Presidentsverkiezing VS #33 Attention,Please board on gate..

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 00:44 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:
Ik doe ook weer mee.

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We had heard hints of this. But just moments ago, Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC said that Republican lawyers are currently doing a vet of Sarah Palin up in Alaska. We'll get you the video shortly. But it seems that the really deep vet of Palin started after her selection was announced.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 02:18 schreef Toad het volgende:
Is deze al voorbij gekomen:

Debra (New McCain ad for Clinton Dems)

Toegegeven, hij is een beetje oud. Maar ai ai, wel enorm hilarisch.

Rachel Maddow on McCain 'Deborah' ad

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On his MySpace page, Johnston boasts, "I'm a fuckin' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

"But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin' chillin' I guess."

"Ya fuckin with me I'll kick [your] ass," he added.

He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids.

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One Republican strategist with close ties to the campaign described the candidate's closest supporters as "keeping their fingers crossed" in hopes that additional information does not force McCain to revisit the decision. According to this Republican, who would discuss internal campaign strategizing only on condition of anonymity, the McCain team used little more than a Google Internet search as part of a rushed effort to review Palin's potential pitfalls. Just over a week ago, Palin was not on McCain's short list of potential running mates, the Republican said.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 06:14 schreef Caesu het volgende:

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http://www.nypost.com/sev(...)ughter_is_127025.htm

tijd voor een bezoek aan Jerry Springer die hele familie.

wat een drama.

verder zal het lid zijn van en het toespreken van die Alaskan Independence Party nog wel een staartje krijgen.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/(...)members-of-frin.html

en dan zijn er nog een handvol andere gates.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 04:13 schreef Fokski het volgende:

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Alleen jammer dat ze dacht dat McCain pro choice was.

Rachel Maddow on McCain 'Deborah' ad

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:08 schreef Caesu het volgende:
de rechtse blogs zijn nog steeds vrij positief of McCain's keuze.
al wordt het wat minder.

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Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Key evangelical leaders rallied to Sarah Palin's support Monday amid news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was having a child.

"Before, they were excited about her, with the Down syndrome baby," conservative, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said. "But now with this, they are over the moon. It reinforces the fact that this family lives its pro-life values."

Palin and John McCain oppose abortion and have supported promoting abstinence in schools, which would seem to make Bristol Palin's pregnancy an inconveniently timed development.

But she is keeping the child, a fact that could make the Alaska governor -- whose candidacy has been enthusiastically embraced by evangelicals who regard her as one of their own -- even more popular among that key GOP voting bloc. Watch more on Palin's announcement »

"Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father's example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation," Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said. "We are committed to praying for Bristol and her husband-to-be and the entire Palin family as they walk through a very private matter in the eyes of the public."

Evangelical leader Richard Land also backed Palin completely.

"This is the pro-life choice. The fact that people will criticize her for this shows the astounding extent to which the secular critics of the pro-life movement just don't get it," Land said in a statement.

"Those who criticize the Palin family don't understand that we don't see babies as a punishment but as a blessing. Barack Obama said that if one of his daughters made a mistake and got pregnant out of wedlock, he wouldn't want her to be punished with a child. Pro-lifers don't see a child as punishment."

The immediate support of these major figures, who offered universal praise for the Palins' actions after learning their daughter was pregnant, provides the filter through which conservative Christian voters will process the development.

Most important for Palin, an elder statesman of the movement, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, released a statement lauding the Palins for acting in keeping with the group's policies and practices:

"We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have," Dobson said.

Some evangelicals gathered in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Republican convention speculated that the news would pose more of a problem for Democrats than for the GOP ticket.

Speculation by some on blogs that Palin's son Trig was actually Bristol's child had led to outrage among conservatives.

Any comment by Democrats that is viewed as remotely critical could make both Sarah and Bristol Palin appear to be sympathetic victims of a political vendetta.

By Monday afternoon, evangelical leaders were circling the wagons.

"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human," Dobson said. "They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans."

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"This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats," McCain said, repeating a line her husband used the day before.

(...)

