Going Rogue- Sarah Palin's book tour

[ThinSkin]

Yes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS-zjbI2q_Q&feature=related

Obama did ONE tough interview and he should be included in "Profiles in Courage".....Puleeez. Palin got ambushed every time she sat down for an interview in '08.

Another paragraph from the article:

"Compare that to the lion's den that Palin walked into every time she sat down with one of Obama's obsequious panderers. Given the ideology of the interviewers, I already knew how things would turn out. What really impressed me was watching this woman muster the courage to face her liberal antagonists on national television. How much courage does it take for Obama to engage in one of those cozy love-fests with his fan club? "

[JMS]

One thing that blows my mind is that Palin - and some of her conservative supporters - characterize the Katie Couric interview as "gotcha" journalism. (The Charles Gibson interview, too, though I only saw parts of that one.) That is mind boggling to me. Sure there were tough questions, but "gotcha" journalism? Please.

According to Palin she sat with Katie Couric for nearly 20 hours on more than five different days. The amount of interviews which made it onto the TV in total was about 4% of what was filmed.

Palin's not saying she didn't make the statements that Curric Used, she said that Curric used the most damaging footage she could.

I'm not a fan of Palin or Currics, but having seen the interviews it's hard to refute Palin's claim. Palin did look horrible in that footage used.

Likwise on other live interviews I thought Palin came out better.

Part of that I blame on Palin. Or according to Palin I should be blaming the McCain handlers. Palin didn't do alot of interviews. this magnified the Katie interviews importance.

I don't agree with her politics. I don't have any need to burn her down. What I found most interesting in the Oprah interviews was the way the McCain people handled Palin. Clearly they were terrified of her. I wonder if that terror was justified. I wonder if it was precidented.

[Predicto]

OK OK. The writer might have gone a little over the top on that one, but can you find real fault with some of the other things he said concerning Palin?

I have written 15 posts in the last two days explaining what I think about Sarah Palin. Pretty much every single word of that stupid editorial is wrong.

1) Palin is not mocked because she has "wholesome conservative values" - she is mocked because she appears to lack the intellectual heft of other candidates.

2) Palin is not in the news every day because the left fears her - she is in in the news every day because conservatives adore her and never stop talking about her (look to your own signature), and because she just published a book. She is newsworthy.

3) Palin did not have substantial experience - she was a sportscaster, a housewife, the mayor of a very small town, and finally governor of a state with less than half the population of San Antonio, Texas, for less than 18 months.

4) For whatever its worth, Obama was a law professor, a state legislator for 7 years, and a US Senator for nearly four years.

5) Palin did not fail because of "gotchas" from the evil liberal media. She failed because every question asked of her turned into a gotcha- because she couldn't answer any of them, no matter how simple they were. Meanwhile, Obama went on O'Reilly and other hstile venues and did just fine. Even if you think Obama gets too many softball questions, when he gets softball questions he does fine.

6) Oh yeah, the cheap racial shot in that editorial pissed me off too.

.... And twa asks why I don't respect the "AmericanThinker" blog. :laugh:

[Heisenberg]

They were two pretty bad choices.

No offense. But after last week you should be the last person commenting on any political thread.

How long before you're pulling random numbers out of your ass to try to prove a point?

[Predicto]

Palin has mastered the art of being the victim. Her outrage at the Newsweek cover is the latest example. What she does is villainize the "mainstream media," and her supporters eat it up.

This is really an excellent point. For the part of America that hates and fears the "elites," she is the perfect lightning rod.

[Henry]

Obama did ONE tough interview and he should be included in "Profiles in Courage".....Puleeez. Palin got ambushed every time she sat down for an interview in '08.

No, but to suggest that Obama never faced an hostile interview is disingenuous.

Another paragraph from the article:

"Compare that to the lion's den that Palin walked into every time she sat down with one of Obama's obsequious panderers. Given the ideology of the interviewers, I already knew how things would turn out. What really impressed me was watching this woman muster the courage to face her liberal antagonists on national television. How much courage does it take for Obama to engage in one of those cozy love-fests with his fan club?"

Given the ideology of O'Reilly we knew Obama was going to be made to look like a confused lightweight ... oh wait. He didn't.

Sure it takes courage to face off against an antagonistic interviewer. But to come away from it looking like you know what you're talking about takes confidence and competence.

