McCain's Running Mate

[LadyBug]

A little late, but i figured since Obama got his own thread McCain might as well too.

so, what does every one think of her? i was shocked he picked a woman! and what do y'all think about her daughter being pregnant? there's some articles over at ABC news that i've been looking at. here and here. i think it's great that she's keeping the baby.i think she mad a bad choice but under the circumstances she's doing the right thing

so, let the discussing begin!:biggrin2:

 

[pamnock]

I think the choice of a woman running mate for McCain was an incredible strategic move that stole Obama'a thunder.

Whether or not he'll regret that move due to theconservative view of the teenage pregnancy has yet to be seen.

Pam

 

[TinysMom]

WARNING

:soapbox

:biggrin2:

I'm going to start out by saying I'm a registered Republican. Would I consider voting for a Democrat? On the local level .... yes. On the national level...no.

My birthmom was 14 when she had me in 1960....had abortion been legal...I might not have been here. A friend of mine asked her when I met her, "Did your family ever discuss the possibility of abortion? Certainly it was done on the QT at the time...". Her response? "To my knowledge..that was never discussed. If it was...it was not discussed in my presence."

So I'll now close my soapbox on the right to life - but I wanted folks to understand why I am so much pro-life....

:soapbox

Ok - now for my thoughts on Governor Palin.

I like her. I like her a lot. The more I read about her - the more I become convinced that she is human (like the rest of us)...but also she has a strength of character about her.

Here are some of the things I like about her:

• She has more administrative experience than Senator Obama, Senator Biden AND Senator McCain combined.
• She has moxie. Here are some of the things she's done since taking office...
  • Told Washington, "We don't want the bridge to nowhere...if we want a bridge...we'll build it ourselves." Talk about killing a pork barrel project.
  • When she was mayor of Wasilla - if I read right - she lowered city taxes AND provided more services to the residents.
  • Her first act upon becoming Governor was to sell the former Governor's plane on Ebay (I read today she sold it on Ebay - I haven't verified that).
  • She doesn't have a limousine / driver - she drives herself to work.
  • I read today that upon becoming governor - she fired the chef and said something like, "I can make sandwiches for my family".
  • She just recently worked on something to get $1,200 back to all Alaskans since the price of fuel and other things are going up. This wasn't part of the Alaska Dividend from what I remember - I forget how she got this - by taxing the oil companies maybe?
  • She went against her own party to end corruption - and she's worked across the aisle with the Democrats in Alaska to get things done.
  • She has something like an 80% approval rating in Alaska - I think I read she is the most popular Governor in her home state.

Anyway - those are the things that stood out to me.

Now about "Troopergate"...I am bothered by it by I understand the charge was made by the person she defeated to win the Governor's election. I also have read that she has welcomed the investigation as she did nothing wrong. So while I don't care for the situation and feel like it hurts her a bit (and hurts the party a bit) - I feel like I'd need to see more substantial information to change my mind about her.

About her husband's DWI 22 years ago...I did things 22 years ago I'm not proud of either. They're part of what made me who I am today. Now if we were talking about within the last 2 months or if people came forward to say he had a pattern of driving drunk NOW...yeah...I'd be upset.

About her daughter. Wow. That one hit me hard....in fact, I called my 80 year old mom who says that the only person right of her would be the Kaiser (if he was still alive). I wanted her to hear it from me (since she was so excited about Governor Palin the other day). My mom shocked me...for one thing...she'd already heard about it just moments before. She said to me, "Peggy, things like that happen. At some point her children are going to do things she may not agree with....but she still loves her daughter. Yes, it will put pressure on her family and its a sad situation. But it happens all the time across America and I think we need to remember that it is a part of our society nowadays."

When I picked myself up off the floor....I realized mom was right. It is a normal part of our culture nowadays. My kids have done things I don't approve of. I did things my mom wouldn't approve of

I really REALLY respected Senator Obama for his reply about how kids are off limits. I was glad he said that and I hope that attitude persists.

I was really looking forward to the Republican Convention...largely because I wanted to hear what Governor Palin and Senator McCain would have to say - and I wanted to hear what others would have to say also. But I think they've done the right thing in how they're handling this. Hopefully, later in the week we'll get to hear meaningful information that will help voters make decisions.

I have to say that before Senator McCain announced his VP choice...I was considering not voting. I thought about voting for Ron Paul even though I knew that would not accomplish what I want. I had mostly resigned myself to voting for McCain simply because it would be a vote against Obama and I hated that thought. I don't think I've ever voted for anyone as mainly a vote against the other person.

