November 5, 2008
Republicans Deserve to Lose
Let the hit job on Palin commence. Guess what folks…she thinks Africa is a country. North America befuddles her. She’s a lazy diva./s
I am beyond infuriated. John McCain’s team ran the worst campaign in modern history and they’re trying to pin it on Sarah Palin, while destroying her permanently in the process. A party this self-destructive and elitist needs to be entirely remade, not just remodeled.
In fact, I’m inclined to support Palin in 2012 just to stick it to these jokers. Old Boys Club indeed.
http://race42008.com/2008/11/05/republicans-deserve-to-lose/trackback/
November 5th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Carl Cameron repeated all this on the O’reilly Factor, plus additional information that Palin was a shopaholic who spent more than was reported. She was said to have cracked in the last week with tantrams.
I am a strong social conservative, but palin was a disaster. She was not qualified.
November 5th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Rafael,
If by “information” you mean entirely made up nonsense spread by a group of colossal failures looking to preserve their careers, and shills for losing 2008 candidates.
November 5th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I think this is all fits. Most who saw the Couric concluded that she lacks knowledge about things. She was too dumb.
I personally changed my mind about her when she couldn’t name another Supreme Court case she disagrred with, a newspaper she read, and most importantly believing Roe v. Wade was wrong while at the same time believing there is a right to privacy in the Constitution which is the cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
4- I don’t know if any of this is true, but Palin will not survive this
because people will believe it is true.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
#1 And Obama was qualified. She had 17 days less as Gov than he did as a Senator. And the day he took office he started his run for Pres. What a joke. The McCain camp should be careful…They look really incompetent. They are the ones that are suppose to have vetted her. Did they do their homework..can’t they be “Gentlemen” and let it go….NO they have to find a scape goat…That is what ALL politicians do and they don’t care who they destory in the process. Glad it’s a DEM in the White House. We don’t need to bite our nails in fear of what McCain would pull next. He needs to RETIRE.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
It’s crap like this that makes me glad I didn’t pursue a career in politics.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Sigh……..I belive the party is headed for a civil war. Those who will line up behind Palin and those who won’t.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
CT,
No, they can’t be gentleman, because they’re tools. Gentleman no longer exist, except in the yacht owning, martini-holding, ascot wearing, sense. Here’s another shocking “story” Cameron reported. Sarah once answered the door in, get this, a bathrobe! How positively medeval. The treatment of Sarah Palin in this campaign almost entirely turned me off of politics; the post-campaign inquisition might just do the trick. Absolutely vile.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Matt, do you think Palin, if chosen in the primaries would have a prayer in the general election? I like her and Jeb Bush, but I don’t think either one would be able to overcome the media portraying them as unintelligent and “another Bush” respectively
November 5th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
To be honest it’s going to be hard for any Republican canidate in 2012. Unless the economy doesn’t improve at all or Obama makes a serious mistake, which he’s not prone to do, Obama’s popularity with the general public seems a hard obstacle to overcome
November 5th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I don’t blame Sarah Palin at all for McCain’s loss. Like McCain said last night that he takes full responsibility. That was one of the few moments that made me cheer for McCain aside from picking Palin to begin with. Palin made a few mistakes, John McCain made mistakes. Let’s just let it go at that shall we?
The liberals did a hatchet job on Palin to the likes that have never before been seen. They were unfair, sexist, and their level of mocking was unprecedented. Now the same media will stoke this fire to promote a Republican circular firing squad. I’m not going there, neither should anyone here.
I like Palin and respect here a great deal. If Romney does not run in 2012, then Palin would be my first pick.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Civil war isn’t needed. Just show up to the primary and make your voice heard. As for Obama, Russia is ratcheting up its brinksmanship. We’ll all see how he deals (but likely won’t) with them. Obama is poised to become the next Jimmy Carter. Complete with a misery index and international crisis to boot.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
TarheelRepublican,
I think Palin is the best natural politician in our party. I think if there’s any lesson from this election, it’s this: being a smart and savvy politician is better then having a strong reputation. McCain was the most popular politician in the country and had a terrific brand, but he was such an awful candidate that this amounted to almost naught in the final analysis. I think that Palin can overcome her so-called damaged brand; I can’t guarantee she will, but it’s absolutely possible. But, it can’t happen when you have an incestuous group of beltway country clubbers conspiring against her.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I’m not pushing Palin for 2012, but I find this disgusting. Worst of all the sources are unnamed. If they want to say these things then have the courage to say it publicly. It really smacks of sexism from the old boy network seeking someone to blame.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
When you attack Palin, you are doing the dirty work for the power brokers in Washington. The change everyone wants in this party, including Aron and Daveg, is going to be taken away if fight on behalf of the corrupt lobbyists. Think hard.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
The elitist conservatives on the coasts need to tread a fine line. DO NOT blame this woman for the problems in this election. There were issues up and down and in between, but Sarah brought immense excitement to the base. Palin is great, and I am going to fight anyone to the death who insist upon making her some sort of scapegoat. Seriously- we need a new face to our party, and be unified behind it. If she’s that face, great, if not, hopefully it’s someone else that we can all get behind. But if we allow these “conservatives” in the media and on the east coast to deride all of the good politicians we have (ie, the ones that don’t kiss their butts), they will be sorry as will the country, because the democrats will just gain more control.
