But, it appears Palin has more experience than the democratic nominee for president. Obama has high lofty ideals, but no one seems to know what it is he has actually done that would recommend him to be president. At least this lady has experience in government, has made tough decisions, fought for reform and accomplished it, and most importantly, she doesn't think the world is waiting for her to come and lead the people into the perfect society.

The first on a national ticket to have a set net site. Ya gotta love that. And the point guard on the state championship high school basketball team, and nick-named "Sarah Barracuda."

No experience: except she is, as is every governor for his or her state, the head of the Alaska Natl Guard, which is our first line of defense in the Arctic against the Great Bear of Medvedev and Putin. She has successfully negotiated with CEOs from Big Oil, who all have greater GDPs than most foreign countries. And she gets along with the most diverse bunch of hard nosed, driven, independent lunatics in the U.S., Alaska commercial fishermen and fisherwomen. That in and of itself is an accomplishment.

But most of all, like Obama, she is a breath of fresh air in the stale Biden/McCain world D.C. insiders. I can't say much about Obama in the Senate just because his record is that of a no show...absent with leave...answering a higher calling...off on a personal mission....all the while Palin was at her desk working at governing Alaska....that is a difference of experience. She has been a member of the Alaska Committee on Oil, Energy and Pipelines....it was she who turned in members of her party for corruption charges....That takes guts and surviving means she does have experience....So that means I have to ask if Obama ever took on the SouthChicago machine in anything....if he reported any of the notorious malfeasance that the Democrat Machine of Chicago is famous for???? Oh, I forgot the home deal..sorry....



Her "no experience" is to take on the establishment, her own party, and win, and stay whole, and to have the highest confidence marks of any sitting governor in the U.S. Best of all, she is a conservative in more than name. She is the one who told the Congress when Stevens and Young wanted to earmark the money for a bridge to connect Ketchikan with the island on which the Ketchikan airport sits (all freight and passengers have to be lightered from Gravina Island over to Revillagigedo Island where Ketchikan is located), telling Congress and her fellow Republicans that if Alaska needed a bridge, Alaska would build the bridge, thank you. How refreshing is that? She will not be, I would project, be Pallin the Panderer. And a good retort to Obama's acceptance speech in which he promised a whole more than he or anyone can produce. And took way too long to say it.

C'mon Jonathan, thinly qualified? Compared to the top of a ticket man who served in the senate for 143 days before deciding he was presidential material? Prayerfully she will have a minimum of 4 years to learn all of the ropes.
If Obama wins he has to be ready on day one, no matter what. I think we would be in danger as a country becaue the terrorists would know he has no experience, wouldn't have a clue what to do about an attack, and would not declare war for anything.
The fact this lady has tied into corruption in her own party, makes her stand 10 feet tall. DC has become nothing but a seething mass of corruption.

Here's the scary scenario for the progressive New West:
McSame wins. He wants to be a world leader, so gives Palin a leading role in helping set up appointments for domestic affairs such as education, environment, and federal land management agencies.
Cool.
The fact she's taken action against what every rank and file conservative has hated about the current GOP upper cadre, with the lard, the sex, the ethics, the lard, the pandering, the lard...
Needed.
I've got my fingers crossed on this one. When looking to see which newbie I'd like to see reach full potential, there's no contest. Barracuda all the way.

"...more likely to be offended by the tokenism of such a thinly-qualified...."

Isn't the reason for theBiden choice was to shore up Obama's thin credentials? Biden had a stroke and in his 60's. If he dies who would there be to tell Obama what to do?

As to the issue of qualifications, I like what President Clinton said in his speech that had people rising to their feet and clapping their hands over this remark: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12917_Page2.html

>>>>>>>>>>
My fellow Democrats, 16 years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity.

Together, we prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it won't work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.
<<<<<<<<<<<

Does being on the right side of history only apply to male democrats with thin credentials, or can a republican woman who has an 80% approval rating for her job as governor crash through that glass ceiling into the boys club of righteous history?

"Thinly-qualified" is a simple statement of fact about Palin, whatever you might think about Obama. One could decide it's not relevant but let's be real here.

As to Obama, among his other accomplishments he ran a huge and complicated operation called a presidential campaign with great skill. Personally I'd think top of your class at Harvard Law would be more of a qualification for president than high school basketball or beauty pageant stardom. Why do we consider intelligence and thoughtfulness a vice?

Dave, we've had 8 years of the most pro-resource, pro-drilling, anti-conservation administration imaginable, and look what great shape we're in. Thankfully I think there's little chance of your dream scenario coming to pass.

Oh, and Palin doesn't have an 80% approval rating in Alaska, and most Alaskans seem dumbfounded that she would be considered ready for the national ticket, FWIW.

Palin approval rating: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

>>>>>>>>>>>>

A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%,[24] while another Ivan Moore poll showed it at 76%, a drop which the pollsters attributed to the controversial firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.[25] A subsequent Rasmussen Reports poll from July 31, 2008 showed 35% of Alaskans rated her performance as excellent, 29% good, 22% fair, and 14% poor.[26]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<

35+29+22= 84%

Do Dems count "fair" as approval for their own job approval ratings?

Jonathan, Obama ran his campaign??????? He read his speeches, written by others, from teleprompters. David Axelrod and his team are the people behind the Obama steering wheel, FWIW.

