Tag: Sarah Palin (page 6)

Add the Chicago Sun Times to the list of papers endorsing Sen. Barack Obama. Why won't it support McCain?

[S]omewhere along the line, McCain stopped being McCain. The maverick who always thought for himself turned his thinking over to others. He became too driven to win.

He reversed his position on major social issues to curry favor with the Republican base. He pulled silly surprises from a hat, such as “suspending” his campaign. Most egregiously for a man of advanced age who knew how important this decision could be, he chose the unqualified Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice president. (emphasis supplied.)

On Obama: [More...]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has just released its Sunday endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama.

Columnist William Kristol, a longtime McCain backer, calls the McCain campaign “close to being out–and–out dysfunctional,” concluding that “its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic.”

And of course, the most unfortunate evidence of that “strategic incoherence and operational incompetence” was McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a person utterly unprepared for the high post in question.

Not just unprepared, but "utterly unprepared." The paper's primary reason: McCain is Bush III. [More....]

The Chicago Tribune joins the LA Times in making its first endorsement of a Democrat for President.

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

On McCain, the choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is a factor and the paper says it shows McCain "failed in his most important executive decision." : [More...]

In its first presidential endorsement since 1972 and the first ever for a Democratic presidential candidate, the LA Times has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. The Times says the endorsement is "without hesitation." Like the Washington Post endorsement, McCain's Hail Mary pass of choosing Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was key, although not the only factor:

Indeed, the presidential campaign has rendered McCain nearly unrecognizable. His selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was, as a short-term political tactic, brilliant. It was also irresponsible, as Palin is the most unqualified vice presidential nominee of a major party in living memory. The decision calls into question just what kind of thinking -- if that's the appropriate word -- would drive the White House in a McCain presidency. Fortunately, the public has shown more discernment, and the early enthusiasm for Palin has given way to national ridicule of her candidacy and McCain's judgment. (emphasis supplied.)

Tomorrow the Washington Post will endorse Barack Obama. The editorial is already posted here.

....[I]t is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president. The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

....we find no way to square his professed passion for America's national security with his choice of a running mate who, no matter what her other strengths, is not prepared to be commander in chief.[Emphasis supplied.]

It's not that flattering an editorial. It disagrees that McCain equals four more years of Bush and criticizes Obama's Iraq position. It makes me wonder, had McCain not picked Palin, would the Post still have endorsed Obama?

Check out PalinasPresident --it's a flash so don't forget to click on all the objects in the picture. It's updated daily until November 4.

Palin's latest: G-d blessed the U.S. with oil and gas. Forget Joe the Plumber, he's a nobody. Keep your eye on Sarah Palin.

Don't miss David Letterman tonight, John McCain makes an appearance, trying to make up for his canceled appearance a few weeks ago that led to Letterman doing lots of funny jokes about him and Palin. Tonight: [More...]

Booman Tribune has this video of a Sarah Palin rally that will make you want to throw up.

?

Does it mean Obama isn't out of the woods yet? I don't think so. There are more of us than them. The radical right fringe exist but not in enough numbers to take over our Government -- if all of us get out and vote.

It's a good reminder though that we can't take anything for granted and everyone has to get out and vote -- early if possible, to avoid the chance something will go awry at your polling station.

The CBS/New York Times poll released this afternoon has Sen. Barack Obama leading John McCain by a whopping 14 points.

Obama has increased his lead even more among independents.

The top two reasons: McCain's negative attacks on Obama and --you guessed it -- Sarah Palin.

The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the Town Hall debate that uncommitted voters saw as a win for Obama, that margin was just three points.

Among independents who are likely voters - a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign - the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.

Full poll results are here (pdf.)

The Alaska Legislature has concluded its TrooperGate investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin, but the investigation of the Palin-appointed Personnel Board, an investigation she requested, continues and is widening its focus to include other employees and other ethical complaints against Palin.

The [board's]investigator, Tim Petumenos, did not say who else is under scrutiny. But in two recent letters describing his inquiry, he cited the consolidation of complaints and the involvement of other officials as a reason for not going along with Palin's request to make the examination of her activities more public.

Two other ethics complaints involving Palin are known. One, by activist Andree McLeod, alleges that state hiring practices were circumvented for a Palin supporter. The case is not related to Monegan's firing. The other, by the Public Safety Employees Association, alleges that trooper Mike Wooten's personnel file was illegally breached by state officials.

Also today, the Anchorage Daily News excoriates Palin in an editorial for her inaccurate portrayal of the Legislative report in media interviews. Palin told the media she was cleared of any ethical wrongoing. The paper writes: [More...]

Remember when John McCain and Sarah Palin touted her supervisory role over the Alaska National Guard as evidence of her foreign policy experience?

A year long investigation by the non-partisan group Veterans for America has concluded with a lengthy report.

The report offers a scathing critique of the Guard's alleged lack of assistance -- particularly with health care -- for soldiers returning from overseas deployments. It asserts the Guard was sent to fight without proper systems in place to handle its returning vets and urges deployments to cease until the situation is fixed.

"As a result of inadequate leadership from the Governor of Alaska, among others, the Alaska National Guard has an inadequate understanding of the full range of post-combat issues," the report says.

The Alaska National Guard disputes the findings and calls the report a political hatchet job. The 8 page summary with preliminary findings is here. The full report should be released sometime today.

The Associated Press reports today that as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin blurred the lines between church and state and billed taxpayers for her attendance at religious events:

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

More...

The full TrooperGate report is here (pdf). Pages 65-67 with key findings on Gov. Sarah Palin are reproduced here (pdf).

Below are some key excerpts from the report, followed by several news articles showing that contrary to claims by Palin and the McCain campaign, the investigation was bipartisan from start to finish -- and Palin herself initially pledged to cooperate with the legislature. [More...]