Texas Governor Rick Perry: "You're seeing Republican governors and... uh... I think in Republican states, taking care of the citizens. That's what... That's what we do."

http://www.huffingtonpost(...)ticize_n_123040.html

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"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human," Dobson said. "They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans."

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.. the fires of Hell are glaciers compared to my HATE for the AMERICAN GOVERENMENT, and I won't be buried under their DAMN FLAG. ...

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:30 schreef AlanSmitheeJr het volgende:
Joe Vogler, oprichter van de Alaskan Independence Party waarvan Palin twee jaar lid is geweest:
[..]

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:28 schreef Caesu het volgende:

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in tegenstelling tot de Obama's die niet human zijn.

in hoeverre heeft Palin nagedacht en besproken met haar familie waar ze aan wou beginnen?
nu worden haar (klein)kinderen blootgesteld aan al dit media-geweld.

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Former officials of Sen. John McCain's 2000 campaign expressed shock and disbelief Monday to learn than the GOP presidential nominee had hired South Carolina political consultant Tucker Eskew.

(...)

Eskew’s talent notwithstanding, he was loathed by McCain’s 2000 campaign team. When the media first reported push-poll phone calls from Voter/Consumer Research, a company hired by he Bush campaign, asking South Carolinians if they knew about McCain’s role in the S&L crisis and his scandal as a member of the Keating Five, it was Eskew -- Bush’s South Carolina spokesman – who acknowledged, and defended, the calls.

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On "Meet the Press" yesterday, Sen. John McCain flip-flopped. There's no other way to describe his newfound respect for the Rev. Jerry Falwell, whom McCain once lumped in with Pat Robertson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan as an "agent of intolerance" in American politics. McCain told NBC's Tim Russert that since making those statements he has spoken to Falwell and the two "agreed to disagree on certain issues and we agreed to move forward." (You can see a clip from the interview on Video Dog.) McCain now plans to speak at Falwell's Liberty University (Go Fightin' Flames!), and when asked if he still considers the reverend an agent of intolerance, he said, "No, I don't." It was as plain as any political reversal in recent memory -- McCain might as well have jumped on a windsurfing board and insisted that he actually liked Falwell before he hated him.

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Obama Gains Among Former Clinton Supporters

Obama gains on other dimensions, including terrorism and leadership

by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- The Democratic convention appears to have helped solidify support for Barack Obama among former Hillary Clinton supporters, with the percent saying they will vote for Obama in November moving from 70% pre-convention to 81% after the convention, and the percent certain to vote for Obama jumping from 47% to 65%.

[...]

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 01:12 schreef Monidique het volgende:
What a mess...

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Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group

There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage.

In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, hailed Palin as a politician "with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies -- someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who's stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money."

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It is not unusual for municipalities to hire lobbyists and seek federal help. But of 149 incorporated places in Alaska, just six of them had paid registered lobbyists in 2002, including Wasilla, lobbying records show.

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Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:30 schreef AlanSmitheeJr het volgende:
Joe Vogler, oprichter van de Alaskan Independence Party waarvan Palin twee jaar lid is geweest:
[..]

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 12:13 schreef Monidique het volgende:

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http://www.washingtonpost(...)48.html?hpid=topnews
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http://www.usatoday.com/n(...)1-palin-bridge_N.htm
[..]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html

Etcetera, etcetera. , .

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 12:49 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:

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Ben jij nog een artikel tegengekomen over het ontbreken van een degelijke 'vetting'? Ik hoor er wel wat dingen over hier en daar, maar nog weinig concreets.

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“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”

(...)

In Alaska, several state leaders and local officials said they knew of no efforts by the McCain campaign to find out more information about Ms. Palin before the announcement of her selection, Although campaigns are typically discreet when they make inquiries into potential running mates, officials in Alaska said Monday they thought it was peculiar that no one in the state had the slightest hint that Ms. Palin might be under consideration.

“They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community,” said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.

Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.

“I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,” Ms. Phillips said. “I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven’t found anybody who was asked anything.”

The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Ms. Palin’s background. And Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.

