Pitbulls don’t know when to stop biting:
With his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.
McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting “pitbull in lipstick”, against Senator Barack Obama. Cries of “terrorist” and “kill him” have accompanied the tirades by the governor of Alaska against the Democratic nominee at Republican rallies.
Mark Salter, McCain’s long-serving chief of staff, is understood to have told campaign insiders that he would prefer his boss, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, to suffer an “honourable defeat” rather than conduct a campaign that would be out of character – and likely to lose him the election.
***“Sarah Palin is no fool. She sees the same thing and wants to salvage what she can. She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her. She wants to look as though she was the fighter, the person with the spunk who was out there taking it to the Democrats.”
***Palin has continued to lead the charge against Obama’s alleged lack of candour. At a rally in Wilmington, Ohio, she mocked him for attending a supporters’ meeting in Ayers’s home when he was seeking to become an Illinois state senator in 1995. “He didn’t know he launched his career in the living room of a domestic terrorist until he did know,” Palin said.
“Some will say, jeez Sarah, it’s getting negative. No it’s not negativity. It’s truthfulness.” The crowd bellowed its appreciation with chants of “Nobama” and “Go Sarah Go!”
Who could have imagined that if you take an ethically challenged know-nothing religious nut from backwoods America, have Bill Kristol and the Rove 2000 team whisper in her ear for weeks, that she would turn into a vicious political opportunist with no regard for the country and an eye on her personal future?
Most vetted candidate ever.
calipygian
Linky?
fuddmain
It’s great when the evil mad scientist is destroyed by his own creation.
4tehlulz
WHOCOULDANODE?
Shorter McCain: It’s the c**t’s fault.
Edit: Curse filter? MEGAFAIL
Jim Henley
Palin seems to have a preexisting record of betraying benefactors, so I don’t think she needed any lessons in that from Bill Kristol and Rove Inc.
MattF
Well. If it’s now 1929, then in four years it’ll be 1933…
Conservatively Liberal
Who? Any DFH out there who has been paying attention for more than a minute since Sarah was selected. Palin is toxic, she likes what she does, she revels in it. She knows that she is the new fundie darling and she is going to milk that cow for all it is worth. She knows the red meat they chew on and she is more than happy to give it to them. She is the center of attention and she is going to wallow in it for all it is worth.
Just like her tagging a Christian opponent in Alaska as a Jew because his last name was Stein. There is no level too low for Sarah, not when it earns her undulating praise from her believers. She lives for the spotlight, from her beauty contest days to now, she loves to be the focus of attention.
Vain is too kind of a word for her.
The Republican party embraces her at their own risk. Sane Republicans are speaking out and objecting to her words and actions (or lack of) because they see the danger she represents, but I think they are too late. The pit bull is out of the cage and her muzzle has been removed and now they realize that the dog is rabid and now the infection is spreading throughout their party.
Hang on to your hats because you haven’t seen anything yet, it is going to get real f’ing nasty real fast and Sarah is going to lead the way.
If I haven’t said it yet, religion sux, religion divides and religion kills. Religion will be the death of this world and they will be happy doing it so they can hug Jeebus (or whoever their deity is).
kommrade jakevich
Christ, the continued hand wringing about John McPOW’s honor makes me want to take a baseball bat to those fuckers. They’re like the class slut who doesn’t know how she keeps winding up under the football team, it just happens. Tee hee.
Oh I get it. Palin is just using this as a dress-rehearsal. She doesn’t really mean those things and doesn’t really expect to become Veep. She just wants to be remembered as the unhinged harpy who can make the masses foam with a wink of the eye.
In other words, no one on the McPalin ticket speaks for McPalin.
ellie
So Wolf Killer is gearing up for a run in 2012? Are these people so delusional to think that normal, non-crazy Americans will vote for her crazy ass for president? Do they think she is liked by the masses, not just the base? Because if that is true, then I think it will truly be the death of the repuke party. I know it has been said before, but this woman doesn’t appeal to non-crazies. Evidently her handlers can’t read a poll.
