Here's something the NY Times has. They don't mention the rape kits, but they do give a pretty reasonable profile of how she operates.
Jay, by the way, was nice enough to include a link to more data about the rape kits in his response to my Admiral Ackbar post. Check it out if you are so inclined. I don't know how much of it will stick. There's still probably wiggle room to get out from under it, but it seems damning to me.From the Times article and other sources, Palin comes off as a kind of thug with decidedly Nixonian tendencies (yes, I can see enemies lists as something she could have). I think she's every bit the pit bull she says she is, with or without the lipstick. Pit bulls aren't just strong, tenacious fighters. They're animals that have been known to maul when they slip their leash.
I don't make any bones about not being in the bag for Obama. I don't think he has much of an interest in the things that trouble people in my neck of the woods. He's written us off very publicly and this will continue if he's elected. He's a pretty face for change, but I don't know how much change he represents. I don't see him as a real reformer, which is what the country needs desperately.
Palin is a real reformer. She's change you should be afraid of.
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I just don't get the "He's probably the best choice, but he didn't campaign here, so I'm probably not going to vote for him" logic.
What problems do we have that the rest of the country doesn't that the president could solve? If you did think he was the better candidate, wouldn't you rather see him implement a winning strategy instead of wasting scarce campaign time in WV? Obama needs to win Virginia, not WV.
If you don't like him, fine, but not liking him because he doesn't campaign in a state with only 5 electoral votes that he obviously cannot win is egocentrically self-defeating, IMO.
You call it egocentric. I call it wanting the people of my state to have some kind of voice, to be included.
We're a rural state, with rural problems. We finish at the bottom of the list on things like decent health care, education and earning. So far, I'm not hearing anything out of his mouth that says he plans to do anything more than what has already been done for rural America.
Obama's campaign, so far, isn't about embracing or building bridges. It's about excluding elements he doesn't think he can win -like for example, rural working class voters.
I'm saying Obama doesn't represent any substantial change for me and mine, which is what I have to care about. This is where I live. This is where my kids go to school. We, and many like us, live hand-to-mouth. We get pushed around. While it's nice to say, well... overall, things for the country might get better. If things get better for the other 49, but don't get better for West Virginia, it would be stupid and self-defeating to say I'm enthusiastic about him winning anything.
But as little as he represents me, the people he's running against are further away from my values. A vote for change turns out to be a vote for the least harmful candidate. Obama is indifferent. McCain is hostile.
So much for the audacity of hope. It's more about the resignation to despair.
For what it's worth. Nader is right about the electorate being enslaved. There is no real choice, but fear not. I'll vote how I have to when it comes around.
Other than coming here to beg for your vote, what specifically do you want Obama to do for you?
Personally I'd use the word "narcissistic." And you're wrong about Obama ignoring West Virginia. He has opened five campaign offices in the state and has 20-some campaign workers. That's nothing to sneeze at for a state as small as ours.
Well, if you see what he's doing as begging... why should West Virginia be any different? I want him to come here and make the effort to include the people of this state. This is a symbolic gesture. He needs to come here and make the appeal because we are Americans and yes, he does want our vote -even, if he might not get it.
Meanwhile, off the top of my head, here's what I want...
Improve on or start initiatives to improve education for rural communities. Broaden childcare program and encourage rural transportation programs to give rurals a support system to get to work. Increase funding for programs that put medical professionals in the backwoods. There really aren't enough doctors and dentists in the state and the lofty goal of universal health care doesn't work if the nearest doctor is 60 miles away. Also would like to see more active role from the feds to improve senior services, which is lacking.
Rural development grants to create and encourage new businesses. Offer tax incentives to get companies to come to small, rural communities.
On a minor note, I want INS to send the undocumented aliens home. Many of these jobs could be done by rurals and for about the same price -not migrant work, obviously, but there are plenty of companies who use illegals who could use rural workers. They just have to relocate. With incentives and enforcement of the law, they would.
Spend a lot more money on research and care for autism -similar to what Clinton proposed. It's an epidemic and a greater burden in places like West Virginia with limited resources for education, treatment or care.
Give the EPA more power. Strengthen laws for clean water and air. Increase oversight on mining, drilling and domestic energy concerns.
That's what I want. That's what change looks like to me, but I think I'd have better luck asking him for a pony.
Can't say I think opening five offices means anything. It seems a token effort.
You mean stuff like this?
Improve Rural Education: Obama will provide incentives for talented individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas. Obama will create a Rural Revitalization Program to attract and retain young people to rural America. Obama will increase research and educational funding for Land Grant colleges.
Upgrade Rural Infrastructure: Obama will invest in the core infrastructure, roads, bridges, locks, dams, water systems and essential air service that rural communities need.
He has an entire Issues page devoted to rural issues.
There's nothing "token" about opening campaign offices. He's spending money in West Virginia, more than he had initially planned to, which means that he thinks the state is within reach for him.
Oh, and I just noticed the last sentence of your post (which I guess I missed the first time I read it): "Palin is a real reformer." Are you joking?
A reformer in the same vein as Darth Vader... hence the picture, and the last line about change to be afraid of.
I think she'd try to reform things. The Fascists in Europe were reformers, just not in a good way.