State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. “I heard not a word, not a single contact,” he said.

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After Disclosures, McCain Vetter Defends Review of Palin
by Associated Press
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has revealed that her unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant — the latest in a string of disclosures that left the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential campaign defending its choice of the little-known Alaska governor.

The lawyer who conducted the background review on Palin said she voluntarily told McCain’s campaign about her pregnant 17-year-old daughter as well as her husband’s 2-decade-old arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.

During questioning as part of the Republican Party’s vice presidential search, the Alaska governor also detailed the dismissal of the state’s public safety commissioner that has touched off a legislative investigation, lawyer Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.

He said Palin underwent a “full and complete” background examination before McCain chose her as his running mate. Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, Culvahouse said: “I think so. Yah, I think so. Correct.”

McCain’s campaign has been trying to tamp down questions about whether the Arizona senator adequately researched his surprise vice presidential selection or whether he chose the first-term governor without fully looking into her background.

Since McCain announced his choice of running mate Friday, the notion of a shoddy, rushed review has been stoked repeatedly.

First, a campaign-issued timeline said McCain initially met Palin in February, then held one phone conversation with her last week before inviting her to Arizona, where he met with her a second time and offered her the job Thursday.

Then came the campaign’s disclosure that Palin’s unmarried daughter Bristol was pregnant. The father is Levi Johnston, who has been a hockey player at Bristol’s high school, The New York Post and The New York Daily News reported in their Tuesday editions.

In addition, the campaign also disclosed that Todd Palin, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence.

Shortly after Palin was named to the Republican Party ticket, McCain’s campaign dispatched a team of a dozen communications operatives and lawyers to Alaska. That fueled speculation that a comprehensive examination of Palin’s record and past was incomplete and being done only after she was placed on the ticket.

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser, said no matter who the nominee was, the campaign was ready to send a “jump team” to the No. 2’s home state to work with the nominee’s staff, work with the local media and help handle requests from the national media for information, and answer questions about documents that were part of the review.

At several points throughout the process, McCain’s team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

Culvahouse disclosed details of his examination in a half-hour interview with the AP.

First, a team of some 25 people working under Culvahouse culled information from public sources for Palin and other prospective candidates without their knowledge, he said. For all, news reports, speeches, financial and tax return disclosures, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces were reviewed.

For Palin specifically, the team studied online archives of the state’s largest newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, but didn’t request paper archives for Palin’s hometown newspaper, Culvahouse said. “I made the decision that we could not get it done and maintain secrecy,” he said.

Reports, 40-some pages and single-spaced, on each candidate then were reviewed by McCain, Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and top advisers Mark Salter and Charlie Black.

Among the details McCain’s campaign found: Palin had once received a citation for fishing without a license.

Palin, like others on the short list, then was sent a personal data questionnaire with 70 “very intrusive” questions, Culvahouse said. She also was asked to submit a number of years of federal and state tax returns, as well as any controversial articles she had written or interviews she had done. The campaign also checked her credit.

Then, Culvahouse said he conducted a nearly three-hour-long interview.

He said the first thing she volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband’s arrest two decades earlier.

The public search unearthed details of the investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that Palin ordered the dismissal of Alaska’s public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Culvahouse said he asked follow-up questions during the interview, and “spent a lot of time with her lawyer” on the matter.

“We came out of it knowing all that we could know at the time,” he said.

As for the financial records review, Culvahouse said: “It was very clean. We had no issues there.”

Throughout the process, the campaign said, Davis had multiple conversations with Palin.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 05:00 schreef Fokski het volgende:
So much for geen feest terwijl het elders stormt.

GOP parties as Gustav rages

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 05:00 schreef Fokski het volgende:
Wat een kontgedraai.

Tucker Bounds on Palin's National Security Experience

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:18 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:
Evangelicals proberen de teen pregnancy een positieve draai mee te geven.
[..]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/P(...)ngelicals/index.html

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 10:30 schreef AlanSmitheeJr het volgende:
Joe Vogler, oprichter van de Alaskan Independence Party waarvan Palin twee jaar lid is geweest:
[..]

