June 9, 2008
Sarah Palin for Veep Grassroots Effort Launched
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE KRISTOFER LORELLI
believe@palinforvp.com
PalinforVP.com Hosts Conference Call
to Launch YouTube Ad
www.PalinforVP.com – We are pleased to announce the launch of a new marketing campaign to promote Governor Sarah Palin as the 2008 Vice Presidential nominee for the Republican Party. This campaign kicks off with the release of a new ad “Sarah Palin – Perspective”. The ad highlights Sarah Palin’s vision and leadership in these historic and perilous times.
PalinforVP.com founder Kristofer Lorelli, and “Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President” movement founder Adam Brickley (palinforvp.net) will be hosting a conference call on Friday, June 13th to discuss the ad and the further expansion of the marketing campaign to promote Governor Sarah Palin for the 2008 Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
For more info on the conference call, be sure to email believe@palinforveep.com
http://race42008.com/2008/06/09/sarah-palin-for-veep-grassroots-effort-launched/trackback/
June 9th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Still the worst idea ever. Putting Palin on the ticket would only be a ploy to dress up far right policies (e.g. no abortion no matter what) with a little lipstick and blush. The vast majority of the commentary supporting her focuses on her (mediocre, IMO) looks and her far-right positions, and for good reason: there’s nothing else to “recommend” her (although a few nutjobs insist on touting her brave battles as mayor of a tiny town of 8,000 people as indicative of Presidential material.) The thing is, it would be easy to see through such a pick, and the moderates who do the electing will not go for it. We’re not stupid.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Whatever….this site has become a continuous Palin push, even though relatively few believe it should be she.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Big S,
I’m sorry, but you’re just not looking at the facts. Sarah Palin has a tremendous appeal to Alaskans of ALL political stripes, hence the high approval ratings. There is more to life than that one issue you are bringing up, and frankly you’re not doing a terribly good job of substantiating your claims on that one, either.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
#1 and #2. As a moderate Republican, I understand that I will not find a leader that I agree with on 100% of the issues, such as abortion.
Here is the important point. Newspaper editorials are now beginning to endorse Sarah Palin. Re: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and http://www.catskillcommentator.com are the most recent. The Nat Hentoff article has been published in over 75 newspapers across America, and in fact I saw it again in two newspapers today.
A politial leader with 86% approval rating is not the norm in America. It is something to pay attention to.
I hope you reconsider.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Oh IL Guy, deal. This site was Mormon Heaven for all of 2007.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I’m a moderate (though not on abortion), and I love the woman. Far more palatable to me than Jindal.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
A politial leader with 86% approval rating is not the norm in America. It is something to pay attention to.
I hope you reconsider.
She’s only popular because she’s a new face that has replaced an old, corrupt, administration, and because she hasn’t done anything to make people mad. Hear that? Hasn’t. Done. Anything. No, I will not reconsider, and neither will many others who detest her policies.
Palin is against even rape and incest exceptions for abortion, and once women around the country know that, they will not entrust her with the tiebreaking vote in the Seante, or a seat that may result in elevation to chief executive.
Once you strip away her far-right positions, there’s really nothing left to recommend her to most voters, and being the lightweight that she is, will undermine McCain’s claim to greater experience than Obama.
McCain will not pick Palin.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Oh IL Guy, deal. This site was Mormon Heaven for all of 2007.
One of many.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
“She’s only popular because she’s a new face that has replaced an old, corrupt, administration, and because she hasn’t done anything to make people mad.”
That’s all huh?
That sounds like just what the Dr. ordered for the GOP.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Big S, that is unfortunate, but I respect your views.
Are you from Alaska?
What are your thoughts on her refusal to allow anti-choice legislation to be introduced in the house and her veto of the bill that would have stripped benefits from state employed same-sex couples? Is that not moderate?
June 9th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
#10 - Exactly. She’s far too pragmatic to be considered far right-wing. People that make that claim always cite her position on abortion, which is far-right, but that position only exists, essentially, on paper. She’s clearly willing to compromise and not doggedly pursue that rigid (minority) position. That’s not far-right. I have the same position on abortion as she does, but I’m even perfectly willing to vote for a pro-choicer, so my position on abortion is FUNCTIONALLY moderate.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
#11 is exactly correct, She is a Pragmatic Conservative, a.k.a. Goldwater.
