Gee, I thought that mothers could do it all.

Apparently that rule only applies to Democrats.

Democratic mothers are Wonder Women. Republican mothers are, as we prefer them, best kept barefoot and pregnant and chained to an oven.

John Roberts' concern over poor baby Trig is truly poignant, though. He's obviously all heart.

Thanks for that original tip (which I passed to Newsbusters) to Jen, via AQ.

Vote for Obama-Biden

Don't take Trig's mama away from him.

You... do care about little baby Trig, don't you?

Couple Doesn't Abort Baby with Birth Defects; Media Stunned: Eh, I can't really fault them for bias here, as that bias -- the shock of this decision -- works in our favor.

Thanks to TonyB.

Posted by: Ace at 10:24 AM | Comments (48)
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As there are so many aspects of this to talk about, I'm trying to categorize them and put new updates where they belong. So new updates on media reactions will go in that thread, more stuff about the experience issue in that one, etc.

That way posts, even while being updated, will sort of stay on a general topic.

Main point: Check old posts for updates. Most new information and links will not get their own new post, unless they're especially important. Or I forget my master plan.

Posted by: Ace at 10:17 AM | Comments (9)
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That's the attack from Obama (attack, attack, attack, without even a welcome for their opponent).

Barack Obama's campaign is blasting John McCain for putting "the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency."

Just curious: Before Obama was a junior senator for sixteen months before he decided he knew enough to be President, he was a state legislator.

How many people did he represent? What was the size of his district? 15,000? 20,000? Is this the hill he wants to die on?

And note, once again, that Palin's experience was as the executive of that small town, the leader, the top dog, the decider, the chief law enforcement officer, whereas Obama was... a backbenching nobody in a body of hundreds, none of whom had ultimate responsibility for anything they did.

She governed that town; Obama merely represented his district in committee.

Oh, and he was corrupt. She wasn't.

I do admit he has more experience dealing with terrorists first hand... but we don't need to talk about William Ayers and his Manson-enthusiast wife Bernadette Dohrn right now.

Obama and Palin are the Exact Same Age: 44.

Oddly enough, Barack Obama has enough experience at this age to be President, but the woman -- or "sweetie," as I call her -- doesn't have enough seasoning to be Vice President.

Monty--

The clearest evidence that choosing Palin as the VP was a good move can be seen in the panic with which the Democrats are responding to it. Any "lack of experience" attacks at Palin will surely reflect badly on Obama, but personal attacks on Palin herself are almost certain to backfire. Obama is a loyal servant of the Chicago Democrat machine; Palin bucked her own party in several cases (a trait that probably endeared her to Maverick). Palin strikes me as the kind of woman that other women would like: pretty, but not too; smart, but not too; and safely married with kids so she's not a rival. Palin's husband seems like the kind of two-fisted guy that makes liberal men feel inadequate...plus he's an Eskimo, for godssake, which should make the identity-politics and victim-group liberals' heads explode.

It's a good choice...maybe the best choice given who McCain is running against. Still, it's far from a slam-dunk -- I still think this election is Obama's to lose. It'll be interesting to see how much spark Palin puts back into the dispirited GOP ranks. I may actually tune in to the convention and see if the enthusiasm level is up.

Corrections Galore! I'm told that Obama is 47, not 44, and Illinois State Senate districts are 200,000 or so strong.

So while my facts may be off, my conclusions still stand, obviously. If anything, my conclusions are stronger now.

Posted by: Ace at 10:03 AM | Comments (71)
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Tip me any you find in the comments.

Rocks sends this charmingly enlightened analysis.

A cynic might suggest that McCain - who has been awkwardly courting the more disaffected Hillblazers since Hillary Clinton lost her bid - chose Palin because he could use her as a stronger selling point to PUMAs. And this cynic is suggesting itÂ’s part of the reason.

True, it’s not as simple as all that. McCain wants to balance his ticket with someone who doesn’t remember the League of Nations. And how better to deflect the full impact of Barack Obama’s historical acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium than with historic news of his own? But based on his continued insistent pandering to a demographic not traditionally receptive to the GOP, his line of thinking can’t be far from this: “Man, those bitches really loved Hillary. If I can get them to vote for me, I bet I can win this thing. What if I ask my painted trollop cunt wife to run with me? Nah, no one will buy that. What if I ask some other trollop? Feminists don’t care about womens issues, they just want to see one of their own in power. They’ll eat this shit up.”

