Caught on tape

It’s funny what Republican pundits say when they think nobody’s watching. Today, John McCain’s former campaign chief Mike Murphy and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan were caught on tape after an NBC interview. They shared their real thoughts on McCain’s judgment in selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Noonan asked, “The most qualified? No.” She called the selection of Palin “political [B.S.].” Murphy called McCain’s selection gimmicky and cynical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg

TRANSCRIPT:

Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it’s not gonna work.

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It’s over.

Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

NBC’s Chuck Todd: Don’t you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)

Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.

Murphy: They’re all bummed out.

Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.

Murphy: I totally agree.

Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at and they blow it.

Murphy: You know what’s really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.

Todd: And as you called it, gimmicky.

Typical.

Tuesday 02 September 2008
The NY Times

More often than not, the role of a vice president is a minor one, unless some tragedy occurs. But a presidential nominee’s choice of a running mate is vitally important. It is his first executive decision and offers an important insight into how that nominee would lead the nation.

If John McCain wants voters to conclude, as he argues, th More..at he has more independence and experience and better judgment than Barack Obama, he made a bad start by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Mr. McCain’s supporters are valiantly trying to argue that the selection was a bold stroke that shows their candidate is a risk-taking maverick who - we can believe - will change Washington. (Mr. Obama’s call for change - now “the change we need” - has become all the rage in St. Paul.)

To us, it says the opposite. Mr. McCain’s snap choice of Ms. Palin reflects his impulsive streak: a wild play that he made after conservative activists warned him that he would face an all-out revolt in the party if he chose who he really wanted - Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

Why Mr. McCain would want to pander to right-wing activists - who helped George W. Bush kill off his candidacy in the 2000 primaries in a particularly ugly way - is baffling. Frankly, they have no place to go. Mr. McCain would have a lot more success demonstrating his independence, and his courage, if he stood up to them the way he did in 2000.

As far as we can tell, Mr. McCain and his aides did almost no due diligence before choosing Ms. Palin, raising serious questions about his management skills. The fact that Ms. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is irrelevant to her candidacy. There are, however, very serious questions about her political past and her ideology.

If Mr. McCain wanted to break with his party’s past and choose the Republicans’ first female vice presidential candidate, there are a number of politicians out there with far greater experience and stature than Ms. Palin, who has been in Alaska’s Statehouse for less than two years.

Before she was elected governor, she was mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb, where her greatest accomplishment was raising the sales tax to build a hockey rink. According to Time magazine, she also sought to have books banned from the local library and threatened to fire the librarian.

For Mr. McCain to go on claiming that Mr. Obama has too little experience to be president after almost four years in the United States Senate is laughable now that he has announced that someone with no national or foreign policy experience is qualified to replace him, if necessary.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has been one of Mr. McCain’s most loyal friends, said Tuesday that he was certain that Ms. Palin would take the right positions on issues like Iraq, Russia’s invasion of Georgia and Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. That seemed based largely on his repeated assertion that Ms. Palin would be tended by Mr. McCain’s foreign policy advisers. That was not much of an endorsement.

Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June to her former church in Wasilla, Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war.

Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham and others also claim that Ms. Palin is a fearless reformer who is committed to fighting waste, fraud and earmarks. Ms. Palin did show courage taking on some of the Alaska Republican Party’s most sleazy politicians. But she also was an eager recipient of earmarked money as a mayor and governor.

Mayor Palin gathered up $27 million in subsidies from Washington, $15 million of it for a railroad from her town to the ski resort hometown of Senator Ted Stevens, now under indictment for failing to report gifts.

The Republicans are presenting Ms. Palin as a crusader against Mr. Stevens’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” The record says otherwise; she initially supported Mr. Stevens’s boondoggle, diverting the money to other projects when the bridge became a political disaster. In her speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God in June, Ms. Palin said it was “God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska.

Mr. McCain will make his acceptance speech on Thursday, and Ms. Palin will speak on Wednesday. Those two appearances will go a long way to forming voters’ views of this Republican ticket.

As Senator Graham noted, Mr. McCain has to reach out beyond the party’s loyal base. “We’re going to have to win this thing,” he said. “This is not our race to lose.”

Mr. McCain’s hurdles are substantial. To start, he has to overcome Mr. Bush’s record of failures. (The president addressed the convention Tuesday night and now, McCain strategists fervently hope, will retire quietly to the Rose Garden.) That record includes the disastrous war in Iraq, a ballooning deficit, the mortgage crisis - and the list goes on.

