Girl fight!
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/05/art.split.hillary.palin.jpg]Editor’s Note: Amy Holmes is an independent conservative who has not endorsed any candidate for president.
Amy Holmes | Bio
CNN Political Analyst
McCain has a strong woman? Well, the Obama campaign wants voters to know they've got one, too, and they're going to deploy her to crush the moose hunting hockey mom from Alaska. In a strange twist of logic, the Obama campaign is touting the woman they passed over as the woman they need to beat the woman the other guy picked.
The New York Times reports that "Mrs. Clinton's campaign event in Florida, her first for Mr. Obama since the Democratic convention, will serve as a counterpoint to the searing attacks and fresh burst of energy that Ms. Palin injected into the race with her convention speech on Wednesday, Obama aides said."
So, let's get this straight. They didn't choose her and her 18 million voters to put on the ticket. They gave the VP spot to Joe Biden. But now that Sarah Palin has arrived on the political scene, they're promoting Hillary as the female answer to the Republican VP nominee. Awkward, to say the least.
And as one female democratic strategist tells me, don't think that Hillary hasn't noticed.
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Filed under: Amy Holmes • Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain • Raw Politics • Sarah Palin |
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Will the real Hillary please stand up?
This just goes to show what a class act Hillary is and what a great campaign Obama is running. I bet you anything she turned down the VP slot and requested a cabinet position. Hopefully he will get elected and we will find out.
The other option really scares me, so I guess their fear tactics are kind of backfiring on them in a weird way. Oh, I am a woman, a veteran, a mother of 4 and an independent voter that normally leans right. You dems have my vote this year.
Thanks, Jackie! That was hilarious!
Has to be the most out-of-touch elitist screed I have ever seen, and only reinforces my great opinion of Sarah Palin. Thank you for sharing it, and I hope you found it as funny as I did.
[heh] For a moment I thought Sansu was engaging in sarcasm, or a little bit of agent provocateur. Alas, I think it's dead serious.
Ack! can you imagine? Her husband hunts! AND drives a snowmobile! That's almost like being a NASCAR fan!
Red Alert! We must keep Mrs. Smith from going to Washington!
Can you imagine the scandal if she were to use the wrong fork at a diplomatic dinner?
The horror!
Who is Jackie S.? She doesn't say who she is really. Why do you give this credibility? Only because you like what is says.
That email is offensive. Calling people pejorative names like red neck? Denegrating people due to their educational level? Making fun of native people who have lost their teeth?
BTW, predator thinning has been going on a long time in Alaska and has nothing to do with Palin.
People do realize Palin has an 83% approval rating in Alaska, right?
If mccain thinks that picking Palin for his running mate will get H. Clintons voters – think again. It would be an insult to H. Clintons 18 million voters. We are not that stupid.
Jackie S –
You're right, your post is turgidly long and overly emotional, its also chock full of things we already know about the Governor. But one point stands out to me that must be put in SOME kind of perspective.
You wrote –
Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn’t like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce.
For goodness sakes, the guy, a cop, tazered his own son, a 10 year old! He openly drank in his squad car while on duty. He threatened to shoot several members of the Palin family, he brandished his weapon in public for personal reasons. And you want to claim his 'record' as an officer wasn't taken into consideration?
Well boo hoo. If Palin hadn't pushed to get the bad cop fired you'd probably be the first to complain that she wasn't serving the people by letting the guy get a pass because of cronyism.
Unfortunately for you, Sansu from Oakland, we saw some of the citizens of Wasilla on TV. They were mostly intelligent, neatly dressed, articulate, college-educated suburbanites–not anything like this woman, Jackie, describes . . . Jackie apparently doesn't know that the police officer in question tasered his 11-year-old child. Yeah, if I'm that boy's uncle or friend, I'm getting that officer off the force any way I can, and I would think your "Jackie" would be somewhat concerned about the boy's health, as well. That is . . . if this "Jackie" were more than a figment of your imagination who just happens to have the habit of summarizing the week's DNC talking points in her personal correspondence.
