There has been a lot of buzz about Sarah Palin. Many view her as a "rising star" in the Republican Party. A "natural politician." The Democrats are running scared because she made such an excellent speech. And on and on.
She is on the national stage because of a sheer convergence of factors: divisions within the base of the Republican Party, widespread lack of enthusiasm for McCain, Hillary Clinton's historic run for the Democratic nomination, infighting within the leadership of the Republican Party, and the desperate need for a "game-changer" that prompted rash action instead of a deliberate and balanced running mate selection following a thorough vetting process. Essentially, she was handed a winning lottery ticket that someone else had paid for.
If Palin wants to stay on the national stage, other than as an RNC speaker to fire up the base every four years or the "go to gal" to rehash GOP talking points on abortion or drilling in ANWR, she has to deepen her knowledge on both domestic and international affairs. This will require some effort on her part, which will probably entail simply memorizing the GOP talking talks.
Palin's educational career (five colleges in six years) is less than inspiring. She has a marked disinterest in foreign policy. Her domestic policies as Governor of Alaska are regionally based, and cater to the oil companies and economic development at the expense of the environment. Her signature issue throughout her political career has been abortion--and it is an extreme stance--in no way a nuanced position that reflects the inherent divisiveness of the issue or has any room for tolerance of opposing viewpoints.
The Obama campaign has rightly picked up on all of this, and they, so far, have not been drawn into the train wreck that is her candidacy for the nation's second highest office. Aside from challenging the factual inaccuracies in her 3 speeches, to date, they have been courteous and polite, and will most likely continue to do so.
The right wing would most likely have you believe that this is because they are afraid of her. Hardly. They see her for the insecure blowhard that she is. Let her blather on and on with her negativity and cater to the right wing extremists. The more she talks, the less the center will listen, because, in the end, she has nothing to say about how she can positively impact our lives.
Ignore her. Bullies take such delight in taunting and mocking others because they feel the need to control and cause an emotional reaction in their victim. The Obama camp has so far been on point--ignore her, don't become the victim. Let her go farther and farther over the line in an attempt to get them to push back and engage her in a partisan shouting match. She will be exposed for the lightweight, hate-filled blowhard that she is. Her acceptance speech can indeed become a transcendent moment in American politics, but not in the way so passionately desired by the right. It can become a time to choose to ignore solutionless partisan hate speech and sarcasm and move the political dialog back to the issues. Ignore her.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Palin: One Club in the Bag
Gov. Palin's speech last night was widely hailed by the right wing as a "grand slam." Pundits have called it one of the greatest political speeches ever. Not hardly. This was a boilerplate attack speech with a few clever applause lines that cater only to the base. There was absolutely nothing uplifting, visionary or concrete offered up. It has not prompted any national dialog, except for water cooler comments about some her more snarky moments.
And, even if you did think that is was a great, game-changing speech--don't credit Sarah Palin. Credit speechwriter Matthew Scully. Palin had two days to rehearse her speech, which was displayed for her in (sometimes) phonetic fashion on a teleprompter. Wow! She can read AND field dress a moose!
Here's the problem for McCain/Palin: after getting high marks for a well-written, well-rehearsed attack speech, what's next? I would be surprised if she can deliver much more than what she did last night. Basically, in the long run, all she adds to the McCain campaign is an attack dog with lipstick. She's a one-trick pony. Or, if you'll indulge me in a golf metaphor (even though I kind of hate golf), she has one club in her golf bag.
A good campaigning (golfing) team has lots of clubs to use for all types of situations. You need drivers for the long game, irons to chip onto the green, the putter to finish the deal--and you also need a nasty wedge to hack your way out of sand traps that you're bogged down in. Sarah Palin is one helluva sand wedge, which McCain needed because he had been stuck in the sand trap and going nowhere for quite a while. But you can't use her as a driver (outlining long range policy) or as a putter (stating the fine points and nuances)--because all she can do is chop away and leave huge divots all over the course. I'm betting that once the campaign wears on, her one club will become very tiresome, very quickly. How many times will CNN air the same, stale attack lines that cater to the base? Once we've heard them more than twice, they really start to wear thin. The real news will be her gaffes and her interactions with the press--if the McCain camp ever decides to let that happen.
Her only other club is the compelling story behind her and her family. 5 kids with weird names. Neat! A son going to Iraq. Touching! A stud husband snow machine racer. Cool! Well, after we've all googled the "Iron Dog" race and tried to find moose meat at the local grocery store, what's next? The big problem with a bizarre and compelling personal narrative is that once the public knows your story, they need more details to keep them interested. Its like watching a reality TV show--what's going to happen next week? I have a hunch from some of the rumblings and whisperings from Alaska that there is real Jerry Springer show potential for this extended family. And although juicy details coming out week after week might make great television--they make a terrible campaign strategy. The McCain camp, if there is any sense left there at all, needs to keep this club as far away from her hands as they can.
Give her the sand wedge, point her in a safe direction, and hope that there are still a few voters willing to listen after the rest of us have long tuned out her hacking away.