I feel McNasty just skimming the Arizona Senator’s mind. If anyone needs me I’ll be throwing up, or as McCain inaccurately and archaically terms it, “sojourning in the vomitorium.”

Nuance. Layers. Progressive thought.

And Andrew Sullivan Demonstrates That Not-Charming Lack of Self Awareness We've Come to Not Love:

[McCain is] willing to let personal liking and respect for utterly unqualified people trump the sober responsibilities of running a country at war...

Hmm... kinda like your mancrush on Obama leads you to think this zero-experience piker is ready to be CinC?

Previewing Josh Marshall's Racial Decoder Ring: BigE--

I'm sorry, there's one thing that concerns me on this pick. How can we be sure that Obama won't just steal her away and make her part of his haram of white women? Wait a minute I get it now. McCain made this pick to subtly play on my gutwrenching fear that black men are going to steal all of our white women. My god, how could I have missed it. McCain's pick of Sara Palin for Vice President is RACIST!!1!1!

Posted by: Ace at 09:56 AM | Comments (57)
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Hmmm...

The Denver coroner said a Canadian man who killed himself with cyanide suffered from schizophrenia. Medication to treat the disorder was found in his system.

Saleman Abdirahman Dirie's body was found in The Burnsley Hotel two weeks before the start of the Democratic convention. A pound of highly toxic sodium cyanide was found in the same room.

The autopsy report released Friday did little to clear up questions about why Dirie had the cyanide and why he was in Denver. The FBI said Dirie's death has no apparent connection to terrorism, and police said they don't suspect foul play.

The coroner ruled last week that Dirie committed suicide.

But what about previous reports he had a pound (or pounds, I forget) of cyanide? Where they wrong? Did he buy the cyanide in bulk? (It's quite possible that's the only way to buy it without arousing suspicion... but I'd like to know.)

An odd dissenter from the verdict:

However, Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said last week that he "strongly disagrees" with the coroner's ruling.

"The Advocacy Center is still involved in this case and finds the suicide idea ridiculous. If Mr. Dirie's intention was to commit suicide, he could have done so in Canada," Jamal said. "The community finds this recent ruling very strange. I am saddened and still puzzled by this ruling and hope we will go to the bottom of the case soon."

Thanks to Alice H.

Posted by: Ace at 09:46 AM | Comments (9)
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Obama was a junior Senator from a state for about sixteen or seventeen months before he decided he was experienced enough to be president.

Sarah Palin has been the Chief Executive of a state for nearly two years... before running as Vice President.

But Obama wants to talk about how inexperienced she is.

McCain must be giggling that Obama wants to make this election, suddenly, all about experience. Yes, let's -- let's talk about the comparative experience of Obama and Palin every day for the next sixty seven days.

McCain shoots back on this point. A bit weak, actually, but they'll get better.

Hey Obama, Biden -- how many National Guard troops do you guys command?

How many state troopers?

How many budgets have you proposed?

How many plans have you worked out with Department of Homeland Security and FEMA?

Zero?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Risky Disaster:" So says Obama booster Clyburn, apparently unaware that his boy made the case last night to "take a chance on risk."

Oh, and I repeat: The experienced, and yet not very experienced, Pain is running for the Number two slot.

The not very experienced at all Obama is running for the number one slot.

You morons really want to talk about experience?

Sarah Palin's answer: "I admit, someone with only two years of experience in a top elected position isn't ready for President. But I'm not running for President. Barack Obama is."

More: On experience:

I see that the Left and the MSM (but I repeat myself…) have already started the "no experience" drumbeat on Palin, which is going to backfire. Obama has been a Senator for four years and has no executive experience (unless he really wants to bring up the Bill Ayers connection again); Biden has likewise been a legislator pretty much all his life. Palin has served both on a local government level (something she can point to as a plus, given Obama's rhetoric last night about being a community activist) and for two years as governor of not only the largest state (geographically), but the only state that borders two foreign countries — one of which is Russia, fer cryin' out loud. Tell me how much either Obama or Biden have had to deal with Russia on a government-to-government basis.

In fairness, Illinois borders on Virginia.

CNN Questions Palin's Experience: It would be a fair question, except they've spent a year telling us the short-term junior Senator from Illinois, who wasn't even a leader in that body of 100, has all the experience we could ever want or need.

