Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Perils of Palin

Los Angeles Times.

The most technologically advanced nation on Earth may be at risk of ending up with a an anti-science, creationist VP, but at least the folks over at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network are jumping for joy...

At first blush, picking the 44-year-old Palin appeared to be a fairly straightforward bid for disaffected Democratic women -- those who remain unreconciled to Barack Obama's nomination and who were offended by his subsequent refusal to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket. In fact, during her brief remarks in Ohio on Friday, Palin cited Clinton and former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro as her political antecedents. Palin even echoed Clinton's line about 18 million cracks made in the highest, hardest glass ceiling -- and then vowed to shatter it.

It's possible some Clinton supporters remain unmoved by her wholehearted appeals for party unity in Denver this week. Still, it seems unlikely that many will cross the aisle to McCain -- no matter who his running mate is. Clinton's admirers feel about her as they do not just because she's a woman but because she's a particular sort of woman.

Palin is emphatically not that sort of woman. She is, however, the sort who fires the enthusiasm of the religious right and the GOP's socially conservative wing. That's where her presence on the ticket really helps McCain, whose popularity in that crucial part of the Republican base never has been better than tepid. As a correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network reported Friday, evangelical leaders literally hugged each other "in joy" when Palin's name was announced.

It's easy to see why. Palin is an evangelical Christian, a creationist and opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage. (Alaska was one of the first states to amend its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, and Palin supported that 1998 measure.) She also happens to be a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn. and a hunting and fishing enthusiast whose favorite dish is moose stew.


At some point, too, she'll have to face the formidable Joe Biden -- veteran chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- in a debate sure to hone in on her utter lack of experience with foreign policy and national security issues. If she isn't careful, Palin could emerge from that encounter looking a lot like Dan Quayle in drag.


Dan Quayle in drag, perish the thought...

8 Comments:

At 3:01 PM, Blogger Baconeater said...

They are making a big deal about her "choosing" to have a child she knew would be born with Down Syndrome.

The irony of her being able to choose is lost on the Pro-Life crowd.

 
At 3:51 PM, Blogger Gert said...

Hi BEAJ:

What much of the "pro-life" crowd, not being to keen on the 'Satanic art of genetics', probably also don't understand is that Down syndrome ranges from totally non viable, self-aborting, to barely viable outside of the womb, to severely disabled, to almost "normal", depending on the degree of chromosomal misalignment.

It's to be hoped for Mrs Palin's pro-life cause that this baby is only a mild case as otherwise it'll be a living advert for the pro-choice people...

 
At 4:49 PM, Blogger Cookie..... said...

Hey Gert....glad to see ya visitin the Cookshack again. I kinda thought that post would bring you out of whereever Y'all been hidin lately... ;-)

Regardless of ones views...this sure is gonna be one very interestin election fer all us folks across the pond.

I know its obvious that I was elated at this pick. After all, she basically represents everything I stand for...but mostly fer the "Moose Stew"... which I've cooked BTW.... ;-)

 
At 5:26 PM, Blogger Gert said...

Oh, Cookie, wild horses couldn't drag me away, you know that ;). But I've not been as busy commenting on other people's soapboxes as sometimes I was...

As regards John McCain's choice of running mate, it's clever, albeit a bit transparent ("we can do woman too, neh neh neneneh..."). I knew you'd like her and you haven't even seen her naked yet, or am I not in the loop?

 
At 9:18 PM, Blogger Cookie..... said...

Nope...haven't seen her naked, and probably won't....but it wouldn't bother me that much if'n I did...
;-)

I must say, a few months back I woulda bet the farm that the Dem's ticket was going to be Obama/Hillary...to me that would have been a landslide victiry for the man...but...politics breeds strange bed-fellows (pun intended)

 
At 11:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Cookie: you mean to tell me the video 'Bama/Biden video is out? NO...I didn't go there...

 
At 9:00 PM, Blogger Cookie..... said...

Hey Gert. I just posted one of yur favorite forums over on todays post..."RED STATE UPDATE".

 
At 7:37 PM, Blogger Mad Zionist said...

Gert, you apparently underestimated Sarah. She's not the Stepford Church lady, she's a barracuda who fights and made it where she is today because she earned it.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home