Republican nominee John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska. She is Alaska’s first female governor. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Idaho. She is 44 years old.
She was not in McCain’s short list so her nomination caught everyone by surprise.
It’s obvious McCain chose her because he wants to get the vote of women who are still hurting over Hillar Clinton’s loss to Obama.
McCain is gambling on the stupidity of female voters. He’s hoping female voters will not notice that the only thing Palin has in common with Hillary is a vagina.
Popularity: 5% [?]
your chauvinistic, insolent and moronic comment about the “stupidity of female voters” can only come from the journalistic morass that is the philippine version of “free press”. idiotic presumptuousness is one of the worst of pinoy bad traits. how can you be so cockeyed sure that the american female voters are “stupid” or that sarah palin is not as good or better as a leader than hillary clinton? and how can you read mccain’s mind and say unabashedly what his sole motive was in choosing gov. palin?
i see sarah palin as a real breath of fresh air in american politics. she has shown how she’s not afraid to take on “belt-way” political culture and “good-old boy” networks. whereas obama TALKS about it, palin actually DOES it, even against her own partymates.
btw, it appears philippine politicians can take lessons from sarah palin vis a vis earmarks, aka, “pork barrel” in philippine political parlance. palin repeatedly rejected earmarks for the “bridge to nowhere” finagled by its republican congressman, saying “if we want a bridge, we will build it on our own resources” or words to that effect. she also had the state chairman of her own party resign for corruption. like john mccain, she is a known maverick, not afraid to go beyond partisan politics for what she believes is good for her country.
@Bencard, I think Manuel was talking about how McCain may be banking on his own perception, thus his decision.. Manuel does not say that he thinks this himself.
I know, for a minute there, the sentence structure can have two meanings.. let’s not jump to conclusion on this one..
Well, to be fair, politicians in the Philippines apply the same principle — but on a broader scale. Filipino politicians count on the stupidity of the ENTIRE population — male, female, gay, whatever — to get elected. :D
nick, it’s nice of you to take the cudgels for buencamino. but why don’t we hear it straight from the horse’s mouth?
Bencard,
The only rhing she has in common with Hillary Clinton is a vagina. John McCain believes that female voters, and some male voters, are too stupid to figure that out.
I hope that clears up whatever confusion was created by my poorly constructed sentence.
Now you may want to know why I believe McCain made such a cynical choice.
I looked at all the other VP prospects McCain was vetting. I asked myself,how does she compare with them? What does she have over the others, specially the top three choices that McCain was thought to be seriously considering?
If she was the best and most logical choice, how come her name was not being bandied about by the McCain campaign or the Republican party?
It looks like McCain simply pulled Palin out of his ass. The magic trick may impress the naive and gullible but it stinks.
buencamino, i doubt that even your own mother (if you have one) would believe your hallucinations. i asked you once and i’m asking you again. how can you go into the mind of mccain and find out what he believes? if you have voodoo powers, i’m truly amazed at its potency, coming from the other side of the world.
btw, doesn’t it show convincingly that team mccain can keep a secret until the predetermined time? no leaks, no errors, no loose-tongued “confidants”. and certainly, no spies from the other side. to a pinoy like you and me, that is incredible, ain’t
it?
I don’t like the way FilipinoVoices is being used to forward either racist (Obama = voodoo practicioner) or misogynist/chauvinist (Palin = just another vagina).
I don’t mind either posts because clearly, what happens to the United States has a lot to do with what happens to the Philippines, but can’t we have at least an objective discussion on these candidates, especially for the benefit of Filipinos who are not privy to the internal politics of the United States?
^^I meant forward either racist or misogynist/chauvinist views.
I mean, it’s already the 21st century, old people. Machismo and apartheid are not fashionable anymore.
dunno why it got that kind of reaction. post seem fine to me. McCain’s being chauvinistic. It seems quite clear to me that Buencamino was pointing out that McCain’s choice was politically driven. Perhaps trying to capture Hilary’s supporters who aren’t supporting Obama (yet).
What I think jon is trying to point out though we should have a post that goes deeper into the realm of American politics. I suppose not every reader of FV is privy to the nuances of American politics.
