Posted on 08/23/2008 2:53:55 PM PDT by Josh Painter
I've already shown how Sarah Palin would be a smart pick by John McCain to be his running mate. In light of recent events, she's looking like a smarter selection .
The announcement made early this morning by the Obama camp that Delaware Senator Joe Biden is Obama's choice to share the Democrat presidential ticket with him sets the stage for McCain to name his own vice presidential nominee. The conventional wisdom seems to be that it will be former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Although I think Romney would be a strong selection, the Biden pick would make Gov. Palin an even stronger one.
Within three hours of news of the Biden selection being aired, Team McCain produced and released this hard-hitting ad with video clips of Biden dissing Obama's inexperience and praising his old friend and Senate colleague, John McCain:
There's no shortage of similar clips from the GOP primariy season depicting Romney attacking McCain and McCain returning fire. A Romney pick would guarantee that the Democrats would use it and effectively cancel out the impact of the McCain ad. But Palin wasn't involved in that fight, so there's no such ammunition for the Obama campaign to use against her. McCain's ad could run from now through election day, and the Democrats would be denied the opportunity to reply in kind. Instead, Biden would be forced to explain his criticism of his own running mate.
One of Romney's strongest assets is economics. He was very successful in the private sector and has won acclaim for turning the Winter Olympics in his home state of Utah around. But to most Americans today, "economics" is translated as "oil". The price of gasoline at the pump and food at the grocery store is what's on their minds. The financial markets and corporate arenas where Romney earned his creds might as well be on a distant planet. Sarah Palin knows all about oil. She's an avid proponent of drilling in ANWR and makes a strong case for it.
But Palin is no stooge of Big Oil. She stood up to the oil companies in her state and pushed through a modest 2.5% increase on the state taxes they pay for their access to Alaska's bountiful oil deposits. That raised the tax from 22.5% to 25%, an amount the companies can pay and still enjoy considerable profits. The oil companies and some of her fellow Republicans had fought against the bill, arguing that the extra 2.5% would would put a damper on future Alaskan oil exploration. That has not been the case. Conservatives don't like tax-raising, but Palin justified the increase by pointing out that the previous 22.5% tax was passed in 2006 under suspicious circumstances. Several members of the legislature that set the amount of that tax were convicted or indicted on federal bribery charges related to the bill. Palin also explained that the '06 tax did not perform as advertised, and she offered as evidence an $800 million shortfall in expected revenue. Whether you agree or disagree with Palin's actions, you have to admit that the Democrats can't paint her as being in the pocket of Big Oil.
Gov. Sarah has also pushed through her legislature a gas pipeline project which will bring a fresh supply and lower prices to those of us in the lower 48:
The legislature had been trying for 30 years to authorize something like this and, up until now, had blown it. Palin got it through. Getting it off the ground, the state says, will be the biggest construction project in U.S. history.In light of the inablity of the U.S. Congress to do anything about our energy problem, voters will be favorably impressed with this "can-do" governor and her determination to move the ball downfield on energy. While others talk the problem to death, Sarah Palin has been doing plenty about it.Palin considers the $26 billion project her biggest accomplishment as governor. "It was not easy," she told IBD. "Alaska has been hoping and dreaming for a natural gas pipeline for decades. What it took was getting off the dime and creating a competitive market in Alaska."
The 1,715-mile gas line would stretch from Alaska's North Slope to Fairbanks and down to Alberta, Canada. Then it would take existing gas lines to Idaho. In 10 years, Palin says, the lower 48 states would receive 4.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. By 2030, according to Energy Department estimates, Alaska's annual natgas production would quintuple to 2 trillion cubic feet.
A McCain-Palin ticket would offer hope to Americans angry over our energy dependence on foreign - and often hostile - sources. It would stand in stark contrast to Obama and Biden, both of whom opposed increased domestic drilling. McCain is for drilling offshore, but has yet to be convinced to embrace drilling in ANWR. Sarah Palin is perhaps the only person who could convince him. McCain-Palin could even adopt the theme used by Sarah in her contest for Alaska's governorship - "Energy for America." It's a good one, and it should resonate with American voters who have been strapped for cash by high pump prices, as well as those concerned about America's energy security. Romney, as good as he is on economic matters, just can't relate to American voters on energy issues the way Palin can.
