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

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?

drsmooth wrote:

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

well, she's over 35 & a citizen. So she's Obama's equal on the basics.

But no serious person, male or female, would contend she has his mental horsepower.

steagles wrote:

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.

cshort wrote:

drsmooth wrote:

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

well, she's over 35 & a citizen. So she's Obama's equal on the basics.

But no serious person, male or female, would contend she has his mental horsepower.

Jimmy Carter is a nuclear physicist. Didn't make him a good president.

drsmooth wrote:

cshort wrote:

drsmooth wrote:

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

well, she's over 35 & a citizen. So she's Obama's equal on the basics.

But no serious person, male or female, would contend she has his mental horsepower.

Jimmy Carter is a nuclear physicist. Didn't make him a good president.

oh, please

cshort wrote:Actually, based on her whistle blowing efforts, going after corrupt members of her own party, and refusing earmarks, McCain may see someone very much like himself. Perhaps he wants to get in office and actually try to clean things up. Helps to have someone on the same page with him.

logos wrote:

cshort wrote:Actually, based on her whistle blowing efforts, going after corrupt members of her own party, and refusing earmarks, McCain may see someone very much like himself. Perhaps he wants to get in office and actually try to clean things up. Helps to have someone on the same page with him.

We have much bigger problems than "cleaning up" Washington. We're involved in two wars, Russia's acting up, Pakistan is a nuclear-armed mess, the financial system is flirting with collapse, gas prices are too high (and just wait for heating oil prices this winter), too many people have lost their jobs or their benefits or both, etc. McCain's foreign policy is pretty clear, but his ability to deal with the domestic stuff is a cipher. Palin's ridiculously inexperienced at addressing any of the major issues that are going to hit the next administration in the face.

Tom Ridge would have been a better choice. He'd freak out the pro-lifers, for sure, but he might actually be able to bring something to the table on the real problems we face. And he's from Pennsylvania!

drsmooth wrote:

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

well, she's over 35 & a citizen. So she's Obama's equal on the basics.

But no serious person, male or female, would contend she has his mental horsepower.

cshort wrote:

drsmooth wrote:

cshort wrote:

drsmooth wrote:

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

well, she's over 35 & a citizen. So she's Obama's equal on the basics.

But no serious person, male or female, would contend she has his mental horsepower.

Jimmy Carter is a nuclear physicist. Didn't make him a good president.

oh, please

great comeback

jerseyhoya wrote:All of them are fairly self made, with the exception of McCain.

VoxOrion wrote:

steagles wrote:

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.

You answered your own rhetorical question, which is why conservatives seem so happy with her. McCain doesn't care about social stuff (his biggest drawback after being an overall malcontent), he needs people around him who will bother, and presumably she's been selected to be one of those advisors, if not the advisor.

steagles wrote:

VoxOrion wrote:

steagles wrote:

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.

You answered your own rhetorical question, which is why conservatives seem so happy with her. McCain doesn't care about social stuff (his biggest drawback after being an overall malcontent), he needs people around him who will bother, and presumably she's been selected to be one of those advisors, if not the advisor.

again, i like her, and i could vote for her, but she's not nearly proven enough to be relied upon in that role, in that administration.

she might have a $#@! ton of upside, and i think i see it, but i cannot imagine that they chose her for any reason other than she's a republican and a woman.