I also think McCain looks kind of like the Palpatine. Vader was his running mate, so to speak. That seems to have missed everyone. They just got the paragraph where I reiterated my lack of enthusiasm for Obama.
I'll read his issues page. I am not against being convinced. I'll compare it against what he's done, too. I read his speeches, same as I read McCain's.
And he thinks the state is within reach? I doubt that. He's doing the one thing that guarantees he won't win here -which is to avoid coming. Kennedy, Johnston, Carter and Clinton came here. Gore barely bothered. Same with Kerry. The results were predictable.
How it works here is how it works pretty much everywhere in the lower 48. People want to be asked, personally, for their vote. They want to have the opportunity to shake hands and have their babies kissed. They want to get a good look at who they're electing.
Obama is giving face time to where he thinks he could win, where he wants to win, where he thinks he needs to win. He's not doing it here. This says more than opening 5 offices and hiring 20-some bodies to make calls and hand out stickers.It's really not much of a substitute.
My reasons may be flawed and toxic. I'm casting my vote against Palin, not for Obama -not that it matters. The net result is the same. I'll vote Obama, and he'll lose WV handily.
There's no telling what the rest of the country will do. I think the election is closer now than it ever was.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of Obama's and McCain's health care plans.
Which one do you think is best for your family, Bill?
Well... based on that page, neither is fabulous. Obama's plan, because it's a more of a departure from the norm is less likely to get passed. Also several of the costs in his plan deal with forces beyond the government's ability to control. So, the savings would be a little more nebulous.
As far as actual coverage, Obama's plan would be kinder and be more likely include someone who had pre-existing health issues, who might be priced out of the market. However, McCain's plan sort of covers that by allowing an opt in for people who can't afford coverage otherwise.
Both plans fall short and would represent a kind of Christmas wish list. Less of each plan would actually be enacted.
Man, you remind me of an old friend of mine who literally would not play the lottery because the government took too much of it in taxes.
We both understood the odds against winning, but in any discussion of it, I could not get him to see the benefits of taking the 65% home.
I just don't understand that way of thinking.
Jay,
I am willing to play on this. My reasoning just doesn't include doing it because I believe Obama is this great reformer. I'm voting his side because I think McCain is worse overall.
This has been like some weird attempt to get me to convert to some sort of religion. Do I need to get down to the river and get dunked for Obama? I'm willing to eat the crackers. Just don't expect me to drink the koolaid.
It's not an attempt to get you to drink the Kool-Aid, at least not on my part, it's an attempt to fill you in on Obama's stance on policy matters. You have apparently made up your mind that you don't like Obama enough to vote for him (but are willing to vote for him as a way of voting against Palin), yet you don't seem to know much of anything about his positions on economic and other issues.
I would say I have an average view of his policies. Same as I do with McCain. They're both patchy. I read a lot and have a solid overview of what their individual parties represent. I didn't much care about the election until McCain added Palin to the ticket. I find her disturbing.
I know that Obama's economic plans include closing loop holes in the tax code and increasing taxes on those earning more than $250,000, while reducing or maintaining taxes on those making less. I know he's proposed removing taxes on businesses that move their jobs out of the country.
I know that McCain favors a broader tax reduction, which Greenspan thought was risky without massive budget cuts to match.
There is a lot of noise. I certainly get hammered with lots of graphs, charts and editorials explaining how increasing taxes here improves things there or how reducing taxes does the exact same thing. It's a pretty murky thing.
Obama favors more military effort in Afghanistan and a timetable for exiting Iraq. He's solidly pro-choice (now more so)and has had problems phrasing his position on the 2nd amendment guns thing. He's a very charismatic guy, but reportedly has something of a temper.
McCain is an unflinching hawk, has joked about bombing Iran and mouthed off about Russia. He is completely pro-life and his running mate is a hunter with dead moose pictures to prove it. He is not a charismatic guy, but does have a couple of decades experience in public life. He also quite famously has something of a temper.
I think I have a pretty fair view of what each side represents and who they are. What they say they can do versus what they can actually do is anyone's guess. Policy is the most liquid thing about a candidate.
I made my decision about Obama after the primary in West Virginia. His camp coldly dismissed the state as not being part of his election plans, anyway. He also seemed willing to go along with the notion that his landslide loss was due to racist sentiment, not that he didn't really campaign here or that he really hadn't connected with white, working class voters. It left a particularly sour taste.
So far, Obama has been true to his word. I don't recall him coming through over the summer and there are no plans on the horizon for him to return this fall. At least, none that have been announced.
McCain, by the way, hasn't been in West Virginia much either. I do pay attention.
So, I disengaged back in the spring. I was going to vote for Nader or whoever. I believe in the necessity of a third party developing. That changed or was put on hold with Palin -and believe me, it sucks.
I only came out against Palin a couple of days ago. It's going to take me a couple of days to get up to speed on how Obama is going to make everything all better.
It's not about kool-aid or religion, and I think you know that, but to understand that Obama represents the 65% and McCain the 35%.
Obama will surely disappoint me, but with a Democrat president and Congress we can hopefully fix some of the historic disaster that's going on as I type this.
And seriously, you should get over the perceived slight. It's campaign strategy and it's a good one.
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