Palin tells me once again that Republicans are hypocrites who will go against their own deepest professed beliefs if they judge it will benefit them.
One of Republicans biggest long-term goals has been getting rid of "affirmative action" laws that do things like encourage the hiring of women or minorities into positions where their numbers are low from a demographic standpoint.
Arizona Republicans were fighting to get an anti-affirmative action bill on their November ballot (it didn't qualify), and McCain supported it:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iP2emAr4F0x_XR8HdB1CZGy1YCKQD92CUEI00
Now who is going to argue that if Palin was a man she would be the VP nominee right now? Nope, she is an affirmative action hire. Why would you vote for anyone who pulls such massive flip-flops on what they claim are their key beliefs?

It will also be interesting to find out what exactly the connection was or is between 60s weather underground organizer William Ayers and Obama. Obama is trying real hard to keep the files of his days a street organizer from researchers, especially the Annenberg project. Being a street organizer is all that Obama has ever done. To some, being a street organizer is akin to being a fellow traveler. I really do not think that this occupation qualifies the guy to be president. He is an empty suit that others have promoted. Like Hitler, his oratory skill is his chief asset.

"Nope, she is an affirmative action hire"

And, Obama is not an affirmative action hire?

Editor and Publisher has an interesting four part series about Gov. Sarah Palin and her pick as McCain's VP called, "Getting to Know Her." You can view the series here: http://www.editorandpublisher.com.

Some of the highlights from the Editor and Publisher series follow:

From Part I:

The Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks, Alaska wrote an editorial on Aug 29 which declared Palin not qualified for the office of vice president.

It also brought up an intriguing fact. Palin in her speech on Friday -- also a point used by McCain surrogates -- is that she refused to go along with the plan to build the so-called "bridge to nowhere" in her state, wanting to halt wasteful spending. But the Fairbanks editorial points out that the state still kept the money for the project.

Here is an excerpt from Daily-News Miner the editorial.
*
Sen. John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate was a stunning decision that should make Alaskans proud, even while we wonder about the actual merits of the choice....

Alaskans and Americans must ask, though, whether she should become vice president and, more importantly, be placed first in line to become president.

In fact, as the governor herself acknowledged in her acceptance speech, she never set out to be involved in public affairs. She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land. Republicans rightfully have criticized the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for his lack of experience, but Palin is a neophyte in comparison; how will Republicans reconcile the criticism of Obama with the obligatory cheering for Palin?

Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation’s when he created the possibility that she might fill it.

It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance. She’s a woman. She has fought corruption. She has fought the oil companies. She’s married to a union member. These are portrayals for campaign speeches; they are not policy positions.

There was also some pandering right from the start. “I told Congress `Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere,’ ” Palin reported to the crowd in Dayton, Ohio. “If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we’d build it ourselves.”

But the state kept the bridge money. That’s because Alaskans pay federal gas taxes and they expect a good share to come back, just like people do in every other state. We build very little by ourselves, and any governor who would turn that tax money down likely would be turned out of office.

------------

From Part II

Gregg Erickson, columnist and reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, took part in an online chat at http://www.washingtonpost.com. He expressed some rather mixed views about his governor. Here are a few excerpts.

Baltimore, Md.: What are Governor Palin's three greatest strengths? What are her three greatest weaknesses?

Gregg Erickson: She is smart, vivacious and energetic; she tends to oversimplify complex issues, has had difficulty delegating authority, and clearly has some difficulty distinguishing the line between her public responsibilities and private wishes.

She is under legislative investigation regarding the last issue, the so-called "troopergate," in which she is said to have used improper influence to try to get her sister's ex-husband fired from the state troopers.

Eagle River, Ak.: Morning, Gregg! I've suddenly being hearing a number of pundits credit Gov. Palin with stopping the "bridge to nowhere." This isn't how I remember it, though -- in fact, I seem to recall that she was initially in favor of the bridge. Could you clarify? Thanks!

Gregg Erickson: She did curtail state support of the "bridge to nowhere" connecting Ketchikan with its island airport. But contrary to her statement today in Dayton, OH, she didn't send the federal money back. It's available for use in other projects elsewhere.

Los Angeles, Calif.: It's clear from your responses that you don't particularly like her (I'm not speaking personally, but politically.) How do you explain her high approval ratings?

Gregg Erickson: I think she did a great job in taking on the oil industry, that has had a lock on Alaska politics since 1981 She is also stood up against the corruption in Alaska politics long before it was fashionable to do so. I think those things resonate with many Alaskans beside myself.

Her approval ratings are high--65 percent, or so--but down from 80 percent earlier in her term. Most Alaskan's haven't watched her as closely as most reporters or legislators. If you took a poll of reporters and legislators I expect her approval rating would be down in the teens or twenties.

Washington, D.C.: Why don't reporters and legislators have a high opinion of the governor?

Gregg Erickson: It is clear that she has not paid much attention to the nitty-gritty unglamorous work of government, of gaining consensus, and making difficult compromises. She seems to be of the view that politics should be all rather simple. That often appeals to the wider public, but frustrates those who see themselves as laboring in the less glamorous parts of the vineyard.

Washington, D.C.;: You wrote: "If you took a poll of reporters and legislators I expect her approval rating would be down in the teens or twenties." What do they know about her that the general population does not?

Gregg Erickson: One example: The Republican chair of the Alaska State House Finance budget subcommittee on Heath and Medicaid says he can't find anyone in Palin's executive office who cares about helping bring that budget under control. He is furious with her about that.

