Even at 2100.  Nothing can dim my rosy left wing outlook. 

However, I will not bash McCain for his choice.  The fact that she is a woman makes her good enough in my book.  It's like when the Tigers and the Chargers met at the World Series.  Either way,  I win.

Hoping for Obama but willing to go with the flow. 

Always in trouble...

If you vote for Palin, you'll get McCain and 100 more years in Iraq.

Susan
Papergeist

I am a Republican but I can't vote for this woman. Electing her would be telling my daughter that marriage doesn't matter, God's teachings don't matter. And if she can't run her family why do people think she can run the country? This is a disappointment, a HUGE disappointment. Don't my fellow republicans understand what a mistake this is, the kind of role model this will be for our daughters? What this will do to marriage? We might as well legalize gay marriage because apparently nothing is sacred to us anymore except getting our team elected. I'm on God's team, not this one and usually I'd go Republican because of the values they share but that is no longer the case.

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

I can't believe you just called her "gun toting", lol. Love it. (She fishes too. And she sold her jet on eBay.)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

... It just made sense given the current political landscape. AND, now the media is talking about this and NOT Obama's speech last nite.

Crazy like a bunch of foxes.

washy || http://washwords.com/words || washwords.dc@gmail.com

 umm, i gotta side with Erin here. I'm trying to stay non-partisan as possible, former journalist and gov. employee and all, but this choice is making it hard. 

 or rather the spin around it is ... i'm sorry maybe it's something in my background / cynical personality but I feel insulted as a woman and a thinking person. it just seems soooo "hey, girls, here's a woman, that's what you wanted right?" who cares if she's pro-life, evangelical, wants to teach creationism in the schools, has no experience, wants to leave her five-month old to campaign, put her pals on the board when they had a policy she didn't like, etc. etc.

 Hey, I agree she seems like a nice lady and kudos to her for keeping her baby "even though she KNEW it was going to be handicapped!" gasssp. 

but she's no hillary clinton and she doesn't stand for the issues I as a woman, thinking person, democrat, etc etc. stand for. all i'm hoping is that all of you my fellow women look carefully - I know you will, rather than anyone leaping for joy because she's a woman.

and as for the orignal poster, your enthusiasm is infectious and fun. umm did you work for "sarah"? I'm just wondering what we're missing. here in dc my female colleagues and i couldn't be madder or more concerned.

That's great, Michelle. I'm with you!

Notions of Identity

Thank you. You put it right where it should be. I can't believe all the oohing and ahhing over this as though we couldn't see it coming. He probably really wanted Condi Rice, a two for one, but her presence would have secured his spot as the Bush twin. And of course, just too obvious if you're running a game on the people with a quota scheme.  On the other hand, mabe Rice wasn't "cute" enough.

Really, this is the same man who jokes/sings about bombing Iran, doesn't understand economic issues, and called his wife a "c**t" in front of reporters. Scary.

Nordette is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link.

Wow, great shot and great guy you're married to. Thank you for sharing the photo and your thoughts. I'd love to hear the story about your husband saving the woman and children. Wow.

(sorry, I'm feeling a lot of wows right now!)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Younger with less "experience" indeed! I'm loving that one, especially as how my McCain supporting friends aren't yet seeing it. (And I'm letting them live their own glow for a day or two. Waiting until Monday to rain on their parades!)

FireMom from Stop, Drop and Blog

And: the Birth Parent blog and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land

This is the very best commentary I have read on this topic. All in, what, 60 words? Pretzel logic! Excellent!

SJ also writes at I, Asshole.

Both candidates now have issues to defend with their VP choices. I love Biden and believe he was a great choice, but the GOP will attack the Dem ticket saying, how does Biden represent change? Now, the Dems will go after the GOP ticket w/ Palin as not ready.

Hopefully, we get can back to some real issues.

looking at the veepship in the context of the two selections earmarked for that office.

Obama erred, one of omission. Whatever Palin's views, whatever her experience level, this is what it comes down to.

18 million voted for Hillary. X percentage of those voters will not vote for Obama.

Y number would have voted for Obama if he selected say... Sebelius.

Z number will vote for McCain based on his selection today.

Obama's supporters tell me Biden is a good debater, he is fiesty, a good guy to have on your side in a fight. Oh, and he sponsored VAWA after all. (Every time that VAWA one is tossed around my mind wanders back to why bother with say... emily's list, after all... guys are going to take care of us, right? No. OK, then VAWA means he is an ally, not a viable substitute, not a viable replacement, for one of us being there.)

In presidential politics, candidates have to scratch and claw for every vote they can convince to go their way. In such a vote to vote environment, why in bloody hell would someone ignore that Y vote? Votes that would have been predisposed to go that way if only someone had the good sense to recognise those 18 million, like it or not, count. Like it or not, their views matter, and those views are significant in this election. 

This was not an election where a candidate could easily dismiss the collective vote of women - think on that... are we gaining some legitimate national clout now? Yet Obama, going first, made his choice, leaving a huge huge gift on the table for McCain, sorta like a football on your team's 10 yard line, your team is on the other end of the field, and one player on the other team is now picking up that football. Oops.