Bencard,
Your comment convinces me that you are one of those intelligent McCain voters. God bless America.
Jon,
I was making fun of McCain. He did call his wife a cunt and a trollop so I have no doubt he is a misogynist.
Rest assured, McCain had no profound reason for choosing Palin other than to court Bencard..
On a more serious note….
As a Filipino I really don’t care who becomes the next president of America because the Philippines is not a country that a US president gives more than a passing thought.
However, looking beyond bilateral relations, the next American president matters because another impulsive self indulgent idiot like Bush will create more chaos and economic problems for the entire planet.
Bottom line is, if McCain wins, I hope it’s not because Obama is black.
The way you branded McCain decision over Palin is not what you thought about vagina complex. I was very frustrated on your thoughtless remarks that carried weightless of your assumption. Isn’t it a freak to unleash that statement; the America and the World clearly need McCain in US Presidential seat. You should keep yourself a believer or the world will be at doom.
Unfortunately, I am ashamed to be a Filipino in Philippines where cussing son of a cunt is like a normal chewing gum.
Seems like Political muck raking has started in earnest, see Daily Koz: Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother
Palin was a strange choice if the idea is to court Hillary voters. She’s anti-abortion fer chrissakes, and a pro-gun hunter. So that can’t be it. She’ll only remind them why they are Democrats. Some call it “a gamble”. Could it be a sign of desperation? Republicans are already cold to the Presidential choice. Now this. Only the Democrats can beat the Democrats now, (and of course they still could.) I hope they vetted her thoroughly. It would be a shame if the race boiled down to something wrong with her.
DJB: It’s a sign of desperation indeed.
McCain got him to get the Hillary sorority as well as to court the evangelicals and the conservatives who still doubts McCain. And, also, to give his ticket a semblance of “Change” blah blah.
MB wasn’t very prudent with his sentence construction. But still, I don’t find it offensive. I think he’s just trying to inject humor.
Oh, btw, I think Palin’s hot. Nyahahaha.
J, i see that Palin is your kind of ‘MILF’.
j,
yeah, obama wanted a guy who looks like McCain (at least age-wise, patriotism, experience). McCain wanted a similar effect, a Barack Obama of the GOP in a pro-gun, anti-abortion strong white woman. (I guess this means Colin Powell said no thanks.) and the GOP convention’s a shambles! The news is neither Bush nor McCain will even attend! It’s a disaster!
cvj,
hahehihu!
you know we gotta figure out a way of disentangling the MILF and milf from the search engine results. I set up this google comprehensive alert for MILF you know, but half the hits were really annoying (though entertaining) unless you put a further qualifier like mindanao or philippines!
DJB, i imagine that same search engine entanglement must be similarly annoying to the other kind of MILF hunters/seekers.
Ann Coulter FTW!
So much for an objective article from this page. I was hoping to read news about Filipinos and how the candidates impact us as Americans, rather I get this blatently bias piece. If you disagree with a candidate tell us why in comparison to your positions on the issue, rather then turning to a rather deragatory statement about a candidates physical characteristics.
I will visit this page again. However, if I see this kind of “journalism” from this page more often then not, I will look elsewhere for news from my fellow Americans of Filipino descent.
sarah palin hot? hardly a description that americans would use to describe a respected middle-age governor, mother of five, and a vice presidential candidate, except, of course, by sex-starved pervs.
hello to all peopkle in the world,
i think macin made the right choice, yeah we should work equally, well macin as the repulican should be voted by americans as their president,y?coz during the bill cliton regime, may genociede and wars were every where mostly africa and arab countries, i remember very well wen bill was in office, war was in sudan and many people were killed till now, Rwanda had genocied, liberia too and many other countries whill for him, he was in office enjoying everything he owned yet blood was being shed, it was the democrat regime.and a warning to americans though am african, should they risk to put a black person as their head,black africans in america will turn out to mistreat the owners as whites of america, coz they were slaves brought to america, so should obama pass,black americans are going to revege, believe me and white are going to be no where coz it will be blacks rulling the world, well vote wisely but i advice u to vote macin and palin sarah coz u will regret after votnig ur obama,americans are dead to laeve a black man to rule u,may if it was hillary better,
a message from the africa
Interesting theory, caroline. Interesting to point out as well that Obama was not descended from a slave, and was raised in a white family.
