Ever since Senator McCain announced Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, the left wing of the Democratic Party has been completely out of control. The “netroots” and their supporters in the print, radio and television media have launched increasingly bizarre an totally unfounded attacks on Sarah Palin and her family. It has completely backfired, and Sarah Palin’s popularity has steadily increased over the past two weeks.
This week, Rhodes has declared that Governor Sarah Palin is a child molester.
RHODES (HOUR TWO — 47:59): She’s the woman who shows up at the kid’s birthday party and starts opining about everything from politics to lawn care. This is the woman that knows it all. Will shout you down, will get revenge on you. That’s who she is.
She’s friends with all the teenage boys. You have to say no when your kids say, ‘can we sleep over at the Palin’s? No! NO!’
Randi Rhodes wants people to pay attention to her. I say we grant her wish. The more people see of reality of the American leftwing, the less likely they are to be seduced by clever slogans and fun chants about hopenchange.
Obama and his campaign have been showing signs of having been rattled by the VP pick of Palin. However, there were signs before the VP selection that the Obama campaign could be rattled. First, the celebrity ad. Outrage, and cries of foul abounded over an ad that basically poked fun at Obama’s celebrity and his legions of euphoric supporters. Second, Saddleback. Not the event itself, but the cries of cheating that came from the Obama campaign. It couldn’t be that McCain outperformed Obama there must have been foul play. So the Obama campaign screams cheater because Senator McCain wasn’t hermetically sealed in in a sound proof pod, or ‘cone of silence’. Their reaction was both foolish, and a sign that even minor victories by the McCain campaign could rattle them. However, the pre-Palin kicker is that someone convinced Senator Obama to give a mediocre acceptance speech. What is the one area where Senator Obama has a decisive edge? Speech making; and he under-performed. How that happened should be studied in political science classes in years to come, because forfeiting a strength in any arena is flat crazy.
Then comes the VP picks. Obama doesn’t want Clinton, and chooses a candidate to help him appear more experienced so he picks Biden. McCain supporters chuckle as Senator Biden is a legendary ‘Gaffe Machine’. Everyone else yawns. Good guy, fairly safe pick, but no one really cares. Then it’s McCain’s turn. Everyone is predicting Romney or Pawlenty, both safe choices, but again not terribly exciting. The McCain campaign keeps the pick completely secret, and then Palin explodes on the scene. She gave a good opening speech, but there were a lot of questions about her still to be addressed. The Obama campaign immediately took a shot at her, but then retracted the statement as harsh and unnecessary. The media loses its mind. Certainly that’s not the Obama camps fault, but their obvious Obama bias and hysterical reaction to Palin does not help their favorite candidate. Clumsily the Obama campaign chimed in with cracks about her experience as a small town mayor, and dismissed her experience as a sitting Governor. This opened the door for Palin to clock Obama on his community organizer experience during her acceptance speech, which was such a powerful speech that it made the media and Obama look foolish for their attacks.
Since then the Obama campaign has struggled to get its bearings. First, Obama acted horrified that Palin challenged his community organizer experience, when he had really set himself up. Then his campaign had a meltdown over Palin’s comment that she had pulled the plug on the ‘Bridge to No Where’. Instead of criticizing Palin’s original support for a different version of the bridge, or questioning what that money should have been spent on after the project was dead, the Obama campaign instead freaked out. They called Palin a liar, they called the McCain/Palin ticket corrupt, yet in the end Palin did pull the plug on the ‘Bridge to No Where’ and the Obama campaign’s over-reaction looked foolish and unstable. Then comes Senator Obama’s ‘Lipstick on a pig’ comment. One can argue intent all day long, however, there is little argument that the comment was incredibly stupid. Particularly, since in the same day he made another comment about a ’stinking fish’, and another campaign member also referenced lipstick in a less than flattering way. For someone who is typically graceful in his use of language, “The fierce urgency of now”, “We are not red states or blue states, we are the United States”, talking about lipstick on pigs after Palin made a lipstick joke during her speech is at best sloppy and out of character.
