Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll
"Is Gov Palin qualified to be veep?"
Men: Yes 35-41 No Women: Yes 25-48 No
I suspect that after the customary day of fluff coverage, those numbers may actually get worse once we get beyond the GOP convention, especially if Biden can do the Older Gentleman schtick at the veep debate while Palin makes a fool of herself (or, better yet, reveals herself as an unqualified wingnut).
Oh, my better half gets to meet Mark Warner tonight. Our (soon-to-be) new senator here in Virginia! Hoping she can get a picture. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
Whan Obama iced it, I was once again ""Anybody but Hillarity" for VEEP, just keep it reasonable. And I got the best I could ask for, Biden. Now McBain chooses the equivalent of a stripper for his VEEP.
This is the one to win people. Do something with this opportunity. Get back the Constitution. Ferret out the corruption. Public trials/executions. Rein in the oil/coal/etc. multinationals.
This might be your last chance, citizens. DON'T FUCK IT UP ! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
One observation: McCain in his effort to derail the media spotlight on Obama has shifted attention to Palin. Bet a dollar the spotlight, speculation, and commentary, is going to focus on how Palin did/is doing rather than McCain and the GOP message.
I do think the Palin picked served to, temporarily at least, slow Obama-Biden down a bit, but I reckon it was still 48/40 or 50/42 in last night's polling (which would be the first polling that covered Obama's speech).
Shifting the spotlight to Palin has very little upside to McCain now, if these polls from Ras are to be believed, because the more people know, the more I think they're going to be asking themselves, "WTF?" (Certainly the figures on Intrade support that idea. His stock has dropped about 5% of its value today, putting his chances of winning below 40% again, and Obama's above 60%.)
All the pick did was create noise after Obama's speech. That was the main goal McCain needed to accomplish, because a day of fawning over it on the networks and cable channels could been devastating to the Reps. Again, if they didn't do something big, I think there was a good chance the election would've been decided Thursday night. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
I have a feeling the Palin pick is going to keep getting weirder and weirder from now on.
the Palin pick is going to keep getting weirder and weirder from now on
THAT you can take to a bank or financial institution of your choice.
Palin wasn't vetted. There's a reason for the vetting process which McCain is about to be a Real World supporting-evidence example.
And I don't know how to approach the issue even if the kid was pregnant. I guess you'd run with the mocking of GOP Family Values, but I think the downside is greater than the upside. I'm not willing to go there. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
But the ironies are:
If this were a Dem, the Rs would instantly be all over this story. Imagine the scandal if Obama's daughters were older and there were rumours this had happened to one of them.
Just wait. There will be rumors created by the right-wing about Obama's daughters if he's elected. God help us all if they decide to have another kid in the age of photoshopping. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
Goppie ´family values´ are a sick joke and should be mocked without mercy, from the divorces to the lack of parenting responsibility, to the contradictions on choice vs. lack of humane treatment during lifetime, etc. Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
Problem: McCain can't win with only the Evangelical and Conservative GOTV machine. He needs Moderates and Independents. Palin does nothing to help with these two segments and is, IMO, more likely to hurt.
Bigger Problem: what is her affect on down ticket races? Especially on the House and Senate? I don't know, don't have a clue at this point. I do know if I was a GOP congressionalcritter running a tight race for re-election I'd be livid. Palin, running around shooting her mouth off, is exactly what I DON'T want in a tight race in a bad environment:
Congress-wo/man? Do you think Palin is qualified to be VP?
Congress-wo/man? Do you agree with Palin that contraception is immoral in marriages?
Congress-wo/man? Do you agree with Palin that abortion should be banned even in cases of rape or incest?
Congress-wo/man? Do you SUPPORT Palin as the Vice-Presidental nominee?
Again, I don't know what is going to happen but this is beginning to look like a major GOP SNAFU.
Conservatives have a favorable impression of her by a 79-8 margin, but this falls to 43-35 among moderates and 26-46 among liberals. Likewise, by a 48-22 margin, conservatives think she's ready to be President, but she loses this question 23-54 among moderates and 9-67 among liberals.
Palin is -8 favorable and a whopping -31 "Ready" gap among Moderates. Early indication: secures the Conservative vote but doesn't help outside the core GOP vote.
The numbers could easily plummet as well.
Is Palin disciplined enough to stay on pre-recorded message or does she go off on her own? What IS the message since McCain just undercut the "experienced" issue? How well does Palin handle pressure? How well does she do 'interview?' How well can she work without a net?
None of these are answerable by anyone. Got to wait and see.
McCain can't keep her under wraps or in any way look like she is a 'kept' - however defined - woman. Otherwise the backlash will reverberate long past the election.
The risk of her simply saying something stupid is very high, because she's apparently been quite open about her lack of interest in foreign affairs. That's the biggest problem. And it'd be catastrophic, if she did it in the debate with Biden -- something along the lines of Ford saying, "There's no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration." Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
The question is whether the media feels comfortable enough with the "not experienced enough to be VP, let alone President" meme to actually go after her when she, like, lies like a carpet. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