And, even if you did think that is was a great, game-changing speech--don't credit Sarah Palin. Credit speechwriter Matthew Scully. Palin had two days to rehearse her speech, which was displayed for her in (sometimes) phonetic fashion on a teleprompter. Wow! She can read AND field dress a moose!
Here's the problem for McCain/Palin: after getting high marks for a well-written, well-rehearsed attack speech, what's next? I would be surprised if she can deliver much more than what she did last night. Basically, in the long run, all she adds to the McCain campaign is an attack dog with lipstick. She's a one-trick pony. Or, if you'll indulge me in a golf metaphor (even though I kind of hate golf), she has one club in her golf bag.
A good campaigning (golfing) team has lots of clubs to use for all types of situations. You need drivers for the long game, irons to chip onto the green, the putter to finish the deal--and you also need a nasty wedge to hack your way out of sand traps that you're bogged down in. Sarah Palin is one helluva sand wedge, which McCain needed because he had been stuck in the sand trap and going nowhere for quite a while. But you can't use her as a driver (outlining long range policy) or as a putter (stating the fine points and nuances)--because all she can do is chop away and leave huge divots all over the course. I'm betting that once the campaign wears on, her one club will become very tiresome, very quickly. How many times will CNN air the same, stale attack lines that cater to the base? Once we've heard them more than twice, they really start to wear thin. The real news will be her gaffes and her interactions with the press--if the McCain camp ever decides to let that happen.
Her only other club is the compelling story behind her and her family. 5 kids with weird names. Neat! A son going to Iraq. Touching! A stud husband snow machine racer. Cool! Well, after we've all googled the "Iron Dog" race and tried to find moose meat at the local grocery store, what's next? The big problem with a bizarre and compelling personal narrative is that once the public knows your story, they need more details to keep them interested. Its like watching a reality TV show--what's going to happen next week? I have a hunch from some of the rumblings and whisperings from Alaska that there is real Jerry Springer show potential for this extended family. And although juicy details coming out week after week might make great television--they make a terrible campaign strategy. The McCain camp, if there is any sense left there at all, needs to keep this club as far away from her hands as they can.
Give her the sand wedge, point her in a safe direction, and hope that there are still a few voters willing to listen after the rest of us have long tuned out her hacking away.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
"Country First" or "Campaign First?"
So the McCain camp has said that its vetting of Palin was thorough and that any further questions on its process are off limits. And, they demand, back off of Sarah Palin. The country loves her. All of the negativity surrounding her candidacy is apparently being manufactured by the hostile left-wing media.
Well, it comes out today that the National Enquirer prompted Palin's press statement about her daughter's pregnancy--it seems that their staff knew a lot more about what was going on up in Alaska than McCain's did--and there surely is a lot more to follow. How much of it will surprise McCain? Because this comes out on the heels of a series of emerging, embarrassing details about how woefully inadequate the vetting process was. Both McCain camp statements and anecdotal evidence show that there was no rigorous check into her background or her political record.
Reporters who have actually traveled up to Alaska have discovered that they are breaking new ground in many cases. They are the first ones talking to people who know Sarah Palin (the current mayor of Wasilla, AK, for example.). They are the first ones to sift through some of her official records and the newspapers that covered her years as mayor. And as they sift, they are finding some rewarding nuggets. There is a constant stream of Palin news--and none of it good.
Leaving aside the family issues, fake pregnancy rumors, troopergate, dairygate, etc., it seems that a serious problem for McCain (if the campaign ever does return to the issues) is that her "reformer" credentials are seriously tarnished. I was dumbfounded to hear her repeat her claim that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" again tonight in her speech. The record on this is quite clear--she enthusiastically supported the project before the Federal government failed to come up with additional funds for it, which prompted her sudden reversal. Read the press release she sent out. There is nothing "reformer" about it. To her it was strictly a funding issue. Under her as Governor, Alaska continues to receive the highest per capita amount of earmark spending. And this is nothing new--her political career has been all about the earmarks--and cozying up to indicted Sen. Ted Stevens when it suited her purposes. She was the first Wasilla mayor to be an earmark crusader--a crusader in favor of getting as much pork for her town as she possibly could. A search of earmarks that McCain published in his pork lists includes several items personally proposed by Palin herself while mayor of Wasilla. This is a pretty serious disconnect with McCain, and one that they probably had not fully explored.
Indeed, it appears that the McCain folks did not explore much, limiting their version of the vetting process to a search of public records available on the internet. That's not vetting--that's called googling. Of course, they also asked her some very specific, hard-hitting questions and trusted that she would be completely open and honest about herself. No problem there, I'm sure.
McCain's personal contact with her was--by his campaign's own account--admittedly very limited. Meeting her briefly at a conference and then having a single face-to-face meeting with her before declaring her to be his "soul-mate." Bush has famously claimed to have looked into Putin's eyes and to have gotten a sense of his soul. Maybe this is a special gift that Republicans have. Perhaps not--look at how well that relationship is turning out.