We let the media pick our candidate this year. Hopefully we won’t make the same mistake in ‘12.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
We’ll see. I’m a fan of Palin and would gladly support her, but from my observations at my law school, she has a very tarnished image even among conservatives.
Looking at the possible canidates on the left I’d have to say we’d be incredibly lucky to have any of the following as President: Romney, Jeb, Palin, and Jindal.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Why is sexism to complainin a legitimate way about a candidate’s weakness?
Sexism is the codeword everyone uses to shield women from criticism.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Matthew, I find this attack on Governor Palin revolting, too.
I just listed to van Sustern yack with Rove, and he reported having talked to local party chairmen throughout the country who said the McCain ticket got too little support at the phone banks and other volunteers — until Mac picked Palin! Suddenly, they had too many volunteers!
I say, screw all this Palin-on-a-spit hatred and nonsense. Palin will be Palin, and she will make her own way, proving or disproving herself. Bad blood with the Mac camp bunglers will be long forgotten in the next twelve months.
If she wants national stature, she’ll need a larger EC population base than Alaska. If she doesn’t want a national role, there are plenty of lucrative career options open to her.
I hope for her sake that she keeps Washington at a distance. I’m sure she and McCain get along well. And I’m sure John McCain will support her in any way she would like. They’re both champs in my book. I’d be surprised to see evidence to the contrary, despite what post-hoc disappointed campaign staff bewail.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Rafael,
“Sexism is the codeword everyone uses to shield women from criticism.”
True. Let me add that sexism only goes one way. That is from the liberal point of view attacking the conservative. It is extremely difficult to make sexist charge stick to any liberal regardless of how sexist they behave. There is a huge double-standard, and the MSM allows them to get away with it.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Seriously, this stuff is coming from the same idiots who’ve been running this party into the ground for a decade. The same people who propped up Bush in 2000; the same people who demanded we select an “electable” candidate. The same people who thought it was a breathtakingly good idea to put Trent Lott back in a leadership position and make Boehner the minority leader. The same people who quietly told Republicans that flowing pork and steady spending increases would give them a permanent majority. The same people who want to keep this party utterly in stasis.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
What people would those be? I thought this was coming from McCain’s aides
November 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
All of this just makes Sarah more popular among the base. Mark my words: Palin will be the nominee in 2012.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Tarheel,
McCain’s aides are part and parcel of the Republican operatives who’ve been running this party for a decade. It’s an incestuous group and even with a “Maverick” like McCain just about every single one of them has fingerprints on some disastrous GOP campaign/strategy/idea.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
This type of garbage is lower than low.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Tommy – “This type of garbage is lower than low.” I totally agree. I can’t wait until Sarah is unleashed. She could write a tell all.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Look. We all like Sarah and most of her positions. Because of her positions and persona she excites the right wing of the party. That said, a lot of republicans and most of the independents (let alone Dems) just don’t really think she is up to the job of VP, let alone POTUS. The fact that she is not the “best and the brightest” we have is not an insult to Palin. She, by her own admission, is a hockey mom who became mayor and then Governor of Alaska. I would actually be a little surprised if she runs in 2012. I think, to her credit, she probaby knows her limits. I also doubt she has the drive and organization to make a run.
If she does run, she has a lot to learn (including some geography). And nationally, she has very poor ratings. I think she will be a terrific Governor but doubt we hear much more about her.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Palin was unfairly savaged by liberals in the Obama camp and moderates in the GOP.
These folks are dishonorable but I’m skeptical of Palin’s potential in 2012. I’m not going to support Palin just because her critics are the dishonest folks guiding us into disaster.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
MyRed.com- that is why they should have picked Romney. He would have won this campagin for MCCAIN. MCCAIN MCCAIN
MyBlue.com- Actualy my red and the rest, what lost this campagin for you is, the repub perceived bleakness on the economy and George Bush. If you want to pin it on someone then why not pin it on the worst rated president in US history. Any republican in this env would have lost. McCain could have run the best campaign ever, but if he is recieved as a repub that knows or shows nothing about the economy along with a president who resides over one of the worst then that is why he lost. Blame McCain, Blame Palin but Bush and the perception of repubs during this time is why he lost.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
i’m no sarah fan, but its clear what kind of game is being played here. but these claims wouldn’t merit any attention if they weren’t believable on some level. you can explain it away all you want, but she came off looking very Quayleish in most interviews to most people. if you’re on a national ticket you’re expected to have fluency in a range of issues, and she just didn’t. neither would anyone in that situation, but no one made her take the job.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I love Sarah Palin’s positions, but that is not enough. The Reublican Party has already suffered eight years with Bush who did not have the intellectual capacity to be president.
