GOP Vetting Emporium

Christian Right changes view on 'woman's place'

The Christian Science Monitor has some compelling reports on how the views of Christian conservatives about women in the workplace have changed.

Here is The Monitor:

Survey data bear out the shift in attitudes. In 1987, a Pew Research Center survey found that only 25 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of white evangelical Protestants completely disagreed with this statement: “Women should return to their traditional roles in society.”

In 2007, the numbers had shifted to 41 percent and 42 percent. Among Americans overall, the number rose from 29 percent to 51 percent.

James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, an influential Christian conservative organization, has long asserted that mothers should be at home, but even he has embraced the selection of Palin and now says he’ll vote for the GOP ticket.

Would you have taken the job?

In the Detroit Free Press Barb Arrigo asks the following question?

If your 17-year-old daughter was 5 months pregnant and unmarried, would you accept a position that was going to put your family under a relentless national microscope? B

Blue collar vote?

The USA today has a piece about Palin potentially reaching not just blue collar females -- but men as well. This is something Chuck Todd has talked about on MSNBC as well.

Leave it to the British ...

To get off a great one-liner on the Palin pick and ensuing controversy.

Here is Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian:

A race that began as the West Wing now looks alarmingly like Desperate Housewives. Six months ago, you couldn't help but notice the striking similarity between Barack Obama and Matthew Santos, the fictional but charismatic ethnic minority candidate who promised to heal America's divide. Now, you can't help but feel you're watching an especially lurid episode from Wisteria Lane, as the real-life Sarah Palin fends off rumours of a fake pregnancy - and the accusation that her son is actually her grandson - by revealing that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is expecting a baby and will soon marry the father, a young hockey player.

An in-depth look at McCain-Palin on abortion

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough Misrepresented Extreme McCain-Palin View On Abortion

September 2, 2008: Scarborough: "Nobody Associated With John McCain Is Suggesting To Outlaw Abortion." On the September 2, 2008 airing of Morning Joe on MSNBC, host Joe Scarborough said, "Nobody associated with John McCain is suggesting to outlaw abortion." The full exchange is below:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Nobody. Nobody associated with John McCain is suggesting to outlaw abortion. That abortion should be outlawed. This is a fundamental misreading of Roe v. Wade.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: That's [Palin's position].

SCARBOROUGH: This is a fundamental misreading of Roe v. Wade that has been propagatedby the mainstream media . . .

MATTHEWS: You're propagating something totally wrong here.

[ . . . ]

SCARBOROUGH: What will happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned is states . . . will make the decision . . .

MATTHEWS: But that's not her position, her position is within the state of Alaska, outlaw it in all circumstances.





[MSNBC, Morning Joe, 9/2/08, emphasis added]


McCain: "I do not support Roe v. Wade. I think it should be overturned."


McCain Said Roe v. Wade Should Be Overturned. McCain said, "I do not support Roe v. Wade. I think it should be overturned." [New York Times, 2/24/07]

McCain Web Site Said Roe v. Wade was "Flawed Decision." Sen. McCain's 2008 presidential campaign website states that he "believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned." [John McCain for President 2008 campaign website, On the Issues: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life, accessed 3/24/08]



McCain Derided Roe Decision And Said He Would "Welcome" Its Reversal. Speaking on the Senate floor in 2006, McCain said, "Decisions such as Roe v. Wade continue to distort the democratic process in ways large and small to this very day." McCain continued, "Those of us who consider ourselves pro-life would welcome the Supreme Court's reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision that found a Constitutional right to an abortion. The result of that reversal would be to return the regulation of abortion to the states, where the values of local communities would be influential." [McCain Senate press release, 6/6/06]



McCain Supported Overturning Roe v. Wade; Said it Was "Very Likely." Speaking on ABC News, McCain said, "I do believe that it's very likely, or possible, that a Supreme Court should - could overturn Roe v. Wade which would then return these decisions to the states which I support." [ABC News, 11/19/06]



McCain Said He "Never Agreed With Roe v. Wade" and Claimed it's Reversal "Wouldn't Bother" Him. During an appearance on CBS's The Early Show John McCain, when asked about the possibility of abortion being banned, said, "I don't know the answer to that. I've never agreed with Roe v. Wade, so it wouldn't bother me any." [CBS, Early Show, 1/25/06]

McCain Said He Supports A Constitutional Amendment Banning "All Abortions."During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2000, McCain voiced his repeated support for a ban on all abortion. Here is the exchange:


MR. RUSSERT: A constitutional amendment to ban all abortions?


SEN. McCAIN: Yes, sir.


MR. RUSSERT: You're for that?


SEN. McCAIN: Yes, sir.


MR. RUSSERT: If, in fact, all abortions were banned in America...


