Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...McCain picks Palin
08.29.2008 11:27am EDT
(Dayton, Ohio) Republican presidential hopeful John McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday.
Palin, a self-styled “hockey mom” and political reformer, was introduced to party supporters at a rally in Dayton.Palin’s selection was a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months.
At 44, Palin is younger than Obama and, like McCain, she calls herself a maverick. A first-term governor she is credited with reforms in her state.
McCain made the announcement on his 72nd birthday Friday saying he made his pick after looking for a political partner “who can best help me shake up Washington and make it start working again for the people who are counting on us.”
McCain said that Palin was “Exactly who I need. She’s exactly who this country needs to help us fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second.”
Palin has a scant record on LGBT rights but is considered a moderate.
In one of his last acts as governor, Palin’s predecessor Frank Murkowski called the legislature into special session in 2006 to approve a same-sex couples benefits package to comply with a court order declaring the lack of health and pension benefits violated the Alaska constitution.
But rather than approving the plan the House and Senate passed legislation prohibiting the Alaska Commissioner of Administration for implementing the court ruling.
Both houses then voted to endorse a move putting the issue to a statewide plebiscite, asking voters if a constitutional amendment barring gay benefits should go on the 2008 ballot.
Shortly before the January 1, 2007 deadline newly elected governor Palin, vetoed the bill that would have blocked the state from giving the benefits and the plan kicked in at the first of the year. But Palin endorsed the referendum on the issue and she has publicly voiced her opposition to same-sex marriage.
Nevertheless she was hailed by gay Republicans.
“Alaska Governor Sarah Palin can help Sen. McCain win this election by appealing to independent and young voters,” said Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon.
“Gov. Palin is an inclusive Republican who will help Sen. McCain appeal to gay and lesbian voters.”
Religious conservatives also praised McCain’s pick.
“It’s an absolutely brilliant choice,” said Mathew Staver, the president of Liberty Counsel and the dean of Liberty University School of Law.
“This will absolutely energize McCain’s campaign and energize conservatives,” he predicted.
Liberty Counsel has been involved in court battles to block LGBT civil rights in a number of states.
But the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization was less than enthused.
“America may not know much about Sarah Palin, but based on what our community has seen of her, we know enough,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
“Sarah Palin not only supported the 1998 Alaska constitutional amendment banning marriage equality but, in her less than two years as Governor, even expressed the extreme position of supporting stripping away domestic partner benefits for state workers. When you can’t even support giving our community the rights to health insurance and pension benefits, it’s a frightening window into where she stands on equality.”
Palin opposes abortion and is a member of the National Rifle Association.
Republicans kick off their national nominating convention next week in St. Paul, Minn., and McCain’s campaign hopes the announcement of Palin as his running mate will stunt any momentum Obama might get from the just-concluded Democratic National Convention.
With ethics the centerpiece of her campaign, Palin defeated incumbent Gov. Murkowski, who served 22 years in the U.S. Senate before winning the governor’s seat in 2002.
Her task didn’t seem any easier in the general election, but she handily beat Tony Knowles, a popular Democrat who had already served two terms as governor.
Her previous political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla’s mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
But Palin also comes with her own ethics complaint. 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.
Newly minted Democratic nominee Barack Obama is making an aggressive play for the traditional GOP stronghold and its three electoral votes, and polls show the race close.
Wow, he really IS desperate to pick up some of the still bitter Hillary Clinton people. Hillary was my #1 choice, Obama #2 - McSame, well he wasn’t ever a consideration. If Democratic women vote for McSame just because he chose a woman as his VP pick, then I would have no respect for the judgment of those women.
This is a really smart strategic pick. McCain just picked off at least 25% of the Democratic vote by choosing Palin. He is going to pick up some indies that were supporting Obama too because of Palin’s proven track record of cleaning up government. Also he is shoring up the social conservative base with Palin as well because of her refusal to abort a downs syndrome baby when she knew the baby would have the syndrome and she has four other kids with one joining the army a few years back.
Now Palin does have a bone or two in her closet with a nasty rumor (I don’t know if it is true or not) that she tried to have her brother-in-law fired from the AK state troopers during or after a nasty divorce with the Gov.’s Sister. I do not know if there is any truth in that or not. But abuse of power is something the American People need know about if it has been done.
If someone would vote for McSame because he chose this woman as his VP - they weren’t going to vote for Obama anyway, so good riddance. How sad and self-serving, a woman who does not support the rite of other women to control their own bodies.
Who is this Palin? She looks like the slutty librarian on a porn video. The glasses come off and the hair comes down… Or maybe Nancy Pelosi’s love child. Same blank stare, frozen smile. Okay. I’m going to hell.
Seriously, this is a brilliant pick. They are dominating a news morning, robbing Obama of his post acceptance glow. They’ll dominate all weekend. We’ll spend the next week just getting to know her.
If I wasn’t a big lezzie concerned about my rights, convinced that folks the republicans (and apparently Palin as well) would as soon shoot me as give me rights, I’d be tempted to take a closer look at the McCain ticket. But alas, I will vote for Obama dispite my reservations about him.
Today, John McCain made a huge strategic blunder. In an effort to appeal to disgruntled Clinton voters, he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Palin’s resume is so thin it could model on the cover of Vogue Magazine.
The move was not even historic, as Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman chosen for a VP running mate in 1984, by Democrat Walter Mondale.