For the record–I voted for Hillary in the primary. I am now going to change my vote to McCain/Palin after reading the "Sansu from Oakland" post. Hillary was a moderate, not an extreme liberal like Obama. McCain is also a moderate. We need a centrist to bring us together through these tough times. We don't need libelous dividers like "Sansu from Oakland" who are just out to stir up trouble.
Ok first I have heard it all.. at a mccain rally in michaga there is an 8 year old white girl singing in front of a Mccain crowd, and she is singing the theme to the jeffersons. Then Palin mentions that because John Mccain voted for a troop surge U.S Civilian lives have been saved. Can you say Fear Mongering, not only that, they are the big fat cats. The Republicans have controlled the white house for 8 years and the house of senate for 6. She lobbied for earmarks, then asked for money for the bridge for nowhere, rejected the bridge but kept the money. We as Americans have seen this way to many times. The Republicans never mentions the protesters who have stood up to protect our rights. What is this chant of "Drill Baby Drill", my friends, Palin is not Hillary. We need to change and "Drill Baby Drill" is not the change we need.
If I were Hillary Clinton, I'd say no and go on the speaking circuit for myself instead. What could be gained by being the back-up ammunition that no one was willing to front-load?
She has an 80% approval rating in Alaska but we're supposed to believe a letter from one woman who has an axe to grind. Palin is a self made woman who kicks ass. My wife registered to vote the morning after her speech. Is the next letter that you cut and paste going to be about anything real?
She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn’t like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce.
Oops! We told a little fib, didn't we, Jackie S?
Sansu from Oakland,
That letter is from a man that goes by Alaskan John Smith of Wasilla. It is posted online at thebruceblog.wordpress.com.
I'm guessing that this wasn't so much an email that Alaskan John Smith sent to your physician (meaningless fact) friend and rather a heavily circulated left-wing talking point.
Have a look for yourself. You can also find this letter all over the web. Guess where it normally shows up? In the comments section of blogs and articles written about Palin.
Go figure.
Jackie S,
Are you aware that most Americans support the right of citizens to own guns?
And that msot Americans support drilling for oil in America?
Posting that letter will ATTRACT votes to McCAIN/PALIN. Thanks!
Jackie S. is an Alaskan, but calls them "snow mobiles." Yeah, right. (And just how do Alaskan necks get red, anyway?)
Lame. I get so sick of "concerned citizens" and their novel-length spam posts touting one political opinion or another. Jackie S. is probably some pimply, college-age Obama campaign volunteer just tap-tap-tapping away in his basement.
Regarding Sansu from Oakland's post (5:04 pm ET)
Well, there you have it folks - Sarah Palin is a red neck and her husband works in the OIL FIELDS and RACES SNOW MOBILES (gasp).
Really, they're just not our kind of people. Not only that, but the people of Wasilla (or as Barack says "Wasilly") don't have teeth. A bunch of hillbillies. I mean, just who do they think they are?
That red neck b***h also wants to legalize hunting with AK-47s from helicopter gun ships. No, really, that's what my friend's friend, WHO IS A DOCTOR, and also lives in one of the only parts of the country which count (the east and west coasts), told me. She wouldn't lie, and her friend, who also went to BRYN MAWR wouln't either.
These are people who went to the right schools and know how the world works, so you have to believe them and vote the way they do...
Ummm, that was some email, Sansu, and you're right, it was a lengthy, emotional, not to mention arrogant, elitist and incandescently stupid email. You and your friends also sound like typical Obama acolytes.
His campaign is in serious trouble.
So's CNN for allowing this to be posted on a moderated board - seriously, this person is deranged.
After seeing the Palin speak Wed. night, and her poll numbers, I think her selection refelcts very WELL on McCain's judgment.
She is a star leader on the make, one heck of an impressive Governor.
So sansu copies and pastes some bogus email with no attribution? I bet you believe Bill Gates will send you five dollars for every email you forward too. Hey, I can do one too. Here's an email I received:
Dear classmates;
Some fool named sansu has been seen late at night with goats and chickens howling at the moon. Please don't listen to anything sansu writes, it's all bogus.