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 12:06 schreef SuikerVuist het volgende:

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http://www.gallup.com/pol(...)nton-Supporters.aspx

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 12:13 schreef Monidique het volgende:

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http://www.washingtonpost(...)48.html?hpid=topnews
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http://www.usatoday.com/n(...)1-palin-bridge_N.htm
[..]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html

Etcetera, etcetera. , .

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:08 schreef Montov het volgende:
Bush gaat vandaag toch spreken op de conventie.

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Separated At Birth
Filed under: Separated At Birth > Lynne Spears > Sarah Palin



Left: Lynne Spears. Right: Republican John McCain's Vice Presidential pick Sarah Palin.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:08 schreef Montov het volgende:
Bush gaat vandaag toch spreken op de conventie.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:04 schreef pberends het volgende:

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"Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news"

Evangelicals stemmen toch al Republikeins. Who cares dat ze haar supporten.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:33 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:

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Jaja maar die evangelicals zeggen dat mensen geen seks voor het huwelijk mogen hebben. En nu heeft de dochter van Palin wel seks voor het huwelijk gehad en dat proberen zij nu neer te zetten als iets positiefs. Erg hypocriet allemaal.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:33 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:

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Jaja maar die evangelicals zeggen dat mensen geen seks voor het huwelijk mogen hebben. En nu heeft de dochter van Palin wel seks voor het huwelijk gehad en dat proberen zij nu neer te zetten als iets positiefs. Erg hypocriet allemaal.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:47 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:

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Iedereen maakt fouten, en conservatieve Christenen ook.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:47 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:

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Iedereen maakt fouten, en conservatieve Christenen ook.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 14:07 schreef pberends het volgende:

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Zie de inval van Irak door Bush.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 14:29 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:

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Het is maar vanuit welk oogpunt je het bekijkt. De oorlogsindustrie draait biljoenen en andere aandelen doen het ook niet slecht.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:33 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:

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Jaja maar die evangelicals zeggen dat mensen geen seks voor het huwelijk mogen hebben. En nu heeft de dochter van Palin wel seks voor het huwelijk gehad en dat proberen zij nu neer te zetten als iets positiefs. Erg hypocriet allemaal.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 15:55 schreef henkway het volgende:
dan hebben ze tenminste een lekkere geile vrouwelijke president

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 13:42 schreef pberends het volgende:
Baas NOS haalt uit naar Obama 08

Terechte kritiek van Laroes en Spruyt. Ik heb zelden zulke schaamteloze partijdige domme tv gezien .

Obama kennen we onderhand wel. McCain is veel interessanter, zeker omdat hij vaak domme fouten maakt.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 14:29 schreef ub40_bboy het volgende:

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Het is maar vanuit welk oogpunt je het bekijkt. De oorlogsindustrie draait biljoenen en andere aandelen doen het ook niet slecht.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 15:55 schreef henkway het volgende:

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Kan dat die conservatieve republikeinen nou schelen, dat de dochter van Senator Palin er op los neukt, zwanger is geworden en moet trouwen, of dat haar moeder een lekker wijf is dat vroeger aan missverkiezingen meedeed, als die ouwe McCain een hartaanval krijgt, dan hebben ze tenminste een lekkere geile vrouwelijke President Paal in

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McCain Turns Sour on His Onetime Media `Base' as Election Nears
Heidi Przybyla


Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The longtime love affair between John McCain and what he once called his ``base'' -- the national news media -- is on the rocks.

McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, yesterday lashed out at what he deemed ``offensive'' and ``demeaning'' coverage and questions from reporters after McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, confirmed her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

``It used to be that a lot of those smears and the crap on the Internet stayed out of the newsrooms of serious journalists,'' Schmidt said at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Schmidt's criticism is the latest example in the unraveling of what was once a fond relationship between the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and the media. Starting in the 2000 Republican primaries, the Arizona senator became a media sensation by chatting up the press in the back of his ``Straight Talk Express'' campaign bus. The national press corps freely mingled with McCain for hours on the bus, with no topic off limits.