The American Dream is a strange, strange thing.
caroline,
No need to worry. Every racist in America is thinking the same thing.
oh, you guys might want to read this interesting blog post on Sarah Palin: http://mischathemowse.multiply.com/journal/item/122/Sarah_Palin_
Mr. Bencard: whatever, but I think still that she’s hot.
There is nothing wrong if Senator McCain’s or Senator Obama’s decision of selecting VP is a political decision.
It is a very close race bet Sen McCain and Sen Obama and women may decide who wins in this election. This is actually a smart political decision of McCain’s choosing Gov Palin.
The conclusion made by Manuel that only stupid women will swing the vote to Sen McCain because of Palin’s being a woman is totally outrageous and ridiculous. Gov Palin has her own interesting production record being a governor and mayor. She has the only once who has the executive experience, McCain, Obama, Biden have legislative experiences . She was not chosen just because she is a woman. She has her own credentials and a woman.
Do you know that American women was first granted a right to vote in 1893. American women had gone very far from not being able to vote to be nominated to high political office. Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin are women whose accomplishment are worth to be proud of as a women. Is this not a common denominator that all american women can be proud of? Can this transcend party line? And would you label the choice stupid assuming that is the reason ?
Nori Alvarez
Norie Alvarez,
Sarah Palin is the most qualified of all possible veepee choices?
She is the best possible replacement if McCain dies?
I didn;t realize the Republicans had such a shallow bench!
shallow? not if you’re a midget. the democrats have a midget for a center, and a “bench” that can’t shoot.
I would like to make a note to the Filipino-Americans in this board. John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin is a reformer just like Corazon Aquino. After the Fernanand Marcos regime, Aquino reformed the Phillipine government. To many Filipino-Americans, Palin would be their Corazon Aquino.
I have all respects to Sarah Palin, a small town girl who took on the elitest of washington and squeeze their balls out.
Mc Cain – Palin you just got my vote and my family.
No doubt that she’s smart and savvy, and she certainly showed a knack for distorting the truth. But Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton–their values are diametrically opposed. And as a woman, I do find the comparison insulting. Part of the benefit of few people being familiar with her record is that Palin gets to reinvent herself on the national stage. But reformer fighting pork? Before he was McCain the candidate — he dinged her 3 times for feeding at the national trough–her state brings home the highest per capita pork barrel. And while she touts her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere — she actually campaigned for it, and only opposed it when the project became politically unpopular–even then still accepting the money from Congress.
As the Associated Press reported here, Palin repeatedly stretched the truth in her remarks last night. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check):
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
ADVERTISEMENT
Some examples:
PALIN: “I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere.”
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a “bridge to nowhere.”
PALIN: “There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate.”
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: “The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.”
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: “She’s been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America’s energy supply … She’s responsible for 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. I’m entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America,” he said in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain’s phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she’s no more “responsible” for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
MCCAIN: “She’s the commander of the Alaska National Guard. … She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,” he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under “federal status,” which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska’s national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin “got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States.”
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor’s election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: “We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin.”
THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.
Manuel apparently does not know anything about America’s demographics to believe that McCain chose Palin to woo disgruntled Clinton supporters.
Winning a nationwide election in America is about getting out the base (left or right) and then convincing enough people in the middle to come to your side. Fail on either one of those, and a candidate loses.
Look at the map of red states/blue states. Look at the vast difference in area. Actually, take a state like California and look at red counties and blue counties. California has 58 counties. In 2004, the sum of votes of 55 of those counties would have gone for George Bush. Even the bluest state is quite red.
McCain has long been known as too moderate for many Republicans. His positions on limiting free speech and promoting a legalization path for illegal aliens are not conservative positions. McCain can win the middle on his own.
Palin was chosen because she can win over the right base with her conservative social positions based on her faith, quite consistent with the majority of Filipinos, and the rugged independent streak that America was founded on to give them a reason to get out to vote. She also brings credentials of knowing something about oil and gas, actually, she knows a lot about oil and gas, cutting taxes, reducing government waste, and shaking up the establishment.
