Who Chose Sarah Palin
By Nicole Belle Sunday Aug 31, 2008 3:00pm
Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.
CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain.
Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, "The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting." Thus the CNP's Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters. I only learned of the get-together through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here)
Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain's Vice Presidential pick. "I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign," Minnery said. "And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling... That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time."
Like I said yesterday, it appears the price John McCain was willing to pay to those he called "agents of intolerance" in 2000 was the choice of his running mate. How maverick-y.
And now since the "experience" meme has been undermined by his choice, the new narrative is that the McCain/Palin ticket represents "reform", which the media is only too happy to pick up and run with.
But the question must be asked: How is it reform to pander to the Religious Right?
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http://www.newsweek.com/id/156549
Palin's 17 year old un-wed daughter is now pregnant.
I may be religious but there's no denying that the Council for National Policy is a bad bunch.
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/McSamePalinButton.jpg
This looks like the exact same posting from another liberal website I read earlier today... Daily KOS, Huffington Post or America Blog.
It's kind of like reform... nominating a woman to run for the most powerful office in the nation.
This isn't going to play to the religious right the way McCain thinks it will and it only underscores his ignorance of that group. The pregnant daughter is going to get to some who still expect prominent republican families to be perfect in every way. The biggest fact he's ignored here, though, concerns Mr. Palin. The evangelicals expect a husband to be head of the household. They would expect a husband to be more in view than Mr. Palin has been - by his wife's side, visibly giving his support to what would clearly have been a joint family decision. Now a pregnant daughter. These people will assume Mr. Palin has no say, control or authority over what happens in his household and they're going to want to run as fast and far as possible from supporting anything like that.
I don't think McCain ever dreamed of his plan backfiring in that direction!
Gretchen the aspiring elitist @ 6:
The Bridge to Nowhere.
LOL!
I don't know whether to laugh or vomit at the evangelicals. If Obama had a pregnant 17 year old daughter, the fundie wingnuts would be screaming that his own family demonstrates his moral inability to lead. But since it's the GOP VP, they now gush over how wonderful a family the Palins are.
Sweet Jebus, deliver us from these self-righteous cretins.
ROTFALMAO!!!!!!!!
May God bless the person or persons responsible for picking Palin. Nothing could highlight the consideration and judgement of the Republican party. This shows the depth of concern of the GOP has for America and the great majority of Americans. That is to say, their motto is win at all costs and support the special interests. Fear, greed and self interest are the hallmarks of the current leadership and will remain if McCain wins this election.
It's nice to watch the GOP implode. So how is Sarah Palin going to spin the total and continuous lies about Trig? And now her daughter is pregnant AGAIN with Sarah's SECOND grandchild. And how can the GOP say that Obama is inexperienced EVER AGAIN after picking someone whose only foreign policy experience is living a couple thousand miles from Russia?
You just have to sit back and laugh at the total incompetence of the Republican political machine.
Reform your ass right to the re-education camp.
" But the question must be asked: How is it reform to pander to the Religious Right? "
My answer is that Palin is, " Atheist reform ".
And she will follow Osama Bin Laden into an abortion clinic.....
But as Obama says, they will not follow Osama to the cave he lives in...!
You WILL have that baby, and you WILL get married.
Hahahahahahaha!
I still believe Palin was picked because everyone else backed out after seeing Obama before 84,000 at Invesco.
They see that hitching their wagon to McCain's dead-horse campaign is political suicide and are now focusing on 2012.
Whoever decided the Thugs need to be retired for now and needs there to be no margin for cheating by renegade Thugs. The Thugs don't want to clean this mess of theirs up. They never could with their stated philosophy, and they know it. They don't want to be in charge when this shit falls apart -- they can blame it on the Dems for the whole shitaree Afghanistan, Iraq, war crimes, when they're running next time.
Why do you think they chose McLoser?
“And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin — people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling…
What exactly are the excited about?
That she supports abstinence-only sex education but has a 17-year old, out-of-wedlock daughter?
The selection of Palin to appeal to the hard right fundamentalist base shows how McCain will govern: putting in power hard right social conservatives for political purposes, who will then pursue their policies combined with an attitude of unaccountability to use public power for ideological and personal crusades.
Think Cheney II, but with more crazy fundamentalist nuttery.