More recently, though, McCain, 72, has accused news organizations such as the New York Times, Time magazine and the NBC network of being unfair to him. The campaign even considered pulling out of one of the three presidential debates because it would be moderated by Tom Brokaw, a former NBC News anchorman.

``McCain's both been close to and now, to some extent, the object of media scrutiny that he's never had before,'' said Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

In one way, the more strained relationship may be an asset for McCain by broadening his appeal to conservative Republicans who believe the media has a liberal bias.

``There are a lot of people who don't like the press anymore and think they're out of control; attacking the messenger isn't a terrible political strategy,'' said Darrell West, a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington who has written several books on the mass media.

Yet, it may also have pitfalls. ``You still need the press to get your message out and if you have an antagonistic relationship it can blow up in your face,'' West said.

As the relationship has deteriorated, McCain has stopped hosting his once-famous ``straight talk'' get-togethers on his campaign plane. He also has abandoned regular press conferences.

Instead, he stops occasionally to read short written statements in front of cameras, like he did Aug. 31 in Jackson, Mississippi; then walks away from questions shouted by reporters.

His campaign plane is custom configured with a lounge area designed for hosting question-and-answer sessions with the press. McCain inaugurated the lounge on one of the plane's first flights and hasn't used it since.

Invitations for the press to visit the Straight Talk Express also have grown scarce. Local reporters are allowed the occasional visit, though journalists traveling with McCain no longer are invited to drop in. He hasn't held a news conference since Aug. 13.

Some of the campaign's new approach may coincide with the bigger role taken by Schmidt, who was close to Karl Rove, a former campaign manager and White House aide to President George W. Bush, known for keeping a tight grip on press access to his boss.


There have also been a series of public rifts between the campaign and the media. On July 31, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sparred with MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell in an exchange about a McCain campaign ad portraying Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a celebrity.

``I'm happy to talk about more substantive issues the next time I come on your program,'' Davis said, capping the testy interview.

On July 22, the McCain camp assailed the media in an Internet advertisement and an e-mail to supporters.

``It's pretty obvious the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama, some may even say it's a love affair,'' McCain's campaign said in the e-mail. ``The media is in love with Barack Obama. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny.''

On Aug. 17, Davis sent a letter to NBC News President Steve Capus saying the network was ``abandoning non-partisan coverage of the presidential race.'' Davis said New York-based NBC had made ``unsubstantiated, partisan claims'' designed ``to undercut John McCain.''

Capus said he spoke with the McCain campaign after he received the letter and ``there is no issue in terms of a broader problem.'' NBC is owned by Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co.

McCain also took a combative stance in an Aug. 27 interview with Time reporters James Carney and Michael Scherer, refusing to answer a question about his definition of honor.

``Read it in my books,'' McCain said. ``I'm not going to define it.'' That exchange set the tone for the rest of the interview: McCain answered a question about his opinion on premarital sex by saying, ``I don't have any response to that type of question.''

He added, ``Write what you want.''

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COOPER: And, Senator Obama, my final question -- your -- some of your Republican critics have said you don't have the experience to handle a situation like this. They in fact have said that Governor Palin has more executive experience, as mayor of a small town and as governor of a big state of Alaska.

What's your response?

OBAMA: Well, you know, my understanding is, is that Governor Palin's town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We have got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year.
You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month.

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“For Barack Obama to argue that he’s experienced enough to be president because he’s running for president is desperate circular logic and it’s laughable. It is a testament to Barack Obama’s inexperience and failing qualifications that he would stoop to passing off his candidacy as comparable to Governor Sarah Palin’s executive experience managing a budget of over 10 billion dollar dollars, and more than 24,000 employees.” —Tucker Bounds, spokesman John McCain 2008

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The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election.


"It's likely to be damaging to the Governor," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

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Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 18:44 schreef Montov het volgende:
Het houdt maar niet op:
[..]

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Biblical scholars in Colorado Springs have uncovered startling evidence that Senator John McCain may be the Antichrist. Their conclusions, while highly controversial, may have a dramatic impact on the 2008 elections, since many Bible-believing Christians have already expressed doubts about McCain's fealty to Christianity.

