I've gotta say, I'm liking her more and more. The styrofoam columns comment was priceless!

This portion of her speech has special meaning to me, and my hubby LOVES the "Loraine Braco" look. I believe he'll vote the ticket just on that alone!

........... Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same
challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love.

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a
message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for
your sons and daughters.

I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate
in the White House. .....

With the rising incidence of Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorders, we could certainly use an advocate who potentially could be "walking in our shoes" very soon, as children with DS often have a dual diagnosis of autism as well.

I certainly hope she walks the talk.

This is from this week's Time magazine. Didn't certain political leaders in the past try the same thing?:

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

GC, I know that you're firm in your political views, but I don't think that last night's "I know you are, but what am I?" approach will reduce gas prices, stop young Americans from dying in desert countries, or restore our country's position as champion of democracy.

Most people get their news and opinions from TMZ ("what would Paris do?"). It seems like this speech was crafted for those uninformed masses who's this morning are saying to their friends, "Yea, and like Obama is like from the Middle East...I think like...India...and he's like...stupid...and the new President Sarah Palin is funny and like...her husband looks like some guy on WWE Raw...so that's awesome"

i know you'd like a lady in office in the white house, but i want to know more about her ties with BP. oil ties have been bad news for this country for the past 8 years

Furiousball...
It's not about "having a lady in office in the white house" - if I felt comfortable voting for Obama I would. I don't trust him AT ALL.

Just because I am a Vagina-American, doesn't mean I would vote for someone just because they're a woman...

BUT... at the moment, I am kicking the tires on Palin and checking out the McCain ticket.

Seeing as I've kicked the tires on the Obama ticket and I've felt they are not reliable and could have a blowout at any moment.

Patrick...
I don't think you know what my political views are if you think i am "firm" in them at the moment. If anything, I have never been more torn about my political views in my life. and i have to blame that on the incompetence of the DNC over the past 8 months.

As for getting news "from TMZ" - you must be kidding me, right? eff that. I watch the news channels and READ. and I drink water, not Kool-aid.

What about LAST WEEK'S speech by The One where he pretty much lambasted McCain for 15 minutes and had his own bitchy little comments about him?

That's okay, right? because that's Obama... he can say what he wants.

dana michelle...
the columns snark was the best

Carol...
yeah, that was a nice touch to the speech.

Hey GC, I clicked your link for the best lines and found it entertaining. What was also interesting was the comment on the site with the link to the stubborn facts website citing numerous references to Palin as VP dating back to July 2007. Guess the press was bamboozled by her being picked and has just been blasting her as revenge.
I still have no idea who I am going to vote for! Usually at this point in a presidential election I have a sign out in my yard showing support for our democratic nominee. Just can't bring myself to do that this year. What really has been anoying me lately is people in Obama's campaign referring to McCain as someone who has voted with President Bush 90% of the time. Since when does the President of the United States vote in the Senate? And why doesn't the Obama camp give Americans the credit for being able to look up the Senate voting records?
Truthfully, I may just vote Republican in order to have a chance at getting Hillary in the Whitehouse in four years instead of having to wait for eight.

I'm a conservative, but wasn't all that certain about McCain because he just didn't seem dynamic enough. I was starting to think I might have to sit an election out for the first time in my life. Then I heard Fred Thompson relate the details of McCain's experiences as a POW, and I started to realize that this man may seem quiet, but he is no shrinking violet.

Then I listened to Sarah Palin. She IS dynamic, and, more importantly, she is REAL. She isn't some puffed-up politician. I think she was the push I needed to make up my mind, and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about their ticket now. Looking forward to hearing McCain's speech tonight.

just as a preamble.....this is simply my OPINION and in no way should be taken as an attack or criticism of anyone else's opinion. erin has been kind enough to provide a forum for these types of things (although i suspect i'm on the shortlist for expulsion) :)

that being said, i gotta agree with patrick. i thought the speech was a bit low brow.

look, we all expect that criticism will come during these speeches, it's part of the game. i didn't however, expect this type of delivery. specifically, all the sarcasm. i find it incredulous that someone can mock community activism, especially on a stage such as this.

let's face it, this whole 'experience' argument is complete and utter bullshit anyway, whether you talk about Obama or Palin. a president and vice president are ONLY as good as their own philosophies, conscience, character, ability to make decisions and their ADVISORS. when you vote for a president, you don't vote for their knowledge or experience, because none of them HAVE any. I don't care what their past career was, because being president is a WHOLE other ball of wax. there's nothing a candidate can do to prepare for the presidency. the senate? please. i'd pray for that cush job. governor? maybe a little better, but you're only dealing with your state, not 50 and you're also not dealing with the rest of the world's issues.