SEN. McCAIN: I understand.


MR. RUSSERT: ...under President McCain...


SEN. McCAIN: Understand.


MR. RUSSERT: ...let's look at our country. What would happen to a woman who had an abortion?


SEN. McCAIN: Obviously, it would be illegal, but I would not prosecute a woman who did that. I would think that it would be such a terrible trauma that--but I would not make those abortions available or easy as they are today in America. And I think that, again, we're talking about a situation which is very unlikely at this time, and I would like to see us ban partial-birth abortion, pass parental notification, parental consent and move forward in the areas that we can move forward in, including working with pro-life, pro-choice Americans on trying to make adoption easier, which is very difficult in America, trying to improve foster care, trying to move together in areas that we can agree on, rather than polarizing us as both ends of the spectrum have done.

MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, women across the country would say, "Senator McCain, prior to Roe vs. Wade, hundreds of thousands of women a year went to the back alleys to have abortions."


SEN. McCAIN: I understand that.


MR. RUSSERT: Many died.


SEN. McCAIN: I understand that. [NBC, Meet The Press, 1/30/00]





2007: McCain Supported Federal Abortion Ban. On the Federal Abortion Ban, Sen. McCain said, "Today's Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life." [McCain for President Press Release, 4/18/07]


McCain Has "Unbroken Record Of Opposing Abortion Rights," Including In Cases of Rape and Incest. According to the Associated Press, McCain has an "unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. McCain has repeatedly voted against federal funding for abortion; he has opposed federal Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest." [Associated Press, 5/6/08]


McCain: "I Pledge to You to be Loyal and Unswerving Friend of the Right to Life Movement. "If I am fortunate enough to be elected as the next President of the United States, I pledge to you to be a loyal and unswerving friend of the right to life movement." [Statement by Sen. McCain read by Sen. Sam Brownback at the March for Life in Washington, DC, 1/22/08]


Washington Times: McCain Record Shows a "Striking Opposition" To Right To Choose. The Washington Times reported, "Though the Arizona senator and all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee doesn't detail his voting record on the campaign trail, an examination reveals a striking opposition to abortion in most of the major fights such as partial-birth abortion down to the smallest of skirmishes, even when he was in a distinct minority. Those votes include joining just 20 other senators in voting to delete family-planning grants from a spending bill in 1988 and joining 18 others in voting against spending Medicaid funds on abortions in cases of rape and incest." [Washington Times, 2/18/08]


Sarah Palin: Anti-Choice, Including In The Case Of Rape Or Incest


Palin: "I Am Pro-Life." During the 2006 Alaskan gubernatorial election, Eagle Forum Alaska sent each candidate a questionnaire. In response to a question on the legality of abortion, Sarah Palin answered: "I am pro-life. With the exception of a doctor's determination that the mother's life would end if the pregnancy continued. I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending an innocent's life." [Eagle Forum Alaska, 7/31/06, emphasis added]


Palin Said She Would Want Her Daughter To Have The Child If She Were Raped. According to the Anchorage Daily News, during the final 2006 gubernatorial debate, "The candidates were pressed on their stances on abortion and were even asked what they would do if their own daughters were raped and became pregnant. Palin said she would supportabortion only if the mother's life was in danger. When it came to her daughter, she said, 'I would choose life.'" [Anchorage Daily News, 11/3/06, emphasis added]

Palin Described Herself As "Pro-Life As Any Candidate Can Be." As reported by theAnchorage Daily News, "In 2002, when she was running for lieutenant governor, Palin sent an e-mail to the anti-abortion Alaska Right to Life Board saying she was as 'pro-life as any candidate can be' and has 'adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion.'" [Anchorage Daily News, 8/6/06]


· Palin Opposes Abortion "Even In The Cases Of Rape And Incest." According to the Los Angeles Times, "What's known about [Palin's] policy positions and public statements has been tremendously reassuring to conservatives, who issued numerous statements Friday praising the 44-year-old governor. But one person's solid conservatism -- opposing abortions, even in the cases of rape and incest; denying human contributions to global warming; supporting the teaching of creationism in public schools -- is another's extremism." [Los Angeles Times, 8/30/08]


Palin A Member Of Feminists For Life. In a release published on the Feminists for Life website, the group confirmed Sarah Palin's membership and detailed the aims of the organization: "Feminists for Life's policy is that all memberships are confidential. However, since Governor Palin has been public about her membership, we can confirm that Palin became a member in 2006… 'FFL members represent a broad political as well as religious spectrum, and we remain both nonpartisan and nonsectarian. There are many issues outside Feminists for Life's mission. Feminists for Life is dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion - primarily lack of practical resources and support - through holistic, woman-centered solutions. We recognize that abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women and that too often women have settled for less. Women deserve better than abortion,' said [FFL President Serrin] Foster." [WomenDeserveBetter.com, accessed 8/31/08, emphasis added]

Trippi says Palin's speech to be key

CBS News analyst and Democratic strategist Joe Trippi says Sarah Palin's speech could be decisive in the election.

