Thank you, Democrats, for forcing McCain to pick a running mate that will ensure his loss

Note, I said running mate, because Vice President? I don't think so. In fact, a month ago, Palin was dissing the VP job. And not in the "Don't pick me (PICK ME!)" way. As in the "I don't know what a VP does" way.

Sarah Palin, you and I see eye-to-eye on practically nothing. You are a woman, a mother, a working mother, your job(s) are hard. I know this, but, I feel a little bit sorry for you. You've allowed yourself to be a pawn in the Republicans' game and yet you seem like a smart person. You were chosen to pander to Hillary Clinton supporters. Let's not pussyfoot around that. You addressed those 18 million voters in your speech today. Palin, McCain, we see right through your scheme. Hillary Clinton supporters who would vote for McCain simply because he chose a female running mate don't support the issues and core values that Hillary Clinton stands for. We know that, Hillary Clinton knows that, and McCain, you best believe that that's the truth. (Not only that, I agree with Liza Sabater, your choice as VP is an insult to the far-more-qualified Republican women McCain could have picked.)

Women: we are better than this.

Trying to build up your glaring lack of experience into a curriculum vitae that comes close to Biden or Obama in 60+ days until the election? That's going to be a tall order, but I'll be watching.

When McCain goes down, and go down he will, he will say, "But at least I picked a woman." That may seem like a positive but it isn't. You'll be a scapegoat. The fall girl, if you will. And then it's back to moose burgers and ice fishing for you.

—Stefania Pomponi Butler is delighted with McCain's choice for VP. Oh yes, she is.

Comments

[Kristin]

And, it even gets juicier. She's the target of an investigation for allegedly firing the Alaska Commissioner of Public Safety because he wouldn't fire the police officer who was going through an ugly divorce with her sister. She then replaced the Commissioner with someone who had been cited for sexual harassment -- Palin knew this *before* she appointed the loser.

[Kristin]

Also, I'm wondering if she knows how to spell potato.

[Lara]

Great analysis, City Mama. We're much smarter than the GOP thinks we are!

[Amy in OHio]

Right on!

[vite]

Hmmmm...let's think about this a second...

Sarah Palin was chosen "for her vagina, over someone more qualified..."

The GOP could respond that Obama was chosen "for his race, over someone more qualified".

Sarah Palin must be as stupid as Dan Quayle - but, says the GOP, let's not remember all of Obama's stupid gaffes "57 states..."

Obama should have picked Hillary. He didn't. He opened the door for this. Don't blame Palin for walking through it.

[vite]

Oh, wow...this is another one of those tolerant sites that deletes comments that disagree....

how liberal of you. I won't bother coming back.

[kj1961]

I am so thrilled about McCain's selection of Governor Sarah Palin. She has more experience and accomplishment than the top of the DEM ticket. Stretch as hard as you can to demoralize this woman who sincerely can do the job and I know that she will. Governor Palin will be making history as the 1st woman who is elected VEEP in USA! Be proud of this Governor mom! I so am proud to see this piece of our history unfold. She is going to fight hard for middle-class families and I believe in her ethics and her ability with McCain and to bring change to Washington.

[Kristin]

What is it with McCain and beauty pageant contestants? Some sort of fetish?

[kirsten]

The same way you stretch to demoralize Barrack Obama? Hello Pot, this is Kettle. Please!

[AJ]

Wow, you're truly a spiteful chick, aren't you? So full of venom at the fact that Palin's pro-life that you resort to petty, catty "pawn" bullcrap. What scares you is that Sarah Palin is a strong, succssful, conservative female with more experience than Obama, and the fact that she is pro-life. So you try to smear her, discount her as someone of importance. It reminds me of Black Democrats throwing Oreo cookies at Michael Steele, discounting him because he's a Black Republican. It's like if people don't conform to your own personal agenda for them, they're automatically worthless. How very "tolerant" of you.

[Jess]

I personally think McCain made a huge mistake. Palin has very little experience. Her ethics are in question and people are shouting that McCain only picked her because she is a woman. I have to agree.

[AJ]

By the way, that "juicy" investigation is a joke, so say the people of Alaska. There is absolutely NO evidence of ANY wrongdoing on Palin's part. She has cooperated FULLY every step of the way with every part of the investigation, and has been found 100% innocent of any "abuse of power." Sorry to break your heart, sweetie.