The rush to vet appears to be a wholly political decision, a last minute game-changer, trying to gain traction to stem a wholesale stampede to the Democratic Party. It was easy to confirm her most important quality to the McCain camp--she's clearly a woman. Her appeal to the base was pretty easy to determine as well, and apparently that's all that it took to seal the deal.
She is placed on the Republican ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate without knowing what her positions are on major issues (hint: on foreign policy, she has none, unless you count her statement that the war in Iraq is "a task that is from God."). Of course, I'm sure that they saw her lack of positions--indeed her lack of inquisitiveness--on foreign policy to be a strength in one sense. There are few past public statements or positions that could come out opposed to any of McCain's positions. So in that regard, she is an empty vessel waiting to be filled with McCain's talking points. They might get away with it in the short run-up to the election, but should the worst happen and they are elected, what role can she play that helps this country if she has no experience--or even any interest--in foreign policy?
On domestic issues, what are her economic plans to help put Americans back to work? How will she contribute to the debates about health care and the housing crisis? She probably knows a little bit about which policies would help put "Alaska First," but we need a lot more than that at the national level.
It is utterly inconceivable that McCain can look at her as someone who could help him govern the country--even after they have explained to her what exactly it is that the V.P. does. His cavalier treament of the vetting process makes it clear that McCain does not view the Vice Presidency as an important office (although Dick Cheney would probably disagree.). If the President stays healthy and doesn't do too much foreign travel, he or she can marginalize the role of the V.P. This is what McCain must envision his administration to look like. However, the rest of us have a different view. If something were to happen to a President McCain, the Vice President would have to be ready to lead. Not giving the country a qualified Vice President is a leadership failure of the highest magnitude.
Karl Rove, of all people, has stated that Palin is "not a governing decision but a campaign decision." But she is not just a pander, a campaign ploy, or a "hail mary pass." She is a grossly unqualified and deeply flawed candidate that McCain has personally selected to hold an office a heartbeat away from the Presidency. McCain has made a most reckless gamble and thoroughly disgraced himself in the process. The lack of vetting by his staff compounds his failure in judgment, and he is reaping the whirlwind that is Sarah Palin.
"Country First?" I don't think so. How about "Campaign First."
Well, it comes out today that the National Enquirer prompted Palin's press statement about her daughter's pregnancy--it seems that their staff knew a lot more about what was going on up in Alaska than McCain's did--and there surely is a lot more to follow. How much of it will surprise McCain? Because this comes out on the heels of a series of emerging, embarrassing details about how woefully inadequate the vetting process was. Both McCain camp statements and anecdotal evidence show that there was no rigorous check into her background or her political record.
Reporters who have actually traveled up to Alaska have discovered that they are breaking new ground in many cases. They are the first ones talking to people who know Sarah Palin (the current mayor of Wasilla, AK, for example.). They are the first ones to sift through some of her official records and the newspapers that covered her years as mayor. And as they sift, they are finding some rewarding nuggets. There is a constant stream of Palin news--and none of it good.
Leaving aside the family issues, fake pregnancy rumors, troopergate, dairygate, etc., it seems that a serious problem for McCain (if the campaign ever does return to the issues) is that her "reformer" credentials are seriously tarnished. I was dumbfounded to hear her repeat her claim that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" again tonight in her speech. The record on this is quite clear--she enthusiastically supported the project before the Federal government failed to come up with additional funds for it, which prompted her sudden reversal. Read the press release she sent out. There is nothing "reformer" about it. To her it was strictly a funding issue. Under her as Governor, Alaska continues to receive the highest per capita amount of earmark spending. And this is nothing new--her political career has been all about the earmarks--and cozying up to indicted Sen. Ted Stevens when it suited her purposes. She was the first Wasilla mayor to be an earmark crusader--a crusader in favor of getting as much pork for her town as she possibly could. A search of earmarks that McCain published in his pork lists includes several items personally proposed by Palin herself while mayor of Wasilla. This is a pretty serious disconnect with McCain, and one that they probably had not fully explored.
Indeed, it appears that the McCain folks did not explore much, limiting their version of the vetting process to a search of public records available on the internet. That's not vetting--that's called googling. Of course, they also asked her some very specific, hard-hitting questions and trusted that she would be completely open and honest about herself. No problem there, I'm sure.
McCain's personal contact with her was--by his campaign's own account--admittedly very limited. Meeting her briefly at a conference and then having a single face-to-face meeting with her before declaring her to be his "soul-mate." Bush has famously claimed to have looked into Putin's eyes and to have gotten a sense of his soul. Maybe this is a special gift that Republicans have. Perhaps not--look at how well that relationship is turning out.
The rush to vet appears to be a wholly political decision, a last minute game-changer, trying to gain traction to stem a wholesale stampede to the Democratic Party. It was easy to confirm her most important quality to the McCain camp--she's clearly a woman. Her appeal to the base was pretty easy to determine as well, and apparently that's all that it took to seal the deal.
