show in tv history.

[De Selby]

Information coming out:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26518744/

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

[Monkeyleg]

"Information coming out:"

From Obama's TV henchmen. And you believe it. 

Michelle Malkin had a good column today, which can be found here.

[De Selby]

"Information coming out:"

From Obama's TV henchmen. And you believe it. 

Michelle Malkin had a good column today, which can be found here.

Malkin is useful as a guage of...people who flip out over scarves on donut commercials, and not much else.

At a minimum, MSNBC has access to decently high ranking people on both sides and is somewhat mainstream.

[Matthew Carberry]

Oh my freaking G-d!!!!!!!


She didn't disclose her daughter's pregnancy to the McCain campaign until someone in the campaign actually informed her she was being the VP nod?

How f-ing strange. 

What would you like me to volunteer to you all, prior to you making it relevent by actually asking me to join your ticket?

What a stupid damn issue to raise.

By the way, just in case any of you plan on asking me to join your ticket in the next 5 months or so.  My sister is married to a black man and I have a biracial nephew.  I just declared bankruptcy.  I have paid for at least one abortion.

See, me volunteering that now, rather than when you actually ask me to join your campaign, makes so much freaking sense.

This is a non-issue.

Move the frak on.

[Ben]

Malkin is useful as a guage of...people who flip out over scarves on donut commercials, and not much else.

She's also a useful gauge regarding the "mainstream" media of which you speak:

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/03/two-covers-one-conclusion/

[Balog]

Carebear: sorry to hear you just declared bankruptcy. Is everything ok?

[Monkeyleg]

At a minimum, MSNBC has access to decently high ranking people on both sides and is somewhat mainstream.

High ranking people like Chris Matthews, who has a tingle go up his leg over Obama? Yep, no media bias there.

Mainstream? Only if you consider the NY Times to be a conservative newspaper.

[roo_ster]

At a minimum, MSNBC has access to decently high ranking people on both sides and is somewhat mainstream.

High ranking people like Chris Matthews, who has a tingle go up his leg over Obama? Yep, no media bias there.

Mainstream? Only if you consider the NY Times to be a conservative newspaper.

MSNBC is the network more in the tank for BHO than any other.

Watching Matthews & Olberman was hilarious and disgusting at the same time.

Heck, even the obnoxious Bill Maher saw the two assclowns on MSNBC as embarrassing:

I think there is a problem, though, with the media gushing over him too much. I don't think he thinks that he's all that, but the media does. I mean, the coverage after, that I was watching, from MSNBC, I mean these guys were ready to have sex with him....It's embarrassing.

Video of BM:
http://newsbusters.org/static/2008/08/2008-08-29-HBO-RTBM-Maher.wmv

[Matthew Carberry]

Carebear: sorry to hear you just declared bankruptcy. Is everything ok?

I'm debt free, couldn't be better.

But yeah, I'm past the feelings of failure and moving forward.

[MechAg94]

I wouldn't be surprised if someone at the McCain campaign saw these Palin "disadvantages" and decided they weren't all that bad and that it was likely that some on the left would make fools of themselves trying to make them a big deal. 

They are minor enough not to cause any concern with the voters McCain is targeting yet big enough that the media is talking about McCain and Palin, not Obama and Biden.