Palin Speech: I smell fear.

[skadistic]

Well known to be false. Just like the state trooper thing, pretty much every manufactured criticism against her has been disproven and turned back on the left.

Yet they still bring it up at every turn.

 

[downtown]

You're right: this election will be decided by the middle, as all are. And the speech last night was extremely effective in courting the middle I thought.

I dunno, I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on this (or at least until some more data comes in). The Detroit Free Press held some focus group interviews after her speech, and it was pretty well panned by Indies (although *beloved* by Republicans). The three main political blogs I read (Politicalwire, Electoral-Vote, and 538), all kinda said the same thing too...great red meat speech, kinda eehhh on capturing moderates, with all the attacking.

Here is the link to the Free Press study: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

But the campaign is young, and quite a bit can change.

 

[mrt144]

Well known to be false. Just like the state trooper thing, pretty much every manufactured criticism against her has been disproven and turned back on the left.

http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/31/palin-flip-flopped-on-inf_n_122843.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/09/politifact_mccain_exaggerates.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5697644&page=1
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3125537020080901

And a quote from her own mouth in this link

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_...palin-really-fight-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx

Republicans have been heavily touting Sarah Palin's reformist credentials, with her supposed opposition to Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" as Exhibit A. But how hard did she really fight the project? Not very, it seems. Here's what she told the Anchorage Daily News on October 22, 2006, during the race for the governor's seat (via Nexis):

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

So she was very much for the bridge and insisted that Alaska had to act quickly—the party of Ted Stevens and Don Young might soon lose its majority, after all. By that point, the project was endangered for reasons that had nothing to do with Palin—the bridge had become a national laughingstock, Congress had stripped away the offending earmark, shifting the money back to the state's general fund, and future federal support seemed unlikely. True, after Palin was sworn into office that fall, her first budget didn't allocate any money for the bridge. But when the Daily News asked on December 16, 2006, if she now opposed the project, Palin demurred and said she was just trying to figure out where the bridge fit on the state's list of transportation priorities, given the lack of support from Congress. Finally, on September 19, 2007, she decided to redirect funds away from the project altogether with this sorry-sounding statement:

"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer," said Governor Palin. "Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island," Governor Palin added. "Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened."

Maybe I've missed something, but it sure looks like she was fine with the bridge in principle, never had a problem with the earmarks, bristled at all the mockery, and only gave up on the project when it was clear that federal support wasn't forthcoming. Now, Charles Homans, who knows Alaska well, says Palin's anti-corruption instincts are fairly solid (she sold off the gubenatorial jet upon taking office, for one), and a casual Nexis search suggests that she's fiscally conservative (insofar as that term makes sense in a quasi-socialist state like Alaska), but this hardly looks like the "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" moment everyone's making it out to be.

P.S. Here's a piece that Palin's special counsel, John Katz, wrote in March of this year for the Juneau Empire, assuring the Alaskan public that Palin was still very much in favor of earmarks, but sadly needed to scale back her requests somewhat (to "only" 31 earmarks this year—down from 54 last year) in response to "unwanted attention" from Congress and the press.

Now put up the "disproven" and "turned back" on left articles, links, stories, commentary. It's all there in her own words. She was for it until it became a reality that she wouldnt be getting any more earmarks for it and it was politically unfeasible.

 

[Patroklos]

There is time to court the moderates, Palin had to establish herself the national party so she could continue from a position of base support. You can't do everything in one speech.

Now put up the "disproven" and "turned back" on left articles, links, stories, commentary. It's all there in her own words. She was for it until it became a reality that she wouldnt be getting any more earmarks for it and it was politically unfeasible.

Not a relevant link in the bunch. BTW, your bolded quotes support my view, not yours. As I said before, it is clear that once the project was clear and defined she refused to support it. I note you didn't touch the trooper thing, I wonder why?

 

[woody60707]

I'm going by her Wikipedia page,

Just to point this out now, her wiki page is crap now. Even wiki says so.

This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved. This protection is not an endorsement of the current version.

This was a surprised pick for everyone and her pages got trashed A LOT in the past few days. Look here, babygate was in the wiki page at one point.

 

[mrt144]

There is time to court the moderates, Palin had to establish herself the national party so she could continue from a position of base support. You can't do everything in one speech.





Not a relevant link in the bunch. BTW, your bolded quotes support my view, not yours. As I said before, it is clear that once the project was clear and defined she refused to support it. I note you didn't touch the trooper thing, I wonder why?

It was clear that once the money wasn't there alaska had to put up the money they couldn't continue the project. It was clear that they were relying on federal money to do this and she clearly supported it while federal money was coming in.

you can't just deny your way out of this Patroklos. Anyone can clearly see that all you're doing is sticking your fingers and your ears and saying "nuh uh!"

 

[downtown]

http://www.wvwvaf.org/2008/9/4/fema...oups-see-talent-mudslinging-in-palin-s-speech

There is another focus group that kind of demonstrates what I was saying. Palin's ratings went up a little bit, but an awful lot of woman were put off by her sacasm and "attacking so much".

