The other side of the coin!

[Peter_Puget]

In an interview on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, Obama was asked about whether his experience in the U.S. Senate dealing with weather-related situations compares to Palin’s executive experience running the state of Alaska and as the small town mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

 

“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We’ve got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year - we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

CNN

 

Sarah Palin is Governor of Alaska, the U.S. state with the most extreme weather. Barack Obama is friends with Weatherman Bill Ayers.

Commentary - Opinion blog

 

 

[olyclimber]

Who is this Palin you're mentioning? Tell me more about her??!!! I'm getting excited about this Republican ticket!!!!

[Peter_Puget]

Our next VP commented:

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart. . . . Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of love and adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional support.”

 

Obama’s guiding light:

In his interview with pastor Rick Warren, Obama said his favorite passage in the Bible is the one where Jesus says: whatever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me. Obama insisted that these are the ideals that have guided his life and the ones that he would bring to the Oval Office.

 

George Hussein Onyango Obama Barak’s youngest (half-)brother living in complete poverty:

“No one knows who I am. I live here on less than a dollar a month.” George Obama’s shack measures six feet by ten feet, and yet he says that Barack Obama has done nothing to reach out to him or to help him. “I live like a recluse. If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed.”

Vanity Fair

 

Edited September 2, 2008 by Peter_Puget

[olyclimber]

Hey Peter, why don't you leave B. Hussien O(s)bama's family out of the discussion???? IT JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

[billcoe]

Who is this Palin you're mentioning? Tell me more about her??!!! I'm getting excited about this Republican ticket!!!!

 

OK- turns out McCain is still learning as he goes as well. Nice trait to have as a president, jump, and then later shit your pants when you F*up and learn that you jumped too fast.

 

Link

 

"

 

By Tim Shipman in St Paul, Minnesota

Last Updated: 4:22PM BST 02 Sep 2008

 

Senior allies of the Republican presidential nominee insisted that the team of press officers will handle the worldwide media frenzy surrounding the selection of only the second woman ever on a presidential ticket.

 

But they also admitted that they have operatives on the ground in Alaska to probe more deeply into her background.

 

Democrats detected a whiff of panic in the McCain camp, amid growing claims that Mrs Palin’s personal history was not properly vetted before Mr McCain announced his pick on Friday.

 

The Washington Post reported that Mrs Palin, who has portrayed herself as a fighter against corruption and a dogged opponent of wasteful spending, secured $27million in federal funding for the small town of Wasilla, where she was mayor until two years ago.

 

News that she hired a lobbying firm to secure the cash could undermine Mr McCain’s claims that Mrs Palin is a kindred spirit in opposing so-called congressional "earmarks" of public cash for pet projects.

 

Mr McCain’s aides were already on the back foot on Monday when allegations circulating on the internet forced Mrs Palin and her husband Todd to issue a statement revealing that their daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant and ready to marry her boyfriend, Levi Johnston.

 

It also emerged that Mr Palin was arrested for drunk driving in 1986 and that Mrs Palin has now hired a personal lawyer to fight her corner in a sleaze probe investigating whether she abused her position as governor of Alaska.

 

She is being investigated by Alaska's legislature over claims that she called for the sacking of the state's public safety commissioner because he would not fire a state trooper, who happened to be her estranged brother-in-law, claims she describes as “outrageous” and “false”.

 

But the growing sense of hysteria around her candidacy threatens to undo the excitement generated by the announcement. It has made her speech to the Republican convention on Wednesday the most eagerly awaited address by a vice presidential candidate in decades.

 

Mr McCain’s team, who are prepping her for the appearance, have so far kept her out of the media’s way in the hope that the controversy blows over. But she may soon have to respond to the drip drip of stories or risk losing control of her image.

 

A Republican with ties to the campaign told the New York Times that the team assigned to vet Mrs Palin had not arrived until Thursday, the day before she was named as Mr McCain’s running mate.

 

The source also suggested that reinforcements were still being drafted to go there on Sunday.

 

There were also claims that Mr McCain, until midweek, had wished to select either independent Senator Joe Lieberman or former homeland security chief Tom Ridge as his vice presidential candidate, suggestions that met with anger from conservative Republicans because both men, unlike Mrs Palin, are supporters of abortion.

 

“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” a Republican told the New York Times. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”

 

Forced into a damage limitation exercise, the McCain campaign said they had completed a very thorough background check, including a criminal records check and a probe of Mrs Palin’s financial records. But the FBI said they did not participate in any criminal check.

 

Arthur Culvahouse, the lawyer who led Mr McCain's vice presidential search team said that when he interviewed Mrs Palin for three hours, the first thing she volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband's arrest.

 

Mr Culvahouse said he thought everything that came up as a possible red flag during the background check had now been made public. “I think so, he said. “Yes. I think so. Correct.”

 

Mr McCain’s team will hope so, since the furore around Mrs Palin’s selection, along with Hurricane Gustav, has derailed the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota, which was supposed to be Mr McCain’s coming out party.

 

President Bush, who cancelled his speech on Monday night is expected to speak via video to the convention on Tuesday evening.

 

His wife, Laura, offered her support to Mrs Palin and warned that Democratic attacks on Mrs Palin and her family could backfire. The revelation about her daughter’s pregnancy provoked a firestorm of criticism and salacious coverage.

 

“The other side will have to be particularly careful,” the First Lady said. Asked if the noisy reaction to the story is evidence of sexism in the American media, which Hillary Clinton claimed to have identified during her battle with Mr Obama, Mrs Bush said: “I think that's a possibility.”

 

She expressed pride in Mr McCain’s controversial pick: “I'm going to get what I wanted, which is to be able to vote for a Republican woman.

 

“People, as they get to know her, are going to be so impressed with her grit and her sensible judgment. She has shown how terrific women can be, and how strong women can be, in office.”

 

[billcoe]

McCain will now go find out and learn about Palin, and he'll get back to you later.

 

This vote is getting easier and easier for me.

[dt_3pin]

At least Palin isn't a wanna be book banner or complete messianic war nutjob