A discussion of various thought on issues and subects that cross my mind. This can include: Politics, Economics, Race Relations, Stock Markets, Investing, Music, Poetry, Current Events and probably more. Comments, whether disenting or in agreement, are welcomed.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
A quick video history of Gov. Sarah Palin's comments
I searched through Youtube a bit and came up with this compilation on Gov. Sarah Palin. For those who are unfamiliar with her, here are her words on various interviews. You can make up your own thoughts on how she sounds and what she has to say on various subjects.
Energy
Education
Military
Giving Birth in Office
Life and Background
General
Scandal (name one candidate without one)
With Troops (I do not support every aspect of this video)
Security
Now this has not been the most comprehensive study of Gov. Palin’s past and her comments to the public. But I believe it does give some insight to the candidate.
I’m really interested in her debate with Senator Biden, and future speeches she makes.
Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter - the only thing I have to say
I did not want to speak about this. Obama has said he does not find this an election issue. Biden has said it’s off limits. Yet the major news media is continuing to feed the flames on this issue. Sarah Palin’s child is not newsworthy.
The news was reported yesterday that Republican Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin’s 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant. It was also stated that she plans to marry the father of the child. How this is a Presidential campaign subject I don’t know.
The children of the Presidential candidates have long been off-limits to the press. Especially those that are considered minors. And there is a good reason for this, parenting is not an exact science and children make mistakes. Being a President or a candidate does not somehow instantly convey a better ability to raise children than any other American parent.
Now the Palin’s are not that unusual. Here in Binghamton they are the norm. And I would say that Binghamton is a very good reflection of middle America.
In Binghamton it is unusual to find a girl that makes it to 21 without a child. In this area it is normal for couples to marry in or just out of high school. And I would put the average at about 60% for girls in high school to have a child before graduating.
I’m not saying that this is positive, or wanted. I am saying that this is an occurrence that is happening across America. And parents have 2 choices; abandon the minor and let them fend for themselves, or stand by them and help them out. Governor Palin has chosen to stand by and support her child with this life changing event.
So what do some people expect? That Gov. Palin should abandon her child? That she should force her to not have the child or put it up for adoption? Why? To challenge or back up some political point of view that this voter or that prefers?
This is not political. It’s a family decision. This does not affect the economy, crude oil prices, corn ethanol production, inflation, unions, taxes, the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, or even national healthcare.
And for those that are Pro-life, Pro-choice, or for abortion it is not a factor either. This is the decision of 1 family, not law. If anyone wants to project their cause on this that is their doing, and wrong in my opinion. Just as Presidents should not be partisan (or at least radically so) and make decisions based on the best interest of the average American family – even if they disagree with them personally – this is no different.
I hope the major news media follows the calls from Senator John McCain, Senator Joe Biden,
I had to make a comment on this. While Senators Obama and Biden congratulated Alaska Governor Palin on being picked as Vice President, the Obama campaign has tried to slam her.
Governor Sarah Palin has been to Iraq as many times as Senator Obama, and considering in 4 years Obama spent all of 3 days I believe she has been there as much as he has if not more.
Gov. Palin is not only the former mayor, admittedly of a small town, but also is the executive office leader of a state. Senator Obama, and Biden for that matter, have never run a town of any size let alone a state. They have never had to balance a budget, or do the day to day operations of anything.
So essentially she has about as much experience as Senator Obama when it comes to foreign policy, more experience in governing a populace, and Senator John McCain trounces Obama in regard to foreign policy and most other issues. For Senator Obama to speak about experience is just a reminder of what he does not have. And if her experience is not enough, then how can the Democratic Party look America in the eyes and say Obama is qualified? (Oh, that’s right they didn’t. Hillary has never said it, Biden and Bill Clinton both flipped their early staunch positions about Obama’s inexperience just this week.)
If the Democrats want to pick on something about Gov. Palin they better look for something else, because experience just isn’t it.
McCain - Palin: Sarah Palin is the Republican Vice Presidential candidate
Well now we have a race. Senator McCain has just announced his Vice President and it has caught everyone off guard. His choice – Sarah Palin the Governor of Alaska.
You may not be familiar with this Governor, I wasn’t either. So I watched her speak and looked up some information on her.
She is 44, married for 20 years. She has 5 children, with her oldest son in the Army and going to Iraq in September. Her youngest son was born this year in April and has Down’s Syndrome – which was known before he was born. She has been Governor of Alaska for 2 years, and previously has been on the Wasilla City Council for 2 terms. She is a lifetime member of the NRA, a hunter, commercial fisher, a former Miss Alaska, and graduated from University of Idaho with a degree in Journalism.
