Honeymoon is over! This is in Florida yesterday. http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/NEWS0107/80921022 Palin draws crowd of 60,000 in The Villages By Bill Cotterell • news-press.com capital bureau • September 21, 2008 THE VILLAGES -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told wildly cheering, flag-waving, chanting supporters that John McCain is "the only great man in this race" and promised Sunday he will fix the nation's economy if voters give the GOP four more years in the White House. "He won't say this, so I'll say it for him," the Alaska governor said in an almost confidential tone at the close of her first Florida stump speech. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. John McCain wore the uniform of his country for 22 years -- talk about tough." The Villages, a vast, upscale planned community north of Orlando, has about 70,000 mostly adult residents -- many of them military retirees -- who vote reliably Republican in statewide races. Tens of thousands inched along roads into the picturesque town square of the complex, where they stood in sweltering heat for about four hours as local GOP officials and a country band revved up the crowd. "Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!" they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags that were distributed -- along with free water bottles -- by local volunteers. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000. Admiring throngs mobbed the Palin family's arrival and departure, snapping souvenir pictures. Autograph seekers thrust campaign signs, caps with the McCain-Palin logo and copies of magazines with her face on their covers, and the Palins responded warmly. Palin, her husband and three of their children arrived in Orlando but spent a family day at Disney World, she said as she introduced her entourage to the enthusiastic crowd. She joked about similarities and differences of the two states at opposite corners of America, but was all business when she focused on the need for a large voter turnout in a hotly contested state with 27 electoral votes. Recent polls have given the McCain-Palin ticket a single-digit edge but Florida is clearly up for grabs. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., campaigned from Jacksonville to Miami late last week and the Democrats have mobilized a massive volunteer effort statewide. McCain, who led the Jan. 29 state primary with a big boost from popular Gov. Charlie Crist, has strong support in the vital I-4 corridor and across North Florida, where conservative southerners tend to register as Democrats but vote Republican in statewide races. In a theme Palin would pound home, GOP Chairman Jim Greer Greer said Obama and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, have records of voting for higher taxes and have said on the campaign trail that they would increase regulation of financial markets. "John MCain and I are going to take our case for reform to every voter in every background and every party, or no party at all," said Palin. "We're going to Washington to shake things up." She said "John McCain warned Congress that we needed to do something before these problems became a crisis," but that Washington -- including Obama and Biden -- did not act for months as financial giants teetered and toppled. "Americans are caught in kind of a perfect storm between high taxes, high gas prices, greed on Wall Street and a shortage of courage in Washington," she said. "But we need new leadership in Washington -- we need serious reform on Wall Street." Palin, whose son shipped out for Iraq this month, made a point of asking veterans and military members in the crowd to raise their hands for a round of applause. Then she recalled that McCain took an early, unpopular stance in support of the Iraq troop surge, a policy shift now widely credited with stabilizing Iraq. "That's the kind of man I want as commander in chief," she shouted, as applause and whoops rose in the town square. "John McCain is the only great man in this race."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/21/MNPP130KA7.DTL&feed=rss.news Palin energizes California Republicans Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, September 22, 2008 (09-21) 16:53 PDT -- Post-convention swing state polls are tipping toward Sen. John McCain, the TV pundits are waxing about "The Palin Factor," and Sen. Barack Obama's California supporters are freaking out about a race Democrats were uncommonly confident about only a month ago. Conversely, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's addition to the GOP ticket jolted Northern California Republicans out of what one described as their "Underground Railroad" existence in one of the nation's most liberal regions. Ever since her speech to the Republican National Convention on Sept. 3, party officials say volunteers have been contacting California GOP offices in numbers unseen since Ronald Reagan was on the ballot for the White House. Despite generating all this fear and enthusiasm, the Palin Factor hasn't changed the race in California. Obama beats McCain 52 percent to 36 percent in a Field Poll released last week, and neither campaign is broadcasting ads in the state's expensive television markets. On Thursday, Palin canceled her rally and fundraising visit to the state planned for this week. So Californians seeking to get involved in either campaign have options: pick up the phone, get on a plane or hop in a car and contact a voter in a swing state that's still in play. Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado are the closest swing states. Most of the Great Lakes states are still up for grabs, and Florida always beckons. Lizzy Gore was tired of preaching to the blue choir when she was living in Redwood City during the primaries this year and found the same unanimity when she moved to Rhode Island three months ago. So last week, she began an online campaign at thepoint.com where she started raising money for a newspaper ad that would argue that Palin would not be a good vice president. If the online effort raises $21,285, she will buy and place the ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer in swing state Ohio. "So we're preaching to swing voters," Gore said. "That's the plan, anyway, to create an emotionally resonant message that convinces those folks that Sarah Palin is not who they think she is." On the California section of Obama's Web site, www.baracko bama.com, there is an appeal for the "Drive for Change" program that reads: "As an Obama supporter in California, you can make a huge impact by traveling to Nevada to talk with voters about why Barack Obama and Joe Biden will bring the change we need." The California Young Democrats are organizing weekly road trips across the border, too. Nationally, major players are starting to readjust their plans to the shifting electoral map. Last week, the liberal online giant MoveOn.org announced it would spend $5 million to $7 million on television advertising - double the amount the 4.2 million-member organization had expected to spend, executive director Eli Pariser said. "In August, we were at half of 2004 in terms of energy," Pariser said. Four years ago, the organization raised $6.8 million in September; it already has raised $5 million this month. "In the last three weeks, we've seen this enormous surge in energy, driven both by, 'Oh, there's a real race here,' and also by, frankly, the Palin pick. "That scared a lot of our members and got them off their chairs," Pariser said. MoveOn's advertising will be targeted at 22 states - swing states, plus what Pariser referred to as "a wish list" of traditionally red states where Obama might be competitive. Its more immediate goal is to register 500,000 under-30 voters before the Oct. 6 deadline in some states. But Republicans aren't giving up on California. California Republican Party chief operating officer Bill Christiansen said some private polls put the two candidates within five points of each other, and the McCain campaign is staffing 50 offices throughout the state. Four years ago, the Bush-Cheney campaign barely had a presence in California, and spent little money. "But we are fully funded this time," Christiansen said, declining to give a figure. The state GOP is making 125,000 voter contacts every weekend, "which blows the doors off of what we were doing four years ago," said Christiansen. "Sarah Palin has put a shot of energy into this race." Last week, the McCain campaign e-mailed supporters to say it was "looking for volunteers who are willing to spend the final 10 days of the campaign helping in a nearby state." But at the San Mateo County branch of the McCain campaign, 300 people turned out last week for its volunteer kickoff event; the turnout was goosed by Palin, organizers said. Now the office is welcoming first-timer campaigners like Phil Lehman, a 63-year-old Foster City resident. His reason for volunteering: "Sarah." "There's a realness to her, a believability," Lehman said. "I think she's going to eat Joe Biden's lunch at the (vice presidential) debate." It will largely be up to volunteers like Lehman to spread the word in California and beyond. From Sept. 6-13, broadcast television viewers in Grand Rapids, Mich., saw 1,120 TV ads from either the Obama or McCain campaigns, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Advertising Project. That's 1,120 more than viewers in San Francisco saw. Information on volunteering Resources for McCain and Obama campaign volunteers: Sen. John McCain -- The McCain campaign is seeking volunteers to spend the final 10 days of the campaign working in a swing state. For more information: Volunteer5@JohnMcCain.com. -- McCain supporters can visit www.peerdreams.com, whichhas Republican and Democrat pages for those who want to give or receive money for election travel. -- For information on how to find the closest McCain/California GOP office: www.cagop.org. Sen. Barack Obama -- The California section of the Obama campaign's Web site lists activities for residents to travel outside the state: links.sfgate.com/ZEWS. -- The California Young Democrats are organizing weekly road trips to Nevada. For more information: www.youngdems.org or e-mail Heather Brown, heather@youngdems.org. -- For information on sponsoring or volunteering to campaign for Obama-Biden in swing states, visit www.travelforchange.org and www.obamatravel.org. -- For information about Lizzy Gore's effort to raise money to run an anti-Gov. Sarah Palin ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer: links.sfgate.com/ZEWT. -- For information on how to find the closest Obama/California Democratic Party office: links.sfgate.com/ZEWU. E-mail Joe Garofoli at jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/22/MNPP130KA7.DTL This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
see, I just don't see any evidence that she is smart. She is good at public speaking--at least good at reading in public--but that is NOT the same thing.
I haven't seen any evidence that she is good looking either. I'm not saying she's ugly, but just keeping it within politics, she doesn't have the beauty of someone like Chelsea Clinton, who is on a completely different level than Palin. She kind of looks like a pitbull with lipstick on.