Signed,
Janice S.
See there, that was easy.
Sansu from Oakland:
I see the e-mail author has a particularly low opinion of her fellow Americans. "Red-neck" is an especially revealing touch. Why does she bother to stay and live in Alaska, as she clearly does not like her surroundings?
And I wonder if it occurs to you that these long, ranting e-mails convinces absolutely no one–high on emotion, very low on logical reasoning. But fair enough, with Palin's 80% approval rating, the e-mail author is part of the 20% who doesn't approve. Different strokes for different folks.
It would have been more interesting, though, if you addressed the point of Amy Holmes post, which was to question the Obama campaign's strategy of using the woman passed over (Sen. Clinton) for the VP slot, to campaign against the woman VP candidate on the Rep side.
John McCain said they broke him meaning that he told them what ever they ask, did all the other men brake too.
Does that make him a hero or a man that could not take it.
And gave in
In response to the forwarded email by Jackie S.: Palin may scare you, but Obama scares me. He's at the top of the ticket, his opinions and policies are my polar opposite, and he has even less experience than Palin does. At least she's being granted an apprenticeship – whereas we are expected to give him the reins of government when he's never headed anything before (and no, running for office is not the same thing as holding it – as Palin has). His policies are all typical Democratic business as usual, perhaps a bit more to the left than usual, and with a heck of a lot more eloquence.
You talk about her lack of foreign policy experience. Well, what about his? He advocated invading Pakistan – our ally and a nuclear power. He opposed the surge, still does while at the same time acknowledging it has "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams". He wants to talk to Iran and Hamas – the biggest supporters/perpetrators of Islamic terrorism in the world, with no pre-conditions. The same people who routinely advocate wiping Israel off the map – our strongest ally in the Middle East. Some foreign policy genius you've got there.
I'm not going to answer every point – but here's one more. Regarding the political corruption scandal you referenced – it involves firing her former brother-in-law, who was suspended but not fired for domestic violence. He was also involved in numerous incidents on the job. The man who was supposedly pressured to fire him was appointed by Palin, and served in that position at the pleasure of the governor, meaning she had the right to hire and fire at will. While there's plenty of evidence both that her brother–in-law was not fit to be a peace officer, and that there was a lot of bad feeling against him, there's precious little that Palin tried to get him fired. She did express her opinion about him, not the same thing. And she listed plenty of other reasons to let her appointee go, and offered him a job to which she felt he would be better suited. Fact is there's very little the Democrats are finding when they go mudslinging, and this is the best they've managed to come up with.
Whoa, not sure who is more gullible, "Jackie S." for thinking so many incorrect things about Governor Palin, or "Sansu" for trying to spread false rumors around the internet.
Do your research. Quit listening to people trying to poison the well.
Doesn't anyone remember that Hillary said that she would do anything to make sure the democrats won the White House back? Perhaps if the devisiveness caused by her negative campaigning had not been an issue, McCain wouldn't have ever picked Sarah.
Democrats... I've got to give it to the Republicans. When there is anything negative about their campaign, they stick together.
Can we do that for a change? Let Hillary, in addition to Obama and Biden, show Sarah that THIS IS NOT A GAME!
Sansu from Oakland
Thanks for the utterly incredible email from your friend, Jackie S. Based on her liberal use of the term "redneck" in describing the people of her state, she sounds like a serious bigot.
Further, her description of the political corruption "scandal" isn't even close to the mark. Google the story for yourself or just go the Anchorage Daily News website and you'll get the details.
Not much "interesting perspective" from that email, Sansu. Just more attempts to smear the Gov and seemingly the rest of the residents of Alaska that Jackie S. comes across.
Considering Gov Palin has an 80% approval rating in Alaska as governor, I hope you will forgive me when I say I skeptical that "Jackie S." is really an Alaskan resident.
With all the hits to the glass ceiling claimed by Hillary, if true, Obama sure is putting her in a difficult situation. But then again, why would Palin battle Hillary? The battle really needs to be between Obama and McCain now. Let's face it, Hillary is out of the picture. Calling it a girl fight is just adding to the sexism too. If either party is trying to gain the women's vote, having two strong and popular women fight each other would not be very strategic. All it would do is divide and set back the women's movement.