There were certainly a lot of women in those video clips. It reminds me of the Hillary Clinton rally’s.
I have also watched some video clips from news casts, where they interviewed citizens on the street about palin’s growing family, and the responses from women focused on her being a female Governor and how happy they were with that, not her positions on issues.
This is something to consider.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I love and respect Palin for her stand on abortion and her personal decisions that more than verify those deeply held convictions.
However, I consider her a political and intellectual lightweight. (Not made in the image of Goldwater as Bob contends.) Perhaps with enough study and experience governing as a conservative she will overcome these deficiencies, but not yet.
Two years as governor of a small state (about 114,000 people voted for Palin in 2006) is not a sufficient enough of a resume to assume the office of President of the United States.
When the ultimate lightweight is your opponent in Obama against the tried and true old worrier in McCain, why open yourself up by having a lightweight VP?
June 9th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
There is no perfect VP solution this year. Jindal and Palin are too green, Pawlenty too boring (and too white male), Ridge too pro-choice, Lieberman too liberal, Huckabee too… Huckabee, and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, the Democrats have a plethora of near-perfect choices… Warner, Kaine, Sebelius, Webb, Nunn, Bredesen, Strickland, etc. It seems like some folks on here are waiting for the perfect VP candidate to magically appear, and it ain’t gonna happen. Palin does have her drawbacks, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s our most viable and competitive option for this election cycle. Any running mate that McCain picks is going to have palpable drawbacks, and at some point we have to select the most strategically advantageous option and hope that his team is smart enough to minimize the downsides.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
This is a poor choice of an example, but Spiro Agnew had approximately the same experience as Palin. The only difference, Palin has strong ethics, Agnew did not. My understanding is that Spiro Agnew performed well during the elections.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
CBL, Just let the Dems w/Obama go ahead and attack Palin for lack of experience!!!
That’s rich indeed.
Palin’s got more accomplishments, experience, qualifications then Obama times 2.
Bring em on!
June 9th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
History has forgotten this, but Agnew was an exceptional performer during campaigns. Though his alliterative tendencies are mocked now, his stump speeches really fired up conservative voters. He was a buffoon, sure, but not at all an unreasonable choice for VP from a 1968 standpoint. I’d recommend reading Jules Witcover’s terrific book “Strange Bedfellows” for more on the Nixon-Agnew relationship; it’s a great read. But I agree, he’s not the best example to equate to Palin. Agnew’s rise to national power is remarkable, though not as rapid an ascent as, say Obama.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
For over 20 years, Democratic and Republican Presidents aned House Leaders have not been able to stand up successfully to Young, Stevens and Murkowski. It took Sarah Palin. That says it all.
Do not be fooled by her age or sex, or the size of the state she leads.
I can picture her at the NRA conference holding a 9-bolt action big game rifle saying, “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold dead hands”. And I can see her saying that!
June 9th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I can picture her at the NRA conference holding a 9-bolt action big game rifle saying, “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold dead hands”. And I can see her saying that!
That’s precisely the problem. While conservative Republicans and rural voters may eat that up, suburban voters in swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. are wary of NRA types. Unfortunately for conservatives, such voters tend to decide close elections. You’re viewing this election through a very conservative lens, which is a major mistake in this election.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Big S,
Sorry but guns is probably the most universally acknowledged winning issue for the GOP.
Even tax cuts can be spun as “tax cuts for the rich”.
There are just too many Americans who believe in the second ammendment for this to ever be a losing issue.
I would guess that in most of America people who vote on this issue go pro 2nd ammendment 80/20 if not more.
In a few states it is probably closer to 50/50 but even in Massachusetts I would guess that the
NRA moves more votes than any gun control group.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Big S,
I believe in climate change, are pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. What I understand is that Hillary Clinton ran a Sarah Palin campaign in Penn and Ohio and won.
Hillary did not carry the suburban vote otside of Philly, but she won.
Who do you support Johnny Mac selects?
June 9th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
By picking Palin, McCain loses his most important argument against Obama - That Obama is too green for the job.
If this election is about issues McCain will lose. Even though things are going well in Iraq and the economy might be doing better by the fall, people are still angry and are going to punish the GOP.
For McCain to win this has to be about leadership. McCain can only win if people view Obama as not ready to lead the country. McCain’s argument is much weaker if he picks someone with as little experience as Palin has.