Atanarjuat
It’s sadly amusing that Governor Sarah Palin’s unwavering courage in the face of Ayers-inspired leftist hatred continues to be mocked by everyone in the howling pack of America Last hyenas, the Democrat Party, as clearly evidenced by the vitriol spewed by BJ commentators in the last couple of days.
The stock market continues to plunge as the cult-like popularity of Nobama rises sickeningly among the easily seduced. Rather than address the grave issues of dwindling retirement accounts and a crumbling economy, the thuggish pack of Marxist monkeys rapturously fling even more feces in the hope that this will distract true Americans from attempting to solve our nation’s problems through the genuine leadership offered by Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.
It makes one wonder just how spectacularly the parents of all these rabble-rousing leftists failed that they’d have grown up to become such hate-filled scumbags, whose first instinct is to sell out their country for a metaphorical thirty pieces of silver (which will be the endless, untrestricted welfare and socialist free money giveaways Nobama would put in place if — God helps us — he’s elected.
Country First.
Capri
Poll? Polls are an organ of the lefty elite media. They double don’t believe polls.
RSA
Maybe she plans on selling a book.
Comrade Jake
They lost me at "Sarah Palin is no fool."
Danack
Er, you’ve missed the subtle point
Marc Salter speaks for McCain. McCain is admitting that the campagin is lost, and that the stupid baseless attacks are only going to ruin McCains reputation with no realistic chance of swinging the race around.
Of course the media still thinks it’s ‘close’.
The Grand Panjandrum
She’s the perfect candidate for the fetid swamp on the Right. With a few previously noted exceptions–NRO now having driven over the cliff and joined hands with Red State and the Freepers–what remains of a true intellectually honest conservative opposition to the Left and Democrats is a very small group indeed.
With the rare exceptions of AmConMag and Culture 11 what remains of the Right that is rife with mouth breathers shouting "Barack = Socialist"? Good grief! We’ve just spent eight years with War Criminals and spendthrifts and they are worried about Obama?
But Governor Spice certainly fits the mold of the "fighter" they are looking for:
1. Willful ignorance.
2. Easily manipulted.
3. Unable to put together an intelligent argument.
4. Good at repeating one liners filled with talking points.
5. And completely off the meter with the Faux All Knowing Endearing Aw Shucks Stupid Shit.
Browse through Memeorandum and see all the stupid bubbling up from the Right. They are already setting up the impeach Obama movement. The pattern is there. I have little doubt Obama is going to drive these ratfuckers crazy and I for one am going to enjoy every moment reading the "awful" and "terrible" things THAT ONE is doing.
I say be patient and let them be snared by the words of their own mouths, as it were. I have no deluded thoughts that Obama will magically Fix Everything by taking the oath and giving a good speech. But I do feel confident we can restore some sanity to the processes that allow the Executive Branch to function. (I am also pretty sure he’ll do a few things that will piss me off! Alas, even the MUP isn’t perfect.) But I say give him a report card in January 2010 as a way to measure progress. I’ll bet more good than harm has been done on our behalf.
Comrade Incertus
If you’re looking for an historical echo, perhaps McCain is Nixon in 1960 and Palin is Goldwater in 1964. She’ll be the one who the Christian right gets behind and completes the takeover of the Republican party. Only McCain won’t be making a Nixonian comeback in 2016.
calipygian
Say what you will about Andrew Sullivan, but he has been right more often than not the last few years:
That Palin is the populist, Christianist empty vessel for Kristol’s Trotskyite dreams of world revolution is almost beyond dispute.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Comrade Incertus: With one noted exception. Barry Goldwater was an honorable and decent person. I can’t make the same claim for Governor Palin.
Conservatively Liberal
Did someone fart? ;)
Number 9… Number 9… Number 9…
PeakVT
She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her.
That is some funny stuff. The only future she has is in a Republican party that spends two generations in the wilderness. If moderates
manwise up and eject her and her ilk from the party, they might be able to cut it to one generation.calipygian
Thats a pretty ironic statement considering how Bush/Paulson are nationalizing the financial system as we speak by buying equity shares in banks.