Biden is going to be Obama's attack dog, a role vice presidential picks are usually given so that the presidential candidate's hands don't have to be washed. Can Sarah Palin stand up to the crusty old Senator in a fight? It would be a mistake to write her off. Alaska is a tough place, and it demands much of those who choose to live there. Palin has taken on her own party by fighting corruption and using the line item veto to cut the budget, angering Democrats and entrenched Republicans alike. In a piece for the Weekly Standard last year, Fred Barnes wrote:
In the roughly three years since she quit as the state's chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the "body count" of Palin's rivals. "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign.Don't let that pretty face fool you. She's tough. I'll wager that because she was tough enough to take on Alaska's corrupt pols, she should have no problem with Biden in the VP debate or with bringing the elite Obama down a peg or two.-snip-
Gov. Palin grew up in Wasilla, where as star of her high school basketball team she got the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her fierce competitiveness. She led her underdog team to the state basketball championship. Palin also won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, in which she was named Miss Congeniality, and went on to compete in the Miss Alaska pageant.
Palin has another appeal that Mitt Romney just can't match, and it's through no fault of his. It's a matter of gender. Recent polling shows a problem for Obama:
Perhaps the biggest factor keeping the presidential race close has been Obama’s inability to close the deal with some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters. According to the poll, 52 percent of them say they will vote for Obama, but 21 percent are backing McCain, with an additional 27 percent who are undecided or want to vote for someone else.Obama's decision to choose Biden and stiff Hillary has her supporters even angrier right now. By selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain would show them that he, unlike Obama, doesn't take women's votes for granted.What’s more, those who backed Clinton in the primaries — but aren’t supporting Obama right now — tend to view McCain in a better light than Obama and have more confidence in McCain’s ability to be commander-in-chief.
The Democrats are touting Joe Biden's blue collar roots, which they will exploit to try to continue to define McCain as so out of touch with the average American that "he doesn't even know how many houses he owns" - nevermind that all members of the Senate are rich, and Biden's compound is not your average American crib. They will tell us how he had to take second and third mortgages on his house to send his kids to college, and they will have many more stories of Biden as the average Joe.
If McCain chooses him, Romney will be portrayed by the Dems, rightly or wrongly, as a zillionaire who's out of touch with average Americans. They can't define Palin that way. Her parents were school teachers. Her husband Todd actually worked for a living in a blue-collar production job for BP on the North Slope for 20 years. And he's a commercial fisherman in the summer. Todd is also something of an Alaska sports legend, having won the gruelling 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race four times. Oh, and he raises the kids while mom is working as Alaska's CEO. The couple's youngest child has Down's Syndrome, a condition the doctors made them aware of before its birth. Yet they never even considered abortion, and they say the baby is "a blessing." The story marks a stunning contrast to the pro-abortion positions of Obama and Biden. Palin is also a lifetime member of the NRA, an organization which has given Biden an F-rating. He even boasted that he wrote the language contained in the assault weapons bill. Romney's record on gun control is shaky, while Palin's is rock solid. America'a 80 million gun owners will love her.
The Palin family is a great story waiting to be told to the lower 48 if McCain is wise enough to pick Sarah. Even the drive-by media will be fascinated by it and eager to tell it. As good as Mitt Romney is as a vice-presidential choice, Palin is even better.
-JP
And as many have pointed out, Bush nearly lost in 2000 because of it. A Georgian or Floridian should have been the VP.
Palin is a waste of a HUGE opportunity to grab EVs while Obama’s team has made this horrible tactical mistake, forgoing a chance to completely secure Virginia. Now is the time to make a play for EVs.
posted at 4:47 pm on August 23, 2008 by Allahpundit
The only way this could be more awesomely awesome is if it involved robots. As it is, I’m downright woozy at the thought of what’s in store on Tuesday night.
No justice, no peace:
A top Clinton advisor also told CNN they were “outraged,” over how the process was conducted.
“You can’t put [Obama VP vetters] Eric Holder and Carolyn Kennedy on an hour plane ride to Chappaqua just to check the box? They should have done it just for the optics,” this person said. “Barack never even said to her, ‘Here’s how I envision the job’– not one discussion with her about [the position].”
“They thought her supporters were mad before? They are really mad now,” this person also said. We knew it was never going to happen but you would have thought they might at least make a show of it.”
Former Clinton strategist Paul Begala echoed similar frustrations on CNN Friday night.
“I think there are a lot of Hillary voters who are going to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, man. You said you were going to put her on the short list. You know, you didn’t even vet her. You didn’t call her. You didn’t seek her advice,’” Begala said. “By the way, he didn’t seek President Clinton’s advice either. He’s actually the guy who I think picked the best vice president in American history. You would think maybe you would sort of check in with him.”