She is placed on the Republican ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate without knowing what her positions are on major issues (hint: on foreign policy, she has none, unless you count her statement that the war in Iraq is "a task that is from God."). Of course, I'm sure that they saw her lack of positions--indeed her lack of inquisitiveness--on foreign policy to be a strength in one sense. There are few past public statements or positions that could come out opposed to any of McCain's positions. So in that regard, she is an empty vessel waiting to be filled with McCain's talking points. They might get away with it in the short run-up to the election, but should the worst happen and they are elected, what role can she play that helps this country if she has no experience--or even any interest--in foreign policy?
On domestic issues, what are her economic plans to help put Americans back to work? How will she contribute to the debates about health care and the housing crisis? She probably knows a little bit about which policies would help put "Alaska First," but we need a lot more than that at the national level.
It is utterly inconceivable that McCain can look at her as someone who could help him govern the country--even after they have explained to her what exactly it is that the V.P. does. His cavalier treament of the vetting process makes it clear that McCain does not view the Vice Presidency as an important office (although Dick Cheney would probably disagree.). If the President stays healthy and doesn't do too much foreign travel, he or she can marginalize the role of the V.P. This is what McCain must envision his administration to look like. However, the rest of us have a different view. If something were to happen to a President McCain, the Vice President would have to be ready to lead. Not giving the country a qualified Vice President is a leadership failure of the highest magnitude.
Karl Rove, of all people, has stated that Palin is "not a governing decision but a campaign decision." But she is not just a pander, a campaign ploy, or a "hail mary pass." She is a grossly unqualified and deeply flawed candidate that McCain has personally selected to hold an office a heartbeat away from the Presidency. McCain has made a most reckless gamble and thoroughly disgraced himself in the process. The lack of vetting by his staff compounds his failure in judgment, and he is reaping the whirlwind that is Sarah Palin.
"Country First?" I don't think so. How about "Campaign First."
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
So, who is willing to "take one for the team?"
If you've read any of my past posts, by now it is no secret that I think that adding Gov. Palin to the ticket is a disastrous, credibility-shredding move for John McCain. If you're in the McCain camp right now, its going to be a loooong two months to election time if she stays on the ticket (but on the bright side, you'll have a lot of free time, starting in November.).
So, now that you finally are starting to see the hand that you've dealt yourself, do you fold and find another Veep candidate or ante up on Palin?
First, the good news: your base is energized, and you may be able to keep a lot of that momentum if you can find another pro-life Veep candidate. Check. If you can find another pro-life woman, double check. You've set the "experience" bar so incredibly low with Palin (and gotten away with it with your base, so far), that it might actually be possible to find someone who fits these minimalist criteria. Also, Palin's personal story lends itself very easily to a compelling and understandable "bowing out" of the race, due to "personal and family reasons," so if you can find another candidate and can pry the Veep slot away from Palin, you're on the way.
Now, the bad news: who, in their right mind, would be willing to replace her on the ticket? The reason that McCain went to Palin in the first place was because he was in trouble. Selecting her compromised his integrity, caused his judgment to be questioned and revealed that the vetting process left a lot to be desired. Switching VPs only magnifies both McCain's failings and the Palin mistake, even if the electorate buys the story that she is voluntarily stepping aside.
Would a politician of any stature risk tying him or herself to a campaign that is on life support, having to campaign hard for two months, and then going home a loser? Generally, unsuccessful candidates don't get "do-overs." So whoever is picked would pretty much have to not have a burning desire to be President someday. There may be somebody out there. There may be somebody willing to "take one for the team."
So, now that you finally are starting to see the hand that you've dealt yourself, do you fold and find another Veep candidate or ante up on Palin?
First, the good news: your base is energized, and you may be able to keep a lot of that momentum if you can find another pro-life Veep candidate. Check. If you can find another pro-life woman, double check. You've set the "experience" bar so incredibly low with Palin (and gotten away with it with your base, so far), that it might actually be possible to find someone who fits these minimalist criteria. Also, Palin's personal story lends itself very easily to a compelling and understandable "bowing out" of the race, due to "personal and family reasons," so if you can find another candidate and can pry the Veep slot away from Palin, you're on the way.
Now, the bad news: who, in their right mind, would be willing to replace her on the ticket? The reason that McCain went to Palin in the first place was because he was in trouble. Selecting her compromised his integrity, caused his judgment to be questioned and revealed that the vetting process left a lot to be desired. Switching VPs only magnifies both McCain's failings and the Palin mistake, even if the electorate buys the story that she is voluntarily stepping aside.
Would a politician of any stature risk tying him or herself to a campaign that is on life support, having to campaign hard for two months, and then going home a loser? Generally, unsuccessful candidates don't get "do-overs." So whoever is picked would pretty much have to not have a burning desire to be President someday. There may be somebody out there. There may be somebody willing to "take one for the team."
Is the ticket now actually Palin/McCain?
Note to John McCain's staff: absolutely no one is buying your claims that y'all thoroughly vetted Gov. Palin. I understand that you have to make that claim in public but you know and we know that y'all really, really screwed up. Yes, she has a compelling personal story. Yes, she has electrified your base. Yes, she has generated a lot of curiosity and interest in the Republican Party. And yes, her presence alone will undoubtedly add some votes to your tally.