The analysis was conducted by the respected True Bible Society, and it will be published next month in the End Times Journal.

The analysis was especially ironic, given that it came out just one day after McCain was accused of subtly hinting that Barack Obama could be the Antichrist. McCain ran a commercial depicting Obama as "The One," giving rise to charges that he was sending a subliminal messages to anti-Obama Christians.

"What started us looking at this issue is the fact that Senator McCain has declared his intention to maintain US forces in Iraq for a hundred years," said David Jenkins, a leading Biblical scholar. "That means that McCain wants to control Babylon for at least a century." According to many scholars of the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist will try to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon in order to use it as a springboard for an international effort at world domination. Ultimately, the Antichrist will marshal forces from Babylon to spark a showdown with Christian and Jewish-led forces in the battle of Armageddon.

"We believe that the End Times is near, based on the pattern of wars, earthquakes. and other strange phenomena we've been witnessing since the start of the New Millennium," said Jenkins. "Given that it may be imminent, the person who controls Babylon must be the Antichrist." Until 2003, many Christians believed that Saddam Hussein might be the Antichrist, since he started excavations to restore Babylon in the mid 1970s. But Hussein's death meant that the Antichrist is someone else. Since Obama wants to get out of Iraq, he can't be the Antichrist either, concluded Jenkins.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 19:21 schreef Montov het volgende:
http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/common/c_cd.jsp?conDetailID=638242&z=1220371741018

11% kans op het terugtrekken van Palin volgens Intrade.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 19:40 schreef SuikerVuist het volgende:

[..]

14% nu. Wanneer was de laatste keer dat een kandidaat voor het vicepresidentschap zich terugtrok?

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 19:18 schreef SuikerVuist het volgende:
September 2, 2008
Gallup Daily: Obama Hits 50% for First Time
Leads McCain by eight percentage points, 50% to 42%

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, finds Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42% back John McCain.

[ afbeelding ]

[...]

http://www.gallup.com/pol(...)s-50-First-Time.aspx

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 14:07 schreef pberends het volgende:

[..]

Zie de inval van Irak door Bush.

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Palin's victory was seen as a major upset. Stein has been mayor since 1987 and was seeking his fourth term. He lost by more than 200 votes, with a final tally of 616-413.

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 19:40 schreef SuikerVuist het volgende:

[..]

14% nu. Wanneer was de laatste keer dat een kandidaat voor het vicepresidentschap zich terugtrok?

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 19:49 schreef Caesu het volgende:
als ze zich terugtrekt, betekent dit een beoordelingsfout van McCain.
dan maakt hij geen kans meer.
dus ik denk dat ze zich niet terugtrekt.
en ze gewoon aan de boel een positieve draai proberen te geven tot de verkiezingen.

verder zou ik haar nog steeds niet onderschatten.
ze wachten af tot hoe laag links zal gaan.
een slachtofferrol aannemen.
en dan in een toespraak keihard terugslaan.
en Obama weer aanvallen met Rev. Wright, Rezko.
onderschat de tactieken van Rove, Kristol niet.

ze schijnt een zeer goede spreker te zijn.
vooral natuurlijk voor conservatieven.
de meeste van deze schandalen zijn in alaska al aan bod gekomen, en ze is nog steeds gouverneur.
ze wist daar overeind te blijven.

morgen zou ze een toespraak geven, maar wordt waarschijnlijk doorgeschoven naar donderdag.

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September 2, 2008
McCain camp battles charges Palin belonged to AIP

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — John McCain’s campaign accused Barack Obama’s camp of spreading allegations that GOP running mate Sarah Palin had been a member of a political party that advocates a referendum that could allow Alaska to secede from the United States.



The McCain campaign sent reporters a document which they said showed Palin had been a Republican since registering to vote in 1982, and had not been a member of the Alaska Independence Party.