Reed
Palin will always have a following. I agree that her ambition sets her on a course for higher office in the coming years. The question is gonna be — will the moderate, more sensible segment of the Republican party keep her at arm’s length and refuse to nominate her. If they crumble, we’re gonna have more culture war, more overt racism, and probably a much nastier situation in 2012.
… Reed
demimondian
You folks underestimate Sarah Palin. She is positioning herself to be the next Presidential candidate from the Republican party, following the mold of Fritz Mondale.
And there’s a decent chance she’ll succeed. By 2012, the economy is almost certainly going to have improved dramatically, and any Republican who chooses to run will be seen by the -white- wise old men as a sacrificial lamb. Who better than Wolf Killer? They will expect he to bring the foaming fundies back to the fold — and then lose.
w vincentz
hmmmmmmm, I wonder who is "hate filled" when he spouts this:
"It makes one wonder just how spectacularly the parents of all these rabble-rousing leftists failed that they’d have grown up to become such hate-filled scumbags, whose first instinct is to sell out their country for a metaphorical thirty pieces of silver (which will be the endless, untrestricted welfare and socialist free money giveaways Nobama would put in place if—God helps us—he’s elected."
Signed,
Hate-filled Scumbag
boonagain
the genuine leadership offered by Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.
dslak
@The Grand Panjandrum: I think this goes too far in the opposite direction, as Goldwater wasn’t above petty sliming of his opponents. A politician doing merely that however is not notable, and he certainly did a lot to redeem himself after ’64.
Comrade Napoleon
I would love to see her as the 2012 Rep. candidate. It will help brand the Republican party as the party of the loony right and know nothing cranks. So long as they suffer several humiliating defeats in a row at some point the funders of the Republican party and some grass roots party people in places like Ohio and Ill. will see to it, similar to where the Democratic party is today, that they run as far away from those type of people as possible. I am not saying they will not take their votes, but at a certain point in order to win they will have to not play to that part of the party at all. Only then will we get a sane Rep. party back.
dslak
@demimondian: Uh, demi, the fundies are the fold. The GOP, if it ever wants to win another election or control a house of Congress, has to attract moderates.
The theocon wing of the party has a lot of influence on the primaries. They compromised with the neocons to get McCain (and to keep out Romney). Both of those factions are happy to have Palin in ’12, so all they need is ecocons. The ecocons as a group aren’t quite as stupid as the other two however, so they probably won’t all drink the Kool-Aid, but maybe enough will to win her the nomination.
She’ll have no chance of winning the general election however, and that’s even more likely if things are worse, because she doesn’t seem to inspire trust in anyone who is not already predisposed to like her.
ploeg
@demimondian:
2012 is Huck’s turn.
McCain will blame Palin for the upcoming debacle, and McCain will get the political organization in the divorce proceedings. Palin has no nationwide political organization of her own, no chits to call, only name recognition and an incredible negative rating. She would have to start practically from scratch.
Jill
This is why electing Obama is only the beginning. Then we have to KEEP him there. Because as of November 5, Sarah Palin is the frontrunner for the 2012 election. And if Obama can’t make significant headway in improving people’s lives by then, you can kiss your ass goodbye, because Governor Armageddon and her Armies for Jeebus will be ready to take over.
dslak
@ploeg: Huckabee might compete, but he’s opposed to the ecocons and he doesn’t seem interested in compromising with them. Palin however has blind ambition, and a couple of years is plenty enough time to develop the organizing needed to win primaries.
In Huck vs. Palin, I’d bet on Palin.
Comrade Napoleon
I vote Huck. A year ago I was predicting if he didn’t win this time he would still have a good showing. I personally think he will be the ’12 Rep. candidate.
gbear
Sarah’s best shot at leading a nation is to return to Alaska and call out to all the 28%ers to join Todd and her in making the AIP a reality. Alaskastan has kind of a natural ring to it, and it would be as effective as a rapture in clearing all the religious freaks out of the lower 49.