I've never seen any evidence that Chelsea Clinton is remotely good looking. "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."-John McCain
Exclusive: McCain closes huge gap on key question for women By DAVID PAUL KUHN | 9/22/08 5:15 AM EDT Text Size: Since picking Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has obliterated what had been a 34-percentage-point deficit in a poll of likely women voters on the question of which candidate has a “better understanding of women and what is important” to them. The two are now effectively tied, with McCain's 44 to 42 percentage lead within the margin of error of the most recent poll conducted by pollsters Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake for Lifetime Television. In Lifetime's July poll, women preferred Barack Obama on the same question by nearly three-to-one— 52 to 18 percent. In this latest poll, conducted Sept. 11-15, age remained a key determinant in response to the question about women’s concerns. Young women, ages 18-34, chose the Obama/Biden ticket as more empathetic to their needs, while women aged 35-64 went for McCain/Palin. Unlike black and Hispanic women, White women saw McCain and Palin as most understanding of their concerns. About one in four women who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries now said McCain and Palin have a better grasp of women’s needs than Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden. The Lifetime poll reveals a diversity of women’s views on several issues, with many of those differences related to a respondent’s race, party identity, marital status and generation. However, those demographic differences faded when it came to the Democrats’ strongest showing in the poll, on a question regarding the economy. The women polled favored the Obama/Biden ticket 57 to 32 percent on which candidate “will help middle class families the most.” Polling has shown all year that the economy tops voters' concerns. The survey comes as women overall favor the Democratic ticket, 48 to 44 percent, according to the weekly summaries of Gallup polling. That marks a wider margin than Democrats enjoyed in 2004 on Election Day, but less than in 2000. That Democratic drop-off with women since 2000, Gallup polling shows, is tied to Obama’s recent downtick in white support among women and men alike. All summer Obama had roughly similar support among white women as Al Gore did in 2000. Gallup finds McCain now leads with white women 51 to 40 percent, a wider gap than the GOP enjoyed among white women eight years ago. However, it appears that Obama’s message of “change” has struck a chord with women, who in the Lifetime poll gave the Obama/Biden ticket a 14-point advantage on the question, 51 to 37 percent over the McCain/Palin ticket. Overall, women said Obama and Biden would best “reform the way Washington, D.C. does business” by 47 to 40 percent. But white women narrowly favored the McCain/Palin ticket on that count. And, independent women gave the GOP ticket an 8-point advantage on the change issue. When women were asked which ticket could better “win” the war in Iraq, white, Hispanic and independent women, as well as women of every age group, voiced more confidence in McCain/Palin. But when these women were asked which candidates can most likely “end” the war in Iraq, Obama/Biden earned significantly more support. Women under age 55, Hispanic women, and independent women had more trust in the Democrats. Yet white women voiced more confidence in McCain/Palin to end the war. Women overall did say the Republican ticket was more ready to lead, though Latinas and black women sided with Democrats. Democrats have a narrow advantage overall, 47 to 40 percent, as more capable reformers of government, though female independents and whites sided with the GOP. The Lifetime Television/Every Woman Counts campaign poll of 534 American women likely to vote was conducted September 11 to 15, and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent. Link
Palin is better looking than Chelsea (don't want to focus on that though). That said, Obama now leads by an average of 2.6 points on RCP. Rasmussen has him up by 1.
sorry, that must be a meaning of the word "anywhere" that I'm not familiar with. [I'm sure there is an appropriate smiley here somewhere . . . let's see . . . how about ]
Non sequitur (<small>IPA</small>: /nɒnˈsɛkwɪtər/) is Latin for "it does not follow". It is most often used to indicate something which does not follow logically, such as a stated conclusion that is not supported by the facts. Non sequitur may refer to: Non sequitur (logic), a logical fallacy Non sequitur (humor), a comment that has no relation to the preceding comment or to an ongoing discussion or topic
It's all conservatives though. The same vote McCain already had. Just like Obama's crowds. All liberals. He already had those. Considering the polling is real close right now and McCain's bump lasted shorter than previous candidates who's conventions goes last, I'd say the honeymoon is over and the marriage has began. Not to say the honeymoon wasn't effective though. I think it was. His base is fired up.
I just watched Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric. Unfortunately, I saw the SNL satire on it first, so I had no idea whether I was just watching another satire or whether it was real. Does anyone still think that she is a good choice? that she is intelligent? that she has any idea what she is talking about? It's clear that she has never thought about any of these issues, and she is just desperately trying to remember everything she has been told by her handlers . . . who, unfortunately, are people who have been in the Bush administration for most of the decade. [video=youtube;XbQwAFobQxQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbQwAFobQxQ&feature=related[/video]
You just called chelsea clinton pretty? SMH...............Lets keep it real, palin is wayyyyyy more hotter than michelle and chelsea combined, comin' from a black man NOT a republican.
well, he has thought about all these issues for the better part of three years--and he was introduced to them just in the normal course of being a senator. We all know how hard it is to cram and then be able to talk intelligently about something. One difference, though, is that when you have the opportunity to think about issues for longer, you can accept and reject different positions as you gain understanding. My impression is that Palin is just memorizing what she is being told.
