Month: September 2008
-
Palin Backlash Watch, Parts III & IV
From Tammy Bruce, former head of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW and “a registered Democrat her entire life until February”: In the shadow of the blatant and truly stunning sexism launched against the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and as a pro-choice feminist, I wasn’t the only one thrilled to hear Republican John McCain […]
-
Palin’s Key Appeal is Class, Not Gender
Lisa Schiffren makes the case that Palin is on the ticket not so much to appeal to women as to appeal to working-class, Reagan Democrats: If you were that autoworker or miner — even if you think that Democrats will give you more money, even if you hope that they can solve your pressing health-care […]
-
His & Her Candidates
My lovely wife, the self-taught Web Goddess, supports Obama (as does almost everybody we know in our blue-town/blue-state of Maplewood, New Jersey). I support McCain, primarily on the basis of the Iraq war issue. As I’ve discussed before, this makes for some careful-but-substantive conversations as the election drama unfolds. Tempting though it may be sometimes […]
-
McCain: Nine-and-a-Half Extraordinary Minutes
I had an event to attend in New York City last night, so I didn’t watch McCain’s speech. On the brief drive home from the train, I heard snippets of it live on the radio, and I wasn’t impressed. It was the section in the first half that started, “I fight for Bill and Sue […]
-
So THAT’S Why He Picked Her – What a Speaker!
I take back everything I said or hinted or even thought about Sarah Palin being a drag on the ticket. She did several things she had to do in her speech tonight: She established that her record of actual office-holding achievement compares very favorably with Obama’s. (Obama’s achievement of winning his party’s nomination for president […]
-
Palin Backlash Watch, Part II
Palin’s working-mom street cred is going to appeal to some (certainly not all) women who would not be expected to share Palin’s political views — such as, a national correspondent for NBC’s Today show: Politics aside and as a journalist, it’s intriguing to see the so-called mommy wars resurrected and reignited once again. As a […]
-
Outperforming Her Resume
TNR offers an Alaskan perspective (hat tip: Neo-Neocon): What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then [just before she ousted a sitting Alaska governor in a primary]–and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now–is that she is a true political savant; a candidate with a knack for identifying the key gripes of the populace […]
-
McCain Strategist Describes the Vetting of Palin
I’m skeptical of the partisan contention that McCain did little or no vetting of Palin in advance of the announcement. Here’s an extended response from the McCain camp — according to an unidentified senior McCain strategist, the vetting “included her filling out a 70-question questionnaire that was highly intrusive and personal. She was then interviewed […]
-
The Quayle Comparison
The second half of this 1988 NYT article explains how George H.W. Bush waited until the convention was already under way to announce Dan Quayle as his running mate. Consequently, the first part of the convention was overshadowed by speculation about who would be the VP candidate, and the second part was overshadowed by a […]
-
Blog in Haste, Repent at Leisure
I’m backing off of my knee-jerk, under-caffeinated early morning “Pull the Plug” post. The secession thing doesn’t look like it’s gaining any traction, it just seemed so weird and out of left field and on top of everything else. I’m going to try to suspend further judgment on Palin until the end of the convention.