I don't think that Senator McCain picked Governor Palin as much to win the "Hilary voters" as he did to energize his own party. I think it has done that for a large portion of the base. Everyone I've talked to that is registered Republican seems to be very happy with what they're reading/hearing. People that I thought would never support his choice - are telling me how excited that they are now that they're hearing more about her.

So once again - you get Peggy's VERBOSE thoughts...

But I'm excited about his choice - I'm excited about the convention and I'm especially excited about the debate between her and Senator Biden. I don't think Governor Palin has the nickname "Barracuda" for no reason...I think she goes after what she wants - does whatever she has to do to get it - and I think she'll surprise a lot of people.

 

[TinysMom]

pamnock wrote:

Whether or not he'll regret that move due to theconservative view of the teenage pregnancy has yet to be seen.

From CNN:

title: Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.evangelicals/index.html

 

[TinysMom]

Wow - I thought this article was pretty interesting - it was about the vetting process that McCain's team used to go through all of the various people they looked at - including Palin.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/02/vetter-defends-palin/

 

[Illusion]

I'm also a registered Republican. I was a teenage mom at 17, and now my stepdaughter is going to be a mom at 17. I know both sides of this situation, and it is a difficult one. I do not believe in abortion, that has never wavered. I really like Palin, she has a lot of strength, and character. She's someone I can be proud of, as an American.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Well, I am probably the least conservative Catholic around here......

I don't believe in abortion, I won't judge people about it cause it's not my place to judge anyone, but I also won't vote according to who has a pregnant daughter or not..... I think that is so far away from what is important here it's not even worth mentioning - UNLESS Grandma is going to raise the baby.... then it isn't a great idea for a VP.....

Things that Palin has done on such small levels, small groups of people, etc., have no real importance either........ she may very well want to rid the country of unnecessary foo-foo like she did the chef or whatever, but in reality - will she? can she?

She also used her powers to try to fire her ex-brother inlaw from his position in law enforcement..... that was crooked.



This is not to say that I don't have issues with all 4 of the candidates (Obama, Biden, McClain and Palin)..... but for this thread.... these are my thoughts.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

pamnock wrote:

I think the choice of a woman running mate for McCain was an incredible strategic move that stole Obama'a thunder.

Pam

Or is it supposed to be strategic while most everyone sees the whole gimick of it?

Amazingly, I live in a republican state...... and most of the people here are laughing at who McCain has chosen - thinking he's grasping for anything....

Don't be surprised to see Indiana go Democratic this time around......

 

[TinysMom]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Amazingly, I live in a republican state...... and most of the people here are laughing at who McCain has chosen - thinking he's grasping for anything....

Don't be surprised to see Indiana go Democratic this time around......

I'll keep an eye on it - so far Rasmussen is showing IN in the "Likely GOP" column but they haven't updated it in a few days. I am dying to see what it looks like when they update their electoral college predictions after the convention.

Speaking of the convention - anyone watching? What do you think?

I've not normally watched conventions - oh - maybe a bit here and there. But nothing like this year.

Some of the speeches have bothered me a bit in their tone - others - I've really liked. I'm looking forward to tonight...

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Same here, Peg. I don't think I've ever been as interested in a race.

I was interested in McCain's speech last night. He did well, but then they say how someone else writes the speech and that sort of nulls them all a bit for me..... except for definite points they make.

I wish McCain had been more specific about some things.. he eluded to Iraq, but didn't come out and say he would stop sending money there (same with Obama tho)...

I like McCain a lot as a person. I just don't know that he's who I want in office. I'm really burnt out on what's going on.

It's so strange tho, cause my hubby is normally very Democratic..... he's not going to vote for Obama from what he says.... he's going to vote Independant. (That is just throwing your vote away to me)...

I also think that Palin would be stretching herself too thin with a child in Iraq, one pregnant and then a grandchild and a special needs baby of her own... I just don't know..... I can't really envision a VP taking a baby into the oval office for a meeting..... :?and I don't think that's fair for the baby either. As he gets older he will need a lot more direct attention. Friends of mine with a down syndrome child - she had to quit working to give the child more of her time to help her develop as best as she can mentally. She does well too!

I'm really torn.

 

[TinysMom]

From what I've read or heard or something - I think that when they had their last baby - Sarah Palin's husband (aka "first dude") stayed home to be with the baby.

