Re: Democrat National Convention
 

Presumably she also thinks it's "informed" if someone votes for a candidate because he's a man and not a woman?

Ask her if her gender rule applies to race as well (including in the negative sense)

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

We had that discussion, too. Her idea basically is a person's vote doesn't have to make sense to anyone but themselves. While I agree with that, I asked if actually knowing something about the candidates makes someone more or less informed, to which she replied it doesn't matter.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

oh dear me.
and i thought hillary was transparently cynical

pick a running mate that somehow adds a modicum of dudely fantasies to ol' fudders' ticket (look! look! a woman who pro guns and drillings and life and she's a woman that you can look at waowowowoww) and suddenly john mccains prospects have got legs. as cured aptly demonstrated, there are some who'll vote them in just because she's a woman, making it the most dangerously gimmicky gab at hillary supporters yet.

two things democrats have to attack on off the bat:

mccain can now shut up about obama lacking experience, he's just picked a running mate who's a newly minted governor as second in command of the entire country.

just because she's a woman doesnt mean she's a hillary. strikes one, two, and three: she feels good for republicans, those in the "good ol' boys" club that she's quick to deride, by being the same old vanilla conservative stand-by in all but gender. it's a gimmick and it shouldnt work but it will if they dont pounce on her for practically hemorraging the party line, especially when it comes to talking about natural resources, being an avid supporter of solution-for-the-now drilling.

what would be awesome:
if hillary dissuaded the impulse vote by ripping apart not only this gimmicky, insulting ploy, but also this person to shreds on the sideline. she's not hillary, and she's not on ball with mccains relative moderation. shes what republicans are actually relieved about. she thinks she's going to set mccain right and in party lines on some issues. this needs to be highlighted: MCCAIN HAS SWERVED THIS TICKET AWAY FROM INDEPENDENTS AND INTO SOLID-RIGHT-WING TERRITORY

what to look out for:
mccains found his answer against biden by replicating his own situation against obama: the televised contrast of someone really old against some who looks fresh, young, and signifies a kind of shift (regardless of substance). biden will school her left and sideways in debates, but if she stays on ball well enough it's biden that can look like the flustered oldsie she "held her own against"

politically its a smart move, but has lots of cracks to expose. idealogically this is just contemptible all around

actually the more i think about it the more i think this move is made for a practical purpose with a very obvious bonus.
he's trying to rope in hillary supporters and evangelicals in one, and all hillary has to do is trounce that crap for the insulting bullshit it is, but he's still bringing around the bible belt to make it more republican. so while it's only got a sorta-shot against hillary-supporters apparently blinded by bitterness, voters might be dumb enough (and when are they not, amirite) to make that angle work as well, thereby getting the hillary bonus along with the primary goal of getting the hardline conservatives in.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

I just want to point out Alaska's population is smaller than Rhode Island. Hell, if you doubled the size of the city of Pasadena, you'd have roughly the same population as Alaska.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

well delaware aint exactly a powerhouse either

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

Right but Delaware is 1/100 the size of Alaska. I don't want people looking at the map and saying "wow Alaska is a big state" in comparison to California and Texas when that landscape, especially politically, couldn't be any bigger.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

i think the public consciousness of alaska hasnt changed much since america bought it, to wit: it's a goddamn icebox wtf

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

And Wyoming has less people than Alaska, and we still got a vice president out of it (though Cheney had more experience than Palin).

Well, so much for McCain's experience argument. He's 72, and if something were to happen to him as president, Palin's experience makes Obama look like one of those damned "Washington insiders." I know a lot of Hillary supporters and women are going to vote for McCain now because his VP is a woman, but now, they can't use that experience argument. If they vote for McCain, then it's because they wanted a woman as president, and they didn't give a shit about issues.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

^ well that's the thing. I've talked to some real stupid women at my office who are looking at the McCain ticket for no other reason than he's picked a woman. I've tried having discussion about it but I can't get any reason from them. They were big time Hillary supporters and said they were with her on her policies, then mcCain picks Palin and suddenly McCain is on the right side of policy. Incredible. Oh well, Mark Twain once said we elect the government we deserve. Now what's worrying me is the focus of this race is going to be on her quite often and that takes a lot of fire from the Obama campaign. by the way, McCain had only met Palin once before "tapping" her as the VP.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

oops, she's confused politics with religion.