Says another Hillary insider to the New York Post of picking Greasy Joe, “Maybe it was a death wish.” Team Barry’s defense to CNN is that, between 16 months of oppo research on her and another 16 years of media scrutiny, she’s already been vetted as thoroughly as anyone could be. Which is sheer nonsense: They’d surely want inside details on Bill’s relationships with Ron Burkle and Frank Giustra, not to mention any extracurriculars on the trail over the past six months. There’s always more you can learn by asking, unless they’d seriously have us believe that the Clintons — the Clintons — have no secrets left to tell. Your unanswerable exit question, per CNN’s source: Why, oh why, oh why, didn’t Barry O simply have her in for an interview and check the box?
“... Russia acting up, etc.”
Well ... Palin is governor of the only US State that borders Russia. Doesn’t she get any points for that ?
Seriously, I think it comes down to whether women voters, even Dems, would vote in the hopes that McCain will not run for re-election and Palin would be their best chance at seeing a woman President without the baggage Hitlery carries. Dem women defecting to McCain would result in a landside vistory.
Palin, or John Kasich, or Chris Cox, or Tim Pawlenty, but not Flip Flop Mitt. Romney has Sec of Commerce written all over his face.
“But Palin is no stooge of Big Oil. She stood up to the oil companies in her state and pushed through a modest 2.5% increase on the state taxes they pay for their access to Alaska’s bountiful oil deposits. That raised the tax from 22.5% to 25%, an amount the companies can pay and still enjoy considerable profits. The oil companies and some of her fellow Republicans had fought against the bill, arguing that the extra 2.5% would would put a damper on future Alaskan oil exploration. That has not been the case. Conservatives don’t like tax-raising, but Palin justified the increase by pointing out that the previous 22.5% tax was passed in 2006 under suspicious circumstances. Several members of the legislature that set the amount of that tax were convicted or indicted on federal bribery charges related to the bill. Palin also explained that the ‘06 tax did not perform as advertised, and she offered as evidence an $800 million shortfall in expected revenue. Whether you agree or disagree with Palin’s actions, you have to admit that the Democrats can’t paint her as being in the pocket of Big Oil.”
Who cares. We want a conservative.
...and the fact that he was the ULTIMATE country club yuppie.
Depends on who is doing the polling.
Internal (Alaska) polls don’t show that high.
WIll be interesting to see how her boy SP does in the primaries...
What a surprise.
Every state capital has it (I should know, I live in Columbus), but you would know Alaska better than I, so I believe it.
This is so full of lies it is hard to know where to start. Obviously you are part of the 10% of Alaskans that don't support her - possibly someone who's ox has been gored.
That's where the odds are. But he's got two "M's" against him. Mormon and Massachusetts. Evangelicals look at Mormons as...well, it isn't good. And as a native and former Mass. resident, I know what a Mass Republican is....a moderate Democrat almost anywhere else.
Anyone who appeals to and can get elected by the people of Massachusetts does not appeal to me. He either lied to them or he is lying as to his conservative credentials. Either way he is a liar.
I'm not convinced Romney helps take Michigan. There are no candidates here in Ohio (no, Kasich and Blackwell can't help). I wish there were a strong Pennsylvanian possibility (no,not Ridge.)
That's about the size of it. Here in Ohio, Voinovich was elected governor twice. He was the Republican mayor of Cleveland. To be elected as an "R" in Cleveland is the same as being elected as an "R" in Massachusetts.
So, who's your candidate?
Oh, there’s no guarantee ANYONE flips a marginally blue state. If they were certain, they would not be blue.
The point is there is no one with more EV power in the delicate red or marginal blue states than Romney. That is simply the way it is.
It’s not ideology. It’s math. Bush won with 286 EVs. NM and Iowa appear to be lost. The polls are strongly for Obama. That is 12 EVs. We can’t lose another 5 or it is 269-269 and the House gives it to Obama. Nevada is 5. Colorado is 9. They are both vulnerable in recent polls. Romney can shore them up because there are large Mormon populations in both.
Michigan is about Virginia. Insurance.
And yes, some kind of effort to win PA would be great. Bush lost PA by about the same number of votes as Kerry lost Ohio. It should be thought of as in reach. But . . . can’t be Ridge, and I think he has already said he’s off the table.
I think Nevada will surprise. Polls show a dead heat, and Dingy Harry is dragging the ‘Rats down. My sister works in government alongside Rory Reid (Dingy’s son) and tells me that things are not certain at all for Obama in Nevada.
mark
McCain is trouble for the GOP - Big trouble. We all know it.
He needs someone who brings votes to the table, or he is going to lose.
I support the Governor of Alaska..
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