I used to be against the whole "stay at home dad while mom works" thing - till I saw how it worked for one family (friends in Alaska). It worked really really well for them and they were happy and the kids seemed secure and well cared for.

By the time the inaguration rolls around - the baby will be 8 or 9 months old....so I don't think that nursing will be a big problem (if she nurses)....and when I think of all the children that are in daycare - she certainly understands the needs and feelings of moms who work outside the home and have to have help. Oh - I remember now reading about how the extended family has pitched in and helped at times too.

It is a tough decision - and it will be an interesting election season. For some reason - when I heard McCain's speech last night - I was reminded of President Reagan - who I don't really remember that well. In some ways - I was also reminded of JFK's "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You..".

Now I know this is gonna sound really strange - but here goes. I used to vote Republican because I'm pro-life. In this particular case though - I'm more excited about voting Republican because I really believe that this ticket can turn our economic situation around. I really think that the more we tax businesses - the more the consumer winds up paying - and so in the long run - while we may not send the $$ to Washington - they still come out of our pocket. I'm wanting to read more about the economic plans of both parties - but I do lean more towards the Republicans for that reason.

I am hoping the debates will give us some clear answers....

Oh - and did you see Obama's interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox? It is part one - parts two - four will be next week. I have to say - he did good - better than I thought he would. Bill O'Reilly irritates the dickens out of me and I usually only watch him when I go home to my mom's....or if I get in the mood to watch political stuff or maybe if he had someone I want to hear - I'll catch it on the internet...

Anyway - it was an interesting interview and I may watch the rest of it next week....

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Actually, she does nurse and I have known women to nurse through their child's 2nd year...... and one who nursed til her child was 4 which was really weird IMO.

And, she does already take him into the office.

Now she's got another one who's pregnant and going to have a baby too.

Don't get me wrong - I do believe it can be done, but I don't think she's going to not be involved with the little guy.

as far as McCain's speech last night; I felt he just talked about his past and what needs fixed but I didn't hear much in the "real solutions" area of things. He might WANT to do some of those things, but in reality it costs to do them and he's saying he won't raise taxes? Mainly that was education and oil but there weren't concrete ideas there from what I could get.

Again, I remember seeing him come home from being a POW. He's definitely a great person, but I'm just really having a hard time supporting someone who supports a lot of what Bush has done.

I loved Bush Sr. and I even voted for dubya this last time. I voted for Clinton one of the times and I think that eventhough he's a male pig, he was an excellent president! he got our budget balanced! that was great!

I'm worried for us. I really am.

 

[TinysMom]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

as far as McCain's speech last night; I felt he just talked about his past and what needs fixed but I didn't hear much in the "real solutions" area of things. He might WANT to do some of those things, but in reality it costs to do them and he's saying he won't raise taxes? Mainly that was education and oil but there weren't concrete ideas there from what I could get.

The part of the speech I liked (ok - I liked most of it) was when he talked about how they're going to find/create jobs for those whose jobs have gone overseas...if I remember right - they're going to help them w/ some pay while they are retraining for jobs that are needed now. He also mentioned how they will set up training programs in community colleges -I got the impression it would be for jobs that would benefit that particular area....so what is offered here in Texas might be different than what is offered where you are in Indiana...but I can't say he said that - it is just the impression I had from somewhere...and I don't know where.

I also like the fact that he wants to lower taxes on businesses so they won't take jobs overseas. Let me explain how that hit me.

As you know - I worked as a customer service rep on the phone for a major credit card company for several months. The main company was GE Money Bank - a huge organization that does credit cards for many of the stores here in the US - like Lowes, Home Depot, Gap, Walmart, Sams, etc.

GE Money uses customer service reps here in the United States to handle the customer calls (so far). However - when it came to technical support for those of us who were reps for the company - we had to call a line that went to people in India - and try to work with people over there.

Now I have nothing against people who live overseas - but it was so hard sometimes to talk to them - to understand them - and many times we had to repeat things three or four times to make sure that we understood each other. I rarely got off a tech call to India without having spent 20 minutes on the call - of which 5 minutes would have done it if the tech service had been here in the US and we had not been repeating ourselves trying to be understood.

Many times when I'd get phone calls from customers - I'd hear one of two comments...

"Wow - I finally got a REAL PERSON...what button do I push to get you next time?"

and

"You speak English...thank God" or "I'm so glad you speak English".