And, oh yeah: For the millionth time, Palin is running for Vice President, whereas the arriviste naif from Chicago is running for President.

BTW, Newsbusters is cutting the video of CNN questioning if Palin could be both Veep and mom as we speak.

Ultimate Flip-Flop: MyDD:

"Do we really need to put another wildly inexperienced, purely political choice into the White House?"

No, we don't. We could elect McCain.

Joshey Micah Marshall! She's inexperienced! And oh, by the way, McCain's going to die so it's important.

Posted by: Ace at 09:31 AM | Comments (66)
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Surprisingly awesome.

"A ship at harbor is safe, but that's not why it's built."

"Only one man [in this race] has actually fought for America, and that man is John McCain."

Really surprisingly smart and effective speaker. I was afraid she would be a bumpkin (because I've internalized all that media bias against my fellow shotgun-pumpin' Bible-thumpin' cousin-humpin' Republicans), but damnit she's awesome.

Her Canadian/Minnesotan accent (well, her Alaskan accent) doesn't really come through when she's speaking rhetorically. Like the Beatles when they're singing.

Compare and Contrast:

Versus:

Mother of five? Well, mother of two at least.

Over on either CNN or MSNBC, one clueless douchebag reporter claimed there would be a conflict between McCain's reformer image and the "Bridge to Nowhere," which he assumed without checking that Palin supported.

Um, aren't you assholes supposed to check shit like that before spouting off?

Slublog--

Holy crap, I'm actually excited listening to a McCain speech.

This is not the Maverick I thought I knew.

Gabe--

I have a tingle...

Note he didn't specify "leg."

Van Palin Logo! Heh.

Obviously both her and her husband have a bit of the outlaw in them. They eloped, they're kinda kooky individualist outsiders, etc. They're going to play really well.

A good thing about the husband is that he's obviously a Guy's Guy so there won't be that sniping about "carrying his wife's handbag" and such emasculating rot.

Posted by: Ace at 08:39 AM | Comments (177)
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Hot smokin' nuance, from our fair and balanced media.

Women can do anything. Except if they're Republican women. In which case, how can they be so selfish as to put themselves in front of their children?

(This is a too good to check thing I just got from a friend... I've switched to CNN to catch their how-can-she-be-a-mother coverage.)

Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC... is decidedly funereal. Not feeling the excitement of this particular first.

The Democrats Go All "Sweetie"... Via Hot Air, Obama supporter calls Palin Quayle-esque. Because, you know -- come on. She's a woman.

Miss Wasilla, 1984: Democrats are saying just two years ago she was merely the mayor of a small town, Wasilla.

Um... two years before Obama announced for President, he was a minor state legislator.

Anyway, she... was Miss Wasilla in 1984.

Hot MILF in Glasses Shows a Little Fur?

Jonah Goldberg Says This Mean's McCain's Flipping on ANWR? I don't think that's true, but it would be huge if true.

Snark: LukeMcGook--

governor of our 56th state, if I recall correctly

Read Wikipedia! She hunts, she eats moose burgers, one kid just signed up for Army and her latest kid (born this year) has Down's syndrome. She's a lifetime NRA member.

I just heard on CNN her husband's a fighter pilot and loves craps. Nope: Her husband's an oil jockey and champion snowmobiler. I heard wrong; they were talking about McCain.

Her kids' names are hysterically off-beat but cute. "Track" and "Trig" and "Bristol" and Willow and Piper?

In 1984, after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year, Palin finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant which won her a scholarship to help pay her way through college.[5] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.

Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics.

Her husband, Todd, is a Native Yup'ik Eskimo.[5] Outside the fishing season, Todd works for BP at an oil field on Alaska's North Slope[6] and is a champion snowmobiler, winning the 2000-mile "Iron Dog" race four times.[5] The two eloped shortly after Palin graduated from college; when they learned they needed witnesses for the civil ceremony, they recruited two residents from the old-age home down the street.[5] The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.[7]

She briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd, her high school sweetheart.[5] One summer when she was working on Todd's fishing boat, the boat collided with a tender while she was holding onto the railing; Palin broke several fingers.[5]