Wheaton, Md.: Why is she experienced enough to lead our nation as president if McCain were unable to do so?

Gregg Erickson: I have a hard time seeing how her qualifications stack up against the duties and responsibilities of being president.

Washington, D.C.: What should we expect from her during the VP debates?

Gregg Erickson: I expect her to stick with simple truths. When asked about continued American troop presence in Iraq she said she knows only one thing about that (I paraphrase): no one has attacked the American homeland since George Bush took the war to Iraq.

Germantown, Md.: Is it true that Gov. Palin is skeptical about global warming?

Gregg Erickson: Yes. Although she has not been outspoken about that. Alaska's national politicians have been allied with Sen. Imhoff, but have had to reverse course rather dramatically on that as the effects of climate change began to show up so dramatically in Alaska.


From Part III:

Since even Republican leaders admit that John McCain's choice for running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, was unknown outside Alaska, E&P;has been filling in some details and opinion -- strictly from those who may know her best, at newspapers in her home state. Reporters there have so far expressed much more critical views of the candidate than might be suggested by her overall high voter approval ratings.

Today we will excerpt from three pieces: this morning's editorial in the largest paper in the state, the Anchorage Daily News; an op-ed for that paper by a former columnist for the paper now serving as a Democrat in the state legislature; and a dispatch by AP's man in Anchorage.

The second largest daily, The Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks, had editorialized yesterday that Palin was not qualified for the vice presidency. The Anchorage paper also raises questions on this score, while expressing pride in the local "girl."

First, an excerpt from the editorial.
*
Alaskans were stunned and delighted that John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Delighted because one of our own has burst into the national spotlight. You go, girl! Stunned because a woman from such ordinary circumstances -- a self-professed hockey mom from a small Alaska town -- is running for vice-president.

And it's stunning that someone with so little national and international experience might be heartbeat away from the presidency.

Gov. Palin is a classic Alaska story. She is an example of the opportunity our state offers to those with talent, initiative and determination...

McCain picked Palin despite a recent blemish on her ethically pure resume. While she was governor, members of her family and staff tried to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers. Her public safety commissioner would not do so; she forced him out, supposedly for other reasons. While she runs for vice-president, the Legislature has an investigator on the case.

For all those advantages, Palin joins the ticket with one huge weakness: She's a total beginner on national and international issues.

Gov. Palin will have to spend the next two months convincing Americans that she's ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency....

****
Now an excerpt from a column by Mike Doogan.
*
John McCain looked all over the United States to find the single Republican who is qualified to be, as the saying goes, a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he came up with Sarah Palin.

Really?

Sure, I suppose that many Alaskans are feeling a surge of pride that someone from our state has gotten a spot on the big stage. And most Alaskans like Palin. I know I do.

But let's be honest here. Her resume is as thin as the meat in a vending machine sandwich. I'm thinking being mayor of Wasilla doesn't qualify her. And she's less than two years into her first term as governor. Except for her high-profile gas pipeline legislation -- which I like a lot -- she doesn't have much to show. Oil taxes? Most of that work was done by the legislature. Ethics? Ditto. And her role in killing the much-touted Bridge to Nowhere? Talk about coming in after the battle is over and bayoneting the wounded.

And there's a growing sense that the government isn't running all that well, that all that's keeping the wheels from coming off is that 25,000 state employees show up for work every day.

The long and short of it is this: We're not sure she's a competent governor of Alaska. And yet McCain, who is no spring chicken, has decided she's the best choice to replace him as president if he should win and then fall afoul of the Grim Reaper.

Sarah Palin? Really?

Debating foreign policy with Joe Biden? What's she going to do? Hit him with her briefing book? If Palin has two thoughts about foreign policy, she's managed to keep them to herself. Ditto health care. National energy policy. Fiscal policy. You could make a long, long list, but I'll stop there. She's going to need a lot of handlers feeding her a lot of talking points, and she's going to have to hope that the discussion only goes about yay-deep.

She's also going to have to hope that the national media is as pliable as Alaska's has been. Palin doesn't like people criticizing her, and she's as competitive as any linebacker you ever met. If the campaign gets a little rough and tumble, that could be a bad combination.
***
Finally, the AP report from Dan Joling in Anchorage.
*

(AP) Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a comely candidate with a reputation for fighting corruption, but lately her reputation within the state has been bit by allegations of mixing political and family business, and by mistreating one of the state's premier marine mammals.

Palin's catch-phrase of "openness and transparency" has been tarnished by revelations that staff members tried to have Palin's former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.

Also, the governor of the only state with polar bears has adamantly opposed listing the animals as a threatened species, despite strong evidence that global warming has devastated their sea ice environment off Alaska's coast.

And despite John McCain's claim Friday that Palin is a budget-cutter, the governor this year oversaw a 6 percent increase in Alaska's operating and construction budget, fueled by a revised tax structure and skyrocketing crude oil prices.

Dermot Cole, a longtime columnist for Alaska's second-largest newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, called McCain's choice of Palin "reckless" and questioned her credentials.

"Sarah Palin's chief qualification for being elected governor was that she was not Frank Murkowski," Cole said of her enormously unpopular predecessor, who lost favor with Alaskans in part because of unpopular budget cuts. "She was not elected because she was a conservative. She was not elected because of her grasp of issues or because of her track record as the mayor of Wasilla."

Her enormous popularity in the state took a hit this summer over her firing of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, a former Anchorage police chief.