[kirsten]

"Wow, you're truly a spiteful man, aren't you? So full of venom at the fact that Barracks Pro-choice that you resort to petty, catty "pawn" bullcrap. What scares you is that Barrack Obama is a strong, succssful, African American with more experience than Palin, and the fact that He's Pro-choice. So you try to smear him, discount him as someone of importance. It's like if people don't conform to your own personal agenda for them, they're automatically worthless. How very "tolerant" of you."

Can go both ways babe!

[Kristin]

I think it should be stated that no one can insult Barack Obama if said insulter cannot spell his name.

Barracks?

[April Jones]

Buh-bye, "vite". Don't let the proverbial door hit ya in the ass on your way out. Oh by the way, your comment wasn't deleted. You're just impatient.

Aaaaaanyway.... yes, I think its wonderful that McCain picked a female for VP. But the fact that he chose one with very little experience over much more qualified female candidates makes it look more like an act of desperation than an intelligent choice.

I think its going to backfire on him. What he doesn't realize is that a lot of his supporters are people who are NOT pro-McCain but are simply anti-Obama. And the McCain voters that are that racist also happen to be sexist as well. So I'm betting some of them won't be too happy that he picked a chick.

If he was hoping to snag some of the Hilary supporters, he underestimated them. Apparently he thought they supported her just because she has a vagina. Um, no, they supported her because of her stance on the issues. Palin's are a stark contrast to Clinton's.

Unfortunately, his choice looks more like a PR stunt than an intelligent and informed decision. I say "unfortunately" because it would've been nice to see a female VP if McCain does happen to win. Just not this woman...

[Kristin]

OH, woops -- you were being sarcastic. Sorry!

[kirsten]

She's no Hillary Clinton and to make a comparison to a woman with 35 years of experience and a champion of women everywhere is an insult. Any Hillary supporter with an ounce of inteligence would see right through this farce.

[RalphCrossen]

Your just jealous that a rising female star has to have an R after her name. Palen has the qualities most Americans think are admirable. Get over it, Gore lost, move into the future you loser.

[RalphCrossen]

Your just jealous that a rising female star has to have an R after her name. Palen has the qualities most Americans think are admirable. Get over it, Gore lost, move into the future you loser.

[Jo-Ann]

Well, we all know how McCain feels about women; he has showed us time and again. So I'm not surprised that he thinks women are dumb enough to believe that Palin = Hillary Clinton. Luckily, he has underestimated us at just the right moment. I love it when a character's fatal flaw leads to their demise.

[Daisy]

Watch closely to see how McCain treats his running mate. If he demeans her the way he puts down his wife, any votes she may bring in will be negated by those he loses.

[The Engineer]

You are going to have to delete this comment aren't you?

Your article comprises the biggest load of catty, jealous, billious drivel I have ever set eyes on.

None of the candidates, with the notable exception of this young woman, has ever experienced executive responsibility.

"You are a woman, a mother, a working mother, your job(s) are hard." Oh do spare us the faux empathy. As if you had any idea what life is like for an attractive woman.

Her job is Governor of the State of Alaska, isn't it?

Funny how it seems so impossible for you to type that in.

She is a State Governor, she is young, beautiful, clever, highly respected, a good mother...

... is this upsetting you?

Good.

[Reality Check]

It will be an honor to be a part of the first party to elevate a woman to the office of Vice President.

[kirsten]

Kristin - Got your message, no worries!

[kirsten]

If Republicans wanted to gain Hillary's votes, they should've picked someone with the same ideals as Hillary.
Women didn't vote for Hillary because she wore a pants suit and stood firm amoungst men. They voted for her because they shared her views.
Republicans are pretty much saying Hillary supporters are stupid with this pic for VP, that they'll vote for anyone McCain picks as long as she has a Va Jay Jay.

[Tim]

So why is your site called MOMocrats when your one and only overriding issue is the right to snuff out a baby's life so you don't become a mom? Why don't you just go all out and change the name to ABORTocrats?

[Sarah Eisner]

I, for one, love that it is acceptable and not shocking that a woman was picked as a VP running mate (and that rather, it is simply shocking that a woman with "no idea what the Vice President does" was picked as a VP running mate).

I couldn't be less Republican or more for Obama, but kudos to our country, conservative and liberal, for being at a point where this discussion is about whether the particular woman picked can do the job, not whether any woman can do the job at all.