Obama would just have to make sure to clear out all their nukes before granting them independence and declaring a national holiday.
ploeg
@dslak:
A couple of years might be time to develop the organizing needed to compete, if you have financial backing and a number of chits to collect. McCain will leave Palin with nothing. Palin will have a lot of competition if she goes the small donor route.
Palin may be a backstabber, but come on, she’s in the pros now.
dslak
@ploeg: I’m not saying she’ll have it easy, but Huckabee will have been out of power a few years by the next primaries and so might not have as many chits as he once did.
I expect Palin will do alright by both the large- and small-donor routes. The GOP legislators in Alaska may also be willing to get out of her way now in exchange for favors later, so she can develop some chits that way.
gbear
That sentence would strike a lot more fear into our hearts if Kristol had been correct about even one thing over the course of his ‘career’.
Dreggas
why should anyone be surprised? Remember, when she was first picked someone was saying that she was overheard making comments during the primary between obama and clinton to the effect of "So the jungle bunny won" or some other racial epithet.
boonagain
so sambo beat the bich?
I believe that was the charming bon mot she made upon hearing the results of the Democratic primary.
Spork
I think I see what’s going on here. McCain needs a scapegoat to blame for how nasty the campaign has become so he can redeem himself as he did in 2000. He’ll probably blame Palin and express remorse for picking her. The press will eat it up, but who cares? It won’t mean anything after November 4th.
Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s
One problem not pointed out about Palin’s future.
The Republican’s don’t believe any of her crap, they know them as lies.
They also have all the stuff she’s managed to keep hidden.
When the Presidential Primaries come around, they will beat her over the head with it.
She should fear them more than the Democrats.
jcricket
If Palin gets the nod, this term’s GOP loss will look like a win, in comparison. Her negatives are through the roof, and judging by her family’s actions in the Monegan/Wooten firing, they are vindictive, mean-spirited, dont-know-when-to-stop assholes.
In the two (?) months since she’s been VP she’s gone from viewed positively around the nation to negatively – a swing of like 40 points (20 positive to 10-20 negative). That’s remarkeable. Took Bush years to do that. So hats off to her for that. Even in Alaska her popularity is shrinking (still high) and the full effects of this scandal, the email thing, her tax problem, have not yet been felt.
If Huckabee, just as socially conservative, gets the nod, expect a much different race. He’s just as wrong about a lot of stuff, but not intentionally an asshole, and has no legal problems like she does.
Comrade Vida Loca
Jill, FTW.
One of two things is going to happen with the smoking ruins of the Republican Party. Beginning November 5 a battle for control over the remains of the GOP will ensue, between the "moderate" wing (the business class of fiscal conservatives — call it your daddy’s GOP) and the neocon/theocon wing. I’d favor the latter to win just because they look by far to be the stronger of the two now, and if they do Palin is their nominal leader. In other words she comes out of the last eight weeks in a much more powerful position in the national political scene than she was as the governor of Alaska — she’s "moved south" both in the geographical sense and in the sense of the "southern strategy" that the GOP has been riding since 1964. She is in fact its logical conclusion.
In the less likely event that the fiscal conservative, more "moderate" faction wins out, the neocon/theocon block can try to form a far-right party along the lines of the European far right — again with Palin as the strongest contender for their leading figure.
It’s true that she has probably managed to shit the bed w/r/t her future in Alaska politics, but that train wouldn’t have carried her a lot farther anyway. She is supremely ambitious, ruthless, and opportunistic: in other words she’s meant for the national scene; she just needs to find the right vehicle. "Moosealini" is not a joke, it’s an analogy.
Palin isn’t finished until the ideology she represents is completely discredited — and it’s much too early to say that that’s happened. At the moment the only thing that has happened is a tactical defeat for them, a tactical victory for us — a point which Jill’s comment completely nails.
BTW, demi: I agree with your premise, except for this:
If this is 1929, then 2012 will be 1933. Palin at the head of a Republican party in the context of a continued/increasing worldwide depression could be a catastrophe of monumental proportions, and not in the sense that we’ve seen play out in the last 8 weeks.