Today the fumbling continues. An ad criticizing Senator McCain’s out of date attire from 1982, and challenging his apparent internet ineptitude has to be one of the weakest attack ads put out in years. Maybe that helps him somehow with the youth vote, but he already has the youth vote. Most people over the age of 30 know at some point in their lives they’ve worn a silly outfit, and/or had a bad hair day. As for lack of internet experience, who cares? It’s an odd argument that I can’t imagine helps the campaign. The Obama campaign has abandoned their ‘new politics’ argument for random and silly attacks. It’s not just that they’re struggling since the Palin pick and the convention, its that they’re panicking. They’re only down a few points in the polls, the real problem isn’t the numbers it’s that the McCain/Palin ticket has them completely flustered.
The intensely personal attacks on Governor Palin now include attacks on her faith. Some misunderstand her faith, others as Slate did in a recent article, outright attack it. No expert myself on faith or religion, I asked my brother Greg who belongs to a church very similar to that of Governor Palin to clarify what it is and isn’t to be a fundamentalist Christian. Also, following his write up is a part of a write up from Mary McCurry a Roman Catholic who is deeply troubled by the manner in which Governor Palin’s faith has been attacked.
Greg Morrison - MN
First of all, the author [from the Slate article] incorrectly correlates the term “fundamentalist” with the term “extremist”. To be a fundamentalist, simply means to believe in certain fundamentals. The fundamentals of Sarah Palin’s church can be found clearly on their website. They are few and fairly straightforward. They believe…
1. …the Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.
2. …Jesus Christ is the only Divine Son of God.
3. …man is inherently sinful and in need of the grace of God.
4 …salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works.
5. …the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues is given to believers who ask for it.
6. …in Miracles of Divine healing in response to the prayer of faith.
7. …in the imminent return of Jesus for all Christians.
While individuals (even Christians) can argue as to whether or not this is a partial, complete, or extended list of fundamentals, the fact is that most Christian faiths believe in some if not all of the above tenets…
…most of the above statements of faith are very much within the “mainstream” of Christianity. Consequently while someone may be a Christian fundamentalist that in no way by itself means that they are by default an “extremist”.
Second, many of the freedoms we enjoy today are possible due to beliefs that are found in the Bible. God over and over again in scripture communicates to man that he has a choice to make (ex: Deut 30:19 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live.) This particular scripture is an example of the choice that God gives us. To paraphrase this passage, God is essentially saying the following. I’m calling everyone to say that I am giving you the freedom to make a choice. Here are your options; Life and Blessing or Death and Cursing. You choose. By the way I’d choose life if I were you. It is much better.
Are there some individuals who have perverted the truth? Of course. As in any segment of society there are those who do not take the time to learn and understand the truth…
…That being said, I have seen nothing so far that would suggest that Sarah Palin or her Church believe anything outside of the above basic fundamentals.
…It should be understood that to a person of Christian faith (even of the fundamentalist nature) science and God are not incongruous. After all from our perspective, God created both faith and science. Some of the theory’s that lead in our scientific circles may in fact be closer than many might think. For example the Big Bang Theory explains how the Universe came to be from virtual nothingness. To a fundamentalist Christian this is not a new revelation. After all, In the beginning…God said, Let there be light, and (BANG) there was light (Gen 1:1&3).
Mary McCurry - CA
…First, there is the wide dissemination of verifiably false stories of her claiming that the Iraq war and the Alaska pipeline are God’s tasks. Then that she dared to pray in a Church of all places. I watched and listened to the YouTube clip 4 times where she was in her Church and offering support for her son and all our troops going to war. She prayed that God has a plan and that we be part of it. In other words by praying she was NOT stating what God’s plan is, but asking God’s guidance and strength that we rightly discern His Will and be empowered and protected to carry that out. That is even a step in the 12 Step programs. This is the same kind of praying that goes on in thousands of Churches of many different traditions.
Attacks on her Pentecostal faith and practices like speaking in tongues or rolling on the floor, etc — It is not enough to just say that she doesn’t do that - that’s not the point. The point is that whether she does or doesn’t millions of intelligent, educated and faith filled people do and there is nothing insane about that. Charismatic Catholics speak in tongues. Many Protestant groups do as well whether labeled Pentecostal or not. Sts Paul and Peter spoke in tongues along with the rest of the crowd at Pentecost. To attack this practice as making anyone unfit for public office is an attack on all religious practice or beliefs.