To address those many problems, this country needs a leader with sound judgment and strong leadership skills. Choosing Ms. Palin raises serious questions about Mr. McCain’s qualifications.

Now John McCan’t has a trophy wife and token female VP. Sounds as if he has good judgment for an old codger.

CaveDweller - 02 September 2008 08:12 PM

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. 

She also fired her police chief for the same reason.(Not fully supporting her.)

If you don’t completely agree with her way of thinking, it’s out-the-door for you with no remorse on her part.

She is a typical bible-thumping, book-burning, Dick Cheney-worshipping, anti-abortion, creationist Christian conservative.

That’s why the evangelical right-wingers are so enamored of her.

Wonder how many undecided independent voters are doing cartwheels?

I would be absolutely furious with McCain for putting her in a position where she could become in an instant the President of the United States of America if I thought for a moment that she and he had even a remote chance of being elected.

Don’t worry Burt, we’re safe.

I said a prayer last night CD. I hope you’re right man.

A very able public speaker.

She took the bit and it appears that she can run. If the McCain/Palin ticket is not successful this cycle, we will see much more of this lady in the future.

We have been introduced to the first female president of the USA.

I read on-line this morning that Sara gave an electrifying speech at the convention last night. HUH It may have been electrifying to some, but for me it was BORING Why you might ask Because after about 15 minuets listening very intently, I realized that it was totally scripted. She was told what to say and how to say it. Soooooooo I went to bed, She wasn’t going to say anything other that what passed review by McCain’s speech writers. Why should I be sleep deprived to listen to propaganda such as that

Anyway, the sun did rise this morning, and I’ve decided to be happy and enjoy the beautiful day. I may even read one of those sinful books Sara wanted a list of so she could have them banned in Alaska. Gee Now I’m feeling down, because of the uncooperative attitude of the poor librarian. I wonder if she too got fired like the police chief did

Sarah Palin.  So much executive experience that she’s totally ready to serve in the executive branch…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtilB1teksc

“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?

If there was any doubt left among voters, pundits, and politicos alike that John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin was based purely on politics, tonight’s speech should lay to rest any notion that Republicans chose their candidate based on anything other than a shallow political calculus.

With her snarky, amateurish, almost Student Council-like speech, Palin proved today that she can attack like a candidate for vice-president.  And she demonstrated that she can support the top of the ticket like a candidate for vice-president.

But nowhere in her speech did she demonstrate that she can be vice-president. She’s still the former Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, who didn’t even know what the vice-president did until a couple weeks ago, who admitted that she doesn’t pay attention to Iraq, who’s stonewalling investigations into her alleged misconduct, and who took advantage of the very earmark process she claims to be against.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24ULd4yT94

In sum, she demonstrated that while she can serve as the second person on a ticket, she is unquestionably not ready to serve as the second most powerful person in the world.

Burt - 04 September 2008 09:23 AM

I read on-line this morning that Sara gave an electrifying speech at the convention last night. HUH It may have been electrifying to some, but for me it was BORING Why you might ask Because after about 15 minuets listening very intently, I realized that it was totally scripted. She was told what to say and how to say it. Soooooooo I went to bed, She wasn’t going to say anything other that what passed review by McCain’s speech writers.

Burt, Do you think that any of the candidates, Obama, Biden, MaCain or Palin gives a speech that is not scripted and approved by the campaign directors?

I believe that this choice (McCain’s first and most important executive decision in his run for the white house) clearly illustrates so many things that are wrong with his decision-making and his candidacy.

Before detailing the many problems with this unvetted Vice-Presidential pick, let’s examine how her selection reflects on John McCain.

1.  John McCain has COLOSSALLY bad judgment.

2. This is an example of McCain’s hasty decision making.  As McCain stated in his 2002 book.

I make them (decisions) quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can,” Mr. McCain wrote, with his top adviser Mark Salter, in his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For.” “Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint.

3. Palin’s selection provides a clear example of John McCain’s breathtakingly poor judgment on important issues (like who would be best qualified to take his place if he could not complete his term).

4. McCain is putting his desire to be President over the good of the country.

5. This choice was irresponsible.

6. This choice raises the issue of McCain’s age and medical history (Is Palin ready to take over if he cannot complete his term?).