On September 11, 2007, the Palins' eighteen-year-old son Track, eldest of five, joined the Army.[7] He now serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq in September 2008. She also has three daughters: Bristol, 17; Willow, 13; and Piper, 7.[8] On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.[9] She returned to the office three days after giving birth.[10] Palin refused to let the results of prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"[10]

Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.[11][12] Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not like it.[13]

Pre-gubernatorial political experience

Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged the incumbent mayor, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes.[5] The ex-mayor and sheriff tried to organize a recall campaign, but failed.[5] Palin kept her campaign promises, reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%.[5] She ran for reelection against the former mayor in 1999, winning by an even larger margin.[5][14] Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.[8]

In 2002, Palin made an unsuccessful bid for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a four-way race. After Frank Murkowski resigned from his long-held U.S. Senate seat in mid-term to become governor, Palin interviewed to be his possible successor. Instead, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-Alaska State Representative Lisa Murkowski.[5]

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission,[15] where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.[5] After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.[16] Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.[5]

In 2006, Palin, running on a clean-government campaign, executed an upset victory over then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.[5] Despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles.[5] Palin said in 2006 that education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of her administration.[13]

When elected, Palin became the first woman to be Alaska's governor, and the youngest governor in Alaskan history at 42 years old upon taking office. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006.

Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. Palin successfully killed the Bridge to Nowhere project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending.[10][17] "Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,' as the state does today."[11]

She has challenged the state's Republican leaders, helping to launch a campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young[18] and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings.[10]

In 2007, Palin had an approval rating often in the 90s.[11] A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%.[19]

Her father used to take her moose hunting at 3 in the morning.

A leader on her basketball team, she was called "Sarah Barracuda."

Alas, she has a degree in journalism, but that doesn't prove she's unqualified.

Gergen: "she has no national security chops - what about fighting terrorism"?

Um, as a governor, she's the only one with executive experience handing terrorism out of any of them.

Democrats rarely nominate governors for some dumb reason. Republicans do. And then liberals denigrate mere executive experience as being nothing -- no "foreign policy experience," sitting in committee debating fishing rights! -- while being in the Senate, 1 of 100, having no real power or responsibility, is elevated as the greatest training for the presidency.

Snark: Bart--

For the first time in my life I'm proud of my country.

Pics! Here.

I heard earlier "NASCAR voters are going to love her husband." Oil jockey, won that 2000 mile snowmobile race four times.

He's also an Eskimo.

Here's the couple, shortly after having their last baby.

The kid's name is "Trig Paxon Van Palin," which a commenter suggests is almost certainly a hat-tip to Eddie and Alex.

She says she's not a "soccer mom," but a "hockey mom."

And now they're playing Van Halen's "Right Now."

Her pick?

Ummm.... How many millions is SNL going to offer Tina Fey to come back to the show?

Posted by: Ace at 07:11 AM | Comments (295)
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NBC says Romeny and Pawlenty are definitely out.

Fox says it's Palin but ABC says as 9am this morning, she's still in Alaska. So if it is her, it doesn't look like she'd make it to Ohio by noon. But...Marc Ambinder playing the flight tracking game has found an interesting private flight from Anchorage to Dayton.

Whichever way McCain goes (and it looks like Palin) he and his team has done a great job of knocking The One's speech off the proverbial front page.

If it is Palin, it's an interesting choice to say the least. There's definitely risks, does she hurt with the "Obama is inexperienced" argument and how will she do in the crucible of a national campaign? That said, there's potential upsides...she seems more conservative than McCain (not a high bar) and in the short term, she definitely changes the conversation. How much older and whiter does Joe Biden look today?

I don't think that Palin hurts with the Obama is inexperienced issue. Her year and half as Governor is far more than either Obama and Biden (hell, even McCain) has. In a world where most have nothing, the person with a little seems impressive.

I hope she enjoys reading foreign policy briefing books!

The big question is...do the pissed off Hillary women really round around a conservative, pro-life woman?

I don't want to give any of you morons a heart attack with all this red meat but here's one more slice...teh Fred is pleased.

I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country's future

Unconfirmed reports claim he went on to say, "If things ever breakdown with my lovely wife Jerri, I'd happily tap VP Palin, if you know what I mean."

Congratulations to 8starnorth who was the first to predict Palin in yesterday's prediction thread. Your month's worth of free AoS HQ content begins today. Enjoy!

Posted by: DrewM at 06:32 AM | Comments (163)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:00 AM | Comments (8)
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