Palin’s Concession Speech
There’s a detail in the NYT story on the Wasilla Wonder that explains something that confused me on election night.
As late as Tuesday night, a McCain adviser said, Ms. Palin was pushing to deliver her own speech just before Mr. McCain’s concession speech, even though vice-presidential nominees do not traditionally speak on election night. But Ms. Palin met up with Mr. McCain with text in hand. She was told no by Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s closest advisers, and Steve Schmidt, Mr. McCain’s top strategist.
Around 10:30 on Tuesday night, Fox announced that McCain and Palin were going to speak shortly.
McCain. And Palin.
For a while, I thought maybe Palin spoke while the networks were showing the festival of joy in Grant Park. But then I realized that Fox had announced Palin would speak, but that she didn’t.
So not only did Palin show up before McCain with her text in hand. But someone told Fox news that she would get to speak as well as McCain. I guess it didn’t work out that way, huh?
McCain had had enough of her shit by that point. She’s made no friend with him.
But … but … but, she’s so special!
Well it seems like the more comes out the more she looks even more awful than anyone could have imagined. I mean not knowing Africa is a continent…is that not just about 2nd grade material. Maybe they are exaggerating but somehow from the woman that knew nothing yet read everything, I believe it.
That bit about Fox is interesting. That means somebody who Fox assumed spoke for the campaign told them that Palin was going to speak. Networks usually don’t forget things like that. Strategic blunder by the Palin camp.
and that explains why FOX went on the record to tattletail about Palin trying to get back into the good gracious of their parent party.
I was out amid the chaos, so I missed the ‘McCain + Palin’ announcement. More interesting machinations with the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, Fox News. Are they even able to pretend at this point that they are somehow independent ‘fair and balanced’ truth-tellers?
I remember thinking, this will be McCain’s sayonara, his last speech that anyone would ever listen to. He had to know that. The rowdy bar I was in was silent as he spoke.
As I listened to his speech, which WAS gracious, what I was thinking was that he was trying to erase the dishonor of his campaign.* Anyone with half a brain would know that there was no way Palin was getting near that podium – to me this sort of explains that look on her face.
* – ain’t happening. Nice try, a nice gesture, but YouTube lives forever.
McCain is a weakling. He never controlled his party. Those faces in the crowd when he spoke his gracious and conciliatory lines were the same hostile, uncomprehending ones we saw at the RNC.
I’m suddenly pessimistic. I think the country’s ungovernable when 47% of the people vote for a party this extreme and when they are allowed an E-Z filibuster at their leisure. I can’t see the Republicans engaging in anything other than political vandalism and obstructing any progressive legislation meant to ameliorate the recession so that they can try to recoup in the midterms and make Obama a one-termer. Aside from all the invective and race-baiting, the opposition party holds as central tenets that progressive taxation is “socialism” and that a spending freeze is the medicine (medieval barbers, they) the country needs now. There is no compromising with that.
I have often despaired this way. But, think of why they were allowed their easy filibuster. Very weak Dem leadership, + very small majority margins + bully-pulpit jackass pushing fear, fear, fear = crap result.
The players have changed, and we have a guy that knows how to marginalize people. I love the way Obama handled Hannity, AFTER he got burned doing that Fox interview.
If the Rep’s continue their push hard-right and their obstruction tactics, I just can’t believe it will work for them in the new environment. More of the same will lead to more marginalization as a party.
It will be interesting to see them try it, and I think they will. It’s all Grandma knows.
and there are NINETEEN repuglitard senators on the menu in 2010
I can’t wait …
BRING IT ON, MUTHERFUCKERS
SIXTYSEVEN, MUTHERFUCKERS
I don’t believe the Africa thing. So much the better if that’s the case –it means that they’ve edged over from recriminations into smears.
I’ll bet that Palin will explain it away by saying that she always was a “Pan-Africanist” and feels that Africa should be one nation with many states. She was merely expressing her hopes
heh. I was just about to post that.
Ah! That explains it! During and after McCain’s speech, Sarah Palin looked both shocked and upset. I thought perhaps she was so neocon-delusional that she hadn’t realized that they really WERE going to lose.
Now I realize it was simply that her ego had gotten stamped on at the last moment.
The truth of their little drama makes McCain’s little Saturday Night skit all the more grotesquely fawning.
Kristol has been on Fox in the past day, lamenting the “paranoia” of the McCain campaign and vehemently denying his own role in promoting Palin. Clearly this beef has many different players working behind the scenes – and it would seem that Faux is in the Palin camp.
Pass the popcorn.
It would be interesting to get her to stand in front of a couple of video cameras and deliver that speech. It might be a good piece of campaign video – for the Democrats.