Get in an airplane and fly from LA to New York. What do you see? Not much of anything. The vast majority of America is not terribly populated. The voters that live there care about family, gas prices, faith, hard work, educational choice for their children, and are intensely patriotic. They have family reunions, they go to church, they hunt, they fish, they mine, they forge, they farm, and they enlist in the military. Palin may turn out to be an excellent choice.
Jay P
If it’s just the base then that creationist guy Huckabee would have fit the bill.
I do know demographics and about activitating the base. That’s the reason why Palin was chosen over Huckabee and the funny named governor from florida or something.
By the way “the base” in arabic is “al qaeda”.
“Delegates were captivated by Palin’s speech; at one point while she was speaking, the room got so quiet, you could hear Larry Craig’s toilet flush.” –David Letterman
I wonder how Filipino Americans will vote this upcoming election. I know for a fact that in the last two elections the choice was Republican.
Honestly, I’m not impressed with Palin’s credentials. The way McCain magnifies her Kuwait trip as a “major foreign policy experience” is outrageous. If that was the case, why wasn’t I vetted then? I’ve been to ten countries. Shouldn’t I be more qualified than her?
I also don’t buy that because she has two years of experience as Governor of Alaska makes her more qualified than all the other candidates. Wasn’t Dubya Governor of Texas for eight years? Yet he still managed to screw up the US economy.
BTW Bencard, if you were watching the RNC Convention, I saw some pins with the words “Hottest VP”. I guess you’re right, Americans don’t use “hot”. They use “hottest”.
Jon Limjap,
I’m certain that most people are smart enough to realize that making a reference to Obama and his voodoo persuasion over our pop culture is not racist. The comment made in regards to Sarah Palin on the other hand is sexist because making jabs to her being a woman is irrelevent to her political views. The article on Obama however is being objective. Unless you are sympathetic to the liberal left there’s no way you cannot see that Obama has a hypnotic effect on the American media that has little to do with his qualifications to be president. And thus supporters of John McCain and Sarah Palin such as myself are often angered when Obama is let off the hook in areas where he should be properly scrutinized such as his relationship with unrepentent terrorist William Ayres, yet there is very little if any discussion of this by the mass media. But any so called “controversies” surrounding anyone in the Republican ticket is always ripe for picking by the media, the horrid efforts by the press to smear and besmirch Sarah Palin unfairly just in the past two weeks attests to this fact.
By the way, voodoo is just another synonym for magic in the popular culture it is not a word that is made in exclusive reference to black people or to demean them by any means. Anyone, whether black, white, hispanic or Asian who has the ability to induce a hypnotic charm like effect amongst people can have the word casually attributed to them. As a Filipino, I have heard the term used in conversations among my family and friends and let me tell you, it was never in reference to black people or anyone who was black.
Sadly, your extreme sensitivity to any word that may be miscontrued as racist is reflective of the kind of white guilt political correctness that seems to be plaguing the Western world today. Strange that you decided to be the first Filipino I know of back home that chooses to be a voice for the white liberal left.
Thank God that there are still many Americans choosing to follow the Republican mantra that straight talk is always better than political correctness.
Bastos and bobo. Your are disgusting. God help you.
The libs desperation are eminent. Sad.
Using this logic, I guess Obama picked Biden for the old white man vote…. The point is McCain picked Palin because he needed to rally the conservative base, plain and simple. If we could get some undecided (women et all) vote along the way then great… As a conservative who almost skipped voting this election, Sarah Palin was a great inspiration and reason enough to vote. It was either Mrs. Palin or Michael Steele for me..
To vote for a Democrat is not good for Asian American’s extended families. democrats are against outsourcing and willing to enforce its protectionism policy. Chinese, Indians and Philippines should really understand the consequences of voting for Obama.
A lot of people have been throwing jabs at Palin throughout the campaign but no one’s dissing Biden despite the errors he made in the VP debate. I just don’t understand that
maryse, the american mainstream media is dominated by leftist loonies and extremest liberals who hate everything that sarah palin exemplifies, i.e., love of country, traditional family values, pioneering spirit, respect for all including the unborn, minimal government, anti-corruption. and, if i may add, beauty, articulateness, courage, and good vision, among others.