7. Conservatives First not America First. More of the same from John McCain.

8. This is another example of McCain continuing Bush’s policy of picking public servants for their ideology over the experience.

9. Sarah Palin’s pick is just another example of McCain’s gambling problem.  He’s been known to roll the dice before (and he apparently loses a lot).

10. Her selection also raises the issue of McCain’s past unfavorable statements against women.

11. Her selection also makes John McCain seem even creepier.

12. Don’t forget that McCain has a history of attacking the children of opponents.

13. Sarah Palin’s selection seems like a desperate and irresponsible political ploy..

14. McCain only met Sarah Palin ONCE

15. McCain only talked to Palin TWICE making this a purely cynical and desperate political appointment

16. McCain has no credibility as a maverick. New information indicates that she was picked by the ultra conservative Council for National Policy, not by McCain, which includes Tony Perkins, James Dobson, and other well-known ideologues. She’s not really HIS VP choice.  According to official CNP policy, “The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting.”

17. John McCain is a prisoner of the extremist right wing of his party.

18. Her selection has angered Romney & Pawlenty.

19. McCain overlooked other female Republican leaders who are more qualified find someone prettier and more conservative.

20. Past quotes by Rove make Palin’s selection look like desperation.

21. McCain is not thorough in making big decision. Palin was vetted too quickly or not at all.

22. McCain only picked her the night before making the announcement.

23. Fortunately, McCain thinks he can see into people’s souls and that she is his soul mate. 

24. This is eerily reminiscent of Bush’s magical ability to see into Putin’ soul.

What do we know about Palin?

It is becoming increasingly clear that this candidate was not vetted at all. Really - it boggles the mind that a VP candidate who has only been in a statewide office for 20 months could be this bad.  This is almost too easy - like shooting fish in a barrel… or wolves from a helicopter.

I have NOT included wild rumors, speculations about Palin’s personal life or her family - issues only!  Please don’t bring her family problems into this thread.  There is more than enough information here to define this candidate as an extremist fringe candidate who represents Bush / McCain’s failed policy of picking ideology over experience and qualifications. 

Sarah Palin doesn’t understand the role of the VICE PRESIDENT and is NOT QUALIFIED.

25.  She doesn’t know what the Vice President really does.

26. Her central claim to political fame is a fraud.

27. She seems nice, but she’s not ready

28. People who know her, fear her tendency toward malice.

29. She puts ALASKA FIRST and seems ignorant of the fact the she would be Vice President for the whole nation.

30. She was also quoted saying “We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S.”

31. She is the least educated Vice Presidential candidate in recent history.

32. The Alaskan legislature only meets 90 days per year. How much has she really had to do in her 20 months in office?

33. She lacks competence and her previous business was shut down by the state.

34. But does she think she’s ready? - “Absolutely, Yup, Yup.”

35. Despite claims from the McCain camp, she did not receive a background check by the FBI (Atlantic Monthly)

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not participate in the vetting of Gov. Sarah Palin and did not conduct a background check as part of the process, an FBI spokesman said today.
The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing an interview with campaign manager Rick Davis, that the vetting process ‘included reviews of financial and other personal data, an FBI background check and considerable discussion among the handful of McCain advisers involved in the deliberations.
‘In general, we do not do vetting for political campaigns except as it might regard investigations needed for security clearances,’ said John Miller, the chief FBI spokesperson.
The FBI did not participate in a vet, nor did it run a background check of Gov. Palin as part of the process.
Palin might already have a clearance that relates to her duties as governor. But the FBI can’t speak to that, and in any event, those investigations wouldn’t be accessible to the McCain campaign anyway.”

Part 2

36.  The McCain campaigns argument that she is as qualified as Obama is unbelievably silly.  Everytime a Republican says this we should just start laughing and not stop until they go away.

Sarah Palin is closely linked to CORRUPTION and ABUSE OF POWER and is UNDER INVESTIGATION.

37. She is under investigation for abuse of power in Troopergate.

38. There are audio recordings regarding her involvement in Troopergate - always bad

39. Following the Bush / McCain doctrine, she has lawyered up and is already claiming executive privilege in an attempt to withhold emails Troopergate.  Her lawyer was promptly smaked down.

40. She hired a man with a history of sexual harassment to replace Dept. of Public Safety Chief, Walt Monegan, the center of the “Troopergate” controversy.