Jolene, St. Joseph, MI
Funny Sansu, I am on a completely forum read the same exact email and the guy posting also said he knew the writer. Oh did I say funny, I meant bs.
It is apparent the Obama campaign and media (which is an extension of the Obama campaign) is petrified of a western chick who never needed or wanted any left wing feminist's help and made it completely on her own.
Yeah, Sansu, and I got an email forwarded to me that says Obama's a Muslim. I guess I'll believe it uncritically, since I always believe whatever I read in second hand emails.
Sansu from Oakland,
Your friend's email is testimony to why many people in fly-over country really don't like liberals. I'm surprised that she would write such a condescending piece of tripe and think that it would help to sway anyone except for an Ivy League blueblood.
We need to get back to focusing on the issues the U.S. faces today, and stop with all of these diversionary, smoke and mirror tactics that the republicans feed on. And why wouldn't they? It won them the race in 2000 (with a lot of help from the Supreme Court) and 2004. McCain needs to answer the question of voting with the failed Bush administration's policies 90% of the time, and Palin needs to answer questions regarding her record as a Mayor and Governor, her qualifications, and experience, and what she would do in certain national and international scenarios if she were president.
I am ready for the media to stop focusing on the glitter and generalities that the republicans have pushed in their convention, and get back to talking about the issues and the solutions each campaign are proposing, and whether Obama or McCain will be most effective in bringing about real change.
What the heck is that Bryn Mawr graduate doing up there with all those REDNECKS? She's obviously way too classy. Good grief.
Wow...nice letter. On it's face, it's a phony one. But one of the most obvious errors: Alaskans don't use the term snow mobiles, they use snow machines. Idiot.
To Jackie S.
"Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn’t like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man’s performance and ability weren’t considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation."
Just thought you might find it important to know that the officer (her brother-in-law) tasered her 10 year old nephew while off-duty. Kind of puts the whole thing in a different light than the liberal bloggers spin it.
Hi Jackie,
I think Sarah's carbon footprint is a small fraction of Al Gore's.
She is also running as someone who wants to take on corruption and special interests that enrich themselves at the expense of the general populace. And you know what...that is exactly how her political career has shown. She has cut taxes, and extracted huge financial concessions from the oil companies in Alaska. She has cut her own salary.
Obama on the other hand is running as a post-racial, bipartisan agent of change. And you know what...that is the antithesis of his political career. He has lined his pockets with bribes from the likes of Rezko, stoked and capitalized on a sense of victimization of poor inner city blacks, and established the most partisan voting record in the Senate. His 'change' shows up as a 30 year Senate veteran VP pick – a mental midget who has contributed more to political incivility than anyone with his slander of judicial nominees.
Regarding the email from Sansu's friend Jackie: The Republicans should blast out reprints of that to every voter in the country. If that email is not a meant as parody of the left wing elitists in this country then it should be. Jackie is an effete snob not to mention a political dunce. She ought to be the poster child for why we should vote for any ticket that includes Sarah Palin. I'm voting for Caribou Barbie!
Hey Sansu in Oakland – that email your Bryn Mawr friend got from her friend who lives in Alaska? Wow – small world. I got that same email authored by Jackie S. forwarded by a friend who knew her from... somewhere..... Oh – I have a great deal on a bridge in Brooklyn I'd love to discuss with you.... and they say liberals are sooooo smart.....
The email contained in Sansu from Oakland's comment has been determined elsewhere online to be a fake in order to smear and discredit Sarah Palin. Just thought you'd like to know.
Obama and Clinton Ticket would have never been a good choice for the country. None of them could have been a good second choice. They are just that good. However, they can work as a peer to get Obama elected for the next 4-8 years, and Clinton's time will come soon. She will be the US president after Obama served his country. MARK MY WORD.
