Tag: Sarah Palin

We're not going to have Gov. Sarah Palin to kick around any more much longer, which is fine by me, since all I ever wanted was for her not to become Vice President and for people to recognize John McCain's astoundingly reckless judgment in choosing her for the ticket, but I do find this amusing and can't resist writing about it.

The New York Times recaps her final moments at the Arizona Biltmore Wednesday and last trip aboard her McCain-Palin campaign plane:

As Ms. Palin’s entourage of two dozen family members and friends boarded the plane, and aides scurried around loading diapers, bottled water and a Louis Vuitton duffel onto it, Ms. Palin darted over to the reporters, whom she regularly derided as “Barack Obama’s friends in the media” in her stump speech, to shake hands and say goodbye.

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Newsweek reports, using McCain campaign sources, that Sarah Palin was, contrary to her denials, not only fully involved in her clothing expenditures, she spent far more than previously announced.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill.

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I don't want to interrupt the Obama celebration tonight with talk about McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, so I'm starting this post early.

I'm so glad she will be going back to Alaska and I won't have to write about her any more.

Here are my reasons why McCain/Palin lost -- in no partiuclar order: [More...]

I just saw Sarah Palin interviewed at her polling place. She wouldn't say who she voted for. She said, no matter what happens, she'll "always be Sarah from Alaska."

Please, go vote, so Sarah stays in Alaska and the only time we have to mention her is in connection with a post-mortem analysis of McCain's reckless, selfish failed Hail Mary Pass.

I muted her when she started talking about the Personnel Board Report. Unlike the Legislature, the Personnel Board is an agency of the state's executive branch and its officials can be fired by Palin. Even those appointed by her predecessor. Of course they came out for her on Election Eve, they want to keep their jobs, as TChris wrote here. The Legislative Report found she abused the power of her office. How convenient for her to gloss over that.

Bye, Sarah.

In an editorial today, the Casper Tribune endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. It says Obama is better on economic and energy issues and McCain flubbed by picking Gov. Sarah Palin. In describing McCain it says:

If the John McCain of 2000 saw today's counterpart, he wouldn't recognize himself. McCain is no longer a GOP maverick, or the war hero whose principles were unwavering. He has flip-flopped on issues ranging from tax cuts to torture in an effort to win over the conservative base of his party. He has waged a dismal campaign based on fear and divisiveness.

On Obama: [More...]

The final USA Today/Gallup Poll is out. Obama is ahead of McCain by 11 points -- 53% to 42%. This is interesting:

Obama's favorable rating is 62% -- the highest that any presidential candidate has registered in Gallup's final pre-election polls going back to 1992.

USA Today's Washington bureau chief, Susan Page writes: [More...]

I don't think there's any doubt that if, as virtually universally anticipated, McCain loses the presidential election on Tuesday, it's because of two things: the economy and his choice of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate.

Columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson puts them in perspective, by asking, what if McCain had picked Mitt Romney as his running mate. I've wondered the same thing but he says it much better and more succinctly than I would, so read it and see if you don't find yourself nodding along in agreement with his logic. I sure did. [More...]

CNN has released more results from its poll today. The initial results (pdf)have Obama ahead by 8 points among likely voters and 11 points among registered voters.

The additional poll results (pdf) released at 8pm ET include answers to this question:

Please tell me whether you agree or disagree that each of the following candidates has the personality and leadership qualities a President should have.

The results for Sarah Palin:

Likely Voters:
Agree has qualities: 37%
Disagree has qualities: 63%
No opinion: 1%

Registered Voters:
Agree has qualities: 40%
Disagree has qualities: 57%
No opinion: 2%

That's an average of 60% who think she lacks the necesary leadership qualities . [More...]

Among the more notable findings in today's New York Times/CBS News poll is that 59% of voters say Gov. Sarah Palin is not qualified for the job of Vice-President. On October 8, it was 50%.

All told, 59 percent of voters surveyed said that Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up 9 percentage points since the beginning of the month. Nearly a third of voters polled said that the vice-presidential selection would be a major factor influencing their vote for president, and those voters broadly favored Senator Barack Obama.

As to how his choice of Palin has damaged McCain's image: [More...]

A new ethics complaint has been filed with the Alaska State Personnel Board against Gov. Sarah Palin over her charging the state for non-government related travel expenses of her children. The complaint is here (pdf).

When Palin returns to Alaska next week, hopefully for good, she may face different approval ratings than when she began her most non-excellent VP adventure.

Sure, as I've been saying for a few months, the election is now about turnout. Even so, ABC News boils down the electoral map in such a way that it seems impossible John McCain can win:

If McCain doesn't win Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, he would have to run the table and win all eight of the competitive states that were held by President Bush in 2004, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina, and Nevada.

...If you take all four of these states that will be decided relatively early on Election Night next Tuesday -- Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Florida -- McCain has to win three out of four of those states to even have a chance of getting to 270 electoral votes.

It gets worse for McCain: Even Montana is no longer a sure thing and McCain has begun advertising there this week. [More...]

The Des Moines Register has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Why not John McCain?

But it's as if McCain has lost his way, forfeiting principle for gain of a few points in the polls. He put on hold his long-sought quest for comprehensive immigration reform. Though widely regarded as a man of honor, he has overseen a campaign premised on purposeful distortions about Obama and his record.

Worst of all, in grasping for political edge in his choice of a running mate, he burdened his ticket and potentially the country with an individual utterly unqualified to ascend to the presidency. Before choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain emphasized the importance of experience and sound judgment in fighting terrorism and confronting a restive Russia and a rising China. He has also questioned Obama's readiness to be commander in chief. Then he picked a running mate who clearly isn't ready.(emphasis supplied.)

On the plus side for Obama, besides the economy and his inspiring of voters: [More...]

The Anchorage Daily News today endorsed Barack Obama for President. While it has some encouragement for Palin as regards her future career in politics, it aptly notes:

To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.

Obama leads McCain in daily newspaper endorsements 160 to 59, an almost 3-1 margin. Here's a list.

Newsweek reports RNC donors were furious about the $150,000 clothing expense shelled out for Gov. Sarah Palin's clothes.

Lobbyist Andrea McWilliams, a GOP fundraiser in Texas, said the flap undercut the party's message. Palin's "transformation from low couture to haute couture isn't the kind of change that voters had in mind," she said.

Marty Eisenstadt takes a closer look at the expenditure form and notes that the second make-up artist, Tracy Thorpe, was flown in and paid $900 to give Sarah Palin a spray tan to get rid of her "Eskimo tan."

Newsweek reports the McCain campaign "directed" the RNC to foot the clothing bill. [More...]

Fox News this afternoon replayed Sean Hannity's interview last night with Sarah Palin. Driving home, I tuned in just at the part where he asked her about the clothes. I thought I must have heard it wrong. Did she really say that the clothes were going to be returned as well as donated? How do you return clothes after you've worn them?

I just checked the transcript on Lexis.com. She said exactly that: [More...]