McCain needs to go with Pawlenty, Romney or another more seasoned experienced pick.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
DSkinner,
Which voting group will Pawlenty/Romney bring in…..Latino’s, women or Conservative Dem’s? Neither has a histoy of ever winning over them?
June 9th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
That is why it infuriates me that McCain is doing such a poor job at image management.
Every ad that runs needs to be about defining McCain positively and Obama as too green. They finallystarted doing that with the I hate war ad, but I am not sure if they will keep it coming.
Obama needs to be defined as totally inexpienced and very left-wing. They need to develop a catchy line that will hit home with moderates and the all important “Reagan Democrats” or “Hillary Dems”.
Something like “Obama’s more liberal than Ted Kennedy and less accomplished than a dog-catcher”. I am sure there are better phrases than that, but they need to start hitting that theme now becausethe MSM is sure to re-write history in an attempt to pad Obama’s resume.
They are doing some of that with the Democrats against Obama line, but that is really a pretty cheap stunt that can just as easily be turned against McCain with Rudy, Romney, Rush, Hannity and dozens of other conservatives attacking McCain.
They need something catchy and coordinated that will start to define Obama because right now he is a blank slate.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Bushboy,
McCain wins the moderates. He is the one with the record of doing that. He doesn’t need a VP to make that happen. He is much more vulnerable on the right and he needs someone to shore up the GOP base without offending those swing voters and Reagan Dems.
Romney might offend too many of those people outside of MI to make it worth putting him on the ticket. I don’t think Pawlenty offends any of them, but he also won’t excite to base too much either.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
well, looks like its time for Romney supporters to really start pushing their case.
Don’t want to be left out. It looks like the VP battle is going to be just as intense as the primary - which makes sense, since the VP this year is probably the nominee in four.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Kristofer asks: “What are your thoughts on her refusal to allow anti-choice legislation to be introduced in the house and her veto of the bill that would have stripped benefits from state employed same-sex couples? Is that not moderate?”
My thoughts are that you are being quite disingenuous; misleading those unfamiliar with the details of the legislation to which you refer into believing Governor Palin is a “moderate”.
The truth is that Palin refused to allow Senate President Lyda Green to incorporate the PBA ban and parental consent bills into the gasline special session — not because the governor opposed House Bills 301 and 364, which she, in fact, fully supports — but because of an ongoing political catfight over Palin’s push for the awarding of $500 million in taxpayer dollars to foreign-based TransCanada, when Conoco Phillips and BP say they’re proceeding with a pipeline of their own without seeking any subsidy.
As for Palin’s December 2006 veto of the bill that would have stripped benefits from state employed same-sex couples, that was neither her choice, nor a reflection of her true feelings:
“The Department of Law advised me that this bill, HB 4001, is unconstitutional given the recent court order of December 19th, mandating same-sex benefits. With that in mind, signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office,” said Palin.
Earlier in 2006, in a gubernatorial candidate questionnaire, Palin was asked:
Do you support the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that spousal benefits for state employees should be given to same-sex couples? Why or why not?
Palin responded: “No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution.”
June 9th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
DSkinner11,
It looks like the site ate my last comment, but I provided a link to Pollingreport.com about public opinion regarding guns. I think you view the public as far more conservative than they actually are on the issue. I’ll try the link again in my next comment.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Palin connects with people. She is genuine. She is competitive. She is fearless. She would bone up on the issues enough to be credible, and, I think, would likely elicit sympathy if she slipped up a bit and was attacked for it by the Dems.
I was a big Romney supporter, and I think he’d make a great governing VP and a decent political choice. But Palin is the real deal, and I think she’d win McCain the election.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Big S,
I am not talking about public opinion, though I believe with the right wording polls will tell you what you wan to hear. I am talking about what moves votes. Millions of voters across the South, Midwest, Mountain West and Southwest vote on this issue because they don’t want anybody to take their guns away.
The GOP would get a huge boost of support Obama proposed any sort of ban on guns.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Palin is not a moderate, but she does articulate conservatism in a way that is appealing to moderates and even some democrats: She’s ethical, is willing to stand up corruption (even if it involves her own party and oil companies), and is able to thouroughly explain her positions in simple terms without coming across as mean-spirited. This is how Reagan sold himself: he was not moderate, but he was able to convince moderates that his ideas were right for the times.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
That sounds like one of Romney’s cop-outs about homosexuality or abortion. This quote makes me question Palin’s conservative credentials more, not less.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
The probelm with Palin is that she is too inexperienced.