Given that the Palin pick was meant to attract women/Hillarycrats, and that most polls show that ladies aren't buying what Palin is selling yet, thats a concern. Maybe that will change after more media appearances.

 

[mrt144]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check

cause it needs to be said

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
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Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

Im not seeing a lot of credibility from Palin or Republicans last night.

 

[Patroklos]

I am not seeing the credibility in that post. The "Obama Accomplishments" section was good for a laugh though.

Oh yeah, and the completely irrelevant squirming concering the NG. Honestly, you guys are tripping over yourselves with these irrelevancies.

 

[JollyRoger]

As I said before, it is clear that once the project was clear and defined she refused to support it.

Once it was clear that the federal pork was not on the way, she lost her enthusiasm.

 

[sonorakitch]

I am not seeing the credibility in that post. The "Obama Accomplishments" section was good for a laugh though.

Haha. Thought the same thing. The legislation the blowhard story is talking about was overwhelmingly bipartisan and completely lacking of any real tough decision making.

Obama's record indicates he runs away from controversial legislation. The one item to his credit which he stuck his neck out for was opposition to the war in Iraq. Apart from that, he has been an appeaser or MIA.

~Chris

 

[sonorakitch]

Once it was clear that the federal pork was not on the way, she lost her enthusiasm.

My impression was that the enthusiasm was lost once the price tag was placed on it. Of course she supported the idea of a bridge linking Ketchikan to it's airport, but not being an engineer, didn't have the grasp of costs involved.

BTW, love your sig. What a great line.

 

[I'm Cleo!]

Well known to be false. Just like the state trooper thing, pretty much every manufactured criticism against her has been disproven and turned back on the left.

No matter how many times you assert something, even with tremendous confidence, you can't actually make it true. It appears that the "bridge to nowhere" story really is true. If you have newer sources "disproving" it, please let us know.

Cleo

 

[JollyRoger]

My impression was that the enthusiasm was lost once the price tag was placed on it.

Yeah, it kind of got expensive to her when the rest of us weren't going to pay for it.

 

[JerichoHill]

False, I challenge you to name one instance of corruption.

Sadly, there's quite a feud between her and the library back in the mayoral days. She attempted to get some books taken out of the library that she felt were offensive. The librarians said no. There was alot of small town nastiness. Paychekcs were withheld and folks were fired or threatened.
Check the local papers during her years as a mayor.

I do however, find the state trooper thing laughable. She's going to get in trouble for abusing her power to stop a wifebeater? You know, I hate abuses of power, but when its put into perspective, it loses its bite.

Her bigger problem is her support of the bridge to nowhere. I could dig up a few pictures of her at rallys for the bridge and wearing tshirts supporting the bridge. If I can, anyone can.

 

[Patroklos]

Even if that were correct, and there is plenty of back on forth on that (which just shows how pathetic the lefty muckrackers are) that wouldn't qualify as corruption.

 

[mrt144]

Even if that were correct, and there is plenty of back on forth on that (which just shows how pathetic the lefty muckrackers are) that wouldn't qualify as corruption.

The bridge to nowhere isn't about corruption. It's about the Federal government doling out pork to Ted Stevens and Palin being for it as long as the rest of the United States was footing the bill. The back and forth is simply you denying that she ever supported it and us showing you story after story that she did indeed support it.

 

[Patroklos]

The bridge to nowhere isn't about corruption.

That ship sailed MRT144 when your argument did, we have moved on. I never said she never did consider it btw, only that she didn't support it when the chips were on the table.

Are you going to support the trooper hackery now? Your silence is deafening.

 

[JerichoHill]

Even if that were correct, and there is plenty of back on forth on that (which just shows how pathetic the lefty muckrackers are) that wouldn't qualify as corruption.

The problem I had with last night is that the Republicans engaged in hyberbole

McCain and Biden have experience.
Obama and Palin do not.

Fighting over which one of those two is more experienced is likely watching a cripple fight. Ulimately stupid.

Then, there's the claim that she's in charge of the largest state, the national guard, blah blah blah. Things that reasonable folks won't believe.

Lastnight was too far over the top. They should have played to her softer and normal side. Sure, it fired up the Rep base, but it also did the same for the dems (who lead in party identification nationwide). Further, nonpartisan focus groups of females are showing today that more women who were "undecided" or "leaning" found her speech negative and came away with a less favorable viewpoint of her.

That's not what the goal was supposed to be last night.

 

[Patroklos]

McCain and Biden have experience.
Obama and Palin do not.

And one is the actual candidate, one is not.

Fighting over which one of those two is more experienced is likely watching a cripple fight. Ulimately stupid.

Agreed. But their position on the ticket ultimately makes one set superior.

Then, there's the claim that she's in charge of the largest state, the national guard, blah blah blah. Things that reasonable folks won't believe.

But are in fact true and relevant.

Lastnight was too far over the top. They should have played to her softer and normal side. Sure, it fired up the Rep base, but it also did the same for the dems (who lead in party identification nationwide).

It was RNC, nothing Palin could have said would bot have enegized the panicing Democratic base right now. Palin established herself with the base, a concrete foundation she can now build a more friendly house on.

That's not what the goal was supposed to be last night.

Says who?