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
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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.
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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
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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.