41. Sarah Palin has an Abramoff problem - a Pro-Palin illegal mailer was sent during her gubernatorial campaign on behalf of Palin by the RGA, the DC group that got money from Abramoff, Reed, etc.

42. Which reminds us that McCain has a BIG ABRAMOFF Problem.

43. She’s deeply connected to the Bridge to Nowhere. 

44. In her very first campaign speech last Friday, it only took her 637 words into her address to America to start lying to the American people.

45. She’s connected to VECO - the company at the heart of Ted Stevens’ troubles.  She also received an endorsement from Ted that has suddenly disappeared from her webpage.

46. There have been discussion of witness tampering and possible impeachment hearings related to charges of her abuse of power

47. She’s either going to be distracted by being deposed soon or she is going to draw negative attention by trying to avoid being deposed.

48. Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young (both under investigation) campaigned for her in 2006.

49. Palin was the director of Ted Steven’s 527 group - Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service Inc.

50. She has a history of trying to fire those who don’t support her.

51. She demands bizarre loyalty tests from those who work for her.

Sarah Palin has NO FOREIGN POLICY EXPERIENCE and NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAR IN IRAQ.

52. She has no foreign policy experience - although according to Cindy McCain and the folks at FOX think she’ll be fine because “Alaska is near Russia.”

53. She didn’t even have a passport until last year.

54. Palin stated “I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.”

55. But now that she’s being asked, she thinks the war is “A Task From God” (at least she avoided the word crusade – so far).

56. She also agrees Iraq is a war for oil.

57. McCain’s campaign can’t explain how she has any foreign policy experience.

58. Then McCain’s campaign started making stuff up about what she did in her role as Commander in Chief of Alaska’s national guard.

Sarah Palin is an EXTREMIST who represents SEPARATIST / FRINGE POLITICS

59. Sarah the secessionist supported the Alaskan Independence Party which has discussed, among other things, “infiltrating” the national parties to advance the goals of the AIP.

60. America First or Alaska First? Given her connection and her husband’s connection to the AIP, will anyone question HER patriotism?

61. Will she disown this statement by the founder of the AIP - “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.” - Joe Vogler, founder of the Alaskan Independence Party

62. She believes the Pledge of Allegiance was written by the founding fathers.

63. Sarah Palin, Buchananite - Palin supported the anti-Semite Pat Buchanan in 2000.
64.  Wexler pointed out

John McCain’s decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for President in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans. Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hilter for his “great courage.”
At a time when standing up for Israel’s right to self-defense has never been more critical, John McCain has failed his first test of leadership and judgment by selecting a running mate who has aligned herself with a leading anti-Israel voice in American politics. It is frightening that John McCain would select someone one heartbeat away from the presidency who supported a man who embodies vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments.

65. Her past support of Buchanan may alienate certain Florida voters.

Sarah Palin is a FLIP-FLOPPER.

66. She appears to oppose windfall taxes on oil companies at the national level but supported them to benefit her state.

67. She supported Obama’s energy plan, before she was against it.

68. She didn’t support McCain in the primaries.- in fact she thought none of the candidates looked good.

69. She for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it . 

70. She was for earmarks before she was against them. Despite McCain’s alleged stance on earmarks, Palin still got 31 of them for her state.

71. She was for corruption (Ted Stevens) before she was against it.

72. Palin used to be excited that Obama was edging ahead of McCain in Alaska.
Sarah Palin is extremely ANTI-ENVIRONMENT.

73. DRILL DRILL DRILL!

74. She doesn’t think global warming is man-made.

75. She doesn’t think polar bears should be listed as endangered because it interferes with her drilling plans.

76. She advocated AGAINST mine safety / pollution control

77. She wants to destroy 1.5 MILLION ACRES !!! of ANWR, not the 2000 acres she has lied about on the news.

78. She fighting to prevent Belugas from being listed as endangered.

79. She supports aerial hunting of wolves even though it was outlawed by Congress.  She’s using a loophole.

80. In addition to polar bears, belugas, and wolves, for the first time in Alaskan history she is supporting hunting black bear sows and cubs.

Part 3

81.  She was so opposed to a clean water bill that she may have broken the law to fight it.

Sarah Palin is bad for Independents and Women

82. She stated that she would force her own daughter to have a rapist’s child.

83. She favors vouchers over public education.

84. She called candidate Clinton a whiner. Why does everyone in the McCain campaign think others are whiners?

85. She laughed at an opposing politician being called a cancer and a bitch the same way that McCain laughed at Hillary Clinton being called a bitch.

