McCain's Running Mate

[HarmanSingh]

It is easy to call McCain "dumb" for his decision to choose Palin as his running mate, but you cannot deny it has fired up the conservative base and staunch social conservatives more than McCain could have had he elected Romney or Ridge. Palin gives McCain credibility when it comes to abortion, gay rights, creationism, gun rights, and other hot button social issues that he has always shied away from. It is clear he has always focused on national security, which works well for him considering is army background, but it did not serve to revitalize the conservative base. Palin does that.

And Obama needs to be worried about that because he too has been very quiet about social issues with good reason. He realizes the danger in making this campaign into those hot button issues, because the fact is the staunch social conservatives are much more passionate about their beliefs than the moderate, and head to the polls far more often. That is why you have seen Obama basically stay on the topics of the economy, the Iraq war and generally changing the structure of American politics. If Obama cannot keep this campaign about the shortcomings of the Bush administration and the "4 more years" slogan he has been shouting, he is in trouble. Bush won on social issues and McCain now has the capability to also do so with Palin on his ticket.

 

[Saleem]

Good points, Harman, but there are plenty of Republicans who could have shored up his evangelical vote. I'm no expert on the GOP crowd, but Huckabee comes to mind. He's a former pastor and had votes under his belt for presidential candidate.

 

[dheerja]

Good points, Harman, but there are plenty of Republicans who could have shored up his evangelical vote. I'm no expert on the GOP crowd, but Huckabee comes to mind. He's a former pastor and had votes under his belt for presidential candidate.

Agreed. There are plenty of potential candidates in the GOP with the same conservative position, but with actual credentials.

 

[Saleem]

Moderator's Note: The abortion discussion is bound to gain steam, and was already the last few posts here, so I split it into its own topic http://bhangrateamsforum.com/discuss/index.php?topic=1539.0

 

[HarmanSingh]

Good points, Harman, but there are plenty of Republicans who could have shored up his evangelical vote. I'm no expert on the GOP crowd, but Huckabee comes to mind. He's a former pastor and had votes under his belt for presidential candidate.

Agreed. There are plenty of potential candidates in the GOP with the same conservative position, but with actual credentials.

Oh, I agree with you guys, he would have been better off with a more experienced social conservative, but I am just saying he does have reasons to pick her. Its not like he just pulled Palin's name out of a hat. Keep in mind he has some of the most shrewd political advisers on his side and is with a party that has completely stomped on the Democrats for the last couple elections as far as political savyness goes.

 

[zagreus]

i'm tired of all the lies coming from the republican party. last night's speeches showed too much!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check

 

[Jeeti]

Lastnight Giulliani went overboard with his bashing of Borack Obama...to the point that the Republican party looked pathetic...

I am aware that in order to win this election, the republican party has to take a very dirty stance towards Obama, but lastnight they went too far.

 

[Saleem]

This is (sadly) the most truthful look at the Palin/McCain double-speak

http://www.thedailyshow.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml'

 

[zagreus]

last night's daily show was awesome! jon stewart caught them all in a web of lies

 

[Kamran786]

Man McCain was stumped.