I said it last weekend, and I'll say it again. Selecting Biden was a huge mistake. And today, McCain took the first step towards making that mistake reality. 

nelle

&

llhaesa

Not cynical. Jill has a great post here referencing the same idea.

washy || http://washwords.com/words || washwords.dc@gmail.com

had he not made the gaffe about the houses, it'd be romney, but now he has to act "not rich" I'm uber-cynical admittedly, but I get mad even thinking about the spin that this is a feminist choice. it's not my kinda feminism. i can only hope (omg! omg! like totally!) that women, men, everyone see this and are moved NOT to vote for mccain.

Your absolutely right out of all the comments on the page you hit out the ball park. It is Publicity and marketing ploy all designed to take the flax off McCain for awhile. He was slipping in the polls in the last 3 weeks so strategically that was the best play. It's like playing a Chess Game. The question is, "Will this help him win the election now or will it hurt him?" I believe he made a bad calculation. McCain thought that if he waited a week or two for Obama to annouce his V.P Choice he would get the upper hand and switch gears on Obama BUT OF COURSE--The weather changed now for the next 1week-2weeks CNN will be reporting on the hurricane and lets just hope some other news doesn't dominate the airways. He was expecting 50,000 people at the convention now it will be less because people lost money when they booked their flight, hotel stay etc.

There is movie with Eddie Murphy and a Guy who was a thief/killer and he kinapped Eddie Murphy's girlfriend and eventually ended up having Eddie Murphy holding a button--which if he were to let go of it, it would kill is girlfriend because she's laying on table with a blade going around the edge--Her neck be would gone. Anyway, the Guy (the killer) said in the movie---WHEN YOU THINK YOU SCREWING THEM---THEY SCREWING YOU.

John McCain yes made a Gutsy Move but that bold move just bit him in the A** because now instead of working on the convention he's working on nothing. I predict that in another 2 weeks he still won't have much air time because there is another hurricane coming out at sea and something else will dominate the airways.

Whoa...let's look at some of those statements...She's still a relative unknown outside of a pretty small group of people.  That's just the way it is.  And you're right, until Obama's speech at the DNC, he was pretty unknown outside of parts of the midwest.  But where is her book?  Where is her statement of belief?  Who is she?  Does she have the president of Georgia calling her first when the Russians attack, before even Bush (as Biden did)?  Does she have international experience, have contacts all over the world and the respect of people in other countries (like Obama and Biden both do)?

 Having looked at some of her stances, I agree with her on some stuff, so that's not the issue.  And I'm proud that a woman is going to be in the running in this election, regardless.  But let's face it.  If Clinton hadn't been running as well, no way in HELL that the GOP would have put up a woman to be there WHEN McCain dies.

 "Would Obama be where he is if he were just another face in the crowd?"

Ae you saying that Obama is only where he is because of his race? By that logic, why didn't Carole Mosely Braun, Alan Keyes, Al Sharpton, Doug Wilder, Jesse Jackson or Shirley Chisholm get farther?

Clearly, McCain's choice of Palin was a shrewd move and the timing was very effective in disrupting Obama's buzz. I would hope we can talk about both Obama and Palin without essentialism. 

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

You are so right -- just because she has a woman's body does not mean she shares either my experience or my values -- in the same way when Geraldine Ferraro ran for VP w/Mondale in '84, Republican women did not flock in droves to vote for her.

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool

First  - I love your post, as a blog post. I meant to say that - I love those kind. :)

During the primary, I tangled in a major way with bloggers who are bullies and support Obama - and it was awful. Even locally, I was threatened late last month to stop writing about a "rising star" in the Ohio GOP or else "anti-Jill" blogs would be started and personal attacks, at me, lobbed.

But you aren't arguing that McCain's people and supporters don't work to make everyone stay on message?

What exactly are you referencing?

Thanks.

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

If you're going to be pro-McCain, that's fine. If you agree with his politics, you should vote for him and be excited to do so. But that excitement shouldn't devolve into ridiculous statements like this. The way the GOP has manhandled crowds for the last eight years and trounced all over the Freedoms of Speech and Assembly should be enough to make a statement like that look ludicrous.

Katherine, it's great that she is a modern woman.  I applaud her for being personally fiscally responsible.  So sh'e a good mom, and outdoorswoman.  How exactly does that prepare her for the two major responsibilities of the Vice President?  1) to serve as president should the president die, resign or be removed 2) serve a President of the Senate and break a tie should it occur.  What I keep hearing about her is that she's a mom and fisherwoman, etc.  I'm all about moms being fully qualified to work - I've done that myself, earning a Master's degre and making a career change in the process.  There is no way in hell I would propose that I am qualified to lead this country.  She's a nice person and maybe a good governor - she hasn't been in the office long enough for anyone to really know - only 2 years!  In today's world, we can't afford this kind of reckless loose-cannon McCain mentality.  Change is one thing- this is nuts!