But her compelling personal story (and the skeletons that y'all didn't dig deeply enough to find) have been and will continue to dominate the news and step on any positive message that you are going to try to put out. Of course, you may have already run out of positive talking points about John McCain. Yes, we've heard that he's a former POW.
And your "Straight Talk Express" has just become the set for a really bad reality TV show. Of course, that might be a good thing if folks aren't buying "brand Republican" this year and you don't want to focus on message--that is, when you select a message to go with--if you can find one that isn't more complicated by Palin's addition to the ticket.
By the way, Gov. Palin isn't a true "maverick"--she's a redneck (and as former Tennessee resident I REALLY do NOT mean that in an insulting way) that may come with her own version of Jeremiah Wright, strange views on the inseparability of God and politics, and a bunch of secessionist friends. And the picture that is emerging of her past leadership roles reveals not a "reformer," but one who is prone to petty jealousy, obsessions over subordinate's loyalty and a vindictive streak a mile wide. She's also in deep with Ted Stevens and his earmarks--had you heard that his name will be in the news a lot these next two months, tied to a corruption scandal? Oh, and as it turns out, there's a chance that she really wasn't "Miss Congeniality" in her beauty pageant.
The public vetting of her past episodes and her upcoming gaffes will make your campaign look like amateur hour, all day, every day. You can send out McCain to a town hall meeting in one state, and Palin in another. Who will get the press coverage? If McCain does a great job and stays on message and Palin gaffes, guess who makes CNN? This will be the majority of your unpaid air time, and y'all will have to stay in full-time reaction mode (what the Governor meant to say was. . .)
So, the question is, who is really driving the train now? Is it still McCain/Palin? Or is it now Palin/McCain?
But her compelling personal story (and the skeletons that y'all didn't dig deeply enough to find) have been and will continue to dominate the news and step on any positive message that you are going to try to put out. Of course, you may have already run out of positive talking points about John McCain. Yes, we've heard that he's a former POW.
And your "Straight Talk Express" has just become the set for a really bad reality TV show. Of course, that might be a good thing if folks aren't buying "brand Republican" this year and you don't want to focus on message--that is, when you select a message to go with--if you can find one that isn't more complicated by Palin's addition to the ticket.
By the way, Gov. Palin isn't a true "maverick"--she's a redneck (and as former Tennessee resident I REALLY do NOT mean that in an insulting way) that may come with her own version of Jeremiah Wright, strange views on the inseparability of God and politics, and a bunch of secessionist friends. And the picture that is emerging of her past leadership roles reveals not a "reformer," but one who is prone to petty jealousy, obsessions over subordinate's loyalty and a vindictive streak a mile wide. She's also in deep with Ted Stevens and his earmarks--had you heard that his name will be in the news a lot these next two months, tied to a corruption scandal? Oh, and as it turns out, there's a chance that she really wasn't "Miss Congeniality" in her beauty pageant.
The public vetting of her past episodes and her upcoming gaffes will make your campaign look like amateur hour, all day, every day. You can send out McCain to a town hall meeting in one state, and Palin in another. Who will get the press coverage? If McCain does a great job and stays on message and Palin gaffes, guess who makes CNN? This will be the majority of your unpaid air time, and y'all will have to stay in full-time reaction mode (what the Governor meant to say was. . .)
So, the question is, who is really driving the train now? Is it still McCain/Palin? Or is it now Palin/McCain?
Throwing her daughter (and Levi Johnston) under the bus
Gov. Palin's statement about her daughter's pregnancy pleaded for respect for Bristol's privacy. Then, today, we discover that she was dragging the alleged baby's father from Alaska to Minnesota to step on stage during the largest media circus in the free world during this news cycle. Am I the only one who sees a little bit of hypocrisy here?
And, if I remember correctly, the alleged father's first name, Levi, was leaked in statements by the McCain/Palin camp. And they claim privacy? Come on. Really. How many high school aged boys named Levi live in Wasilla, AK, population nothing? How long did they think it would take bloggers to find his name, picture, MySpace page and hockey stats?
Note to mainstream media: Sarah Palin has bigger balls than you do. She has asked for a free pass on her daughter's pregnancy. For those of you who did giver her one, she has wadded it up and thrown it back in your face, laughing. She made a bold move that upped the ante (and yes, I think it was her move--possibly not coordinated with the McCain camp.). She just raised the stakes by flying Levi to the convention and planning to pose him onstage with her daughter, and you need to call her on this.
Now, I am NOT in any way, shape, or form suggesting "going after" the daughter or her medical records. Be polite to her. Be respectful. But DO talk to her. And to Levi. And if you are kept from them, protest, and protest LOUDLY. Because Gov. Palin should not be able to promote her values at the expense of children, thrust them--quite literally--to the most visible stage in America, garner the photo ops, and then hide behind a curtain of privacy.