She is also a bit of a maverick. Politically she took on the Republican Party in Alaska for ethics violations, refused to fund the Gravina Island Bridge – also known as the bridge to nowhere. She also opposed Senator Ted Stevens, known for being independent of oil companies, and opposed 35 last-minute appointments of former-Governor Murkowski including Jim Clark who later plead guilty for illegal campaign finance funding of Murkowski. She opposes same sex marriage, but has enabled laws that support same-sex couples benefits.
So overall this is an interesting choice by McCain.
As I have stated before I had thought he would go with Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. I was half right in that he took on a woman for VP. This effectively will pry many women away from the Democratic base, and add many from the independent voters. I cannot see how the supporters of Hillary Clinton cannot vote for McCain now, especially since many were obsessed with a woman being in the Oval Office.
Comparing the Vice Presidential picks we can see that only Gov. Palin has executive office experience. In fact she holds an 80% approval rating. That severely beats the approval rating of Congress which is below the rating of President Bush.
She is pro-life from what I can tell, Biden is pro-choice. Palin is pro-guns, Biden is anti-guns. Palin is younger than Obama, Biden is older. She is pro-drilling, Biden (and McCain) is against drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Palin has created a sub-committee to investigate ‘global warming’ and greenhouse gas emmissions in Alaska – so I’m not sure if she believe in global warming or not, Biden is down the Democratic Party-line on global warming. Palin has cut taxes and stimulated the economy in Alaska, Biden has voted to increase taxes but claims to be for tax cuts for the middle class.
It is unclear where Sarah Palin stands on unions, free trade, homeland security, immigration, education and foreign policy (though she has visited Iraq before). Biden is for unions, voted for NAFTA, voted for the Patriot Act (with limits on wiretaps), voted for a path to citizenship for illegal aliens and voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits [though SS is failing], is pro-teachers unions and voted against school vouchers, and his views on Iraq are famopusly opposed to his Party’s Presidential candidate.
And I know this is purely superficial but Sarah Palin looks far better than Joe Biden, especially for a mom of 5.
The Obama-Biden ticket is decidedly D.C. based and focused. The McCain-Palin ticket is not. Obama-Biden is defined as far-left liberal (first and third most liberal Senators currently), McCain-Palin would best be described as centrist/right.
Obama – Biden has a Black man, thus making history. McCain – Palin has a woman, thus making history (though honestly a bit less because Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman picked as a VP).
It is an interesting comparison. Obviously more must be learned about Sarah Palin to be sure where she stands. And her abilities in the debates will be quite interesting.
To even be fairer to Senator Biden than I think he deserves, I’ve decided to look around and see what he has said directly. I won’t bother with comments that are purely passionate polispeak, but his statements on substantive issues. I’m looking for his comments on taxes, national security, energy, international policy, immigration and healthcare.
But before I get to those points I what to highlight another factor that is just as important. How does the potential Vice President relate to the various peoples of the nation. As is stated clearly by the moderator in this video clip, Biden is known to create more anger than he resolves.
Statements Biden has made include the comments against Senator Obama, insulting African Americans backhandedly. And there is his thoughts other ethnic groups as well
Or his pride about representing a former slave state, as if this is a motivation for southerners.
Now on taxes, Biden is the Democratic Party line. Tax the ‘wealthy’ and investments. Of course there is no thought given to the fact that average workers own investments too. And there are millions of IRA’s and 401K’s that potentially will be affected as well. But that’s not as important as symbolically saying that having money is evil.
In terms of Iraq, he is nowhere near his Democratic colleagues. Not that his plan is worse than their ‘run and hope for the best’ plans, in fact it is better though I feel inadequate.
A bit on his views on religion in politics
Which I would have loved to follow with his thoughts on abortion, but I could not find. So I moved on to energy. Please note that his view is somewhat different than Senator Obama.
He speaks about foreign oil, but ignores domestic drilling (which would be an obvious way to give America more flexibility on energy independence – though it wouldn’t help the stock options of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats invested in renewable energy). He correctly mentions that corn ethanol is not the answer, but leaves out the fact that the use of this is and will continue to push up food prices. He says he’s for alternatives, but negates nuclear power, which Europe uses. Basically he is a Democratic drone on the subject.
National security? Nothing. Sounds like most Democrats.
Darfur? Nothing, though he has quoted how we helped end the genocide in Bosnia, and that no U.S. troops have died there in the last 10 years. He’s concerned about Bosnia, but could care less on Darfur it seems.