It's nice that Palin exhibited one of those three qualities in her interviews. But she should be able to show more regardless of the ideology of the person asking her questions.

What a lame excuse.

[McD5]

No offense. But after last week you should be the last person commenting on any political thread.

How long before you're pulling random numbers out of your ass to try to prove a point?

Nonsense.

Here are some brand new numbers for you to chew on, just released.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that Housing Starts dropped a whopping 10.6 percent in the one month period October 2009 versus September 2009, and fell 30.7 percent below an already awful number last October 2008. This is in spite of the $8,000 first time home buyers credit the Central Planners decided was a key stimulus tactic. New Building Permits fell 24.3 percent from last year's lousy October number. Mortgage Applications fell 2.5 percent last week.

Stimulus Plan= Epic Fail.

This country needs jobs. Cutting taxes on small business is how we get them.

Palin supports that issue. That is what makes her popular.

[Heisenberg]

Links to random article completely avoiding my orginal statement . . .

LOL, you really are a comedian.

[Predicto]

This country needs jobs. Cutting taxes on small business is how we get them.

Palin supports that issue. That is what makes her popular.

So do about 4000 other GOP politicians. Why doesn't it make them wildly popular too?

[McD5]

So do about 4000 other GOP politicians. Why doesn't it make them wildly popular too?

Any incumbent was unpopular then.

Much like we are seeing again today.

We have massive fail right now by this administration.

They have targeted a small minority to get the government spending, and have failed miserably in conducting a strategy that would get cash into the hands of all American Households. If you have a clunker and are willing to buy a tiny car with a certain gas mileage performance, if you are buying a new home for the first time, or if you are one of the largest financial companies on earth, you get the money, and for the rest of you, go borrow money from lenders who won't lend. This is essentially their plan.

It might be the most incredibly ignorant thing I have ever seen.

The economy as a whole does not need riskier loans, and the American Household does not need more debt. This is not a policy to create jobs. This is not a policy that gets cash into the hands of Americans so they can live, payoff debts, and restore savings. There needs to be across the board massive income tax rebates and tax cuts.

That is the only solution that will fix this worsening mess. The latest housing numbers and unempolyment numbers tell us things are getting much worse on Main Street, not better, and a major policy change is necessary if this economy is to avoid a double dip downturn.

Both a Democrat, John Kennedy, and a Republican, Ronald Reagan, pulled this economy out of recessions with major tax cuts and rebates. It has worked before and will work again. Consumers need cash from non-debt acquisition sources. It is that simple.

When the American public realizes that there are no jobs, no jobs are coming, they have more debt than ever, and real estate continues to dive, it will get nasty.

[JMS]

So do about 4000 other GOP politicians. Why doesn't it make them wildly popular too?

I think you are a little wrong. I agree a significant part of her popularity comes from folks on the right who love her. but I also think there are folks on the left who tune in to see what she will say next. Folks with an irrational need to watch her.

There is definitely a greater reaction, even an irrational reaction, on the left to this woman. She was chosen partely to exploit the Hillary / Obama devide. Something she ultimately didn't do. but I think many hillary supporters were pretty horrified that (a) she had a shot. ( the GOP took that shot. After all Palin is pretty much their opposite on just about every issue, yet threatenned to take the womans vote. I think many on the left feel the need to squish Palin until she's a smudge on the carpet for that unforgiveable offense. I put my wife into this catagory.

Clearly if there's not some emotional component to this Dems would have moved on to Huckabee or Romney and be leaving Palin alone. Because Huckabee and Romney lead Palin in likely 2012 candidate polls. Face it, Palin is a lighting rod, That's why she's on Oprah during sweeps week. That's why her book was on the nytimes best sellers list before it even came out. She's a facinating lady.

That's also why the Dems feel such a need to bash her. Cause her gift for being facinating and connecting with people could easily transform itself into political capital.

[JMS]

So do about 4000 other GOP politicians. Why doesn't it make them wildly popular too?

Because Palin has something those other GOP candidates don't. She does have some kind of gift for being genuine which escapes the rest. She connects with people better.

[Destino]

Because Palin has something those other GOP candidates don't. She does have some kind of gift for being genuine which escapes the rest. She connects with people better.

She's simple and uses simple language.

