[Prosthetic Conscience]

Seriously educate herself on the issues so she doesn't come off as a fucking yokel the next time around

And this is why the comparison to Thatcher is so wide of the mark. While I disagreed with nearly all Thatcher's policies, I'd never call her stupid. She studied chemistry at Oxford University - pretty good for a girl from a modest background (her father owned a small grocery store) in an institution overwhelmingly biased in favour of men and private schools at the time. Then she became a barrister. She was an MP (including being a cabinet minister) for 16 years before becoming the Conservative party leader.

Sarah Palin made Dubya look like a genius. There is a possibility that was just because she's never paid attention to international issues (and wasn't that hot on national issues, either) - I saw a recording of a press conference she gave in Alaska before she was the VP nominee, and she seemed able to talk about Alaskan issues quite happily. So Dave's suggestion that she educate herself might bear fruit for her. But creationist views don't bode well for actual intelligence. She may just manage to learn how to fake it, though.

[votingblockhead]

The Democrats were / are terrified of her, hence all the spleen.

Terrified of her? That's really really really funny.

I think the Democrats would love for her to run in 2012 (in the same way Republicans were drooling to run against Howard Dean, but got the second choice in Kerry).

[Ligr]

Yes, Sarah, please! More interviews! More sillyness to laugh about!

Seriously, this woman did just about everything to fail.

[moderatebutextreme]

Ummm, I think she should be thankful for every interview she DIDN'T do.

[Takkon]

I certainly don't want to see her in the White House, and I'm not sure why you are routing for her Dave. She seems to be yet another politician who is more interested in social issues rather than economic issues (the only issues that really matter). When she gets to the white house I can fully see her selling out to the current washington climate and over spending and increasing the size of the government just so she can focus on her social issues.

That was my beef with McCain, if I thought for a minute that he was serious about tackling the huge budget deficit or further deregulating the economy I would have voted for him. But he had openly admitted that he never had any interest in the economy or how it worked.

[Dave]

I'm not a Palin supporter, Takkon. I was merely trying to analyze her as a politician and her future chances. I don't agree with you that economic issues are the only issues that matter, but I don't agree with Palin's social agenda either so that point is moot here. And I think you're correct in a backwards way about Palin on economic issues, in that Palin is not an economic conservative at all, as her dealings with the oil companies in Alaska show.

That said, the constituency Palin appeals to is the backbone of this country, so I have some sympathy for her in that I feel the government should be representative of this.

[Takkon]

That said, the constituency Palin appeals to is the backbone of this country, so I have some sympathy for her in that I feel the government should be representative of this.

And its that attitude that draws the ire of everyone else. There is no place for the rest of us in your ideal America and there is also a subtle sneer in the way that you and her talk that says we are not as American as you.

[Dave]

Uh Palin is the one who talked about the "pro-American" parts of America, not me. Rather, I see the constituency she appeals to as being a plurality in this country and one that is marginalized both in culture and in public policy. I want inclusion of this plurality, not exclusion of other demographics. I have a soft spot for politicians who represent this constituency for this reason, even if I don't particularly agree with them.

[Takkon]

You have time and time again idolized the white, tradionalist, and religious part of America. I find that denial hard to believe.

[Dave]

I am not denying my support for that. Supprt for that does not extend to antagonism to other groups per se.

[votingblockhead]

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, his controversial running-mate, will not attend the dinner, Bill McAllister, a Palin spokesman tells Mother Jones…

Was she even invited? “I don’t know if she was invited,” McCallister says. Don’t know? How could that be? It’s hard to miss an invitation from a presidential inauguration committee. For its part, Obama’s inaugural committee has declined to say whether an invitation was sent to Palin. Repeated phone calls to its press office produced no answer to this simple question…

If Palin was left off the guest list, it’s not clear whether the snub came from McCain or the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/15/p ... or-mccain/

[Sapper]

She connected with the non political and working class people in a way that the liberals can not.

Obvious nonsense, as the non-political and working class voted for Clinton, too. And a substantial amount of them probably voted for Obama (there's working class in the city, too).