34 minutes left to go on the GOP Palin vs Biden poll, and the spread is getting worse for the Guv:
94% Biden, 6% Palin.
http://www.gop.mfbiz.com/#/newpalinbidenpoll/4530692820
A Harriet Meiers Moment looms...
Mugsy @ 15:
I second this. Of course I think McCain's real choice was Lieberman, and he couldn't get the backing for it.
AndrewK @ 20:
Dobson First!
Oh no...oh no...this is too disgusting...but...can't...stop...myself...
Why is Palin's eldest daughter named after an English sea port?
They both attract lots of se(a)men...
why chose sarah palin? because sarah palin is a role model for young women and parents.
Does religious right equal big money? I can't believe the people who attended this meeting are about nothing else but anti abortion and anti gay rights. WTF do they really care about those subjects? If they don't influence the candidate, their followers will turn to some other religious leader and stop filling these bastards pockets with their hard earned, hardly can afford necessities, money. At least that's the way it looks to me.
Redsaunas @ 22:
You may well end up in hell for making a joke like that. But I'll be there too for laughing at it!
OK, I get this was a "secret" meeting, but how did you or other Dems get in at all?
What's the attendance policy/screening, etc.
I don't doubt your descriptions, I just don't get how the thing works.
Clearly, Palin is a scary choice, made by people other than McCain, he's just along for the ride now, and he's losing his mind along the way, after selling his soull
Charles @ 14:
I can see Palin in a helicopter with a high powered rifle aimed at the father until the vows are cemented.
Her version of shotgun wedding. As she hunts deer from a copter for sport.
You think she rents a hybrid helicopter to conserve fuel?
Palin was chosen by Republican power brokers who want a MILF on the presidential ticket.
Gretchen the aspiring elitist @ 25:
Sorry folks. It just occurred to me a couple of minutes ago.
Really I feel sorry for the poor girl. I grew up in a family of petty moralistic fanatics, and I can understand her rebellion. Now 'hunter' Palin has the shotgun out. Typical.
This explains the sudden $4,000,000 in donations that mysteriously appeared within 48 hours of the announcement of her candidacy/
IIthought it was a little odd, even for them. How many Palin fans were actually out there? But if the Dobson at al nutbag cabal put the wordout, that would have done it.
I have to say, I've had my fun over "Babymamagate" for the last couple days (who knew that the McCain campaign would be stupid enough to try and dispel rumors of Palin's daughter being unwed and pregnant at 16... with news that she is unwed and pregnant at 17!), but that is not the real point here.
At the end of the day, what really matters (and what the Obama campaign needs to hammer home) is what this disastrous VP pick says about McCain's judgement. If he's willing to change directions erratically and without warning in his first big decision as a wannabe commander-in-chief, how can he be trusted with the safety and well-being of the American people?
Charles @ 11:
Funny how the Britney Spears ad sort of backfired on them. They turned out to represent the younger sister.
oops they forgot to record the birth of the Governor's baby at the hospital !
I suppose they didn't want to scoop the local newspaper...
ADN 04/18/08 story
Title 17 of the USC
Robt @ 27:
lol!
And no she's a Bushie Alaskan she hates hybrids.
pissed off patricia @ 24:
Not just big money, but very big money. Certainly not oil company big, but big enough. They also have many people who look to them as leaders. These guys control not only millions of $, but millions of potential voters.
Its not about values, family or Christianity. This has everything to do with money and power. I'm Christian (as you probably know) and that list of CNP members scares the living crap out of me. This group operates in a similar fashion as the Klan but on a more sophisticated level. They are very real.
Check out Scarborough & Buchanan saying the choice won't work, a couple hours before it was made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbsbeY5k5k&eurl=http://dailykos.com/stor...
and if this doesn't scare the bejesus outta you... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213
Haven't we had enough of these crackpots setting the agenda?
One heart beat
http://independentreport.org/politics/a-simple-reminder-one-heartbeat/
I have said several times that McCain has sold his soul to get to the White House and his pick of Palin proves it. Woe to us if we let him get in.
Didn't McCain's camp even bother vetting Monica Goodling ?
It was never reprted that Monica in fact was vetted for the Veep.
She is available and has qualification and lots of proven loyalty.
Monica knows how to uphold the "oath of office to the president ".