Our only hope is that Obama is viewed as not ready for the job. If people feel like they can trust Obama to run the country they the anti-GOP sentiment will be enough for Obama to win.
With Palin as VP McCain can’t credibly claim that Obama is inexperienced because he has more experience than she does.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The inexperience argument will not work. Not enough people care.
The fraud argument is the first argument McCain needs to make.
The second is appeasement in a dangerous world.
The third is out-of-touch with mainstream values.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:17 am
#19. I disagree. While suburban voters may be wary of lower 48 NRA types, I don’t think they hold the same opinion of people in Alaska who own guns. It’s the last frontier! The tourist season is in full swing now. I talk to people and they tell me this is a vacation they have wanted to do all their life. I see young people moving here — they tell me they have always wanted to live in Alaska. Sarah and Todd Palin’s Alaska gun-toting life style will be a big plus — not a negative.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:32 am
#33, DSkinner, the trick is to point out how different Palin’s experience is from Obama. She’s been running governments for 8 years now (am I right on that number?).
While running Wasilla is admittedly less complicated that running the entire country, at least Palin is honing her executive skills. She started with a town, now she has worked her way up to a state.
Yet Obama, if elected, will be expected to be ready to govern the entire federal government and he hasn’t had a lick of executive experience anywhere. He hasn’t even run a business!
So I’m not worried about the experience issue. She has enough to pass the “straight face” test. The voters will then evaluate her for Looks and Likability (like it or not, that is reality), and they will want to vote for her.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:35 am
This is kind of turning into a debate of Palin-Bots versus Palin-Nots. On the one hand we have people accusing Mr. Palin of not having experience, being an extreme Right Winger and coming from a small state. While she does not have the experience that some of the other candidates have, she has certainly accomplished a lot. She is a mainstream solid Conservative who has policies that will appeal to her base. And of course, Alaska is certainly not one of our biggest states (in population) it is a great state nevertheless. So people need to be careful when attacking this fine Conservative lady.
On the other hand, it is frankly over the top to say that the only way to win is with Mrs. Palin on the ticket. This election is by no way lost, and if it was, it is a tad arrogant to think that Mrs. Palin is the only person to save us. Yes, putting her on the ticket will prevent people from voting for Mr. Obama or Mr. Barr, but several other VP candidates will also appeal to certain segments of undecided voters. It is particularly foolish of the Palin camp to saying that Mr. Jindal is too inexperienced and too young. Again, He does not have quite the experience of many other candidates, but I think he can stand as high as Mrs. Palin. Perhaps, both candidates are preparing for the 2016 or 2020 primary race.
In the end, I have mixed feeling, Mrs. Palin is almost a dream candidate in terms of policy, but I have to admit, at least for 2008, I am a little uncomfortable with her being a heart-beat away from the position of Commander-In-Chief. Mr. Jindal is at least as Conservative as Mrs. Palin, he should do at least as good a job as Commander-In-Chief and should be at least as appealing to the voters as Mrs. Palin. However, he should also probably wait at least 4 years before going on the ticket.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I agree with the quote from a piece I recently read:
“If John McCain doesn’t choose Sarah Palin, he might have to plead temporary insanity.”
Bottom line, McCain needs to go with his best option, albeit (as you point out) some other options may or may not be good. The BEST is clearly Palin. I don’t think there’s any disputing that, is there? — albeit other options may have merit
June 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Big S,
Why do you even care about the Republican Veep? It’s obvious you are more on the liberal side of the scale theere
McCain doesn’t need your vote. Just vote for Obama and go outside for a walk. It’s nice outside here
in Alambama.
Palin is the best choice for this election. Stuff happens. Get over it.
And, by the way, you don’t need to worry about losing your right to kill an unborn baby. Roe vs. Wade
is not going away, and even if it does, 40 of the 50 states would immediately pass legislation to
make it legal anyway and you can always simply cross state borders to get one. Heck, where I”m from in
California, they’d allow abortion up to nine months and even if the baby was born. They might even force
eugenics in CA before the end this century and a baby like Palin’s would not be allowed to be born’
anyway.