that being said, when i look at this speech, i didn't really hear much substance. i heard a lot of reference to FEAR, i heard a lot of unnecessary PATRIOTISM, i heard a lot of insensitive brands of SARCASM and CRITICISM.

my point is that she could have attacked obama/biden more directly and still gotten the same points across, without resorting to the demeaning delivery. it reeked of playground insults and i don't really want to hear that from a political leader.

the thing that scares me about this ticket is that they are relying on the bush/cheney tactics of fear, god and country. it creates an 'us vs. them' mentality domestically and abroad. unfortunately, the US is NOT the only game in town any longer. we DEPEND on the rest of the world for better or for worse. this unilateral type of policy isolates our country and we cannot afford to do that economically or militarily, as evidenced in Iraq.

Oh, and by the way.....'Victory in Iraq is in sight'? REALLY?

she fits the republican party extremely well and i can see why republicans would become excited about her. i wished she'd taken a higher road in this speech. i would have been much more impressed with her, but she's there to target a demographic right?

the media needs to be careful of what topics they are hitting where this is concerned though. for example, this whole argument about 'caring for her kids' needs to be scrapped. her husband and the extended family are probably well equipped to deal with it. that argument is way too sexist to have. gender should be removed from this debate.

i'm torn about the discussion about her pregnant daughter too, because it seems to go against what she has supposedly 'instilled' in her children, so there's a policy argument i suppose. she doesn't support sex education in schools (whoops!) and removed funding from teen parenting programs (whoops again).

anyhoo, that's my two cents on mrs. palin

that being said, this is a great clip from the Daily Show, showing how repubs are backtracking on their stances.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/jon-stewart-hits-karl-rov_n_123852.html

haha neil --- no, i wouldn't boot you off of my site. dork.

Oh Good Lord Erin.... You are making Karl Rove smile right now and we all know when Karl Rove smiles a puppy will die....so please stop this "I am considering voting McCain-Palin" nonsense if not for me, than for the puppies.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/maverick_misleads.html

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_convention_spin_part_ii.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-palin_planesep05,0,3470364.story

oh and this is great too

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/blog/2008/09/heart_to_mccain.html?s_campaign=8315

UPDATE Friday morning: here's a statement by Ann and Nancy Wilson from EW.com:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

Good delivery and to correct myself
....it was not Rove who wrote it...they hired Matthew Scully, who also wrote speeches for Vice President Dan Quayle, Vice President Dick Cheney, and our immensely capable President George W. Bush. Ironically he is an ardent anti-hunting advocate....which I am sure Rove laughed and then smiled about..yet again killing many more puppies and a few cute little kitty's with the laughter and smile combined.

all i know is that in the past 2 days i've sold a TON of "ooooooooo barracuda" merch (back off, Heart!)

:}

Don't make me alert Heart's lawyers to you $ making scheme ;-)

"oh he was a community activist giggle (no offense) giggle chuckle chuckle"

My wife just also reminded me, the Catholic, to a fact: Pontiif Pilot was a Governor and Jesus was a community activist(and that should sting pretty bad, as it did to me as well...perhaps enough to think twice about selling Palin stuff, but hey if your sales are that important, (insert catholic guilt here)).

I don't get it with Mr. Wheeze (I thought he was going to keel over from too much beef), Mr. 9/11 and Ms. Moose Jerky all I could think of was what a bunch of self righteous hypocritical f-in jackasses.

But that's just me...

------

NOTE FROM GC: heh. the Catholic guilt. I'll put $20 of my proceeds in the basket at St. Martha's each week

(had you heard they've closed St. Denis for the next year? I just drove past it and they ripped the front staircase off the church!! they're flipping the altar so it's at the back of the church - because Bennys have complained about the traffic when there are weddings... makes rt. 71 back up. bastards.)

Wow they are charging people $20 now for forgiveness...I guess with inflation it is about right. And yeah my mom tried to tell me about the remodel but the view was they needed to put in an elevator for all the McCain supporters. ohh that was not nice...drop in another twenty this Sunday and I will get you back ;-)

NOTE FROM GC: nope. but, i may as well throw a percentage of the profits into the catholic kitty!

and, sir, i'll have you know, i am not a supporter of mccain's. i am weighing my options. right now, i'm still at the point where i am writing in my candidate's name.

9olxcS

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

Great site. Keep doing.

Great site. Good info.

Great site. Keep doing.