State lawmakers launched a $100,000 investigation to determine if Palin dismissed Monegan because he would not fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who has been involved in a messy custody battle with Palin's sister.

In 2005, before Palin ran for office, the Palin family accused Wooten of drinking beer in his patrol car, illegally shooting a moose and firing a Taser at his 11-year-old stepson. The Palins also claimed Wooten threatened to kill Sarah Palin's father. Wooten was suspended over the allegations for five days in 2006 but still has his job.

Palin denied the commissioner's dismissal had anything to do with her former brother-in-law and denied orchestrating dozens of telephone calls made by staff and family members to Wooten's bosses. The investigation launched by state lawmakers is expected to take at least three months.

State Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, said Palin's candidacy does not change the investigation.

"I think it raises its profile. I don't think it changes the steps you go through. It is what it is. You have to find out what happened," French said.

The investigator hired by lawmakers two days ago told the Department of Law it was time to schedule Palin's deposition, French said.

From Part IV:

Since Friday, E&P;has been presenting news and views on Sarah Palin from the sources that know her best, daily papers in her native Alaska. This seemed apt since, by all accounts, she is the least known candidate ever tabbed to be a vice presidential candidate. Perhaps surprisingly, the two leading papers in Alaska, in Faribanks and Anchorage, have both raised serious doubts about he suitability for national office.

On Sunday, both of the papers focused on her claims, in her maiden speech next to John McCain on Friday, that she had opposed the so-called "bridge to nowhere" in her state and earmarks for Alaska in general. The headline for the top story on the Anchorage Daily News web site today carries the headline, "Palin touts stance on 'Bridge to Nowhere,' doesn't note flip-flop."

Here are three excerpts from pieces on this theme in the two papers this morning. The Fairbanks paper also features an AP story that also reveals the Palin "flip flop."

Anchorage Daily News
by Tom Kizzia

When John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and center. "I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge.

But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.

"I think that's when the campaign for national office began," said Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Weinstein noted, the state is continuing to build a road on Gravina Island to an empty beach where the bridge would have gone -- because federal money for the access road, unlike the bridge money, would have otherwise been returned to the federal government.

It's a more complicated picture than the one drawn by McCain, a persistent critic of special-interest spending and congressional earmarks. He described Palin as "someone who's stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money on things they don't want or need."

*
The Daily News-Miner of Fairbanks
Dermot Cole

In her introductory speech Friday as McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin picked up on the Ketchikan bridge that was never built as a symbol of bad federal policy.

“I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress,” Palin said at her first campaign appearance. “In fact, I told Congress — I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said we’d build it ourselves.”

That is not how Palin described her position on the Gravina Island bridge when she ran for governor in 2006. On Oct. 22, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News asked Palin and the other candidates, “Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?”

Her response: “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.”

Palin’s support of the earmark for the bridge was applauded by the late Lew Williams Jr., the retired Ketchikan Daily News publisher who wrote columns on the topic. Williams wrote on Oct. 29, 2006, that Palin was the only gubernatorial candidate that year who consistently supported the Gravina Island Bridge, the Knik Arm Bridge and improvements to the Parks Highway.

Two months earlier, while campaigning in Ketchikan, Palin made a positive reference to the bridge....A year later, she issued a news release as governor saying Ketchikan needed better airport access, but a $398 million bridge was not going to happen.

“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,” Palin said on Sept. 21, 2007.

The money was not sent back to the federal government, but spent on other projects. That was hardly “Thanks but no thanks.”

Alaska has a clear record of seeking earmarks.

In March, Palin’s Washington, D.C., representative, John Katz, wrote a defense of earmarks, published in the Juneau Empire in which he said the state is cutting back on its wish list.

The Palin administration requested 31 earmarks this year totaling $200 million and “we are not abandoning earmarks altogether,” Katz said, as they are a “legitimate exercise of Congress’ constitutional power to amend the budget proposed by the president.”

Schrems,
Tens of millions of people voted for Obama and he won first place, fair and square, in an election. He came in first place, therefore it is not "affirmative action".
Of course you might be making the "people always vote for the token black guy argument" that my racist co-worker trotted out. Of course he couldn't name the "token black guy" who had it so easy in every other election America has held, and he eventually just admitted that he thought desegregation was a bad idea. Maybe you have better statistical evidence that black guys have it easy with the American electorate. Heck, maybe you could even work in how frequent New West commenter Rose Mary threatening the black man with a sawed-off shotgun is actually some sort of "affirmative action".

flounder, you got Jill's column shut down for your persistent personal attacks, why are you going there again to wreck this column discussion?

flounder,

It will always be an interesting discussion to why the news media pushed Obama over Clinton. If Obama was a first term White Senator, with 145 days of experience and a terrible voting record, would the media have promoted him, would he have all those votes?

Matthew, did E&P;cover this story as well: http://www.news.bostonherald.com/news/national/politics/2008/view.bg?articleid=1115559&srvc=home&position=rated

>>>>>>>>>>>
In addition to Biden’s lobbyist campaign cash, Obama and Biden are under fire over $3.4 million in congressional earmarks that went to clients of Biden’s lobbyist son, Hunter. The younger Biden helped secure $192,000 for St. Xavier University in Chicago, the Washington Post reported.
<<<<<<<<<

Isn't it somewhat telling that Biden's son, Hunter, was not there for the family photo op at the Dem convention, or mentioned equivalently with his brother.