(as pointed out that the oath was to uphold the constitution), Oops...
why did they chose sarah palin? to cultivate/get new voters. female voters supposively blue collar working class no college educated women demographics. they're hoping some women who were planning on voting for clinton will vote palin. some will say it's because she is a maverick. the word is and many of you know mccain wanted lieberman they group tested his pick. this pick was made by Rick Davis,Randy Scheunemann,Schultz,
Charlie Black and Woosely.
Strictly a big gamble after seeing the dem convention they are concerned. Because her lack of experience compared to Biden one or two foreign relation question mistakes may do her in.
Personally this is a poor choice and judgement by McCain. Of course all dem. criticism(s) of palin will be used against us. Taking on this position i think is noble but when you are sharing the responsiblity of raising 4 children one Down Syndrome newborn....not a good role model for parenting not to forget the child and the challenge that will cause.
Be afraid, be very afraid ...
Sarah Palin has an awful lot of personal baggage. What's with the Down Syndrome infant, psycho brother-in-law, subject of ethics investigation, possible statutory rape of pregnant teenage daughter. Did anybody vet this broad?
roooth @ 30:
Exactly!
Just like all the people in the room when McCain announced Palin. There was more cheering then than in all McCain's previous speeches put together. The majority were the voices of young, if not teen, males. It sounded like a high school pep rally. I call shenanigans on the McCain campaign because I believe all that cheering was coming from a group planted in the audience. Why the fu*k else would that many young people go that wild over McCain and anyone?
Since there were a bunch of little cheerleaders doing McCain cheers before McCain arrived, maybe all the young cheering voices were from the same school or schools as the cheerleaders.
Palins 17 year old daughter is preggers and is getting married Boy and palins no-sex till marriage phillosphy really works One can only say irony
What really worries me about Palin is her environmental policies (especially in regards to drilling in the ANWR). Given the state of our environment these days I think it is evermore important for us, as consumers to support 'green businesses' that benefit the environment. For example, http://www.simplestop.net stops your postal junk mail and benefits the environment.
constituent @ 23:
What makes her such a big role model? The part where she tries to get her brother-in-law fired because he won't give up custody of his and her sister's child? Or maybe the part where she sent her kids off to live with their relatives after she took office as governor? Or maybe the part where her "abstinence-only" education gets her 17 year-old daughter pregnant and Palin and McCain reveal the news for political expediency? Which one is it, I just have to know!
Flower @ 4:
So which one was it?
take a few minutes and listen to (R)mike murphy and doris kearns goodwin...who says the pick is irresponsible
she says 1 out of 3 v.p.'s become president. murphy says the choice risky he doesn't like it. this is meet the press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26484007#26484007
Question for Palin in the campaign or during the debates.
Gov Palin, since you take the conservative " on your own/ health care for profit only ".
Why have you accepted tax payer health care from your state voters that can't afford their own but have to pay for your entire family health care plan?
If you become Vice President, will you cut your wages to save money and refuse Gov't funded health care and pay your own way?
This group has to be the most un-American, unpatriotic bunch of bastards ever assembled. TBH, they present more of a threat to our freedoms as Americans than do any of the Muslim terrorists. Be afraid.
BigTallMatt @ 48:
the people that say these issues don't matter are WRONG...i don't want to talk about them but there are voters who vote on social issues. she is a poor role model and example.
Gretchen the aspiring elitist @ 6:
Gretchen, I agree with you. McStain doesn't get the Fundies, never did, and his discomfort with all things religious shows every time he has to talk about it.
These people don't even allow women to preach in church, or hold any leadership positions. The women are to submit to and obey their husbands.
Todd Palin looks impotent in all that's going on, and I don't McStain even sees how emasculated Mr. Sarah is appearing to "the base".
PEACE
When will McCain ask Palin to step down?
CNP are religous kooks. They are all about the social in social-con so of course they love this woman. Anti-evolution, anti-abortion... whats not to like from their perspective? She's no great speaker and certainly no great intellect. She just shares their faith, something they can't be sure about with McCain.
Think about this. McCain wins the race for president. Suppose on day two McCain suffers a massive stroke. Palin would be the president for the next four years. Just like that!
I don't care what they said on Fox and Friends this morning, raising five children does not prepare anyone to be the president of the United States. Being a mother is difficult job and all, but come on.
I hope when repubs stop and think about such a scenario as I mentioned above, they will be as scared of that happening as I am.
