Huge gamble, huge upside.

The pick he needed in a tough year for the GOP.

jerseyhoya wrote:

Monkeyboy wrote:But we can all wait to see how she turns out and we can all hope that she's the one person to join the GOP inner circle that isn't a maniac.

Didn't you call yourself the type of voter McCain should be appealing to/trying to win over?

When he was earlier in his campaign, yes. It was too late for me once he brought in his group of advisors.

But in a greater sense, yes, he should be appealing to people who used to often vote republican but have been turned off by 8 years of Bush. He's running as a change candidiate, just like Obama. It's just a lot harder for him to do so when he's from the same party and has supported Bush's least popular polices.

Rococo4 wrote:Huge gamble, huge upside.

The pick he needed in a tough year for the GOP.

I agree it's a huge gamble. I don't see it having a huge upside--I'd say a small upside. On the other hand, Romney wasn't gamble, it was a disaster. Same Lieberman. They had no upside whatsoever. They were like Adam Eaton. Palin I guess is like Kendrick.

Maybe Pawlenty was too much like Blanton.

The question is whether McCain needed to make a huge gamble. Most seem to think he did.

I'd love to know when this decision was finalized, and if the events of the DNC had anything to do with how it went down.

TenuredVulture wrote:Maybe Pawlenty was too much like Blanton.

OMG, imagine what Blanton could do to a presidential-sized buffet!!!

Even Pat Buchanan Obama's speech

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The nation has moved on from Obama's speech. Haven't you heard? McCain picked a woman!

dajafi wrote:The question is whether McCain needed to make a huge gamble. Most seem to think he did.

I'd love to know when this decision was finalized, and if the events of the DNC had anything to do with how it went down.

I truly think it was going to be Romney until the whole issue of homes came up. That made it impossible.....and thats a net win for Democrats because Romney would have really helped in CO and NV and help put MI in play

dajafi wrote:The question is whether McCain needed to make a huge gamble. Most seem to think he did.

Well, I don't necessarily see it as a huge gamble... more like a calculated risk.

Many will liken the Palin pick as an attempt to win over disenfranchised or disappointed Hillary supporters... which likely was a factor. I also think, with this prez election being heralded as "history making", Camp McCain wanted to be part of the "history making" aspect, a player instead of just being "2 white guys" swept up in it. It's also a way of saying the ticket isn't the "same ol' same old" stereotypical GOP offering.

I haven't been folowing the prez election stuff much lately, basically because I've become sick of it (it's too damn long this time), sick of politics, sick of the BS. But awhile back, I had a "gut" feeling that Palin might be the pick (can't explain why). Although, with the recent Palin "stuff" (the abuse of power probe, her recently having a baby with Down's Syndrome), that "gut" feeling tempered a bit. So for me, picking Palin was sort of a "surprise, but not surprised" thing.

dajafi wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:Am I alone in thinking this really isn't a great pick for McCain? Two year governor of Alaska is probably the equivalent being mayor of a medium size city. If I'm the dems, I'm getting this out there staring now. McCain is old and might die any minute. Then we're going to have to turn things over to this young lady who really has no governing experience at all, other than taking money from big oil.

There's that, but what bothers me about the pick is that it just feels like a plot contrivance from some Hollywood movie about politics.

"And your point is?"
\

Wow, these PUMA people are pricks

Clearly a political pick, and I like it.

Besides being red meat for the base, she does appeal to the pants suit voters. WHile some may resent that she is pretty, others will appreciate that she is feminine, unlike Hillary.

Plenty of risk, but she gets to prove that Superwoman is not a myth.

Who thinks she is less qualified than Dan Quayle or Barack Obama?

I read online, and I hear from colleagues, how they are weary of the endless campaigning.

OTOH, I am digging it. While I largely expect to be disappointed in November, how could I not enjoy this historic race?

On Nov 7, a barrier is gonna fall, no matter what.

TomatoPie wrote:Clearly a political pick, and I like it.