They also responded to reports that Palin had attended a convention of the AIP in her hometown of Wasilla in 2000. “This would seem to be the only decent thing to do, given her responsibilities as Mayor of Wasilla,” said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

The campaign has been increasingly aggressive in responding to rumors, often issuing denials before any information is reported in mainstream media outlets. On Tuesday, the Palins released a statement revealing that daughter Bristol Palin was currently pregnant, in response to rumors that the teenager had given birth earlier this year. They also confirmed that Todd Palin, the presumptive VP nominee’s husband, had been arrested for drunken driving two decades ago.

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Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Religion, however, was not strictly a thread in Palin's foreign policy. It was part of her energy proposals as well. Just prior to discussing Iraq, Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

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The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

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Obama: I Have More Executive Experience Than Palin
by FOXNews.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Barack Obama contends that he is more experienced in executive matters than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin because he has managed his presidential campaign for the past 18 months.

Speaking on a cable news channel Monday night, the Democratic presidential nominee said he is better prepared to handle a disaster like Hurricane Gustav because of his pursuit of the White House.

“Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years,” Obama said.

John McCain’s spokesman called the suggestion “laughable.”

“For Barack Obama to argue that he’s experienced enough to be president because he’s running for president is desperate circular logic and its laughable. It is a testament to Barack Obama’s inexperience and failing qualifications that he would stoop to passing off his candidacy as comparable to Governor Sarah Palin’s executive experience managing a budget of over $10 billion and more than 24,000 employees,” said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

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Now, we’d like to welcome our newest player to the growing cast of characters in our little drama - Thomas Van Flein. Mr. Van Flein (don’t you just have to say that with an accent?!) has been hired to represent Palin in the upcoming legislative investigation into the firing of Commissioner Walt Monegan.

“But wait!” you may be asking, “What about the state Attorney General? Why can’t he handle this?” Why not AG Talis Colberg? Well, he’s the one that Palin sent out to do a pre-emptive sleuthing campaign to see what the Legislature was going to find out when they investigated her. Just so she’d have a heads up. So now Colberg, who has already been talking to everybody and his uncle about the Trooper, including Walt Monegan, has now opened himself up to being called as a witness! So he’s out. (And incidentally, he’s also going to take over the role of Governor of Alaska should Palin end up as the VP, and her Lt. Governor Sean Parnell win his bid for Alaska’s sole House seat. My head hurts).

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Here’s where the gloves come off. Van Flein, Palin’s new lawyer, says that the state legislature shouldn’t be handling the investigation at all. It would be much better, he says, if the state Personnel Board (a three person board appointed by Sarah Palin herself) did the investigation. And Van Flein also asked for all witness statements, documents and other materials collected in the course of the legislature’s investigation.

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AMY GOODMAN: Richard Mauer, very quickly, since we only have, well, less than a minute, Troopergate, this story of Sarah Palin firing with the public security commissioner because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law, the man who was married to her sister, nasty custody case.

RICHARD MAUER: That’s correct. Now, that’s one version of events. She claims she fired him for—because he was not following her policy. But it’s potentially a major issue. Again, this is one of these things where there’s a potential cover-up, with the cover-up—is that worse than the actual occurrence? And that may be what the current investigation is about.

AMY GOODMAN: And she’s also a strong anti-abortion activist?

RICHARD MAUER: Very much so, but a very—and—but as a great campaigner, and I think McCain is going to see that, as well. She’s a great speaker, very energetic. People really warm to her. She’s great at one-on-one. She’s great on one-on-a-thousand.

AMY GOODMAN: Richard Mauer, thanks for being with us, of the Anchorage Daily News.

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McCain called earmark spending bills "the broken windows of the federal budget process" and vowed to veto every bill with earmarks until Congress stops including them in legislation.

"It may take a while for Congress to adjust, but sooner or later, they'll figure out that there's a new sheriff in town," he said. [bron]

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog. [bron]

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Op dinsdag 2 september 2008 20:24 schreef Majar het volgende:
Het verhaal dat ze lid was van Alaska Independence Party is onjuist en verzonnen. De gouverneur is eigenlijk al sinds 1982 lid van de Republikeinse partij.

http://www.johnmccain.com/McCainReport/