"It is, of course, possible for Palin to rise above all the recent unpleasantness by wowing the convention--and the viewing public--with a heckuva speech on Wednesday night. "

That kinda depends on IF people even watch it? Then suppose the ratings are huge, that could be because of Obama supporters curiousity more than McCain/Palin support?

Just sayin'

Good piece.

Thanks!

Is she wearing a fur?
Where is PETA and why hasn't someone been dispatched to throw red paint on her?

A real outdoorsman she is, an oil drillin', shootin' wolves from planes sportsman and an environmentally conscious steward, who doesn't believe in global warming because that might get in the way of her fundamental beliefs.

Does that about cover it?

"In past elections, controversial veep picks have not fared well during these coming-out sessions."

You forget that these days the MSM just reads the questions that Bush/McCain writes for them.

Why did McCain pick the unknown Sarah Palin as his running mate? Was it to get the disgruntled Hillary votes? If so, that won't work because Palin's politics are the exact opposite of Hillary's politics. What kind of Hillary supporter could embrace Palin?

Did McCain pick Palin to shore up the conservative vote? If so, that's a questionable plan, especially since Palin wasn't properly vetted and already has enough political baggage to curtail undecided voters from jumping on the McCain bandwagon.

It certainly wasn't Palin's popularity that sparked McCain to pick her. Nobody outside Alaska had ever heard of her 2 weeks ago.

Or was it simply to say, "Hey look! I've got a woman Veep! See how progressive I am!" Naa, that won't work because everyone knows McCain isn't progressive. Besides, that strategy didn't work with Geraldine in '84. It's just not enough to get fresh votes.

Is it possible that McCain, a 72 year old 4-time cancer survivor thought that Sarah Palin would make a good president should anything happen to him? And if HE thought that, did he assume that we would too? And if so, doesn't that speak volumes about McCain's judgement?

Mr. McCain would have better off with Mitt. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

I cannot still believe that Mccain is seriously going to pick this woman on his ticket. What kind of example is that for the GOP's crusade for Family Values? What values? James Dobson didn't want a Morman, Mitt Romney on his ticket, but the Focus on the family Superstar will probably now have a change of heart. How can Palin though not look like a hypocrite when she supports abstinance programs, when she can't even control her own daughter's sexual habits. This pick will give progressive sceptics like many of the readers of this magizine a chance to show we have values too. Obama and Biden show it and have demonstrated their integrity in this campaign, and I think that will come across to the American people this Fall.

Yeah, more than lucky the fur coat comes from an endangered species. So much for being a good steward of the environment; she supports on shore drilling as well in Alaska that could exterminate thousands of wildlife species. To all you animal rights activists out there, it is time to get out there and fight. It doesn't matter if we are pro life or pro choice, if we have no respect for God's creation.

Look at the clothing on the people behind her on the bleachers. Either this was taken at some kind of costume event, or Alaska is way weirder than I thought.

It still sucks if it's real fur, though.

This is a good question: "Why did McCain pick the unknown Sarah Palin as his running mate?" I read that McCain met Palin last April. Didn't Sarah Palin give birth last April? Who introduced her to the presumptive nominee? Why did others say McCain couldn't have Lierberman on the ticket? Why did the "independent maverick" listen to them?

Let`s not linger on what has already been said about this
McCain-Palin-GOP ticket,here are some basic suggestions for both of them as to save this upcoming "Comedy Road Show".

John McCain should stop using this boring,silly :"My Friends" when starting a speech,worse when combining it with " let me tell you " ....seriously.
Reason:his phrase is typically
used in someones High School
time "after getting laid for
the first time" and then only
as to "acclaim the obvious " !

And as for Palin,who according
to various sources,has zero
experiences in foreign affairs
except being told "that Alaska
is next door to Russia",this
advise:gain some experience by
learning that there is in fact "some distinct difference between (Vladimir) Putin, the
Russian Minister and the quite
familiar "Put in",that she has
shown so well by "putting out"
some five (5) children !
McCain : but my Friends......

When will Sarah Palin meet the press??? Boy is that a legitimate, but loaded question!! If she has an ounce of respect for her family and herself, she will not accept the nomination and bow out gracefully. Being the pious, self-absorbed, fundamentalist twit that she is though, she won't.

Hypocrits, regardless of what political party, sexual inclination, or even their good intentions, deserve every moment under the magnifying glass they get.