Besides being red meat for the base, she does appeal to the pants suit voters. WHile some may resent that she is pretty, others will appreciate that she is feminine, unlike Hillary.

Plenty of risk, but she gets to prove that Superwoman is not a myth.

Who thinks she is less qualified than Dan Quayle or Barack Obama?

I can't wait until the race is over so we can get back to discussing legislation and so I don't have to read more posts like this one about NOTHING of importance in regards to the nation or government. It's not just you, I've just gotten tired of this entire concept that people must appeal to someone as a person and not just present some freaking ideas and policies.

I really really hate the campaigning aspect of politics and like the governance. I think jerseyhoya and I are complete opposites.

pacino wrote:Wow, these PUMA people are pricks

i am guessing you saw the woman on Hardball, who couldn't even make eye contact with the camera she was so angry.

What's starting to bother me about the Palin pick is that I don't see how McCain, who evidently barely knew her before choosing her, can have a very strong sense that she's up for probably the most important job in the world. Or even whether she deeply shares and his policy views and priorities.

It seems like a purely political choice without consideration given to what kind of president Palin might make if need be. (And, not to be morbid, considering McCain's age and health history, this isn't a far-out hypothetical.) I guess you could argue that Kerry went a similar route with Edwards, and I'm sure he picked Edwards primarily because he thought it would help him win--but at least he'd spent a long time with Edwards in the Senate and on the campaign trail, and had an idea of who the guy was politically. It wasn't a totally uninformed choice.

Does McCain not particularly care about who Palin is or what kind of job she'd do, so long as she helps him win? Is that something his people think voters are even going to closely look at and draw an opinion about?

dajafi wrote:What's starting to bother me about the Palin pick is that I don't see how McCain, who evidently barely knew her before choosing her, can have a very strong sense that she's up for probably the most important job in the world. Or even whether she deeply shares and his policy views and priorities.

It seems like a purely political choice without consideration given to what kind of president Palin might make if need be. (And, not to be morbid, considering McCain's age and health history, this isn't a far-out hypothetical.) I guess you could argue that Kerry went a similar route with Edwards, and I'm sure he picked Edwards primarily because he thought it would help him win--but at least he'd spent a long time with Edwards in the Senate and on the campaign trail, and had an idea of who the guy was politically. It wasn't a totally uninformed choice.

Does McCain not particularly care about who Palin is or what kind of job she'd do, so long as she helps him win? Is that something his people think voters are even going to closely look at and draw an opinion about?

I think your jumping to all kinds of conclusions regarding McCain's vetting process. Her beliefs and values are quite clear and I'm sure McCain is well aware of this.

I'll say this again, for anyone worrying about Palin's inexperience, look no further than the top of the Democratic ticket. I'll put up her experience versus his (and Biden, the ancient Senator) any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Why should McCain care about Palin's qualifications? The only way she becomes President is if he's dead.

I like the Palin pick, I've been hoping he'd select her for a while now. I think I can vote for McCain with some enthusiasm now. Romney would have been *yawn* and we'd have to endure two months of commercials showing Romney criticize McCain. Pawlenty is just an awful name, sorry.

Yeah, she's a pandering pick, but so is Biden - hell, so are McCain, Obama, or Hillary.

I like that no matter who wins, we'll have a non white guy in one of the two major seats.

VoxOrion wrote:I like the Palin pick, I've been hoping he'd select her for a while now. I think I can vote for McCain with some enthusiasm now. Romney would have been *yawn* and we'd have to endure two months of commercials showing Romney criticize McCain. Pawlenty is just an awful name, sorry.

Yeah, she's a pandering pick, but so is Biden - hell, so are McCain, Obama, or Hillary.

I like that no matter who wins, we'll have a non white guy in one of the two major seats.

i like palin, and i could vote for her in a year that's not this one, but you'd have to be an idiot to think that she'll have any input on any major policy. considering mccain's level of disinterest in domestic affairs, it's pretty clear that his advisers will be running that. and it's pretty clear what their opinions are, and it's also clear what their impact will be on america.

to put it bluntly, she's there to be seen, but not heard.