Palin has virtually no experience - particularly in foreign policy. Considering McCain is 72, elevating Palin makes it infinitely more difficult for him to claim Obama does not have the experience to be president. After all, before Palin was governor, she was mayor of some little down I’ve never heard of with about 6 residents. I think my apartment building in Brooklyn has more residents than her entire town.
Furthermore, she is under investigation for improper use of her office. Stay tuned.
At the Democratic convention, the Clinton’s helped unite the party - thus limiting defections. The fact that Palin is pro-life and anti-gay will not exactly bring many Hillary women to the McCain/Palin ticket.
Worse, she looks like the librarian who got you suspended because you returned a book 15 seconds late.
Unless Palin emerges as an unusually good politician, this will go down as one of the worst VP picks in memory. It shows that McCain is another Bush and too incompetent to govern. What a gift to the Obama campaign.
Most of us Hillary supporters weren’t supporting her because of her genetalia. It didn’t hurt (woman president would be sweet!), but we liked her policies and character. Our reluctance about Obama is not about his gender or, for those quick to shout racism, about his color. It was, and remains to be, concerns about his experience, readiness and ability to act on his beautiful words.
Likewise, we won’t cross over and vote for a (R) because she has a vagina. Get real. We still have to decide which party is likely to reflect the values we have. In the end, it’s a heck of a lot more about the party than the person. For GLBT people, the (R)s hate us, and have a platform to deny us equality. The (D)s, on the other hand, have a pro-equality agenda.
THAT is what I’ll vote on. And I hope other LGBT people do the same.
I can’t understand how you can define Palin as a moderate on LGBT issues if she supports denying health and pension benefits to gay couples by referendum, a step even more extreme than a referendum banning gay marriage. Is this what the Log Cabin Republicans are willing to settle for?
I must say something positive about Sarah Palin: She’s no Dick Cheney! She won’t be McSame’s Darth Vadar V.P. Maybe McSame will find her an office in the East Wing where she can coordinate with the Family Values and anti-abortion folks.
Well said Karen. Wayne - I agree with most of what you say, yet, I hear that a-holes like Rush Limbaugh were actually pushing for her, so she is likely to motivate conservatives (who only seem motivated to do anything when it comes to hatred). As for her being like the librarian - I think she is more like the woman who took the sex ed book from the library to try and prevent others from reading it. Palin is anti gay-marriage, but not extremely anti-gay in other regards (yet she will no doubt tow the McCain line in this regard). I agree, McCain can hardly call Obama to task re experience, when she has less than Obama does. The Republican platform could hardly BE more anti-gay than it is. I have pretty much decided in my heart that if I learn a GLBT person that I know votes Republican this time out, they won’t be knowing me for much longer. The stakes are too high with Supreme Court nominations coming up and I just couldn’t respect the judgment of a GLBT person voting for such an extremely anti-gay party. (The “Log Cabin” Republican excuse days are over.)
Wow! Wayne and Karen you made some really good points that I did not think about.
Karen I think you are right that many (D) women will not vote (R) because of the anti abortion stance. I disagree however that McCain will not pick up a few Clinton supporters the question is how many. I hold that for the average (D) voter gay issues are neither here not there at best. Because we all know for the (D) when the going gets tough the gay community gets thrown under the bus.
My initial reaction is that she’s another Dan Quail-type pick. She looks good, she has no immediately recognizable faults, she makes McSame (thanks Chris - I love it)and his experience and maturity look better, and most important, she won’t embarrass him before the election.
As a resident of Alaska, I can tell you Palin is not moderate regarding GLBT issues. Palin endorsed the referendum that would have blocked the state from providing benefits to same-sex couples and is in no way moderate toward the GLBT community.
Palin has made several questionable moves that have many Alaskans questioning her leadership abilities. We affectionately refer to her as the Queen, reigning over the State of Alaska.
Most recently, Palin fired the head of the State Troopers after her staffers made over 2 dozen calls in an attempt to get Palin’s ex brother-in-law fired. To be fair, it has not been proven that she was aware of those phone calls although it is an ongoing investigation.
Just last year when our State owned dairy farm was in a dire financial position, the Board decided to close the dairy. Palin disagreed with the Board’s decision. Her solution was to fire the Board and replace them with a new Board that agreed with her decision to keep the dairy open. Palin will be very upset to find out she can’t fire Congress when they disagree with her.
Finally, Sarah has been a long time supporter of moving the Capital of Alaska to the Anchorage area. Such a move would devastate the current capital, Juneau, and it’s 30,000 residents. She even refused to live in Juneau after being elected!! Palin shows absolutely no concern or compassion for the potential effects such a move would have on the residents of Juneau and the rest of SE Alaska. Again, Sarah will be deeply upset to find out she can’t move the U.S. Capital to Wasilla, AK.
While many of us would love to see her go, I’m not willing to throw the country under the bus in order to save our state.
Please vote for Obama! Those of us here in Alaska will just have to live out the remainder of the reign of Queen Palin.
Mccain didn’t “Jusdt pick of 25% of Hilary voters. That is nonsense and wishful thinking. The self-proclaimed ‘Hocky-Mom’ is PRO-LIFE. You know what that means? Do you understand that the 25% of Hillary supporters are NOT going to back a pro-life candidate?
What political world do you live in?
Great post Alaskan - we’ll need more people from her state to really let people know about her record and animosity towards the LBGT community.
Until now I’d had respect for the man. Now he is just going after the Hillary voters, which makes him lower than ant droppings (which is still above that monster, Bush).