86. Some of the PUMA’s already believe that John McCain is patronizing them.

87. She’s part of Feminists for Life
88.  She’s against sex education , most birth control, and supports abstinence only education.

89. She’s AGAINST BIRTH CONTROL.  She consider births control pills and IUDs abortifacients.

90. Her selection has opened the door for a bigger role for Clinton in Obama’s campaign.

91. She slashed funding for teen moms.

Sarah Palin is terrible on HEALTH CARE

92. She’s opposed to universal health care

93. She opposed to stem cell research.

Sarah Palin is NOT POPULAR with voters.

94. This choice is NOT helping McCain’s polling numbers,

95. This choice is not helping with women.

96. Undecideds apparently don’t like the Palin pick.
97.  She’s not popular with conservatives and her selection has created a major rift among the Republicans.

98.  Focus groups don’t like her.

99. Scarborough & Buchanan mocked Palin before her selection and declared her unacceptable and condescending to women.

100. Even the AK GOP isn’t so fond of her.

Sarah Palin is a DOMINIONIST and would allow her religious beliefs to guide policy.

101. She’s linked to the Dominionist movement and Joel’s Army.

102. Believes Creationism should be taught in science classes

103. Don’t believe the whispers that she’s a moderate on GLBT issues. She’s opposed to state health benefits for same-sex partners and only vetoed a resolution that would have ended state benefits because the Supreme Court had already declared it unconstitutional.

104. She is a theocrat who created a Christian Heritage Week in Alaska last year. 

Sarah Palin was a BAD MAYOR and not as popular as McCain would have us believe.

105. She was a bad mayor who left her town’s economy in tatters.

106. The top 2 ALASKAN newspapers question her fitness for the job.
Miscellaneous:

107. She has 3 houses to go with McCain’s 7 or 8 or 9.  By the way, there are 2118 houses in Wasilla.

108. Palin may have been scrubbing her own wikipedia page

109. Her husband, Todd Palin, seems deeply connected to her efforts to govern and has been called the “shadow governor” of Alaska.

110. Her husband is on BP’s payroll creating a possible conflict of interest.

111. Like Bush and McCain, she can’t admit when she’s wrong.

112. The United Steelworkers have already spoken out against her.

113. She favors censoring library books (Alert your local librarian!)

114. Palin is currently in the middle of a controversial gas pipeline project in Alaska.  She’s favored the ‘TransCanada’ proposal that will run the pipeline through Canada, in effect shipping US jobs over the border.  Many Alaskans, including former governors, have favored the “All Alaska Route”. According to the head of the company supported by Palin “Nothing goes ahead until Exxon is happy with it.”

115. Her administration destroyed Alaska’a state owned dairy - this dairy was called mat maid and had been in business for over 50 years.

Palin kicked @$$!!!!!! McCain/Palin ‘08

“About Sarah Palin” by Someone Who Knows Her

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/09/about-sarah-palin-by-someone-w.php

The criticisms of Palin’s governing style and priorities fit the emerging pattern. They are concrete and well documented, and deserve further investigation. The e-mail itself has been validated by a conservative blogger who wanted it to be a hoax, but who was able to get in direct contact with its author.

stablemaster - 04 September 2008 10:07 AM

Burt - 04 September 2008 09:23 AM

I read on-line this morning that Sara gave an electrifying speech at the convention last night. HUH It may have been electrifying to some, but for me it was BORING Why you might ask Because after about 15 minuets listening very intently, I realized that it was totally scripted. She was told what to say and how to say it. Soooooooo I went to bed, She wasn’t going to say anything other that what passed review by McCain’s speech writers.

Burt, Do you think that any of the candidates, Obama, Biden, MaCain or Palin gives a speech that is not scripted and approved by the campaign directors?

uhhhhhhhhhhh NO But, I like it when you can tell who they really are by what comes out of their mouth. The only thing I learned about Sara from the part of the speech I suffered through, was that she’s a soccer mom.
Whoop dee doo The rest of it was the same old same old that we already heard from old what’s his face that used to be Mayor of NY. BTW I think what’s his face did a great job of bashing Obama. That’s what the “Red Meat” speaker is supposed to do huh. I think it’s in the job description.