Comrade Vida Loca
Jay,
It could work out the other way too, though. In other words if "they" see Palin as their vehicle for a return to power they will cheerfully join with her in burying her crap as deeply and completely as possible.
b. hussein canuckistani (comrade)
You guys need a third party so bad. If you had a penny-pinching socially tolerant party it would sweep up the middle and be a viable force in just a few election cycles. I would like to see the Republicans go the way of the Whigs.
dslak
@Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s: By ‘the Republicans’ do you mean the leadership or the rank and file? The former don’t need to believe what she says, and plenty of the latter seem to.
SamFromUtah
@Comrade Vida Loca: If this is 1929, then 2012 will be 1933.
Luckily, it isn’t. There was a lot more going on than just what year it was.
D. Mason
This is true on face value, but don’t forget that the corporate wing of the republican party makes up the vast majority of its financial base. Fundies don’t donate enough to fund a Presidential race, though they provide a lot of the leg work and the number of neo-cons is shrinking dramatically. They MUST have the corporate class of Republicans to have any chance to compete. This is the only true thinking class of the Republican base, even if they’re thinking about things that would make most of us cringe. Palin has been hostile to them in Alaska and I’m betting someone is taking notes on that.
dslak
@D. Mason:
Ah, but you see, that was just a way for her to buy votes. It wasn’t anything personal. She’ll sing their tune for a nice campaign contribution or two, and they’ll forget that they ever doubted her.
We’ve all seen this game played before.
stickler
Ellie:
You ask two questions up there. The answers are "yes", and "yes."
The social conservatives really, truly, irrationally, believe that they represent a majority of the electorate. One of the best things that a massive GOP defeat in 2008 would provide is a gigantic wake-up call to these panty-sniffers that they are, indeed, a SMALL MINORITY of the voting public.
The GOP has already lost the West Coast states, and the Northeast. McCain has pulled out of Michigan and is no longer competitive in the Upper Midwest. If 2008 is the electoral disaster it’s shaping up to be, the GOP could become a regional, neo-Confederate party (much like the Democrats practically were from 1920-1932).
I would like that very much, thank you.
dslak
@stickler:
You mean like in ’92? Either they have really short memories, or you seriously overestimate their intellectual abilities.
kommrade jakevich
Heh. I’ve wondered if the call will go out on Nov. 5th: This election proves America is tainted beyond healing. Join me in Alaska and forge a new country free of sin! Recommended gear includes one track suit, a pair of Nikes…
Keith
Not that I’m a big fan of Mittens, but Romney is going to rip Palin apart in the 2012 primaries…if she’s still a force in the GOP by then.
demimondian
@Comrade Vida Loca: I’ve thought a lot about this. I think that the proper analogy is 1979, not 1929. Yes, our economy is in the shitter, but that was triggered by an oil-price spike which already seems to be abating. The follow-on was much like what happened in ’79, too.
Now, if our President were another Hoover, I’d agree with you, but with a moderate to liberal (oops, sorry, LIE-beral) Dem like Obama in office, apropriate interventions will happen, and we will recover within four years.
I think we *won’t* do well in 2010, St. GOS’ prognostications notwithstanding; it’s going to be a Republican year.
Comrade Vida Loca
D. Mason,
I assume by "hostile to them in Alaska" you’re referring to some of the "mavericky" things Palin did as governor? If so, you may be right — were she to become the head of a national GOP political ticket she’d have to walk back those, and probably other youthful indiscretions she committed in her earlier days when she was running for office(s) in a very different context. No doubt, somebody has been taking notes. But do you think it’s completely out of the question for her to be able to walk them back?
It wouldn’t be the first time that the phase "strange bedfellows" could be used.
Soylent Green
This is not 1929. These are different times, with a globalized economy, and the Obama administration is not going to sit on its hands as Hoover’s did. The economy will recover its footing within a year.