Perhaps NewWest will follow-up with the story that haunts Obama/Biden. The Washington Post is on it now: voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/08/biden_familys_lobbyist_financi.html

>>>>>>>>>>>>
Biden Family Financial Connections Detailed
By Derek Kravitz | August 28, 2008

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden is facing some questions about his family's lobbying and financial dealings.

The Biden family's connections to SimmonsCooper, an Illinois law firm that specializes in representing asbestos victims, is detailed today in a Los Angeles Times investigation by Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger.

The Times reports that the firm promised to finance a hedge fund deal for Biden's son, Hunter, and brother, James (which ultimately fell through); picked the law firm of another son, Beau, to work on dozens of asbestos cases in Delaware; and that SimmonsCoopers employees donated about $200,000 to Biden's campaign efforts since 2001, making the company his top donor.

Hunter Biden is a Washington lobbyist. Beau Biden, the attorney general of Delaware, gave an emotional introduction to his father at the Democratic Convention last night.

The Times' report follows several stories this week documenting Hunter Biden's lobbying connections and financial dealings:

-- The Post reported yesterday that as a U.S. senator, Barack Obama sought more than $3.4 million in congressional earmarks, including $192,000 for a suburban Chicago university, for Hunter Biden's clients.

-- Hunter Biden received consulting fees from MBNA Corp. over a four-year stretch to work on online banking issues, as his father helped the credit card industry push through a law that made it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, The New York Times has reported.

"Campaign officials acknowledged that the connection between the Bidens and MBNA, the enormous financial services company then based in their home state of Delaware, was one of the most sensitive issues they examined while vetting the senator for a spot on the ticket," The Times reported.

-- Hunter Biden and Joe Biden's brother, James, have been accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, The Post has reported.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Wow!!!! Thank you for that post Craig.

Marion, FYI as per special request from a person I respect, I will be curtailing any further commentary in this community. Take care.

You know I really resent all of the talk about John McCain dying right off the bat. I am 2 months older and have been helping my son and grandson cut and stack firewood today! I am not planning on kicking the bucket right off the bat! I can not imagine the fall out to anyone who might persistently speculate on the death of Obama. There are a lot of us in our 70s who are not planning to lie down and die and I really think it is pretty low to keep up the speculation.
She most likely is not perfect, but we have needed a breath of fresh air for a very long time in DC, the fact it is accompanied by a whirlwind makes it better.
As for the reporters opinions of Palin, so what is new, they are already deeply in love with Obama and nothing is going to measure up to that.

I'm sorry to hear that Craig, hope you see your way to a return one of these days. One side of an issue is never adequate for informed decisions.

Palin strikes me as someone who wants to be seen as "tough," an "in your face" extreme right winger who will fight for:

NRA and gun rights
drilling for oil (who cares about the wildlife that live there and be impacted?) anywhere it exists -
telling other women that they should carry babies to full term
to hell with ethics -- copy your family on confidential executive order e-mails
Promote the air assault/brutalization of predatory animals under the guise of "predator control" to appease hunters

It's all about ME ME ME ---

Palin has a very annoying Pollyannish demeanor about her too.

I am smelling a very stinky fish here in this Sarah Palin.

That is funny, I smell a breath of fresh air in Sarah Palin. Funny how the wind blows isn't it?

bwahahahahahahahaha!! McCain needs to do a little research before picking a running mate based strictly on her ownership of breasts! The news has just come out that her daughter (age 17), Bristol, is pregnant out of wedlock. Ahahahhahahahhahaha! She is planning to have the baby and marry the father. How sweet. Should be a storybook marriage.

There also seems to be strong speculation that this may be the second child of Bristol and that the first was actually the down syndrome baby that her mother supposedly had! I have no idea whether it is true but I must admit after looking at a bunch of photographs of Sarah at 7+months pregnant her stomach would appear to be flat as a pancake. Students at Bristol's class reported she was absent for several months due to a prolonged bout with mono.

To be clear, my criticism here is not based in the fact that her daughter is pregnant. Lots of children get pregnant. Happens all the time. What I object to is the widespread belief by members republican party that they are the moral pillars of our community and that dems are anti-god, anti-country, anti-everything heathens. What a freaking joke!! At least she is consistent with her pro-life stance.

and your source is the far left hateful bloggers?

This really shows how desperate the left is and to what extent they will go to win. This is Really sad...

uh... why not check out fox news?

yes, I just did, it appears the young lady is expecting. It certainly will be interesting to see how this story plays with several conservative groups. On the other side, we have the Biden and Obama scandals. All around, it is politics as usual.

schrems... next time check some news sources before you suggest that the left will go to any extent to win. The left had nothing to do with Palin's daughter's choice to engage in premarital sex. The only potential false allegation here (which is NOT being reported as of yet by legitimate news sources) is that Bristol carried the down child.

Also, your claim that the left will go to any extent to win is incredibly hypocritical when we reflect back on the asinine stories that have been manufactured about Obama. Need an example? How about the claim that Barack is a radical Muslim who "will not recite the pledge of allegiance" or how about the false claim that Barack has been endorsed by the KKK?

Don't be the pot calling the kettle black.