I don't see a girl fight coming, because Hillary and Palin are no equals. Palin has to work for good many years just to get to where Hillary is today, and to learn being a VP is not about being a B. on the campaign trail, you need to have the substance and platform to support it.
I was leaning toward MCCAIN, but after this VP selection, I am scared to death to select MCCAIN. I don't want an extremist, JUNIOR Cheney to be a heart beat away from presidency.
and oh by the way, as we all know Palin had FIVE, count them FIVE kids! How moronic is that? It's like she is part of Little House on the Prairie, raising children to help with the chores. Stupid stupid stupid!
The putative Bryn Mawr alumna and physician (who apparently is so illiterate she writes "red neck" rather than "redneck") is pretty disgusted not just with Palin, but with all Alaskans:
"Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I’m talking about.
These people don’t have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don’t care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they’re happy. I wish I were exaggerating."
Poor baby. If she's so bright, how come she's stuck in AK?
Palin doesn't have to attract very many Hillary supporters. This election is going to be sooooo close that even if McCain/Palin manages to pry away 5% of Hillary's supporters, it could tip the balance he GOP's way. Whatever you think of McCain's policies, from a purely gameplan point of view, I think even the left is grudgingly realizing that the Palin pick was a strategic good idea. It forces Obama/Biden to fight on ground that they formerly could safely ignore.
The letter that Sansu posted drips with typical liberal condecension. Yes, there are people out there who didn't attend elite universities and actually hunt, fish and spend time in the outdoors.
What an arrogant idiot!
Gov Palin should not compare herself to Sen. Clinton because of this inside scoop...This is an email I received from a good friend in New York City. She is a Bryn Mawr graduate, and is a physician currently engaged in cancer research at Columbia University. This is an email she received from a Bryn Mawr classmate of hers who lives in Alaska.
Because you, like me, may never have heard of Sarah Palin until today, you may find this an interesting perspective from an Alaskan resident.
Begin forwarded message:
Dear classmates –
As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her.
The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system. We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is
appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to informative web sites.
She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.
Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage. The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade. Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about.
These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.
Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.
When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems – you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.
In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely Unqualified to be vice president. John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. When McCain introduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.
To those of you who supported Hillary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the media and the Democratic Party may have done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment. While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president.
I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.
Jackie S.
After Gov. Palin's speech, I purposely watched CNN to see just how
they were going to tear her up. Wolf & (darling) Anderson were not
too hard on her, but Good God! Campbell Brown (I am a Louisiana
native) was horrible! How soon we forget what has happened in
our own families (her Father)!
I guess Ted Turner calls the shots there so you have to follow his
liberal terms..how refreshing it would be if CNN could "mellow"
and not always be so down on the GOP. I realize we have lots to
complain about with President Bush, but he is a good man, and
it's time for the meaness to STOP!!
Obama is really not qualified to lead this country....just giving good
speeches, and fist thumping is not going to get us back on track.
I honestly feel that if he were not black, with his lack of credentials,
he would not be the nominee of their party.
God Help Us!
Bonnie Sulivan
Oh great. I kept hoping Hillary could just go back and be left in peace. Guess not with all that debt pay off. It must have been real interesting at the Clinton house with the TV on and watch the GOP VP nominee Palin take Hillary's line about the 18 million cracks in the highest of glass ceilings. Of course Hillary was running for Pres. Well its like I thought McCain wanted to make history on his own terms and he did. I think Hillary has proven she is above a cat fight.
Amy, why do the media have to endorse anybody? I thought yellow journalism died out 100 years ago.
Obama was arrogant to pass over Hillary for the VP spot w/out properly considering her...after all, she did get 18 million votes. Now it's too late; McCain picked Palin. However, Palin and Hillary are so different ideologically that Palin shouldn't attract too many former supporters.
Funny that Obama wants to "use" Hillary now to beat the Reps but when he had the chance to make her his VP he couldn't knock his big ego out of the way to add her to his ticket. Instead now that he didn't even vet her at all he expects her to go out and stump to win the people she already had backing her for him. What a joke!
Cindy....Ga.
I was so pissed off when obama bypassed HRC for vp. Has he ever given us an explanation?