Four years from now is an eternity in terms of Palin’s career. Her star will likely fade quickly. To have a chance in 2012 the GOP will have to come up with a viable, capable candidate, not another trained monkey. One from the center right, not the far right, and only if they can rebuild the coalition (with the fundies as willing patsies) that got Bush elected twice.
But Palin doesn’t have the brains to carry it off. At the national level, like Bush, Sarah is nothing without stagecraft, without a team of handlers telling her what to say. The party would be nuts to ever give her the top spot. So she has the rednecks and bible thumpers in her pocket, so what? What about the rest of us? She will never have any traction beyond her limited base.
El Cid
God bless you John Cole for the first really good laugh of the day.
Who coulda thunk it, indeed, except, like, everyone.
Ash Can
Atanarjuat’s screed up there deftly encapsulates the so-con/neo-con viewpoint that, when I hear it, makes me think of Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian clinging precariously to a fragment of dirt hanging in space after the entire rest of the planet has been blown away. "We’re the real Americans; Obama and his backers are the lunatic fringe!" the so/neo-cons shriek, as the fragment of American society to which they cling drifts further and further away from reality.
D. Mason
Out of the question? No… After the last 2 elections and even more the last 10 months, nothing seems out of the question in American politics. Still it seems a bit unlikely to me that the corporate class will trust when she comes crawling back. This is the one class of Republicans that truly has options. The fundies have extremely limited choices(Huck and Palin) and the neo-con really doesn’t seem to have any, maybe he can just run himself and have a party of 1(I can see it now Kristol/??? ’12). The only hope the Republicans have for revival is to let the smart guys re-structure the party. Now it might not happen in 2012 but eventually they will either let the corporate conservatives take the reigns again or just saunter off into non-existence.
Shorter: The Fundies and Neo-nutjobs may be coming from a position of power but they’re not powerful.
Brachiator
@Comrade Incertus:
I’m not much for either trying to predict the future or forcing shaky historical comparisons. Nixon and Goldwater were smart and had deep (if not wide) support among the Republican leadership. Palin is woefully ignorant of national political issues, and seems to content to campaign on the theme of "Vote for me, because I’m as dumb as you are."
I don’t see that Palin is either much supported or even respected among the Republican leadership. Also, it is odd that she is being pushed as the Republican alternative to Hillary Clinton, but I don’t see her much embraced by other Republican women politicians.
On the other hand, her appeal not only to evangelicals, but to a populist to nativist throng, is somewhat new in modern Republican politics, especially in a party which has gone out of its way to alienate conservative intellectuals, libertarians, moderates and independents.
While McCain inconsistently dials it back, Palin appears to enjoy the thrill of whipping up her supporters’ fear and anger. But I am not sure that Plain will be able to harness this nastiness for her future benefit. And in the short term, at least, if McCain loses the election, I can’t see the Republican leadership doing much to champion Palin as the future of the party.
El Cid
Maybe this is Goldwater versus FDR.
Rick Taylor
On a small scale, it seems like a metaphor for what the whole Republican party has done, selling itself for power. Funny how all this time, pundits have been hand-wringing how the Democrats have to be careful not to be in thrall to their crazy liberal base to be taken seriously. Those scenes of Republicans calling Obama a traitor or a muslim or an arab or going to have a long lasting impact on the GOP’s image.
ThymeZone
Never happen, unless we get rid of the Electoral College. That scheme pretty much locks in a two party system, because in order for a third party to work, it would have to be grounded in an electoral scenario that produced 270 votes, and getting there would take time. Time enough for one of the two existing parties to steal whatever is stealable from the new party and take away its electoral potential.
And the Electoral College is not going away. I used to think its elimination was essential, but I have changed my mind. But in any case there is no political oxygen for a thing like that in this country in the forseeable future. Constitutional amendments are extraordinarily difficult to arrange.
Of course, I am talking about establishing a stable third party. There is always the "Ross Perot" scenario, where some charismatic person comes along and steals an election. But that’s not a party, that’s a situation like Ventura in Minnesota, and those excursions don’t often have a happy outcome. America is a weird country in many ways, and it’s just as likely that a weird candidate pull that off as it is that a sane, rational (say, Bloomberg) type person pulls it off.
