VP Sarah Palin = advantage Obama.
 

I think McCain just did a huge favor to Obama.

Taking Palin is a huge risk for McCain and he may have just thrown away the election. McCain has always had trouble with the party base. The conservative Christian right is suspect of McCain and he has been losing some of them to Obama and had trouble getting them to back him. This woman is a hardcore Christian and is very pro-life and pro-gun. I think, by nominating her, he was going more after the base of the party and less after the Hillary supporters. The angry Hillary supporters were either going to vote for McCain or not regardless of who he picked and I don't think many of them are simply going to vote for any woman on a ticket. Palin gives him someone that is firmly in the base to back him up which could help him out. Unless they decide that he is just taking her to try to manipulate them.

So while she probably helps him with the base, she hurts him bad in other areas. First, she has almost no experience. She makes Obama look like a seasoned veteran. When you pick your VP you are basically saying, "If I can't be president, this is the next most qualified person." Well, how can he now go after Obama for being too inexperienced when his own VP has even less? He can strike out against Obama on that topic, but he just gave the Obama camp plenty of ammo to fire back with.

Second, when she has the VP debate with Biden, who is the current chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, he is going to tear her apart. She has zero foreign relations experience and almost no domestic experience. She will have a very hard time against him and if she comes off badly it will hurt McCain.

Third, she is currently involved in a major scandal in Alaska. It seems her sister was married to a state trooper and they got divorced. During a bitter custody battle Palin decided to help her sister out and asked the state commissioner of public safety to fire her sister's now ex-husband. When he refused she fired him for not doing what she wanted. He made such a stink that the state legislature appointed a special prosecutor to investigate if she had abused her powers as governor. You know that prosecutor just got really popular. The Bush administration has been under heavy fire because they fired some federal attorney's for political reasons. Now McCain's VP has fired someone for person reasons so that her sister can get custody of the kids. That doesn't look so good and you know it will be brought up. It smacks of abuse of power and that is something the republicans are already struggling with and she doesn't help that fight.

Lastly, she will have the same problem Hillary had. This may sound sexist, but a lot of men just won't vote for a woman. They see her up there talking and to them it sounds like she is nagging them. Guys don't want to be nagged and they won't vote for someone they feel is nagging them. There are many a swing voter in this election who may now look at McCain and say, "He is old and if he dies I don't want that chick." They may not then vote for Obama, but they may just not vote at all.

This is a huge risk that basically took away one of McCain's only real attack points on Obama and she is so connected to big oil it is going to make McCain seem like he is in the pocket of big oil who are currently not looked upon very nicely. McCain used to be known as a Maverick, maybe he thinks this will help bring that image back. Me? I think he is in big trouble.

ok ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Personally as a Republican I think the pick is perfect and he just sealed the election. Of course we will have to see how it plays out. Politics is a tricky game.

She is a fucking beauty queen. And she is pro life. And all up in the energy biz.

The republicans know what they are doing, that is for sure.

while trying to pander to women, they also send the message that a woman is good enough for vp but not for president.

So he sealed up the election but we have to wait to see how it plays out? Some how that doesn't make much sense.

Just like you though GWB would be a good president in 00 and then again in 04. How that workin for ya?

I am saying in my opinion he just sealed up the election (hence the terminology "I think"). Unlike most of the idiots here I am not so arrogant as to assume that my opinions are facts. The outcome will determine whether my opinion is correct or not.

That is the thing. She is well liked by the republicans. It is the independents that McCain and Obama need to win this election. How will she play with them. From a non-republican standpoint she is just another conservative Christian that is in the pocket of big oil and abuses her power. She isn't any different than those in office now so if those in office now make you unhappy why would you vote for more of the same?

I think this was huge, and I don't see an Obama advantage. :2 cents:

My opinion is that she will energize the base while at the same time she has the potential to pull some female votes for the ticket (particularly some very disaffected Hillary supporters who are looking for an excuse to vote against Obama). Obviously her pro-life positions will keep her from getting any large percentage of the feminist vote but she may pull some of the "soccer mom" type voters.

Furthermore the fact that she would be the first woman Vice President takes some of the edge of the "historic" nature of Obama's campaign which is his primary appeal to most Independents.

Of course this is just my opinion. Time will tell how effective she is in getting independent voters.

Of course you don't :1orglaugh

You should reread every prediction or statement you've made regarding this race and learn to use the edit button. What ever happened to Fred?

It's an excellent choice in as far as winning the election.
Just start saying "President McCain" over and over now till it rolls off your tongue without the bitter after taste...

Had he not thrown the word PERSONALLY in there I could have agreed with you. But...

Also,

Obama was an idiot for not choosing Hillary (or another woman) as his VP and shows he's not a very good master planner. He left the woman's vote up for grabs and McCain seized the brass ring on that one.

Predictions I made in 2004 came to fruition. :2 cents:

Yep Fred was going to win it all ,if I remember Stickys posts. lol

Congrats, but consistency is not your strong suit. Stick to running your program and leave politics to others. You can always take a few hours off on election day to support McCain. :upsidedow

I disagree. I think taking Hillary wouldn't have helped him. Sure he would have some of the Hillary supporters who are now threatening to vote McCain, but many of them were not going to be happy with anything but a Hillary win so there is no guarantee taking her would have brought them all on board. Still, it would have brought man of them and that would have helped. That said it would have opened up a whole new can of worms. The base of the republican party despises the Clintons and there is a strong chance that they would have rallied around around McCain just to defeat here. Also. I think have a black guy and a woman on the same ticket is just too much change at one time and would have scared off a lot of independents.

Hillary could have helped him, but she also would have hurt him so the question is would she have done more damage than good?