I think these are jobs that could have been kept stateside if the companies had some sort of a tax break for using American employees.



I'm trying to remember the other topics he covered - but the part about keeping jobs at home and retraining people for jobs that are more up to date with our country were the ones that hit me.

 

[seniorcats]

Peg, he mentioned reforming unemployment insurance (BUC as we call it in Ohio). The current system was designed for the 1950's and has not changed.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I think that's where I am lost.

If he's going to lower taxes...... where will the money to do things like this... come from?

Peg, I know what you mean about the foreign calls. My daughter has a wonderful friend who is Indian. Her parents are some of the sweetest people I know, but sometimes it's so hard for me to understand them! On the phone it's about 100x worse!

Jobs DO need to stay at home. We need to fix US first - not other countries. It's one of those things - we have to help ourselves before we can help others....

I want to see us doing our own drilling also. We need to supply our own fuel.

 

[seniorcats]

He spoke about foreign aide and the amounts given away every year. He stated we would cease to send money to those countries 'who don't like us very much'.

Reducing government spending by getting rid of failed programs.


The entire speech is here. Doesn't take that long to go through. I am stressed at the moment and am remembering the speech in bits and pieces.

http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/news/Speeches/ef046a10-706a-4dd5-bd01-b93b36b054bc.htm

 

[Bo B Bunny]

That's what I didn't like..... he didn't say WHAT countries.... he eluded to Iraq but didn't come out and say he would get us out of there.

Now, I WAS supportive of the efforts when we went to Iraq - I just think we need to either have them paying with their surplus, or get us out and let them rebuild for themselves....

I always love hearing "cutting non-essential government" ....... because they never say what that is either and we never hear of what they cut unless it's things like education, military, and support benefits for US citizens...... then they give more to the big guys and the illegals......

I am very opinionated regarding some things..... I am really upset by the government giving away healthcare and stuff to illegals when we don't have some of that for our own citizens.

I also think it's time we limit the amount of immigration we do allow... legal immigration...... and completely give a no-excuse, ship-them-back policy to the illegals.

I was appalled that some of our border patrol was charged and all that because they shot a person coming over the border illegally!! They were doing their jobs!

Yes, I am old school, republican in some ways but then democratic in others.. LOL!

 

[TinysMom]

You have to have adobe acrobat to read it - 'cause it is a pdf document - but you can find much of what he plans to do here:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/Issues/JobsforAmerica/briefing.pdf

As far as immigration - here is what it says on his website...

[align=left]John McCain on Border Security
and Immigration

"As you know, I and many other colleagues twice attempted to pass comprehensive immigration legislation to fix our broken borders; ensure respect for the laws of this country; recognize the important economic contribution of immigrant laborers; apprehend those who came here illegally to commit crimes; and deal practically and humanely with those who came here, as my distant ancestors did, to build a better, safer life for their families, without excusing the fact they came here illegally or granting them privileges before those who have been waiting their turn outside the country. Many Americans did not believe us when we said we would secure our borders, and so we failed in our efforts. I don't want to fail again to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. We must prove we have the resources to secure our borders and use them, while respecting the dignity and rights of citizens and legal residents of the United States. When we have achieved our border security goal, we must enact and implement the other parts of practical, fair and necessary immigration policy. We have economic and humanitarian responsibilities as well, and they require no less dedication from us in meeting them."

[/align][align=right]- John McCain
[/align][align=left]
John McCain believes America's immigration system is broken. He is committed to a two-step process to reform.

Securing Our Borders First. John McCain's top immigration priority is to finish securing our borders in an expedited manner. Governors of border states will be required to certify that the border is secure. Steps to border security include: [/align]

• Setting clear guidelines and objectives for securing the border through physical and virtual barriers.
  
• Ensuring that adequate funding is provided for resources on the ground, but also training facilities, support staff and the deployment of technologies.
  
• Dedicating funding to US Attorney’s offices in border states.
  
• Implementing sound policies for contracting Department of Homeland Security software and infrastructure.
  
• Deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and other aircraft where needed and appropriate in the border region.
  
• Continue implementation of the US-VISIT comprehensive visitor security program.

Comprehensive Immigration Initiatives for a Secure Nation. Once the borders are secure, John McCain will:
Prosecute “Bad-Actor” Employers. John McCain will implement a secure, accurate, and reliable electronic employment verification system to ensure that individuals are screened for work eligibility in a real-time fashion. John McCain will use this new system in conjunction with other Department of Homeland Security resources to identify and aggressively prosecute employers that continue to hire illegal immigrants. The Electronic Employment Verification System will:

• Establish a user-friendly system employing a limited set of secure documents that contain biometric data and are electronically verifiable to check a worker’s identity.
  