Loonie @ 49:
Whats your point ?
Red state more compatalble for you? You expecting the GOP marching oders memo?
Who Chose Sara Palin?
My guess would be Barbie. She needed a new playmate. The exotic one from Alaska.
Seriously. Knowing full well that her daughter was pregnant(when??) she still accepted this nomination. Knowing that her family was going to be dragged thru the mud, and she still accepted. That's pretty pathetic in my book. She should have said no.
To protect her family. So much for family values.
David Ehrenstein @ 9:
McCain's campaign is genius. They are working the Jerry Springer vote. What a way to get their attention from reality TV shows. (slow clap)
Kind of makes you wonder if the same backroom group is planning on easing McCain out of the picture and installing a true believer when the time comes. Maybe that was the price for their support. Be afraid alright.
AndrewK @ 20:
My prediction:
Palin will be pressured to reject the VP spot during the Convention, allowing the delegates to pick who they want. She'll use her new Down Syndrome baby as her excuse.
Mark my words.
Is she ignorant about America or just a history revisionist?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/31/174153/834/246/581480
Is it my imagination or does Sarah Palin bear a strong resemblence to Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) of Will & Grace?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vecYnbyFIw
Doris Kearns Goodwin(presidential historian) 1 out 3
vice presidents become president. with john mccain
being 72.5 y.o. end of january'09...this could happen.
the (R) continue to compare Palin with Obama that's not the comparison.....it's with the other v.p. nominee Biden.
they don't want to make this comparison we must demand it.
if you listened to governor pawlenty yesterday you would have puked with his talking points and avoiding the questions. tom brokaw is NO tim russert. brokaw should have had the talk be comparing Biden and Palin he allowed the Obama and Palin comparison.
mudshark @ 59:
I think there's a narrative that says Sarah Palin is a career first mother. 8 months pregnant? Let's fly to texas to make a speech. New born baby at home? Let's run for VP. I didn't think those were the social values the traditionalists were pushing.
As a married parent of a special needs child, I can attest to the fact that it is a life altering experience. If you put that child first, personal ambition should be way down on your list of priorities.
Even if I was qualified, if I had a new born child with down syndrome and honestly put that child first, there is no way I would consider being the Vice President of the PTA, let alone the United States.
Prediction: Sarah Palin’s family will very soon develop something that will allovasudden require her full-time presence back in AK, and she will withdraw (I hope she kicks and screams during her removal!). :) McCain will then pick someone (anyone) with more credibility behind him/her. If he fails to do that, his candidacy is doomed. What kind of decision-making capability is it that would put such an untested neophyte a heartbeat (in a cancer-visited bod) away from the Presidency?
In other words, Sarah Palin is (more-or-less) equivalent to Harriet Miers, with a little Monica Goodling thrown in for piquancy.
Remember folx, we are still within the Labor Day political hiatus, and before whatever passes for the Republican Convention. When the world comes back tomorrow, there will be a much larger collective gasp of “What the FUCK does that EEEDIOTT think he’s doing? This cannot stand.”
I know my views are not unique but that’s the way it seems to me, too.
I caught wind of this organization many years ago. But, this is not the only group of its kind. There is another secret organization, who's membership is so exclusive and secretive, very few know it exists, and/or who its members are. They meet on private Caribbean island(s), with its own airstrip and a small security army. There is also rumored to be large ranch in Colorado, where the security is like area 51. This group compromises the most powerful men in the world. But, who they are and what they talk about is a complete mystery. I suspect if some investigative reporter ever got close to the truth, he/she would meet with an 'accident'.
When I spoke to others about this, they suggested I get fitted for a tin foil hat. I must admit, it is a tough pill to swallow, especially with little, or no, evidence to back it up. However, I believe it is true as far as it goes.
Wow, look like the whose who of the lunatic right wing fringe may have been at that meeting to select one of their own for the VP slot.
still makes no sense...unless the entire cnp is made up of dirty old men
kaye baily hutchinson is staunchly pro life, pro war, pro oil and as far as i know, has no serious skeletons in the closet
she also has the gravitas where she could step in as prez if need be
then there is libby dole, who served 2 presidents
the only thing these 2 dont have is a hot ass
McCain's penis.
Now I'm going to go back and see how many people said it first.