Given the successive passes Obama got on his hate-America preacher as well as his dubious ties with Ayers and Rezko, I think the American public will be able to get past the fact that Palin's daughter is going to have a baby. She has already scored points by attracting attention to the sexist content of some blogs. She'll be able to capitalize on all of the resentment women feel at Hillary's not getting the nomination PLUS capitalize on all the crap we were fed about experience counting less than judgment at the beginning of Obama's campaign.
It reminds me of certain card games where to win you have to get rid of your cards. Obama's cards are coming back at him one after another and Palin is getting to play off of them.

Has anyone looked into what the age difference is between Bristol Palin at the time of impregnation and the supposed father? If Governor Palin stands for law and order shouldn't she be seeking charges against him for statutory rape or contributing to the delinquency of a minor?

How did she know that the baby would not demand a lot of attention when she agreed to participate in the race? Giving birth at 44 is quite risky. What is known from her adventure on the eve of labor, when she took an 11 hour-long travel from Dallas back to Alaska to see her non-obstetrician doctor, looks as either she did not care for the life of the newborn or she was lying about the pregnancy.

"Obama's cards are coming back at him one after another and Palin is getting to play off of them."

Huh? This makes no sense. What cards of Obama's are you referring to, and how is Sarah "Eagleton '08" Palin playing off of them?

Palin has used lobbyist to get pork for her little town in Alaska and even had the lobbyist that work for Senator Stephens. That is a reformer? Oh, how about that fur she wears? Environmentalists and animals activist are you seeing this! And then there is Experience. Some school districts in Texas are twice the size of the number of people in Alaska. Give me a Break!

Has anyone looked into what the age difference is between Bristol Palin at the time of impregnation and the supposed father?

I think it's a bit less than that between Obama's parents. His mother was also 17 and was pregnant when they married. I suspect that has something to do with his reticence,.

Wow, this women supported the independence of Alaska. No way average Americans will vote for McCain now.

The Maverick Party is here! (but don't ask any questions...)

"What kind of Hillary supporter could embrace Palin?"

The same kind that swears to vote for McCain rather than Obama. The kind who doesn't really care about the consequences.

Help me understand why anyone would be impressed if she delivers a good speech Wednesday night. She has a journalism degree and is a former sportscaster. She almost certainly did not write the speech herself.

So, what's the accomplishment? She didn't choke?

My friens, I can't shtand her voish.

The age of consent in Alaska is 16. Bristol is said to be 17. However, that claim should be checked out. Since the Palin children were supposedly home schooled, does she have school records which would give her age or is it in the county Birth records? Say, if she is sixteen she could have become pregnant when she was fifteen which would then be statutory rape and a felony.

I was really excited about Mr. McCain's vice presidential pick until I realized that he had not chosen the intelligent and witty Michael Palin, but some woman named Sarah Palin. No relation, I guess.

buzzbike,

Apparently the media will never meet Sarah Palin. It's official; the McCain campaign has requested that all inquiries about his veep be funnelled through them. Funny, I was under the impression we believed in free speech and free thought.

One needs only an IQ of 37 on a clear day to see that comments on the candidacy of Gov. Sarah Palin are as inapropriate as they are ignorant. But what has common courtesy to do with those who heap abuse and scorn on a woman they do not know, those who view the world from the passenger seat of a moving car?

For those fired up about her wearing fur please look a little further into it... Click on the photographer's name in the article (mine) and you 'll get a better picture of the story behind the photo. It is real fur...

It has been evident for some time that after,(who said Bitch here)reckless,overly ambitious and foolish silly Hillary, was losing her nomination for president,hat those Repugs were going to seek and exploit Hillary`s " blind and stubborn feministic base" for the quite obvious.
Should these very same Hillary supporters actually going to betray and turn against their own party...
according to and in line with the before mentioned "just for sake of those "I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay. ~Madonna Ciccone.....now that would give
indeed stupidity and ignorance additional dimensions.

As we all know by now,Palin got picked solely based that she will "hopefully" appeal to the Republican’s conservative base....and frankly,because for being a woman and Washington,DC outsider,according to the GOP

Nobody in his right mind,not even this senile,old
hypocrite McCain(who never ever spoke a word to her)
would have made her"the VP #1 Choice" as he had said,
but because of sheer "political purposes" the RNC-
Manipulators themselves picked that woman. Period.
And again,in fairness to that woman and the rest of those women who are the feministic base out there,it
would be foolish to believe that her choosing is that
of a concept of "equality between the sexes " ......
not at all,sorry to say that,Ladies ! It all came down to these very same " cheaters,womanizers and plain male chauvinistic pigs" in need for someone other than themselves,that those " morally unsuited unqualified bloody hypocrites"( who would have never,ever considered of selecting any woman in the first place)thought of this slick,dirty scheme and so they were plotting as they usual do,and went for this "I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch" kind of woman,in such a despicable act,that makes one vomit in disgust !