• Provide responses to employer inquiries in a prompt and timely manner to provide both the employer and employee security in their hiring decisions.
  
• Update and ensure the accuracy of current databases of government agencies that play a role in employment verification.
  
• Protect the identities of each employee being screened and allow both employer and employee adequate time and opportunity to correct possible errors with any information in the system.
  
• Institute targeted auditing by Department of Labor in order to weed out employers abusing the system.

Meet America’s Labor Needs. John McCain will implement temporary worker programs that will reflect the labor needs of the United States in both the high-tech and low skilled sectors while protecting the employment opportunities for US workers:

• Highly Skilled workers:
  
  • Ensure high skilled workers trained and educated in the United States have the opportunity to stay and work in the United States upon graduation.
    
  • Reform caps for H-1B visa program to rise and fall in response to market conditions. Reduce bureaucracy and waiting times for workers to arrive in the United States.
    
  • Increase available green card numbers to reflect employer and employee demand.
    
  • Extend the ability for H-1B visa holders to renew their H-1B status while waiting for their green card number to become available.
    
  • Ensure available and qualified American workers are given adequate and fair opportunities to apply for available positions.

• Low-skilled non-agricultural workers:
  
  • Implement a usable, market based system for low-skilled workers to enter the United States in an orderly fashion.
    
  • Ensure that the cap rises and falls with market demand to meet the changing needs of the economy.
    
  • Provide for adequate worker protection to guard against employer abuses of temporary workers.
    
  • Protect American workers by designing a program that allows willing and eligible United States workers adequate opportunity to apply for available positions.
    
  • Ensure that workers return to their home countries after their temporary period in the United States.
    
  • Allow for appropriate visa renewals to assure that both the employer and employee have stability in the workforce.
    
  • Offer a limited number of green cards to reflect the small number of workers that may wish to remain in the United States permanently.

• Low-skilled agricultural workers:
  
  • Reform the H-2A visa program to provide a non-bureaucratic, adaptable, useable program that is reflective of market needs and protects both the immigrant and US workers.

Address the Undocumented. John McCain will address the fact that we have a large number undocumented individuals living in the United States and working in our economy:

• All undocumented individuals will be required to enroll in a program to resolve their status.

• This program will use background checks to identify criminal aliens for prosecution and deportation.
  
  • Assure that the remaining undocumented immigrants learn English, pay back taxes and fines, and pass a citizenship course as part of a path to legal status.
    
  • Guarantee that no person here illegally receives a green card before those that have been legally waiting outside the country.
    
  • Do a proper accounting of all social security numbers used and attained illegally, rectifying the accounts and alerting those whose identity had been compromised.

• The program will also ensure that all undocumented aliens either leave or follow the path to legal residence. America cannot permit a permanent category of individuals that do not have recognized status – a permanent second class.

There is much more than that - here is the link:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/68db8157-d301-4e22-baf7-a70dd8416efa.htm

There is a lot more than that.

Now in fairness - I haven't read Obama's positions on any of these things - so I can not compare them - and by sharing these things - I don't want y'all to think that I'm dissing Obama.

I also want to clear up one thing that has been stated by the McCain camp that is wrong (according to factcheck.org). Obama is NOT the most liberal senator in the senate. He does have that distinction from 2007 when he was out campaigning and missed a lot of his votes - but in his precampaign days he was something like the 10th most liberal senator. That bothers me that they're using a statistic that is based largely on the fact that he didn't vote on a lot of issues because he was campaigning and so his rating is skewed.

 

[LadyBug]

she said (i can't remember when or where)

"you, people say the only difference between a soccer mom and a bull dog is lip stick,"

i loved that.

 

[naturestee]

I have a lot of reading to do. I have no idea who I'm going to vote for. I'm generally very liberal but I do gravitate towards McCain, or at least his previous work moreso than his current campaign. Don't know much about Palin or Obama's VP.

Maybe this year my conservative hubby and I will actually vote for the same person? Usually our joke is that we have to vote to cancel each other out, LOL!

At least whoever gets in the office there will be a significant achievement in getting one person who is not a stereotypical white male. About **** time if you ask me!

Although when will I get my pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-environment candidate? *sad*