[Heisenberg]

Because Palin has something those other GOP candidates don't. She does have some kind of gift for being genuine which escapes the rest. She connects with people better.

IMHO and of many others I know - she's comes across about as genuine as a Rolex from a street vendor in Times Square.

[ThinSkin]

4) For whatever its worth, Obama was a law professor, a state legislator for 7 years, and a US Senator for nearly four years.

:laugh:

I wouldn't be so quick to tout that state legislature experience. According to this NPR article, he voted "present" 130 times. That;s neither yes or no.....That's maybe.

From the article:

"To register a vote in the Illinois General Assembly, lawmakers have a choice of three buttons on their desk. The "yes" button is green. The "no" button is red, and the "present" button is yellow, says Rich Miller, who writes and publishes The Capitol Fax, a daily newsletter and blog on Illinois politics. "

""There's a saying in Springfield that there's a reason why the present button is yellow,'" Miller says.

So as far as choosing the more qualified individual, I would take the executive experience of a mayor and governor over a community organizer and halfhearted state legislator and part-time US senator.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18348437

[JMS]

She's simple and uses simple language.

Yeah I would reject any argument which relies on significant amounts of the American public being idiots.

I would also say it was average people who put some of our best Presidents in office from both parties. ( Teddy, FDR, Truman.)

[hockeysc23]

IMHO and of many others I know - she's comes across about as genuine as a Rolex from a street vendor in Times Square.

And once again that's your opinion of you and your group. And probably the people you hang out with share similar ideals thus why you all come to the same conclusions.

The opposite can be said for many people.

[JMS]

IMHO and of many others I know - she's comes across about as genuine as a Rolex from a street vendor in Times Square.

Come on man... When she winked into the camera at the GOP convention my wife and I both said... Oh ****... we're in trouble..

Like I said I don't agree with her on the issues and the more I found out about her the further I went away from her based on the issues. In Presentation she's very rough and has glaring holes. But their is something about her that is very engaging.

If she got her act together she could be a very formitable candidate in 2012 or 2016. There is a popularism element with her support.

[Heisenberg]

And once again that's your opinion of you and your group. And probably the people you hang out with share similar ideals thus why you all come to the same conclusions.

The opposite can be said for many people.

Actually, the people I'm referring to are various people I know that are completely at odds with what I agree with politically. People who I argued with frequently about this sort of thing.

But believe what you want - polling seems to indicate a lot of people feel that way.

[JMS]

The opposite can be said for many people.

She's on Oprah for sweeps week. Clearly women are fasinated by her. Any message coming out of Palin's mouth instantly reaches many times more people than any other GOP leader. She's definitely got the juice.

Maybe any other Political leader. Other than Obama and the bully pulpit.

[deejaydana]

here are some questions I have:

Is Palin as divisive as Hillary (it seems like she is to me)

Is she judged more harshly than others because she's a female? (it seems, in part, to me that it is also like Hillary).

[Heisenberg]

Fair enough - my experiences with a lot of different people and watching poling data leads me to believe she's not as popular as some of you seem to believe.

I'm sure she'll sell a good amount of books and maybe even gain traction for an audience on cable news - in fact I'd bet good money on it.

However, she's a lightweight politician anywhere outside of Alaska - IMHO.

[Heisenberg]

here are some questions I have:

Is Palin as divisive as Hillary (it seems like she is to me)

Is she judged more hashly than others because she's a female? (it seems, in part, to me that it is also like Hillary).

I agree with the first part.

I have a problem with the second point. I think any male politician would have been left with virtually no career after stumbling through answers and being stumped as many times as she was in the few months she was in the national spotlight. In my opinion she's able to play the victim card so well because she is a woman.

[Henry]

here are some questions I have:

Is Palin as divisive as Hillary (it seems like she is to me)

Is she judged more hashly than others because she's a female? (it seems, in part, to me that it is also like Hillary).

Good questions. I don't know the answers to either of them.

[deejaydana]

I agree with the first part.

I have a problem with the second point. I think any male politician would have been left with virtually no career after stumbling through answers and being stumped as many times as she was in the few months she was in the national spotlight. In my opinion she's able to play the victim card so well because she is a woman.

I think it's been lately acknowledged that she (Palin, that is) can't keep playing the 'victim' card because people aren't going to keep buying that act.