I love that Palin is a woman, I just don't like the woman she is. I will be the first to say I'm scared shitless to think of her in the White House, both for her pro-war and anti-choice beliefs and for her naïveté. But remember when the discussion was about Hillary not being able to win because she's a woman? Now we're talking about the Republican party picking a woman in a desperate attempt to gain traction with voters. Hoo-ray to that (but I agree that this is a desperate attempt on McCain's part and won't be seen as a smart move by anyone except anti-choicers and evangelicals). What I'm looking forward to seeing is how conservative "family values" evangelicals come to terms with the fact that she is working over full-time with an infant and four other children to raise. Shouldn't she be in the kitchen, by their standards? I praise her for her hard work in and out of the house, but what in the world will they say about her time "away from her family"?

[Stephanie]

Wow, there is so much crazy in these comments, I don't even know where to begin.

Is criticizing a woman for her lack of qualifications really the definition of "catty"?

And what does being beautiful have to do with being a VP?

Last but not least...if mothers can't fight for the reproductive rights of other women, then we are all well and truly fucked.

[Jo-Ann]

Tim, are you for real? Truly. WTF???

[MOL]

I realize from the blog name that most of the commenters here would be liberals, and thus...well, dim, but I didn't think they'd be THIS dim, to trot out the elementary school "I know you are but what am I" trick -

""Wow, you're truly a spiteful man, aren't you? So full of venom at the fact that Barracks Pro-choice that you resort to petty, catty "pawn" bullcrap. What scares you is that Barrack Obama is a strong, succssful, African American with more experience than Palin, and the fact that He's Pro-choice. So you try to smear him, discount him as someone of importance. It's like if people don't conform to your own personal agenda for them, they're automatically worthless. How very "tolerant" of you."

Can go both ways babe!"

"Wow, you're truly a spiteful man, aren't you? So full of venom at the fact that Barracks Pro-choice that you resort to petty, catty "pawn" bullcrap." ?? previous commenter mentioned no pawnage. And it does not speak well of you that you don't spell your candidate's name correctly - one might assume you don't even know who you're rooting for.

"What scares you is that Barrack Obama is a strong, successful, African American with more experience than Palin, and the fact that He's Pro-choice." Successful? At what? I must admit, he's proved successful at getting elected, and he has made a pile writing two books about..himself. By all means, let's elect an autobiographer! More experience? Doing what? Running for office, as opposed to doing the job thereof? Do you REALLY want to go down that road with Mr. "Voting 'Present'"?

"So you try to smear him, discount him as someone of importance. It's like if people don't conform to your own personal agenda for them, they're automatically worthless. How very "tolerant" of you."

Don't have to smear the guy, he manages to do that himself every day or so. Like today's comment, which even made conservatives like myself say "What was he thinking?" (BTW, even if he himself did not say it, his campaign did, and he is the CIC of that organization. He is ultimately responsible.)

"It's like if people don't conform to your own personal agenda for them, they're automatically worthless. How very "tolerant" of you."

Sorry, dear heart, you started that ball rolling by calling Ms. Palin a pawn. AJ was correct to point this out - your article basically called her worthless for not agreeing with your values. And tolerance? I'm conservative - we don't claim the mantle, it's simpler just to practice it.

And now I've just wasted 20 minutes pointing out the flaws in an argument by someone who most likely can't even comprehend that their argument might have flaws. It's like trying to teach pigs to sing.

[Lawyer Mama]

Wow, the Republican crazy is certainly out in full force today. You must have hit a nerve, Stefania. (-;

I have to agree. I'm sure she's an intelligent person and a good politician. I understand she upset a sitting Republican governor to get the job. But...I also understand that John McCain only met her once before selecting her as his VP choice. Sounds like they went looking for a conservative woman to fill a slot to me. That's sad. I'd love to see a woman as VP or better yet, president (although not in this election), but she should be selected based on her qualifications and her ideals, not her gender.

Oh & could someone tell me what happened to Bridget McCain? She seems to be conspicuously absent from all the photos of the McCains and the Palins....

[sarah gilbert]

Stefania: I love and agree with you. are you going to register "ABORTocrats.com" or should I?

the worst part about this whole thing is that I was really getting excited for a few minutes when I first heard the news. a young-ish mama as potential VP! but then I started seeing her positions and got more and more sick to my stomach.

I think she seems like a lovely mama but, truly, a startlingly extreme politician. I do hope that this is McCain, throwing the election, because if it's for real and he thinks he can win with this, hooh boy, we're in for a strange and frightening few months.

[cynematic]

Remember what Senator Lloyd Bensten told Dan Quayle?

Same thing here.

Governor Palin, I've met Hillary Clinton and you're no Hillary Clinton.

I'd like to see what that vile Maureen Dowd has to say about Palin, given her stupid nickname for Edwards ("The Breck Girl").