It would not come a a total surprise that during next several weeks we`ll find out her obvious lack of some real needed qualifications for being VP-material,but that she has rather been chosen for the convenience of some political slimy,sleazy calculations ......and the shameless exploitation of an ambitious,but yet naive,foolish woman.....who was morally raped by those very same men,she more or less trusted !!!

I have one question!! When will Sarah Palin be talking with the national media about real issues?

The republicans really don't want her to speak. They want her to be the puppet dog. Speak when we say speak!! And no questions asked!! NOT!!

She will never meet the Press. The Press will ask a lot of questions. Like, Alaska seceding from the Union, pork barrel for a small city in Alaska, working with Ted Stephens lobbyists, banning books without authority, abuse of her powers without due process, and environmental insensitivity. The Republicans will protect her from the Press or make sure that the questions are screened and come from friendly reporters.

There are so many hypocritical issues about this woman. However, the most dangerous is her end-times biblical ideology. Why isn't the corporate media slamming her and playing her minister's and her own words about Iraq being a mission from God, etc. (Why isn't it being put on a loop like Rev. Wright's sermon, played and played again and again).
You know, in a 1980's interview between the neo-con traitor Robert Novak and musician Frank Zappa...Novak scoffed at Zappa when the later talked about this country moving toward a fascist theocracy....Well folks....Whadda ya think, huh?

The media unjustly attacked Sarah Palin through her family and by unsubstantiated lies and innuendo. The left-wing media naturally subjectively attacks conservatives just as a matter of course. Any legitimate objective journalist (of which there are very few) would withhold open support and defense of her BECAUSE of their objectiveness. And there is certainly no support or defense for her at this site - there's not even any semblance of giving her the benefit of any doubt. These postings merely reflect last week's media attacks. So, the only one who can defend Sarah Palin is herself and the McCain campaign.
As many of the comments posted here are reflections of the media bias, it stands to reason that during any interview, there will be no objectiveness given toward Sarah Palin, simply because she is a conservative.
Many in the media are not any different than many of the posters here - they're just more "sophisticated" about how they twist comments and fabricate opinion.

"morally raped"...WOW! Is there a definition for that in the dictionary, or Wikipedia? The last I remember learning is that to be president of the United States, one must be a natural born citizen and 35 years of age. It is the same for the vice president. Man, what a dirty trick that was, I mean picking someone with those very qualifications! May he rot in hell.

In the words of Sarah Palin when asked if she felt ready for the job of VP, (by People magazine) Yup, yup. We do expect her to talk to the national press. This is part of the election process, having the press disect a candidates life and (most importantly)their political views and intelligence. EVERY candidate has been through this and there is no reason that Sarah Palin should be treated any differently. Let her go on FOX news with Bill O'Reilly (Obama did this). She cannot expect to be a part of national politics and miss out on the vetting of the press and the populace for which they work. Even if you love this woman's story, you must admit the treatment from the press is the same as it's been for all major candidates. As Americans it is our expectation to hear from our political candidates in our media, not just scripted speeches.

It's absolutely amazing how moronic and mentally handicapped you leftist swine are. You all have NO IDEA what reality is. Unless reality to you is a minimum wage job waiting around for false "hope, and change" or the government to come bail you out and pay for your healthcare, retirement, food and other expenses so you can be more "equal" to your wealthier counterparts in society. Get a life and a good job and STOP DREAMING ABOUT A MAKE BELEIVE SOCIETY WHERE WE ARE ALL EQUAL BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT SAYS WE HAVE TO BE. Geez does that sound like someone from the old Russian regime? Why dont you look at the records of your savior and his sidekick and see if they REALLY are for "hope and change"?! They are PIGS just like the rest of the politicians!!

You know, BT, the simple fact that most of us are posting from work implies that we are not stuck in minimum wage jobs. Instead we recognize those around us who are stuck because of the unparalleled greed of those at the very top.

I should have stopped reading as soon as I saw that you think it's in good taste to refer to a person as "mentally handicapped" because of their political views. I hope I'm not insulting any selfish bigots when I say that you sir are a selfish bigot.