Yes, I had a knee jerk reaction to the post because I had heard that the lefties were claiming the daughter was actually the mother of the Palin's little boy. Their proof was the extended tummy of the 17yr. old. So, what luck for the lefties. They uncovered something with their lies that they did not know was there to be uncovered--the 17 yrs. old is pregnant. This should not play into Palin's political career, but I'm sure it will. As for Obama, he could be a Muslim, he sure has had enough association to be one considering his family and friends are Muslim. He is a radical Muslin, Who knows? do you? And, it is true that when he began to campaign he did not salute the flag of the United States of America. He does now, he steps to it like he was born to salute the flag. He wears the flag pin, he has flag underware, he is truly a patriot. As for the KKK, I had not heard that they had endorsed Obama. I would think it would be just the opposite, but if that is what you heard, I'll take your word for it.

Yes, it does seem strange that someone would make up some ridiculous lie about the KKK endorsing Obama because logic would suggest the exact opposite. However, it is well documented if you care to search for it.

We do not yet know for sure about the down syndrome baby. There have been reports that Bristol was missing from school for a period of months. Again, I do NOT know the truth of any of these allegations but it is important to note that these allegations are separate and apart from the TRUTH that Bristol is now pregnant. Whether this is her second or not remains to be seen. We will find out soon enough I guess.

So, there you go attempting to perpetuate the notion that Obama is a Muslim by suggesting that his family is Muslim. His family is NOT Muslim and this is clearly documented. You just go ahead and keep on believing Obama hates America. What do think he is going to do? Blow himself up in the white house? Geez. Try to be real, man.

I don't think Obama hates America, I think he wants to reshape it into a country that will little resemble the America of today. We are not a perfect country, but what the country has to offer its citizens is far better than any other country in the world. Obama finds so much wrong with America and finds little that is positive. One of the things that Palin did with her first speech was to speak in a very positive manner, so much so that people were uplifed and they are still talking about it, people who are not Republicans. I suspect that is the fear that the left has, she stricks a chord with many who may vote Democratic. So, the left will keep digging and hope to keep the "scandal mode" going, hoping something will stick, during Clinton's administration it was called the politics of destruction. I'm willing to bet, this tack will not work this time.

There are scores of people in our country who would say, after listening to Obama's speeches, that he is incredibly uplifting and full of promise. However, I would not expect anyone who would characterize Palin's speech as "uplifting" to offer the same characterization of Obama and vice versa. That is just partisan spin politics. Likewise, people in your camp love to characterize Dems as having "fear" of their candidate. You say she strikes a chord? Yes, she strikes a chord alright. She is very, very far right. This is what McCain needs to pull in the hard core. He is dead wrong, however, if he thinks her breasts will pull in the 18 million Hillary supporters. Just line up Hillary and Palin on the issues and you will see they are diametrically opposed. So, this is why it was absolutely ridiculous of her to have made the claim that "we" are going to break that ceiling after paying homage to Clinton's campaign. Exactly, which "we" is she referring to??

As far as politics of destruction, you are burying your head in the sand if you think this kind of politics does not fully span both sides of the aisle

The far right was missing a candidate who can "inspire." In Palin, they have that candidate. I decided that Obama was a phony when I saw the movie, "Conversations With God." It was during a scene when the main character was addressing an audience and he said, "You are the ones you have been waiting for." Hmmmmm, sound familar? Yes, Palin appeals to the right, and far-r-rr-right. That is why we like her. There is absolutely nothing wrong with appearing to the far right. Obama's big support is the far left. I detest the far left, you detest the far right, I would say the playing field is getting more even. May the best team win.....

Oh glory, the libs have a 17 year old to beat up on now! That should make all of the difference in the election of the president of the US. Is there a family in the country that has not been touched by the results of the "free love" that has been pushed by liberal activists for what 40 years?

I detest the far right AND the far left. Do not put words in my mouth.

Marion, if you found out Michelle and Obama's child was pregnant my bet is that you would be spouting off like Old Faithful about how this immoral family is going to destroy the moral integrity that Bush has "restored" to the White House. It is amazing to me that you are now trying to blame the far left for the teenage pregnancy of a child of a hard right politician. Maybe if Palin paid more attention to the fact that she has so many children rather than trying to be a politician she might have been able to better guide her child towards abstinence.

Let me tell you elfman, I have worked with more teens that have gotten pregnant or infected by STDS that I would not count them. I have delivered hudreds of babies of youngsters that should not even understand about sex, and they are hard pressed to deal with the pain. They are bombarded with sex on every side, tv, movies, news, tv, school, itself, on and on. I can't imagine why so many get in trouble. They begin to believe something is wrong with them if they are not hopping into the sack too.
I have tried to console youngsters with abnormal PAP smears, or Herpes, things they will live with forever. I hate the effect of this "free love" idea promoted by libs. Fortunately I never had to work with a youngster who had contracted AIDS, it would have broken my heart.
But believe me, it is NOT the idea the kid made a mistake, it is the fact so many on the left keep trying to convince them and everyone else there is never any repercussions to a msitake. By the time they find out, they cannot go back.
I think it is a sad commentary that anyone is using the kid to further their own agenda by keeping her in the news, so they can try to use it against her mother.

Since the Daily Kos is the font of all the rumors about Bristol and kids, including the one that her mom's latest was really Bristol's (if she is now pregnant, the calendar would say that the boy can't be hers), you have to know how interesting this makes the deal. I guess I could say that McCain picked a VP with a pregnant unmarried teenager in a diabolical strategerie to court the black vote, the cracker vote, the blue collar/red neck vote. But I won't.