I don’t want to see this mistake agian.
Sarah Palin is a good woman, but she doesn’t have the smarts to be president. Not everyone can be leader of the free world.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
As for Doug, Yeah, Palin did not help herself with the interviews that she gave and yeah, The Repubs did not attack Obama at all not at all.
The thing that Repubs wish or did not expect is for Obama to fight back. Repubs mentality Okay we will kick your ass all accross the planet as it was done with Kerry and Dukasis and I will just be there asking you where and how do you want to kick it
When Obama was not fighting back in July his numbers went down. We he started that is when things evened out.
Palin the pick of Palin and the timing all that did was sustain a convention bounce and it was enough to put McCain a couple of points ahead but that bounce wore off then when the economy got bad…………Why did americans not turn more to Bush and the repub party………..tell you why because the perception is that Bush and the others got is here…..If you defend the worst rated president in US history then it shows that you are not with the mood of 75% of the country if 50% break for the other side, then that is why Obama is pres elect
November 5th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
#26 there you are……Mccain won last night, there was a Bradley affect and the polls were all wrong. The pop vote McCain won. He won NC and that put him over the top. McCain was a great pick, When are you going to start beliving in me.
Go McCain
Ah JA P McCain lost.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
1992 all over again
November 5th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I think #30 and #31 make good points. While what is now referred to as “populism” has a certain appeal, can’t we find some young, energetic republicans that also have “smarts” and can actually intelligenty and articulately answer questions and attempt to persuade? Palin strikes many as a female Bush or Quayle in this regard.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
what sucked about bush is how he broked everything into black and white. good guys & bad guys, etc. palin doesn’t seem interested in doing much more.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Ooohh, I have a tag team partner. JA didn’t you say that McCain would win and that he was tied with Obama or winning. Mark your words, Palin will be the 2012 pick. Sorry I won’t put my money on that.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
i wouldn’t have minded joe lieberman as VP. mccain could have ran as the unity ticket and just talked about how partisan obama is. might’ve helped.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I don’t have the Palin-thusiasm I had when she was first chosen and she wouldn’t be my first choice for 2012, but this is still garbage.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Sorry Chip91 on another link blog on here, 1992 was supposed to be the best thing that happened to the GOP and it was for congress but not for the top. Clinton won again in 1996
November 5th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Governor Palin should immediately (and quietly) start organizing. She should waste no time in establishing a shadow campaign that could be implemented in late 2010. Also, don’t count out
Fred, he will likely defer to Palin out of loyalty and unity to Party but if Palin passes, Fred will be right there to run and he has an ideal partner and campaign manager in his beautiful bride, Jeri.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
#38: Don’t want to waste too much time rehashing the VP pick, but to mamy of us Lieberman was just unacceptable becuase of most of his positions. But Palin shows, perhaps, the danger of just trying to fire up the evangelical vote. Good grief, we just elected the most liberal democratic senator with 52% of the vote and there are those who believe the answer is to kick out the moderates,security voters, economic voters, etc. of the party — pretty much anyone not acceptable to evangelicals.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
not like it would have mattered what the VP thinks about social issues (which was palins only appeal to the base) . abortion is here to stay unless judges are picked, which mccain would have done regardless. and gay marriage will slowly make its way over the next 20 years. so who really cares what lieberman thinks about it. well regardless, if GOP wants to become the party of sarah, they are free to, but they won’t win anything. actually, i hope she runs so i can bet against her on intrade.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Wow, I thought *everyone* would be smart enough to realize that the ex-Romney people within the McCain campaign were starting the rumors to clear the path for Romney ‘12… guess not.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I like Palin, but in retrospect, Ridge would’ve won PA thus the ball game.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
45: Doubt there are any stats to back up the claim about PA, but it is stunning how bad McCain/Palin did in most of the battleground states. NOT EVEN CLOSE in Nevada, NM, COLO, and in the midwest. Couldn’t even compete in WI, MI, etc. — despite a number of openings! Pretty pathetic.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Can everyone please admit now that it was McCain people dropping the anti-Palin rumors, not Romney people. The McCain people are anti-Romney enough that you can be sure they weren’t doing it to help him, they were doing it because they were frustrated with her.
I think these attacks are low, but it is to be expected given the nature of politics. These people have been ruthlessly attacked because the Palin roll-out was botched. Whether what they say is true or not (there is more evidence that it is true than not) hopefully all of us realized that these people would come out swinging to defend their reputations. McCain (not them) made multiple decisions that resulted in the campaign being routinely described as one of the worst run campaigns in history. They need jobs and they aren’t going to sit by and have their reputations ruined.