Here is a post from Trippi:

Everywhere I go people are asking, if the revelations around Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s selection by John McCain to be his running mate have hurt the Arizona Senator’s chances of winning the Presidency.

The truth, no matter what the polls say today, is that we don’t know yet.

The massive amount of media focus on Palin over the past 48 hours, including her daughter’s out of wedlock pregnancy and the potentially incompetent vetting of her by the McCain campaign, is setting the stage for her speech at the GOP convention here in St. Paul.

McCain defends Palin selection process

Reuters is reporting that McCain today came to his new running mate's defense. Here is Reuters.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain defended picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday as his vice presidential running mate after she admitted that her teenage, unmarried daughter is pregnant.

Palin's disclosure, in addition to the news that she has a private lawyer in an ethics probe in Alaska, led some to raise questions about McCain's judgment and how thoroughly her background was examined in picking the relatively unknown Palin last week as his No. 2.

Iowa Republican women support Palin

Several Republican women are enthusiastically voicing their support for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be the first woman nominated to the Presidential ticket by their party.

Ambassador Mary Kramer is no stranger to history. The former President of the Iowa Senate was the first woman to be elected to that position.

“Governor Palin has always answered the call to serve, and done so for the right reasons,” Kramer said. “She has demonstrated executive leadership in every office she’s held and actually has a record of getting results to back it up.”

State Representative Sandy Greiner of Keota was in Minnesota preparing for next week’s Republican National Convention when she heard the news.

“Women who have been in politics a lot longer than I were fixed to televisions and moved to tears upon seeing that Governor Palin had been chosen to be our Vice Presidential nominee,” Greiner said. “The excitement here is incredible and it is because her selection signifies real change for the Republican Party and for the United States.”

Indeed, the addition of Governor Palin to the McCain ticket has caused a new debate to begin swirling around this election’s buzzword: change. The Alaska governor is a fresh face in the Republican Party and that differs greatly from Barack Obama’s choice of long-time Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.

“Governor Palin is known as a maverick in her own right and is a perfect fit to help lead the real campaign for change in Washington,” said retiring State Representative Carmine Boal. “In her home state of Alaska, she has battled corruption, stood up to lobbyists, even turned away pork spending from Congress. Governor Palin is the best choice to help Senator McCain fight the same old politics that have divided our nation.”

Palin laughs in face of sexist attacks on rival

These are the kind of stories that make you wonder about the depth of vetting for Sarah Palin. Earlier this year on an Alaskan talk show, the governor and would-be vice president, giggled/laughed nervously as one of her political rivals was hit with a withering sexist attack based on her weight. The "B" word even was invoked -- not by Palin, but laughed when it was used.

And guess what, the audio of this lives.

Palin used to be sportscaster

This from back in 1988 ....

The Obama ad response

HBO's Maher satirizes Palin

This is admittedly hilarious but it is the sort of thing that could seriously backfire in terms of an attack ... Referring to her as a "M.I.L.F" and suggesting that if McCain dies in office Palin would be like a stewardess trying to fly an airplane in the event of a pilot problem?

Palin biography climbs in sales

Just a few weeks ago, when this site and a few others were lonely in trafficing in commentary and speculation about Sarah Palin, a book on her was one of those bargain bin products.

Now it is vaulting up the sales lists, The Lost Angeles Times reports.

Palin's announcement speech

The world watches as media, bloggers analyze choice

For months now, Sarah Palin For VP.com, a compendium of news and opinion, not an advocacy site, has followed the flow of stories on the Alaska governor -- widely considered a second- or third-tier candidate and a longshot selection as John McCain's running mate.

Today (as sarahpalinforvp.com is vindicated in the way few political Web sites are), most of the world is getting its first glimpse and impressions of the woman we've been following for months since the start up of this site.

Over at the Associated Press, Ron Fournier wonders quickly notes that Palin's solid conservative credentials will rev up the base, but like others, he questions whether her lack of foreign policy experience will diminish McCain strong suit.

Here is Greg Sargent at Talking Points Memo:

First thought: If McCain's entire campaign is premised on the idea that Obama lacks the commander-in-chief readiness for the presidency, how on earth can he possibly continue to make this argument when he's chosen Palin, who's been in high office only two years (half the time Obama has been a Senator) as a back-up commander in chief?

Beware the charges of light weight

Democrats are playing a dangerous game if they attempt to dismiss Palin. But we see that happening already as this post on the Chicago Tribune's Swamp shows.

