Oh Boy Obama!

It's precisely because of her religion, in my opinion. Creationism can be chalked up to her religion, and abstinence-only education I'm guessing because of religion and the mistaken notion that sex ed promotes sex (it doesn't - maybe Bristol could've benefited from some).

The anti-abortion is, if I remember the article I read correctly, to prevent women from having to make the sometimes difficult decision to abort their pregnancy. If you can't legally get an abortion, you eliminate one choice and thus it's supposedly so much easier. Of course, I don't think anyone is dumb enough to believe that they can actually outlaw abortion. Making it illegal just forces women to get them secretly, which can potentially put them in danger and doctors in danger if they continue to get and perform abortions in secret. I also don't approve of that view because it forces every pregnant teenager to become the next Bristol, even if they don't keep the baby. I don't like abortion, but as a woman I would never in a million years even dream of trying to prevent other women from having that choice.

I wish the Obama campaign would hammer home the anti-abortion views of McCain and Palin, but I understand it invites the controversy that comes with abortion, and so while I don't like it, I certainly understand their avoidance of the topic.

I tell everyone, that I can, these things about Palin. The problem is that people won't listen. It's funny how people, some who call themselves Christians, can vote for a candidate who lies so profusely about such important issues. I would think, as a mother, she would be much less narrow-minded. It's, for lack of a better word, pathetic.

Although I know all of these things are things Governor Palin believes in, I don't know that we can consider these things "her policies". She has yet to come out and tell us any policy matters she may have had an opinion on. I think she is just the McCain campaign mascot. I don't think she actually has any plans of what she'll try to do as VP.

One of my co-workers is a died-in-the-wool, card-carrying Republican Conservative Capitalist, yet he will not be voting for McCain/Palin simply because he thinks teaching creationism in schools (particularly as an equal to science) is a threat to America's future with regards to technology, science, and common sense. He actually agrees with all the other cr@p she stands for! But this one item is a deal-breaker for him!

Obama is running against McCain - Biden is running against Palin and should be the one highlighting ALL of Palins flawed policies. To have Obama as point man for damage control only draws attention to her and distracts from the more important job of confronting McCain on the issues.

I'm a mom and one of my children has leukemia. I was insulted by Palin's suggestion that she'd be an Advocate in the White House for Special Needs children. My son also has a coordination disorder, my kid has an IEP and I deal with my district all the time. Many moms are like me. Some moms may believe that Palin would be supportive - but she won't. Once educational funding is CUT, the first to be hit is Special Ed. Children with disabilities suddenly won't be found anymore. Also, her position against stem cell research impacts ALL parents with special needs causes who NEED research to find cures. Parents are being mislead and lied to. Tell parents the TRUTH about what McCain/Palin will do to our schools and special needs children.

I'm a mom and one of my children has leukemia. I was insulted by Palin's suggestion that she'd be an Advocate in the White House for Special Needs children. My son also has a coordination disorder, my kid has an IEP and I deal with my district all the time. Many moms are like me. Some moms may believe that Palin would be supportive - but she won't. Once educational funding is CUT, the first to be hit is Special Ed. Children with disabilities suddenly won't be found anymore. Also, her position against stem cell research impacts ALL parents with special needs causes who NEED research to find cures. Parents are being mislead and lied to. Tell parents the TRUTH about what McCain/Palin will do to our schools and special needs children.

- Palin was for "The Bridge to Nowhere" while campaigning for Governor of Alaska
- She lobbied for earmarks while Governor of Alaska
- When the Bridge to Nowhere did not happen she diverted the earmarks for other projects

- Now she claims she is against earmarks and was opposed to the Bridge to Nowhere
- It is time for Palin to own the truth

- Ad should show Cheney and Palin with the title and narration:
Do we want 4 more years of spin and deception?