Palin was to busy with her own career was not spending time being a mother. And then she talks about family values please this shows that the right is full of hyproicy. Also I hope that the daughter loves the boys father because making another mistake and marrying him will only make things worse.
Wow, I wonder how she feels about the choice to teach abstinence only to her children!
this woman shares here sister in-laws (who is a feminist)
about sarah palin campaiging to be v.p. and shared parenting again how can you raise 4 children even with ideal shared responsibilites.
http://www.examiner.com/x-322-Health-Care-Examiner~y2008m8d31-Sarah-Pali...
Marcinema @ 26:
See, that's why there's more than one paragraph. You are intended to read them, and thereby more information would be shared with you. Specifically the 3rd one, with particular attention to the last sentence. It reads:
But don't take my word for it. See for yourself.
Who choose Sara Palin? We did by choosing Joe Biden!
The knee jerk reactions of the GOP continues....
The REAL reason the GOP canceled their convention. Not hurricane Gustov. They have spent, to no avail, the holiday weekend conducting damage control because they didn't do any research into this candidate.
Warning, warning...implosion imminent. Warning, warning....
DrDan in MA @ 68:
if she gets dropped from the ticket, his candidacy is doomed
this isnt harriet myers...bush was already prez
this was mccain's first real chance to prove he had what it takes to make it as prez
he blew it
for her to step down would be a death knell
This story is why I'm going to go against the conventional wisdom of the progressive blogosphere and worry that this choice is going to hurt us in the general election. Remember that we are pretty well informed and motivated. We know all the shortcomings that Palin has. But this choice is going to pick up some votes among low information voters. More importantly, it is going to fire up the conservative base, which was lukewarm about McCain. Note the surge in fundraising for McCain after the announcement. So he fired up the base, is going to pick off some votes, without much downside. To make McCain pay a price for making the pick is going to require some delicate maneuvering and is fraught with peril There's a lot of risk of offending some voters and garnering Palin/McCain sympathy if it is not done right. The pregnant teenage daughter is one example. I don't think that will cost them any votes among the religious nuts at all, may get them sympathy with some suburban voters, and it allows them to attack the "liberal" media and "lefty" blogs.
reform = re-form america into the christo-fascist state they want.
Looks like Palin's history of firing state appointed officials goes back further than her brother-in-law...
From the Anchorage Daily News, January 31, 1997:
And this from the same publication two weeks later:
Wow, what a reformer...
Jebuz failed to protect her daughters womb when she was having her holy, biblical pre-marital sex. Thank God marraige was successfully defended from the gays, so that profound, deep, holy marriages like the Palin shotgun wedding can take place this Friday.
Ruthless People @ 63:
She's ignorant: she doesn't know what the VP does every day.
Oh, sure, she is an empty dress, but she should would be a pretty president. Come on, man up guys -- admit it.
BigTallMatt @ 31:
Absolutely! I feel sorry for Palin's daughter. My own family has had unmarried teen pregnancies in it, and even when the child is carried to term and badly wanted, this is a big, life-changing, and often lonely event for a minor. Families often hide this stuff--out of fear, shame, misinformation, what have you. That's not news.
Now that Obama has publicly stated he'll fire anyone on his campaign staff found to be involved in rumor-mongering over this--and said that the candidates' families, especially their kids, should be off-limits--we need to live up to that if we want this campaign to be conducted in a fashion we would expect of others.
We need to get back to the issues. Can McCain be trusted when he picked a running mate who may have broken the law ("Troopergate")? Did Palin lie when she said last Friday that she was against the bridge to nowhere, when in fact she's on record as having supported it?
These issues go to trust and honesty. The baby stuff is supermarket tabloid quality. We'd despise Republican attempts to exploit it if this were happening to one of Obama's daughters (and whether or not Republicans would actually do it is beside the point). If we want to be better than that, we need to get back to what's important.
Charles @ 78:
with any luck, there will be a war between tihe corporo-fascists and the chtisto-fascists.
I am so sick of hearing how patriotic the Republicans are. They are in fact traitors to the constitution and to open, democratic (small d) government. They have done nothing but lie, cheat, and steal in order to force their corporatist theocracy on the rest of us. With the unstinting help of the media, they sell the uninformed on their "superior" credentials. In fact, they have no interest in governing. They want to tear down our government of laws and require us to follow blindly their anti-science, anti-education, anti-pea