And PLEASE keep on the Sarah Palin fake pregnancy story. This is NOT the same story as the recent announcement of her daughter's pregnancy. These are separate issues. Demand the facts on the Governor's pregnancy. There are too many inconsistencies and outright bizarre details for this to go unchecked.
And, if I remember correctly, the alleged father's first name, Levi, was leaked in statements by the McCain/Palin camp. And they claim privacy? Come on. Really. How many high school aged boys named Levi live in Wasilla, AK, population nothing? How long did they think it would take bloggers to find his name, picture, MySpace page and hockey stats?
Note to mainstream media: Sarah Palin has bigger balls than you do. She has asked for a free pass on her daughter's pregnancy. For those of you who did giver her one, she has wadded it up and thrown it back in your face, laughing. She made a bold move that upped the ante (and yes, I think it was her move--possibly not coordinated with the McCain camp.). She just raised the stakes by flying Levi to the convention and planning to pose him onstage with her daughter, and you need to call her on this.
Now, I am NOT in any way, shape, or form suggesting "going after" the daughter or her medical records. Be polite to her. Be respectful. But DO talk to her. And to Levi. And if you are kept from them, protest, and protest LOUDLY. Because Gov. Palin should not be able to promote her values at the expense of children, thrust them--quite literally--to the most visible stage in America, garner the photo ops, and then hide behind a curtain of privacy.
And PLEASE keep on the Sarah Palin fake pregnancy story. This is NOT the same story as the recent announcement of her daughter's pregnancy. These are separate issues. Demand the facts on the Governor's pregnancy. There are too many inconsistencies and outright bizarre details for this to go unchecked.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Why the Story Broke When the Water Broke
Gov. Palin's sudden announcement of her 17-year old unmarried daughter's pregnancy was an attempt to fend off investigation into the more serious and more damaging charge that she faked a pregnancy in March and April to cover up for her daughter. Rumors to this effect had apparently been floating around Alaska since Gov. Palin's March 2008 announcement that she was then 7 months pregnant.
Had Palin not been tapped as a VP candidate, these rumors would never have hit the national scene, and there is a decent chance that they would have died quietly and been buried in an Alaskan snow bank while Palin enjoyed a rewarding political career at the state level. Ironically, I believe that it was Palin's ego and her lust for national exposure which ultimately led to speculation within the state that all was not as the Governor claimed (see previously posted blog for likely scenario of her actions.).
When Palin made her pregnancy announcement (stating that she was 7 months pregnant) it was widely met with disbelief because she did not look even remotely pregnant--let alone 7 months pregnant. She had not even disclosed her "pregnancy" to her staff. These facts were picked up in a contemporary newspaper article in the ADN (link to article in earlier post). However, Palin was not willing to really play the role of a 7-month pregnant woman to the full extent required to pull off the charade under national scrutiny (which , at the time, she was not really expecting, as the Veep slot was still a distant dream at that point.).
An undated photo of Palin in a red shirt, allegedly from one of her earlier pregnancies, shows her as "big as a house." It is certainly not a flattering image, and compared to photographs of her 7th month of pregnancy in March 2008 (at age 44) there is a shocking contrast. See the link in a post below for a shot of her at the National Governors' Association on 25 February 2008--which should have been at the 6 1/2 month mark according to her timeline. There is also video footage--extended footage--of the governor hiking briskly through the streets with a reporter. This footage shows her from many angles and in motion, and she does not look at all pregnant in this footage, although it was shot during her 7th or 8th month of pregnancy. And the flight crew from Alaska Airways that flew with her back to Anchorage when she was eight months pregnant, the night before she gave birth to a 6 lb. 2 oz. baby, did not notice that she was pregnant.
Sarah Palin, a former beauty pageant contestant and television reporter who still worked out, was viewed as a "fashion plate," and apparently relished her reputation as the "Hottest Governor," certainly did not relish the thought of having to appear pregnant and larger than she actually was. Here, faking a pregnancy during the cold spring months in Alaska certainly helped, as it was natural to wear thick and/or layered clothing without being too out of style. But when push came to shove, her ego frequently won out, and she did not want to play the role of a woman in her third trimester.
There are a few photos that have surfaced in which she may appear pregnant, but they are all really inconclusive (distance shots, some with people or objects in the way, etc.). In many of these images, she is wearing a black suit. (Perhaps the same black suit? Not wanting to invest too much money in a lot of bogus maternity outfits? Something for internet gurus to research.). Also, the photos that have surfaced are all from official events (no surprise there), with the point being that she would have reasonably expected cameras to be present and would have had added incentive to play the role at these functions.
Photographic evidence of her appearing pregnant can never be conclusive when intentional deception on her part is suspected, because common sense will tell you that you can make your body look fatter than it actually is, in fully clothed shots. Remember that this is springtime in Alaska--we're not talking summer on the south Florida beaches here. However, a single, verifiable, dated photograph of a trim Sarah Palin would be enough to disprove a false pregnancy claim. This is not at all a double standard. If you are pregnant and showing, you can't instantly remove your baby bulge, but if you are not pregnant, you can easily add it under your clothing.