As I see it, a majority of American voters don't educate themselves or decide their candidate by contrasting the differences in policies and plans, they decide based on how they feel, and what the Republicans are brilliant at doing is playing on emotions. They are the masters of getting people fired up emotionally on issues like abortion, gay rights, and guns, and they know that the rest of it doesn't matter if they can get you to feel strongly about a single emotional cause. The democrats can explain all day and night from now until the election about the importance of change, the failed policies of George Bush, the economic present and future, and no matter how true and important, the words will continue to sound like Charlie Brown's school teacher, "wah, wah, wa wa wahhh wah wah"... but the Republicans... the Republicans talk to Americans like all of us are 12 years old, without apology, and it works! They don't even care if what they say is the truth! They know that trash talk works just as well with grown-ups as it does with middleschoolers. Okay, so maybe that's stating the obvious but what I don't get is WHY democrats haven't caught onto this! ... I don't mean by participating in mean spirited "I don't care if it's the truth" sort of way, but at least in using the truth to get people fired up about the emotional issues! When it comes to Sarah Palin the picking is so darn easy! Here are a few ideas:

Show video of aerial shooting of wolves and wolf pups, get a close up on their little furry faces, show some puppies looking for their moms, get the blood on the snow, and put an "Alaska thanks Governor Sarah Palin for legalizing inhumane aerial hunting of wolves just so that the moose population can flourish and we can shoot them too!" message across the top.

Show interviews of Wasilla Alaska teen mothers holding their babies explaining that at their public school they were taught only about abstinence as birth control, and then leave it at that. Enough said.

Interview the Wasilla librarian who was fired for not censoring books... and then show clips of book burning.... because you can't get more un-American than by making inferences to nazi Germany.

Show awful video of pollution, of earth's damage, of hurricanes, and animals struggling to survive, with McCain's voice underneath, talking about taking the lead in environmental responsibility, followed by Sarah Palin's smug face and voice explaining that she believes global warming has nothing to do with humans and then just freeze the video and stamp this across her face, "LEADER?"

And here's the winner....Show the video of Palin driving around that Alaska jail with her new baby, in her lap, NOT in his car seat! If that happened on my street, bus stop pressure alone would have the guilty mom packing up and moving out the next day! That's the kind of inexcusable, "You'll never get my vote", sort of behavior that moms latch onto!

I realize that it's shaky ground to navigate the woman/mom thing but the Obama campaign and democrats in general have a golden opportunity here that they are missing. "Mommygate" is ripe right now! If they wait much longer it's gone. I'm a full time working mom, ironically I teach hockey players, I have two little kids at home and like all working moms, my life is a constant balancing act. There are times when it's my job, and times when it's my family, and a lot of time when it's me that gives. I could never run a country with this schedule! Maybe after they are grown but not while my kids are little. I KNOW that's how moms everywhere feel but now their right to complain about it has been stripped for two reasons, one, because suddenly it's sexist to say that we have more responsibilities than dads, and two because the Alaskan wonder woman can do it all so now we have no right to complain about our measly little non-existent lives. WHATEVER! It's NOT sexist to say that the role of a mom is different in many ways than the role of the dad! It's NOT sexist to say that something has to give! If I ran this country either my kids or my country would suffer. That's just a fact. That's not sexist, it's the truth. So what's it gonna be Palin, if McCain dies, is it your kids or the country that will have to go it alone? And by the way, if he doesn't die, are we just going to pay for you to live in the VP house with your 5 kids, grandkid, and daughter's teen husband? Seriously, someone has to give moms around the US a pass to be angry at this fake super mom who doesn't even have the time to strap her kid into a car seat! Moms everywhere who are feeling worse about themselves now than pre-Palin because they are wondering how she can look so good while campaigning to potentially run the country with a pregnant teen (who is going to teach her how to be a mom?), a special needs baby, a son in the army, and two other young daughters to raise, when they didn't even have time to pack 3 lunches, plan a birthday party, write a note to two teachers, send emails to the soccer team about the change in practice time, and manage to get a shower. Those moms WANT a reason to hate her! All the democrats have to do now is show them one or two, and as you men know, once we're mad at someone,we women can hold a grudge forever, WAY past November! Oops, there I go being sexist again!

I agree that we need to focus on what sort of a VP (heaven forbid, President) that she would make. She believes in the welfare of her state first. The AIP founder said he didn't care about America or "her damned institutions". What is documented and not disputed by Palin is that she formally welcomed this, the largest political party in Alaska, to the most current of its conventions, encouraged them in their aspirations to promote Alaskan interests over those of the United States, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI ) and that the husband was a card-carrying member. until 2000. Imagine if she or he had been caught saying something, oh I don't know, maybe like, "This is the "first time in my life that I am proud of my Country"!