[kj1961]

Palin is running for VP. Not President. That being said, her executive experience as Governor rooting out the corruption of her REPUBLICAN predecessors and bringing the multi-billion dollar gas line that will open up the independence of foreign energy sources and her ability to DO IT in her term as Governor is remarkable!Obama has done NOTHING but show his ability to preach his own fire and brimstone agenda. Hot air with no substance. Palin as VP shows the track record for more real change than the DEM top guy. McCain's pick is genius and it is not because they expect Hillary voters. Middle class people who want action will see that this ticket is a winner!

If the only agenda the abortocrat moms want is to ensure that you can abort your children, I believe that the higher power that I call God will have a hand in the outcome here. Possibly by touching on your own consciences. But there are those unfortunates...who don't have one–a conscience that is.

[Laura]

McCain's selection of Palin seems to truly embody what Obama said in his acceptance speech, about the "you're own your own" theory of government, unless we want to tell you what to do with your body. McCain's selection of her gets rid of all nuance, this is an election of absolutely opposing worldviews. May the Democrats win, and may we restore compassion into out government.

[kirsten]

If you'd have bothered to scroll up you would see it was pure sarcasm on my part, the spelling was intentional. You talk about electing an autobiographer and the smear ads talk about Barack being a celebrity and how we shouldn't elect one right! Because republicans would NEVER elect a celebrity right? Reagan? Schwartzaneger? I'm sorry you feel so threatened by the Obama/Biden ticket.

Barack has been successful, served in the Senate for three years. State legislature for 7 years. Harvard graduate. Law degree. Should I go on because I can.

What's palin experienced at? 2 years as governor. Sat on the City Council board, if you've ever been involved in local politics you know that doesn't mean anything, pure pandering. Oh and there was that talent of wining a beauty pageant. GO PALIN! In my opinion she's nothing more than a good old boy in a skirt and that's where her feminism ends.

[kj1961]

Does Obama's elite Harvard education qualify him more? Check out what other elite and socially dangerous products come from our own schools.

Innocent scholar, or educated terrorist?
By Larry Neumeister
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
08/24/2008

NEW YORK — To supporters, Aafia Siddiqui is a devout Muslim, a scholar educated at MIT and Brandeis, who fled to Pakistan after 9/11 because of anti-Muslim sentiment.

To U.S. authorities, she is a reminder of the constant threat of terrorism, someone willing to blow up landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty.

Siddiqui, 36, now sits in a federal lockup in Brooklyn, nursing bullet wounds suffered in a shoot-out last month in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors say she was shot by a U.S. Army officer after she grabbed his rifle from the floor and pointed it at an Army captain, crying "Allah Akbar!"

One of her lawyers, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, said witnesses have said Siddiqui never lunged for a weapon and that they never heard rifle shots.

According to an FBI affidavit, Siddiqui had been arrested the day before the shooting outside an Afghan governor's compound carrying bottles and jars of chemicals, papers describing U.S. landmarks, and instructions on making chemical weapons.

Sharp maintains that Siddiqui has been continuously in U.S. custody ever since she was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2003.

A government official briefed on the case told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the list of targets included the Empire State Building, New York's Grand Central Terminal and the Statue of Liberty.

[kirsten]

I fail to see what this has to do with Obama?

[kj1961]

The fantasy that this country should become a technocratic paradise for eggheads with advanced degrees and no robust experience of ordinary life appeals primarily to young people. And they mostly grow out of it.

[kirsten]

So you don't like him because he has a law degree? He was a civil rights lawyer and taught constitutional law. What scares you about that?

He's a father and a husband, it's his "experience with ordinary life" that give him robust experience.

"Barack Obama "grew up in different places with people who had differing ideas - that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain."

[Stefania/CityMama]

To everyone reading the comments above, there is only one "take away": Look how scared the right wingers are. Look how quick they are to bring up their one vote issue: Abortion. Change our name to ABORTocrats! My, isn't that clever. Tell us we're going to hell and god will judge? Go on with your bad selves! Delete your comments? Oh no, we'll be leaving these comments up to remind ourselves and everyone else exactly the kind of "thinking" we are up against and why this election is so important.

Interesting that we haven't seen this kind of vitriol on this site up until now. Until this VP choice.

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you one issue voters, but we aren't backing down. *I* am not backing down. We will continue being critical of John McCain and, now, Sarah Palin, and our criticism has nothing to do with either candidate's gender. We will continue standing up for issues that are important to progessive mothers. We will not be shouted down by those who confuse attacking and name-calling with thoughtful discourse. We will not stop until Barack Obama and Joe Biden are elected to the White House.