Since sex, sexuality, choice, all that, it the bailiwick of the left, it is really cynical of them to attack the girl on this issue, or even mom and dad. Holy Moley, a knocked up kid is not a rarity. Not in our current world of a movie of the same name that actually treated the surprise pregnancy in a very compassionate light...or Juno, which also was a delightful story, and so timely in that Juneau is the Alaska capitol. Prophetic in a way..

So, it is now very apparent that the gloves are off, and compassion is not a part of the Democrat mainstream or their radical fringe, that radical fringe never denounced by the Big D mainstreamers due to the Big Tent theory....which makes them sound like imans of the muslim faith who remained silent after the World Trade Center massacre. So, the fringe Democrats are going to pull this poor girl through the mud, when she is actually a majority representative of mainstream minority attitudes and ideals towards parenthood. In my heart, I know rakes and sperm donors like Jesse Jackson and Kweisi Mfume, with a life trail of bastard children behind them, like it's their due and their entitlement, will NOT come to Bristol's defense, but will contribute to the hypocrisy. It is a Democrat thing to do. If Obama is a real muslim, he should now be calling for the girl to be stoned to death. That is the sharia law solution so revered by so many.

But, Gee, is it ever nice to see a REAL person, with real person problems and real person travails, as a candidate. Delightful at the least. And Mom will not dodge the slings and arrows, but will stand and face them. This will be a test that resonates with a lot of Moms and Dads, and single moms, and how this is treated will be interesting...I just wonder how prudish the press will be, and how much pig wrasslin' the Democrats want to get into....'cause they will end up just as muddied as the metaphorical pig which will benefit McCain....and, there is the reality that not much will be said, for the current VP has a lesbian daughter who has been treated like the normal kid Cheney and is his wife would want. The press has not made a big deal of that, and neither did either political party. I guess when you are a VP candidate, and your kid is gay, the "knocked up" factor is pretty low. Nobody had to "vet" that.

All in all, this election circus gets better every day. I can't wait to see what inquiring minds can find tomorrow. The Democrat leader and candidate in the primaries, Senator Edwards, seemed to be a sperm donor outside of his marriage and family, so you wonder why this teenage daughter of a Republican is so lurid. I hope that she has a healthy baby, and a happy life. Heaven knows, so many girls enter a very early adulthood in this manner. She will need all the help her family will give her.

Why is the teenage daughter of a republican party candidate so lurid?!? Geez, man. Can't you figure that out on your own?? The Republican party is the party of the fundamentalist christian right who would like for everyone to believe that people such as Palin will restore dignity and morality to the white house (as was claimed by the campaign of GW way back in 2000). Yeah... that worked out great... NOT! So, here we have a woman who everyone (on the right) wants to hold up as being some kind of Supermom/Governor who can do it all including serve as VP. Clearly she can not. She has been in favor of teaching creationism and abstinence till marriage in our schools. Seems a little hypocritical when she cannot successfully instill those values in her own children. If it were a Dem you could not blame them for being hypocritical, right? After all, the Democrats are just a bunch of Godless heathens, right? Maybe Palin should try to focus on being a Mom rather than trying to be everything to everybody. Pay a little attention at home.

By the way, in case you were not paying attention Obama has already come out and said this issue (Bristol) is "off limits". Whatever happens now you can only blame on Dem party operatives in the same way that dems can blame republican operatives for all the scandalous, sickening behavior we have seen from the GOP. It is never the candidate's fault. uh, right.

Finally, this has nothing to do with dragging a poor girl through the mud and everything to do with the hypocrisy of the GOP. Personally, while I have compassion for what Bristol is about to go through and I hope her "marriage" works out Sarah should have known that, right or wrong, her child would inevitably suffer in the public eye once the news came out. Perhaps she is the one who should have had a little more compassion for her daughter's future by declining to accept McCain's invitation. Perhaps McCain, by virtue of the fact that he claims to have known about this all along, should have had a little more compassion too. No, it was more important to find a candidate with breasts than to protect the privacy of a child. It is a given that this stuff is going to come out and be ugly despite their belief that it is a "private matter". How many "private matters" have we seen exposed and sensationalized over scandals that have plagued both parties?! History serves a good lesson. If it were my child I would have thought a little more about the effects on my child before stepping into the public arena like this.

Palin brings a pending ethics investigation to the campaign (her own Troopergate, only this one's not manufactured like the last one), and came out against Ballot Measure 4 just prior to the recent elections - despite the fact that Alaska's governor isn't permitted to weigh in on ballot measures by law.

She uttered the words "personal exemption" as some kind of excuse - even though nobody really seems to know what it means.

Clearly, her "the law doesn't apply to me" approach is an excellent echo of what's happing in the current administration, so I expect all the lunatic righties will somehow twist this into a good thing. Really.

As if four more years of constitutional corruption are what this country needs.

It is quite obvious that the party of choice is also the party of intolerance. Would you feel better elfman if they had killed the baby & kept quiet.
Actually, bearbait, if you remember Edwards or Kerry did bring up the issue of the Cheney daughter during one of the debates. All in the interest of informing of course!
Kids managed to get themselves into early families even when I was growing up, just not as many. And I guarantee you that it was NOT acceptable in any way shape or form in those days. Now they are pushed into sexuality very early.

So it just came out that Sarah Palin was a member of a political party that wants Alaska to secede from the USA.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html
I guess it sorta explains why she supported extremist Pat Buchanan in 2000.
Does this mean we could expect McSame to appoint a Freemen for Sec. of State?