Not only did she try to ban books that she does not agree with, she fired the librarian in Podunk, AK for refusing to follow her orders to do so.
Gileas

um... abortion is NOT an effective focus when dealing with the undecided, considering 40%+ of registered democrats poll as pro-life

He should draw attention to the majority of Republicans' views on environmental issues and climate change... i.e. they don't believe in them!

Regardless of how good or bad a pick Palin turns out to be, John McCain's vice presidential pick was supposed to be a demonstration of his ability to make good, sound executive decisions.

McCain disrespected the office of the presidency and the American people by choosing a candidate who was a relative unknown with minimal experience, whom he had only met once before (the day before) and had not vetted at all.

Is this how he will fill his cabinet positions? Is this how he will decide whether or not to use military force against Iran? Is this not four more years of George W. Bush?

Let the media take down Sarah Palin. Obama needs to keep his eye on McCain.

Palin tried to get books banned from her local library when she was mayor.

That is just un-American and is something the average person would not accept.

What drives me crazy is that there are some Hillary supporters who have been quoted as saying that Palin reminds them of HILLARY!!! WHAT?! These points need to be talked about as contrasting with what Hillary Clinton believes...

The reform argument is a hoax. Pound on that. Not only did she support the bridge to nowhere, but she has taken the very money she says she's opposed to

The low blow of belittling and mocking Obama's community organizating is offensive to anyone who has ever done any kind or community or charity work. The campaign should get notable community organizers doing admirable work to appear in ads outlining their ACTUAL responsibilies. You don't even have to mention the pit bull in lipstick by name.

All of the above.

From the UK:

Palin was member of party calling for vote on Alaskan secession from US.

Revelations about McCain's running mate for vice-president raise questions about his selection

This should be a very damaging policy to the US! Also her idea of banning library books that she found offensive.
See these news stories:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/02/uselections2008.republicans2...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?ex=13781808...

I think this speaks to her true patriotism. She was part of a political group that basically wants to secede from the union, an act of high treason. This could be something Biden goes after in the debate

I don't think the primary attack should be on Palin's position on abortion: even though this is strikingly unethical (her viewpoint), I think there are enough people who must support the no abortion rule for religious purposes that this could easily backfire. There's no time and it's practically impossible to dissuade people from their religious views during a campaigning season....
***************
No, none of the options above are really the best... Though they are all important.
If you really want to put Palin in her place, set someone on the task of researching her every contribution in politics: how she's used the power she's been allotted in the past. THEN, show the top 10 contributions (because i'm sure there are only 3 or less really notable ones, and even those will be pretty lame)... You could even go as far as to add a qualifying statement explaining why each of her contributions was short-sighted and conclude with explaining why this type of leadership, though tolerable on the micro scale, would prove disastrous on the international scale, especially when there's SO much at stake. Look to scientists' projections: the human race is being threatened like never before... We can't afford to have anything short of the best leader possible at a time like this.
She just doesn't even close to cut it.

Obama doesn't need to wade into Palin's policies at all. That ship is sinking all by itself. The media is vetting this candidate publicly. At some point, American's are going to start feeling sorry for her. I don't care if Chris Matthew's hands are dirty, but Obama's must be clean. Obama is the presidential candidate. Stop adding authenticity and power to this VP pick.

Currently: Her association with the Alaska Independence Party (motto "Alaska First, Alaska Always") undermines the GOP convention message "America First".

Post-Convention: Her ridiculous anti-abortion stance is a turn-off for female voters, but the biggest issue appears to be nominating someone for Vice President who literally didn't know what the Vice President did on August 8th.

"Off Limits": Her child's pregnancy can't have anything to do with abstinence-only education, can it? Maybe if she'd taught her kid about rubbers the poor girl wouldn't be headed for a shotgun wedding.

Side Note (ANWR Fact Check): Palin wants to drill in a place where the very presence of economically recoverable oil is so questionable that some oil companies withdrew their support for pro-drilling lobbyists. I don't think she sounds very smart about energy, either.

What happen to the Barack Obama that wouldn't attack Hilary Clinton during the primaries? I believe he should only talk about what changes he will bring when he is president and not what McCain is doing wrong. I wanna know how he's going to resolve an issue as opposed to the opponents plan and why his is better. That is the Barack Obama I voted for in the primaries. :(
By the way, Obama supporters do not need to worry about me, I am still voting for him in November.