On immigration he flips in a live debate. He is against making a fence to stop illegal aliens, because they can get around it, but he voted for a fence, because it will stop drug trafficking. Now if illegal aliens can get around or over a fence how will it stop drug trafficers? And he wants to give the illegal aliens in the nation citizenship. Essentially saying that breaking a major law is ok and should be rewarded. Might as well just give citizenship to everyone who asks for it then, by that logic.
On healthcare he reminds us that he is not exactly a clean bill of health. But beyond that he wants the Government to provide funds for Catastrophic injuries and children. Which sounds great, but where does the Government come up with the extra trillion or hundreds of billions of dollars each year? Taxes, and not on just the rich, bet on that. And what if your company cannot afford the required insurance for each employee? And since there is no department of the Government that runs efficiently or on budget, ever, where does the money come for the inevitable increases?
But lastly these might be the most stinging and telling comments of Senator Joe Biden, yes in a commercial form from McCain’s campaign, about his thoughts on Senator Obama, and McCain.
So I leave you with this thought. If after all the polispeak and Democratic Party speaking points, Senator Biden has believed and said that McCain is ready and worthy of being President or Vice President and that Senator Obama is not, why would anyone vote for Obama – Biden?
Who are the Vice-Presidential candidates going to be?
With the nominees of the political parties winding down, pundits and talking heads are starting to look around and question who will be Vice-Presidential matches. While many citizens may not consider the Vice-Presidency as overly important, in political circles it’s a big deal. Considering the fact that the Democratic nominee will eventually end up being either a Black man or a woman, the Vice-Presidential candidate becomes very important in drawing voters that might otherwise avoid the name on the Presidential ticket of either party.
While rumors are beginning to build, and some older ones are resurging, there is no real clear answer on who might get the nod. So when in doubt, one of the best places to look is where the betting is going. Yes, gambling. Very often where people are willing to put their money, and the payoffs odds makers are willing provide, are early indicators of what may happen.
Mike Huckabee leads with 6-4 odds (which I’d call 3-2 but the quote is what it is) Charlie Christ has 5-2 Tim Pawlenty at 4-1 Mitt Romney is at 11-2 Joe Lieberman at 8-1 Condoleezza Rice at 10-1 Rudolph Giuliani at 14-1 Chuck Hagel at 16-1 Dick Cheney at 20-1
While some of the more religious conservatives may want Mike Huckabee, I feel he is too religious to be electable. Mitt Romney is more concerned with gaining the big ticket and thus I’d expect him to wait til 2012 for his shot at the prize. I expect that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the real favorite. She brings in some of the Black and women vote. And she is easily qualified for the position. I see the Democrats seriously troubled in trying to attack her on anything. My dream pick would be Colin Powell though.
On the Democratic side it’s a bit sketchier –
Hillary Clinton leads the odds at 11-10 Barack Obama follows with 5-2 John Edwards comes in at 5-1 Ted Strickland is at 7-1 Bill Richardson follows closely at 8-1 Dennis Kucinich is a ways back at 20-1 (though I like his position on Reparations and an apology) Ted Kennedy is unlikely at 25-1 Bill Clinton is an extreme improbability at 66-1
As can be seen the Democratic ticket is very murky. While an Obama-Clinton ticket may sound good to some, I find it highly unlikely and very probably a losing ticket. The baggage and extreme dislike that Clinton brings is not worth the trouble, and virtually guarantees a Condoleezza Rice VP nod. This combination also says nothing of the dislike the candidates have for each other, nor the ego of Clinton. And if Senator Obama loses the nomination, he is better off waiting for 2012 and seeking the nomination directly.
John Edwards is a dumb choice as he is already a loser in this position, and could not draw significant support running for President 2x now. Ted Kennedy is just not going to happen. He’s always talked about in this role, but it doesn’t happen. His name and association are not enough. As well as his appeal on a national basis is not nearly strong enough.
Former-President Bill Clinton may be some ultra-liberal Democrats wet dream of a ticket, but that’s all it is. Add him, and it’s an instant loss.
I expect odds on Richardson to improve as he is a Governor, Hispanic, and experienced with the Executive Branch. His odds go up significantly if Hillary wins as he is an old member of former-President Bill Clinton’s administration. Hillary loves to lean on Bill and his previous actions.
So my bets, if I made them, are on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a match to Senator McCain; and Bill Richardson to go with Senator Obama, and a lock with Senator Clinton.
Considering the above, which do I think will win? Well that will be a different post.