Marion - No, what I would have preferred is for McCain and Palin to have jointly recognized that a political campaign is no place for a 17 year old pregnant daughter given the extent to which she would inevitably suffer as a result of her poor choices (that being premarital and unprotected sex) and her mother's willingness to put her in the public eye. It is a given that her pregnancy would be exposed and it is another given that it would be exploited. You can damn well bet that if Barack and Michelle were expecting an illegitimate grandchild that Karl Rove's successors would be all over it!! Can you admit that? Can you? If you try to deny that you need to take a reality pill.

You seem to think that I am upset that she is keeping the baby or that she is getting married. Quite the contrary. It is good that she is keeping the baby. Marrying under these circumstances, however, seems crazy but more power to them. I hate to say it but my suspicion is that it won't last. My primary criticism is rooted in Palin and McCain's lack of compassion and responsibility for this young girl. If they knew she was pregnant (which they both admit) then they had EVERY REASON IN THE WORLD TO KNOW that the result would be what we now see... pictures of the poor girl plastered all over the world with everyone inspecting her stomach ever so closely. It is sickening but it is bound to happen no matter what party is afflicted with the "scandal"!! Any fool could have predicted this would happen and, if they (McCain/Palin) failed to do so, it only shows how out of touch with the real world they really are. Doesn't sound like a good recipe for an effective administration if you ask me!

Let me ask you, Marion: God forbid but if McCain asked you to be his running mate and you found out your young daughter was pregnant would you have accepted his invitation knowing that it would likely put your daughter's world into a tailspin or would have you have exercised compassion and parental responsibility by declining?

Please do not forget... more than anything I would like you to answer the question as to whether you can admit that Rove's successors, behind the scenes, would be painting Barack and Michelle's daughter as an underage whore (in my hypothetical).

I jsut want to point out that this is not the first presidential race whre an unwed pregnancy became and issue. Dan Quayle took a real verbal beating by the libs for suggesting that the tv show Murphy Brown glamorized unwed motherhood, and would give youngsters a false sense of the huge problems involved.
Sorry elfman, your dirty mind can make up all kinds of weird crazy scenarios that you want responses to. I'll deal with facts.

Dodge and weave... dodge and weave. That is exactly what I expected from you Marion. I do not know why I even tried to be logical and realistic with you. Asking you to think about what it would be like if the shoe were on the other foot is not a "weird crazy scenario" but rather a very useful way of seeing things from a different perspective. You should try it sometime. I won't hold my breath, however.

required reading:

Palin has much to prove
Alaskans can cheer, even while wondering ...
Fairbanks Daily News Miner - Published Saturday, August 30, 2008

Sen. John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate was a stunning decision that should make Alaskans proud, even if we wonder about the actual merits of the choice.

No Alaskan politician has risen to such national prominence before. The closest was former Gov. Wally Hickel, whom President Nixon chose as Interior secretary in 1969. Palin is truly a remarkable figure, a person carried forward to enormous fame by the times and her personal charm and principles.

Alaskans and Americans must ask, though, whether she should become vice president and, more importantly, be placed first in line to become president.

When a candidate for president picks a vice presidential running mate, that partner ought to have more qualifications than “She’s not from Washington.”

McCain offered that justification Friday morning for his decision. There was a lot more, of course, about the governor’s “grit, integrity and devotion to the common good.” But after cataloging her basic decency and compassion for the common man, what was there? “She’s not from Washington.” No doubt about it. In fact, as the governor herself acknowledged in her acceptance speech, she never set out to be involved in public affairs. She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land. Republicans rightfully have criticized the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for his lack of experience, but Palin is a neophyte in comparison; how will Republicans reconcile the criticism of Obama with the obligatory cheering for Palin? Or will everyone just be forced to drop the subject? That’s not a comforting possibility. Although no one has the perfect resume and experience isn’t everything, it is an important quality to weigh. Palin, if elected vice president, would ascend to the presidency if anything should happen to McCain, who turned 72 Friday.

Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation’s when he created the possibility that she might fill it.

It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance. She’s a woman. She has fought corruption. She has fought the oil companies. She’s married to a union member. These are portrayals for campaign speeches; they are not policy positions.

There also was some pandering right from the start. “I told Congress ‘Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere,’” Palin reported to the crowd in Dayton, Ohio. “If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we’d build it ourselves.”

But the state kept the bridge money. That’s because Alaskans pay federal gas taxes and they expect a share of those taxes to come back, just like people do in every other state. We build very little by ourselves, and any governor who turned that tax money down likely would be turned out of office.

Palin’s image as a fresh reformer works on some level, for the moment. The governor, as she is quite able to do, delivered a good speech in a strong voice. The crowd cheered her enthusiastically, only occasionally fading into the “huh?” mode during the presentation. The televised punditry followed up with mostly positive comments, calling Palin’s selection a clever “chess move” by McCain. The chess analogy offers some caution. Gov. Palin, while extending her amazing adventure in politics, must prove she is more than a pawn.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/30/palin-has-much-prove/?opinion

elfman,
Beware. I tried to deal with facts one time when she had some incorrect information about radiometric dating and how it was used to determine the age of the Earth. she responded by saying that such dating was a plot by computers to trick humankind.

Palin helped secure almost $27 million in projects for her tiny hometown of Wasilla, Alaska.

Among the spending projects Palin helped obtain through the earmark process: $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs and $15 million for a rail project, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/09/palins_earmarks_spark_question.html?hpid=topnews