However, the most reckless episode of her charade was her trip to Dallas, TX to address a governor's conference on energy, where she had been selected to deliver the keynote address. This was simply too good--attention that she had been craving--to pass up. Ignoring the fact that if she really was pregnant she should not have made the trip, Palin went to Dallas. And, if she could have gotten back to Alaska before her daughter's water broke, all would have been well.
Had Bristol Palin's water broke when her mother was in Alaska (especially if she was in Wasilla), there would have been a quiet, unremarkable trip to the hospital, and the press would have been presented with a new baby boy and little reason to question the Governor's birthing. The comments on her fit appearance during pregnancy--and most likely her lightning fast return to full health and a trim figure after the baby--may have raised a few eyebrows, but nothing more. The "smoking gun," so to speak, was Palin's absolutely bizarre behavior on 17 April 2008, when she stayed to deliver her address after her water had broken hours before, refused to see any doctors in Texas, flew for over 8 hours back to Alaska, and then bypassed more competent and better equipped hospitals to deliver her child in a tight-lipped small community that she had been mayor of previously.
While it is still possible that all of this is in error and Sarah Palin did actually give birth to Trig Palin, I think that the common sense interpretation of the facts (along with her daughter's alleged 5-8 month absence from school during this time) shows that she attempted to protect her daughter and her political career. She almost got away with it--had her ego and her unwillingness to pass up her opportunity to speak in Dallas not gotten in the way.
If I was in the McCain camp, I would be asking for her medical records right now--had that not been done previously when they "vetted" her. If the facts support her claims, then put them on the table and we can all move past this--and on to the rest of the long list of items about why she is not qualified to step into the presidency.
However, I don't believe that the medical facts are on her side. If Gov. Palin did deliver Trig, and the medical records verify this, the McCain/Palin camp would have an incredibly direct and effective way to rebut the rumors once and for all: here are excerpts from Gov. Palin's medical records that show that she gave birth to Trig. Done. While I certainly do understand and support an individual's right to privacy, Gov. Palin IS the presumptive nominee for the second highest office in the nation. And, there are issues of personal ethics involved as well. If you're the McCain campaign and you can kill these rumors once and for all, why not do it?
Not being willing to use the facts leads to the assumption that the facts are not on your side, which in turn leads to speculation, and to posts such as this one. The initial story (or "conspiracy theory") that got me interested in this issue was based on largely circumstantial evidence, and has been reinforced by McCain/Palin's actions. This circumstantial evidence did two things: first, it pointed to glaring inconsistencies in Palin's story; second, it pointed to a highly plausible scenario that was 100% consistent with the available facts and connected to several powerful motives.
Absent conclusive evidence, the weight of the circumstantial information at this point goes against Gov. Palin, and her case is not at all helped by simply announcing (without presenting conclusive evidence) that her daughter is 5 months pregnant. If untrue, using the daughter as a circumspect scapegoat is pretty low, even if it was her pregnancy that initially started the whole mess. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall Gov. Palin ever explicitly claiming in her statement "I gave birth to Trig. My daughter did not." Without strongly and unequivocally denying the rumors, the statements from McCain/Palin that I read did three things: they discussed the daughter's pregnancy, stated that the information was released to counter internet rumors, and asked for a free pass because it was a personal matter of a family member.
Even if the press is willing to give the daughter a free pass, there are still the mother's actions
to look into. Being the presumptive Republican nominee for the Vice Presidency of the United States does not entitle her to a free pass; instead it demands a higher level of scrutiny, accountability and responsibility.
Had Palin not been tapped as a VP candidate, these rumors would never have hit the national scene, and there is a decent chance that they would have died quietly and been buried in an Alaskan snow bank while Palin enjoyed a rewarding political career at the state level. Ironically, I believe that it was Palin's ego and her lust for national exposure which ultimately led to speculation within the state that all was not as the Governor claimed (see previously posted blog for likely scenario of her actions.).
When Palin made her pregnancy announcement (stating that she was 7 months pregnant) it was widely met with disbelief because she did not look even remotely pregnant--let alone 7 months pregnant. She had not even disclosed her "pregnancy" to her staff. These facts were picked up in a contemporary newspaper article in the ADN (link to article in earlier post). However, Palin was not willing to really play the role of a 7-month pregnant woman to the full extent required to pull off the charade under national scrutiny (which , at the time, she was not really expecting, as the Veep slot was still a distant dream at that point.).
An undated photo of Palin in a red shirt, allegedly from one of her earlier pregnancies, shows her as "big as a house." It is certainly not a flattering image, and compared to photographs of her 7th month of pregnancy in March 2008 (at age 44) there is a shocking contrast. See the link in a post below for a shot of her at the National Governors' Association on 25 February 2008--which should have been at the 6 1/2 month mark according to her timeline. There is also video footage--extended footage--of the governor hiking briskly through the streets with a reporter. This footage shows her from many angles and in motion, and she does not look at all pregnant in this footage, although it was shot during her 7th or 8th month of pregnancy. And the flight crew from Alaska Airways that flew with her back to Anchorage when she was eight months pregnant, the night before she gave birth to a 6 lb. 2 oz. baby, did not notice that she was pregnant.
