Comments on: The VP Debate: Palinpalooza (Wink, Wink)

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:40:06 +0000

Great. So even less work.

By: JonCummings

JonCummings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:24:52 +0000

Hey, she's a sports-twinkie, not a weather-twinkie. There's a crucial difference. (Fewer green screens, I believe.)

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:40:06 +0000

Great. So even less work.

By: JonCummings

JonCummings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:24:52 +0000

Hey, she's a sports-twinkie, not a weather-twinkie. There's a crucial difference. (Fewer green screens, I believe.)

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:14:02 +0000

You know, I expect "some" sort of traipsing out of family. Kids, etc. It's part and parcel of the sport of politics and everyone knows that. To an extent.
When Palin not only made mention of her "Special Needs" baby but then showed said baby being coddled by...yet another baby, they introduced not just the children quotient but a callous, kids-as-happy-meal-toy aspect. To that end, bringing the kid on stage at the end of the veep debate was nothing more than a photo op with the re****o-prop.
And yet, Biden's quick choking up did more for me with images of dead children that I have never seen.
The difference is that the former is crass and calculated and the latter seemed to be somewhat real.
For some reason people really want to give her a pass on things like that and I don't think we should. I think she is exactly what she seems: an opportunistic, social/political climbing television weather-twinkie (let's see who is offended by that one) who used her looks to get anywhere she could. In many ways, Sarah Palin sets the women's movement back 50 years.
She should be stopped.
Thankfully, it's happening as we speak.

By: JonCummings

JonCummings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:55:09 +0000

Cannot defend that ad…though, far as I can tell, it aired only once before they pulled it in shame…

And hey, at least Social Security (and “private accounts” in a stock market that's down 2000 points lately) is an issue that's relevant to voters, unlike the crap the Republicans are cooking up to change the subject…

By: autodidact

autodidact — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:36:06 +0000

“To that end, expect Michelle and the girls to take a higher profile over the next four weeks as McCain and the Rovians pull out all the despicable Republican stops. “

Yes, that would be while Obama runs truthful informative commercials about how McCain wanted to cut Social Security checks by 50%.

I still say the best way to decide this is pistols at thirty paces.

The Bitter Cling-er

By: rahulgupta

rahulgupta — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:37:09 +0000

I'm totally late to this conversation, but I have to say that this whole article articulately reflects the conversation my wife and I have been having since the debate…

and I completely second “Candyland and chess” as the best, most concise description of the debate.

By: JonCummings

JonCummings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:07:27 +0000

I think that's too general a statement. Practically EVERY politician trots out the family at some point — if he or she has one — because a pretty picture of the wife/husband and kids says, “Look, I've got peeps — I'm just like you.”

If it's done judiciously, it works and it's inoffensive. One of the few things the Clintons did well in merging their personal and political lives was to show off just enough of Chelsea — the walk to Madison Square Garden at the '92 convention was memorable — without exposing her too much, and they were vigilant to keep her out of the media. (Georgie Boy wishes he'd been a bit more vigilant with Barbara and Jenna during his first term.)

Obama went too far when he allowed “Extra” to do a family interview over the summer, but he reined it in quickly. Otherwise, his trotting out of the fam has been nothing but a positive for him, especially in an election where he's been trying to beat back the “this guy's not like you” attacks from Hillary and the Republicans.

To that end, expect Michelle and the girls to take a higher profile over the next four weeks as McCain and the Rovians pull out all the despicable Republican stops. Batten down the hatches…

By: DwDunphy

DwDunphy — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:35:31 +0000

And, like I said before, you don't see Palin trotting out her young unwed teen daughter like that. Politicians, like Hollywood stars, who use their kids as any sort of publicity point make me recoil.