Comrade Vida Loca
Soylent,
For not evidently having much in the way of brains Palin got a hell of a long way. I’m not sure yet whether she’s dumb, or dumb like a fox, but either way I had never even heard of her eight weeks ago and I’d guess that most of the rest of the people here had not either. In a way you have to give her some credit — but I can also recall that as little as three weeks ago, before the economy melted into a puddle and the race looked to be a lot closer than it does now, a lot of people were wringing their hands: "WTF is going on that a pair like McCain and Palin could be in a close race for the presidency", etc., etc.
Well, yeah, but you could say the same thing about Reagan possibly and Bush Jr. certainly. So that works out to 16 years of not carrying it off…
See? You said it. In these administrations it’s all about the handlers; all the handlers need is a good dummy up front to whip up the crowds while they run the show from the wings. Stagecraft indeed.
And if I had to look at her, and the Republicans, and their base today I’d agree with you. And thank the FSM.
jenniebee
ROFL, a Palin for Pres Repub candidacy in 2012? Woot! Obama’s a lock for the full 8 years if that’s the case.
And everybody who thinks that Palin is doing what she’s doing because of some deep game she’s playing to position herself as the one who could have won in 2012, as opposed to doing it because nasty vicious but perky! behavior has gotten her everything she’s wanted since she used it to open up a spot on the basketball team in high school, everybody who buys into that
horseshitspin, y’all raise your hands.Rick Taylor
It’s impossible given our absurd system; a third party only takes away votes from whichever party is most closely aligned to it. After Ralph Nader’s campaign in 2000, there’s no way I would ever vote for a third party candidate; not unless the Democrats and Republicans became indistinguishable.
We do have such a party. We call them the Democrats. Certainly they’re the only party that pays more than lip service to fiscal responsibility, just look at the last two decades.
*nods* Except with considerably greater ignominy.
e_majorana
Spork (#38) is right. It would be a mistake to believe the carefully crafted leaks from the McCain camp suggesting that Palin is a loose cannon.
McCain merely wants to have his cake and eat it too.
When his rabble-rousing backfires, he pretends to be statesmanlike and conciliatory to calm the moderates. Meanwhile, he allows Palin to continue stoking up the hoi-polloi with her nutcase rants. Then he engages in phony handwringing over her supposed excesses.
A classic good cop – bad cop ploy.
JGabriel
JennieBee:
Trust me, that’s what a lot of people thought in ’76.
I hope you’re right, but in the meantime, we’d better keep an eye on Palin for the foreseeable future. That she managed to get herself both the governorship of AK and the VP nomination speaks to, at the very least, a distinct talent for getting her way. Or incredible luck.
.
Lulu
America Last hyenas, the Democrat Party…
Ah, wingnuts. I don’t suppose it’s occurred to Atanarjuat (which is probably a wingnut mnemonic for "I’m an idiot") that he/she/it may be 100% right about the "Democrat" Party, while — in the real world — the Democratic Party continues offering the only feasible alternative to the complete societal and economic meltdown created by 30 years of Republican dominance.
Or in words that Imanidiot can understand: if you can’t even get the name right, what makes you think you know what’s going on?
bago
Very good Ms. Palin. It’s called learning. You might want to acquaint yourself with the process.
TenguPhule
Fixed.
TenguPhule
Commend your soul to whatever god you have.
Because your ass belongs to us!
SamFromUtah
@TenguPhule: Commend your soul to whatever god you have.
Be it Hindu, Buddah [sic], or Allah…
Soylent Green
In the Inuit language, "Atanarjuat" means "the fast runner," from the excellent Canadian movie of the same name.
In the case of our always-on-message, God Protect Us from Ayers troll, it means "running fast from common sense."
Doctor Jay
I don’t like Sarah Palin, but I object to the "from the backwoods" part, which is apropos of nothing at all. There are plenty of insular and petty people in the cities I now live in, just as there were some in the backwoods. It’s not where you’re from that matters in the slightest, but what you’ve done since then.