Sarah Palin, a former beauty pageant contestant and television reporter who still worked out, was viewed as a "fashion plate," and apparently relished her reputation as the "Hottest Governor," certainly did not relish the thought of having to appear pregnant and larger than she actually was. Here, faking a pregnancy during the cold spring months in Alaska certainly helped, as it was natural to wear thick and/or layered clothing without being too out of style. But when push came to shove, her ego frequently won out, and she did not want to play the role of a woman in her third trimester.
There are a few photos that have surfaced in which she may appear pregnant, but they are all really inconclusive (distance shots, some with people or objects in the way, etc.). In many of these images, she is wearing a black suit. (Perhaps the same black suit? Not wanting to invest too much money in a lot of bogus maternity outfits? Something for internet gurus to research.). Also, the photos that have surfaced are all from official events (no surprise there), with the point being that she would have reasonably expected cameras to be present and would have had added incentive to play the role at these functions.
Photographic evidence of her appearing pregnant can never be conclusive when intentional deception on her part is suspected, because common sense will tell you that you can make your body look fatter than it actually is, in fully clothed shots. Remember that this is springtime in Alaska--we're not talking summer on the south Florida beaches here. However, a single, verifiable, dated photograph of a trim Sarah Palin would be enough to disprove a false pregnancy claim. This is not at all a double standard. If you are pregnant and showing, you can't instantly remove your baby bulge, but if you are not pregnant, you can easily add it under your clothing.
However, the most reckless episode of her charade was her trip to Dallas, TX to address a governor's conference on energy, where she had been selected to deliver the keynote address. This was simply too good--attention that she had been craving--to pass up. Ignoring the fact that if she really was pregnant she should not have made the trip, Palin went to Dallas. And, if she could have gotten back to Alaska before her daughter's water broke, all would have been well.
Had Bristol Palin's water broke when her mother was in Alaska (especially if she was in Wasilla), there would have been a quiet, unremarkable trip to the hospital, and the press would have been presented with a new baby boy and little reason to question the Governor's birthing. The comments on her fit appearance during pregnancy--and most likely her lightning fast return to full health and a trim figure after the baby--may have raised a few eyebrows, but nothing more. The "smoking gun," so to speak, was Palin's absolutely bizarre behavior on 17 April 2008, when she stayed to deliver her address after her water had broken hours before, refused to see any doctors in Texas, flew for over 8 hours back to Alaska, and then bypassed more competent and better equipped hospitals to deliver her child in a tight-lipped small community that she had been mayor of previously.
While it is still possible that all of this is in error and Sarah Palin did actually give birth to Trig Palin, I think that the common sense interpretation of the facts (along with her daughter's alleged 5-8 month absence from school during this time) shows that she attempted to protect her daughter and her political career. She almost got away with it--had her ego and her unwillingness to pass up her opportunity to speak in Dallas not gotten in the way.
If I was in the McCain camp, I would be asking for her medical records right now--had that not been done previously when they "vetted" her. If the facts support her claims, then put them on the table and we can all move past this--and on to the rest of the long list of items about why she is not qualified to step into the presidency.
However, I don't believe that the medical facts are on her side. If Gov. Palin did deliver Trig, and the medical records verify this, the McCain/Palin camp would have an incredibly direct and effective way to rebut the rumors once and for all: here are excerpts from Gov. Palin's medical records that show that she gave birth to Trig. Done. While I certainly do understand and support an individual's right to privacy, Gov. Palin IS the presumptive nominee for the second highest office in the nation. And, there are issues of personal ethics involved as well. If you're the McCain campaign and you can kill these rumors once and for all, why not do it?
Not being willing to use the facts leads to the assumption that the facts are not on your side, which in turn leads to speculation, and to posts such as this one. The initial story (or "conspiracy theory") that got me interested in this issue was based on largely circumstantial evidence, and has been reinforced by McCain/Palin's actions. This circumstantial evidence did two things: first, it pointed to glaring inconsistencies in Palin's story; second, it pointed to a highly plausible scenario that was 100% consistent with the available facts and connected to several powerful motives.
Absent conclusive evidence, the weight of the circumstantial information at this point goes against Gov. Palin, and her case is not at all helped by simply announcing (without presenting conclusive evidence) that her daughter is 5 months pregnant. If untrue, using the daughter as a circumspect scapegoat is pretty low, even if it was her pregnancy that initially started the whole mess. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall Gov. Palin ever explicitly claiming in her statement "I gave birth to Trig. My daughter did not." Without strongly and unequivocally denying the rumors, the statements from McCain/Palin that I read did three things: they discussed the daughter's pregnancy, stated that the information was released to counter internet rumors, and asked for a free pass because it was a personal matter of a family member.
Even if the press is willing to give the daughter a free pass, there are still the mother's actions
to look into. Being the presumptive Republican nominee for the Vice Presidency of the United States does not entitle her to a free pass; instead it demands a higher level of scrutiny, accountability and responsibility.
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