Read about the local politicians in Wasilla and of their view about her. This is a habit with Palin and I am inclined to believe that she did refuse interview prep which really was the start of the problem. I think the Africa and NAFTA stuff was almost surely stuff taken out of context. Palin makes enemies of people that used to be her political allies. After it happens a few times it isn’t the other people, its her.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:50 am
yeah, but what else is new.
..oh wait, this is from Fox News? o_O
November 6th, 2008 at 1:06 am
#47 The “local poilticians of wasilia”. They would be councillors at local level. And their view of Palin . Well of course they’d be pissed off that they never got further than voting on street lamps. & gutters.
If she did ignore them it did her well -for SHe not them is Gov.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I have to say that I agree with this article. http://committedtoromney.com/2008/11/05/autopsy-on-the-mccain-campaign/
November 6th, 2008 at 1:30 am
The selection of Sarah Palin contributed a lot toward making it one of the worst campaigns I have seen. She was a total disaster, and it looks like the remnants of the McCain campaign are going to make sure we won’t see her name on a national ticket for a long time, if ever.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Can we attribute this to Romneybots infiltrating McCain’s campaign???
November 6th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Please enough already!
I held my fire until after the result but she was the biggest embarrasment on the national stage EVER.
Qualye deserves an apology for being constantly compared to Palin the diaster.
No offence but trust me the world knows she’s clueless, 70% of the US thinks she’s clueless, so what makes you think you are right and we are all wrong? Because she’s fiesty? PLEASE!
November 6th, 2008 at 5:55 am
You don’t think for a moment that this might just be all true?
She thought Africa was a country.
Please just think about that for a minute.
She couldn’t answer a question about what newspapers she reads.
You think she really could stand a chance against President Obama? You don’t think Obama would giggle with joy if he thought she’d win the 2012 nomination?
As someone else pointed out why is it sexism to point out the obvious? Why is it ok to laugh at Quayle but not Palin?
As someone else pointed out the McCain teams owns (owned) Palin so it’s hardly in their interests for this to leak. So it sounds like she must have been twice as bad as first thought – so bad they couldn’t contain the truth.
November 6th, 2008 at 7:36 am
#55: By your standards, the only things anyone should believe about Heath are the negative things said about him anonymously by people who clearly don’t like him. If they won’t own what they say, they deserve to be given no credibility.
There most certainly was insufficient vetting in the McCain campaign — of the campaign staffers! And whoever tried to dump on Palin near the end of the campaign shows signs of a pure narcissistic personality disorder.
The complaints and allegations against Palin here are just so exaggerated as to lack any plausibility. Evidence that suggests the contrary about Palin abounds.
- Her parents are teachers.
- Her biographer reports that she devoured the daily newspaper each day from early childhood.
- She went to college in an era after core curricula became standard.
- Her friends — including her college pal, Gov. Lingle of Hawaii — are not knuckle-dragging ignoramuses.
- She has worked in state government for years, starting with the energy council that dealt with foreign government issues.
Finally, she is the governor of a state, and that role entails working with representatives of foreign governments and of companies from foreign countries. Even here in a relatively small state like WV, our governors have to deal with such foreigners and reps of foreign entities — even though the state is landlocked and bordered only by other states. At her impromptu, last-minute presser in Wassila before voting, you can hear as Japanese reporter calls questions out to her relevant to Japanese-Alaskan relations, and she mentions the importance of Japanese markets for Alaskan fisheries.
It’s interesting that you can hear some handler attempting to shut down that last presser in the background, someone constantly attempting to shout, “Okay, thank you!” and rush the governor into the campaign limo. Similar actions on the part of Palin’s handlers — probably the same individual — were reported by the governor’s press entourage after the governor ambled past her handlers to give an impromptu presser to journos in Denver in the last weeks of the campaign. This was when Palin was breaking free from her captors, er, handlers.
So does one believe the negative stories put out by people who either don’t know the governor, or who appear to have another ax to grind or agenda to drive — Heath, for example? Does one believe such gossipy trash talk in the face of ample evidence to the contrary, evidence that undermines the specific claims?
No.
November 6th, 2008 at 10:56 am
dexter morgan, I like your ah….work
You can’t blame Palin for McCain’s downfall. He made some very serious stumbles that hurt his campaign beyond repair. Having said that, she was woefully unprepared. If they had left her alone for a few more years she might have been fine. I’m not saying she’s stupid, but it’s very clear that her interest and knowledge didn’t go beyond the borders of her own state. For someone that wants to be VP that is unacceptable.
If what’s being said is true, than she now has the time to remedy the situation. 4 Years is a very long time in the average American’s memory.