I get what you're saying and you certainly have a point but I don't think heads-up Obama can beat McCain. There are just too many people who aren't ready for a black President and the only way to make up ground is to aggressively appeal to another demographic and second on the food chain is the women vote.

I don't think Biden did that for him.

She was certainly brought in to help energize the base and you make a very good point that she will take some of the "historic" shine off of Obama. The big question is will she help bring in independents in swing votes and I don't think that she will. McCain is losing ground in several states that are traditionally strong Republican states and he is not taking away an democrat states. At this point if Obama just wins the states Kerry won in 2004 (most of which he is well ahead in the polls in) and then one other toss up state he wins. He doesn't even have to win Florida or Ohio. He can win Nevada or Colorado and win. McCain is going to have to fight just to hold onto some of his stronghold states while having to win several of the swing states. That is a big task and to do it he will have to appeal to independent voters. So the question is will she help him there? I don't think she will. She may not hurt him greatly, but I don't see her helping him much.

Then again it is politics and people vote for a lot of strange reasons so you never know.

People are retarded if they vote based on color. I thought most of those types would vote republican anyways. racism/sexism and being republican seem to go hand in hand.

You make a strong point. Race is an issue. There are a lot of people who won't vote for Obama because he is black. They may not even realize that is the case. They just don't like him and deep down it is because of his race. The other day I had a conversation with someone who said he wouldn't vote Obama. After several questions he finally admitted that it may be because he is black and when he looks up and sees Obama and his family on TV they don't look like this guy's family and he can't connect with him. I don't think this guy is a racist, he just feels like he has nothing in common with a black guy.

For many people in this country they have very little exposure to black people. I was one of them. Growing up I knew exactly 1 black person from the time I was five until I was out of high school. We had had 1 black kid in my school and he was only there for a year. I wasn't a racist, I just didn't know any black people and had no exposure to them so I felt no connection to them. As I grew up and moved away that changed, but for many it doesn't. So you are right. There is the black/white issue and the big fight will be for those second tear voters. McCain is going with a conservative mother hoping to win the middle class women over while Obama is going with Biden hoping that he can use his experience in foreign policy to convince these middle class women that he will keep them safe.

To me the election really comes down to two things. 1. If McCain can connect with the independents and get the working class independent voters to vote for him in the swing states he will probably win (or at least make himself very hard to beat) and 2. If Obama can activate the far left and actually get them to put the bong down long enough on election day to vote he will win. Historically the far left talks a good game, but then fails to turn up at the polls on election day. The last guy to really activate them was Bill Clinton and he rode them to a win. If Obama can actually get them to vote he will be nearly impossible to beat. I find myself wondering of those two which is the harder task?

if you live in a big state,here is the question would you want your county commissioner in the number 2 spot running this great country? Because chances are your county has the same population as alaska.

Are american women so stupid that they will vote for a candidate just because they are a woman?

I somehow don't think that American women voters are so naive to say "Oh look, she has a vagina too I will vote for her". By saying it was smart of McCain to pick a woman VP candidate to cater to women voters is basically saying that American women are idiots.

He should have done himself a favor and picked Biden when he had the chance

Being the Mayor of Wasilla is hardly something killer to have on your resume.

Is this a joke....?

People are idiots. Not just American women.

There is actually a lot of data that supports the idea that women tend to not vote for other women. There are a million reasons why, but it is true. If women wanted to rule this country they could. They are the majority, but many women look at women candidates and work hard to find flaws in them, often times flaws they would overlook in a male candidate.

A truer statement has never been said.

It would be SO tempting to retort with an "if that's true then stupidity and democrats go hand in hand"...

But I won't blanket statement all Democrats. Instead, I'll narrow it down to just you because that was quite an idiotic thing to say.

presidential elections get worse every year. such a fucking joke.

My old (Mccain's age) neighbor who is a nearly lifelong Republican is currently pissing barbed wire over this. He was barely on Mccain's side as it was and that was just to the military reasoning, he to is a veteran. He already feels the Republican party is stealing his rights (do not even try to argue this with him). He has beyond issues with oil companies and their hands in politics as well. He has never missed voting for as long as he can remember, even small local elections.

He knows his own age and mortality and relates that to McCain too. He is now officially very unsure of whom he will be voting for. He does have some racial issues but at the same time speaks of several people he either served with or worked with of other races very fondly, yet drops the slang terms every so often. On flip side he is a multi divorced man and has no plans what so ever to be taking orders from any woman. Do not even bring up such things as women in combat with him.

He said today that he now has to actually hear out what the negro has to say about running the country so he can make up his mind, but as of today if given the choice between a chick and a negro he would take the negro.

I am curious how many older Republicans feel the same way. We all know seniors vote a lot.

well you're state isn't going for McCain that's for sure..lol

Good point. Woman like to examine other females for every fault.

I'm not a democrat. I'm nothing. What kind of uneducated backwoods rube doesn't vote for someone because the guys skin is darker than theirs? Seriously, racism based on skin color is about the most stupid thing in american culture, or any culture.

One report says Sarah Palin makes Obama look like president JOHN ADAMS..:thumbsup

I am not sure if I would take that as a compliment. He was sort of a douche.

Yeah, sure..."Go Conservatives"! Right...
Let 'em go at us again like Alberto G did!

NOT!

McCain is more liberal, but not Palin...
That nixes any vote I'd give McCain right there!

Why doesn't Mccain just forfeit already and save America the time and money of a pointless election. Mccain has no chance of winning. I've been saying for months already, that this election will be the biggest landslide win for any president ever. Winner, Obama.

Personally, I dislike both Mccain and Obama. This election boils down to picking the lesser of two evils.