A little bit of a tizzy has taken hold of the web over a comment Sen. Obama made yesterday on the stump about Sen. McCain “putting lipstick on a pig.” Some have interpreted that as being a jab at Gov. Palin.
I wouldn’t reach that conclusion, or I’d at least give Sen. Obama the benefit of the doubt. To assume he was referring to Gov. Palin with that “joke” one would have to think — unfairly in my view — that Sen. Obama is either 1) incredibly crass and/or 2) a complete idiot. He is many things I don’t care for, but neither of those.
From small 50-100 person town hall meetings in New Hampshire to accepting the Republican nomination center stage at the 18,000 seat Xcel Center makes for quite a story. Yet Senator McCain’s life is full of compelling stories.
You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.
I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.
I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn’t a popular thing to do. And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I’d rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.
Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans.
I don’t mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I’ve had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.
Unable to say much against Gov. Palin’s address to the RNC last evening apparently, the Obama campaign has resorted to snidely asserting that “she reads from the teleprompter well.” That couldn’t be richer coming from the campaign of a candidate who is where he is right now because of his remarkable ability to read well from a teleprompter, especially since their candidate is something less than remarkable when off the teleprompter, which is probably why they ran away from their earlier pledges to participate in town hall meetings with Sen. McCain so quickly.
If it weren’t for the teleprompter, Barack Obama would still be an anonymous legislator in the Illinois state legislature, not the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
There was certainly much — MUCH — to plaudit in Gov. Palin’s address this evening. I will refrain from going into it all when so many have and will probably continue to in the coming days.
What I will say is that she was incredibly poised, at ease, and in command through the entire address. She had the convention hall in the palm of her hand and I would guess much of the viewing public as well. After the absurd attacks and slander her and her family have been subjected to since her selection for the ticket she responded with an advanced degree of poise and grace that is quite astonishing. In my still brief political consciousness I have never seen or heard a better address from a conservative leader. Never.
Suffice to say, if she performs at that level through the remainder of the campaign — and especially in her Oct. 2 debate with her counterpart Sen. Biden — she will immensely improve her and Sen. McCain’s chances of victory.
Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader and chairman of the convention, said the legally required business, including approval of the rules and the platform, would take place but “there would not be much beyond that.”
Its the right thing to do. It would be improper and insensitive to have a giant party (which is essentially what a national convention is) until we know the scope and scale of this storm.
The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. [Chuckle] The timing is — at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter] … Everything’s cool.
That would be former Democratic National Committee Chairman Donald Fowler telling us how hilarious Hurricane Gustav is.
Keep this in mind when the DNC issues character attacks on McCain and Palin over the next several months.
* Wow. No matter who you are and who you support, you cannot help but be impressed by this pick, if only because it is so unconventional and was so out of the blue. At a time when Americans should conceivably be dwelling upon Sen. Obama’s Super Bowl-sized acceptance speech the night before last, Sen. McCain has grabbed everyone’s attention by selecting a running mate no one seriously thought was a possibility. If the axiom that “there is no such thing as bad publicity” is at all valid, the McCain campaign had a good day.
* Gov. Palin excites the base exactly when it needs to be excited — heading into the Republican convention next week. Not only is she a bona fide conservative but she has a remarkable life story of achievement, the paramount item of which is her becoming America’s most popular governor by taking on the entrenched and corrupt establishment in her state. In that sense she undergirds Sen. McCain’s reputation as a reformer.
* Obviously, this pick is a risk. Time will tell if she is up to a tough national campaign and will be able to acquit herself favorably in her debate with Sen. Biden. If her remarks in Dayton, Ohio yesterday were any indication though, she’ll do just fine.
The long-term effects of Sen. McCain’s selection of Gov. Palin yesterday will obviously not be revealed until the late hours of November 4, 2008. But in the short-term, it has created a buzz around the McCain-Palin ticket on the eve of the convention next week, where Gov. Palin will get the first real opportunity to introduce herself to Americans and demonstrate her capacity to become the nation’s next vice president and help Sen. McCain build upon the momentum they have created in recent weeks.