When Obama was looking at Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia as a possible running mate, Karl Rove, the "architect'' of President Bush's election campaigns, dismissed his experience - a governor for three years and mayor of 103rd largest Richmond.

We're not sure where Wasila ranks.

Energy

Palin could be a major force in helping McCain flip the script on energy policy as well as the Financial Post points out.

Ms. Palin, 44, is a lifetime NRA member who is in charge of a conservative state. She's bullish on offshore drilling and opening up more of the contentious Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production. "People are realizing, too, there's been some deception, I think, about from some on what ANWR is all about. Of the 20 million acres up there, we're looking at 2000 acres as a footprint," she said in the interview. "With new technology, with directional drilling, maybe that footprint [will] shrink even more."

Environmentalists are trying to keep the area protected, but Ms. Palin believes Americans are being fed faulty information.

"Allowing that to be explored and developed, as more Americans realize what we're talking about here, and not just relying on the visuals that have been provided them over the years on what ANWR supposedly is – with mountain ranges and green valleys and rivers flowing and all that," she said. "And you see those visuals sometimes, especially when the extreme environmentalists talk about the pristine environment that is surrounding ANWR."

Moose Stew and Snowmobiling

As the CBS horse-race blog points out, this choice is indeed colorful.

It’s not just her credentials as the youngest and only female governor in Alaska’s history that make Palin so intriguing. How many vice-presidential candidates in American history have been avid moose hunters, sports reporters or beauty queens? Palin is all three.

When Vogue Magazine asked her what her favorite meal was, she didn’t settle on pizza or Mexican. "Moose stew after a day of snowmachining,” she said. Does it get any more Alaska than that?

The Alaska governor might be just a “plain Sarah” herself, but her children’s names are far more dazzling: Track (18), Bristol (17), Willow (13), Piper (7) and Trig (4 months).

Here is The Detroit Free Press on Palin's pluses:

Here’s what Palin gives McCain and the GOP ticket: Youth, gender, a background entirely outside the Washington Beltway, and enormous energy as a campaigner. She’s a working mom with five chidren, has been in business and is a hunting and fishing enthusiast. She can claim a record as a government reformer and a tax cutter and someone who cares less about partisanship than about getting the job done. She beat an incumbent Republican governor in a GOP primary en route to winning the Alaska governor’s office.

So if you are a voter who was attracted to Hillary Clinton’s historic quest to become the first female president, maybe you’ll give the GOP ticket a look now. By picking her, McCain also reinforces his image as a maverick — someone who will take bold actions that surprise you.

Why John McCain picked Palin

Palin completely changes the complexion of the election, and helps establish a narrative of two mavericks, one too old and one too young, waging an underdog quest against Battlestar Barack.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a 44-year-old with five children, a captivating TV-mom look and a brief and but weighty background as a reformer governor, has vaulted from relative national obscurity to star in a game-turning role as John McCain’s running mate.

I took an in-depth look at Palin in predicting this choice back in June in in a commentary published in Iowa Independent.

McCain tabs Palin as VP candidate

The Washington Post and numerous sources are reporting the John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Here is the Washington Post:

John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, according to the McCain campaign, a surprise pick sure to shake up the race and reinforce the idea of the Arizona senator as a reformer.

Compelling Post in National Review

Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of the online National Review, has a compelling piece about the choice Sarah Palin and her family made with a Down Syndrome child.

Here is Lopez:

Not only are children with Down Syndrome people too, they inspire a deep love and enthusiastic appreciation. Especially in the face of a culture that wants to expunge them. According to a study cited in the New York Times last year, “About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.” (Emphasis added.) Most American women are given prenatal tests.

At 44, Governor Palin is a bit young and relatively new to the political scene yet. These are no small considerations when electing someone who could assume the role of president (Democrats: Check out your nominee with that reservation . . . ). But if the youngest life she and her husband care for can wake up a nation that’s blind to the eugenics in its midst, a routine part of medicine today, she and John McCain would be offering human rights and dignity a great, honorable service. In contrast to Barack Obama, who would let the survivors of botched abortion attempts be killed, the Palins could serve as a great clarifier for voters this fall — and an education.

Email From The Northwest

Just got this from someone identifying himself as Lou Driever:

I totally agree; there are now at least 3 websites pushing her candidacy. I've personally been sending e-mails to the McCain HDQ, Republican national HDQ and Oregon Republican Party HDQ for the last 2 months pointing out the advantages of her selection. If she pulls in just additional percentage points of the women's vote that's enough to time several states! Much more significant effect than having two "old white guys" on the ticket. And even if the ticket goes down in flames, at least it will be with style/class (versus current bland bland bland tedium). My two cents - thanks for the observations! Appreciate the insight.