Some in the McCain camp are obviously piling on, but she deserves less scorn and ridicule than the ‘grownups’ supposedly in charge of picking her in the first place.
Did you see where ALASKA had the lowest voter turnout in state history? What’s up with that?
Enjoy.
I guess I think she deserves every bit as much blame as those who picked her: Self-awareness is crucial, regardless of one’s lot in life.
She shoulda blinked when she had the chance — but, golly, she was just so committed to “the cause,” what with all her new energy, new ideas, (new clothes).
She should have said, “I appreciate the honor and would love to campaign for you, but I am not the best person for this job . . . that I’ve been campaignin’ for and hostin’ Republicans cruisin’ nearby for.”
Her ego is out of proportion to her abilities.
“Did you see where ALASKA had the lowest voter turnout in state history? What’s up with that?”
Actually the turnout was the second largest in State history…after 2004…which also had both a Senate and Presidential race. That one had a turnout of 308,593 voters.
2000 had 281,812 voters.
There are still 20% (almost 55,000) outstanding absentee and early votes that haven’t been counted, most from the Juneau and Anchorage areas. Those are heavily Democratic districts so the chance of Begich and Berkowitz getting elected are pretty good.
I saw an Alaskan commenter on 538 who said there was a ‘ice front’ somewhere that depressed turnout…
Maybe..just maybe..it was Sarah HERSELF who called Fox…
Thanks ew.
digg
she shoulda asked mcstain if he was fucking HIGH
we got some really smart people around here
any of you brainiacs think you would accept the veep nod without blinkin ???
come on
some of you guys are qualified …
Remember she was picked immediately after Hill lost. I think they just made a rash decision believing their own BS about how fractured the Democratic party would be if Clinton lost.
In short they just looked around for a woman to get the Hillery votes and picked the one they’d most like to fuck.
Actually, she was picked long after Hillary was out of it — after Barack had made his VP pick, which for a short period roused the folk who wanted Hillary for VP.
I think the Palin pick really came from Dobson and the rest of the religious right, through Karl. They threatened McCain with a floor fight in St. Paul should he pick Lieberman, McCain would not take Romney or Pawlenty — so Palin was put forward as acceptable to the religious side, with the argument made that maybe some sort of neo-feminist movement was “out there” who would not care about reproductive rights and women’s economic rights (given McCain’s voting record), but would react against the non-Hillary VP selection and center on Palin. The Dobson people have control over much of Talk Radio world, and the cohorts of mega-church volunteers the McCain Campaign needed, and obviously lacked by late summer — thus their power to control the selection.
I think there is a mite of danger for the Progressive side of things to focus on Palin mainly in terms of her ripping off the RNC for a closet full of clothes unlike anything worn in Alaska, and for other things of value — or simply on her basic geographic knowledge stupidity quotent. We need to focus instead on the power centers — who had power to veto certain selections, who had power to demand others, and is that locus of power good and appropriate for the country? If I am right, and the real power was Dobson and the circle around him, then that is who should be confronted, not their tool, Sarah Palin. No one ever elected Dobson and his crowd to anything — not even Precinct Chair, and he can’t really be unelected. He needs to be held responsible in a quite public fashion, because that is the only way to take power away from him and his circle.
For y’all saying you don’t believe the Africa thing … I know, how could anyone be so ignorant?
But I do believe it. For about 8 years, I ran a Sunday evening chat “trivia hour” and I tried to ask questions that would actually teach people things, as opposed to movie, entertainment, etc. Of course, simple geography questions were a gold mine.
I had a few messages pre-programmed on a button, since I needed them so often, and the one that got more use than any other way ….
“Africa is not a country.”
I believe the africa story as well, I can see the deer in headlights when she’s asked anything that’s not prepared
here’s an example;
“I told them thanks but no thanks to that bridge to nowhere”
that was disproven the very first day she said it, yet she couldn’t get the concept that if you lobby for something and then are forced out of it, you did NOT say “no thanks”, you said “DAMN IT,I wanted that bridge so bad”
she really is a moron, I actually believe bush is smarter then palin
yes, I really said that and I really mean it
I believe Mooselini is a sociopath. Her record shows that she backstabs and jockeys ahead of ANYONE, ANYTHING especially former confederates – right word for that state. She says and does what she wants with impunity.
What a set of stones on THAT ONE to think she gets to speak before the top of the ticket – entitled to speak at all when none before have.
I’m deeply grateful Barack showed her exactly what a community organizer can do.
Yeah collectively we dodged another bullet finally.
It is a really good question who put Palin on the short list for the VP nom. Someone should pursue that intensely IMO.