ellenmillion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ellenmillion) wrote2008-08-29 08:16 am
ellenmillion) wrote2008-08-29 08:16 am
Politics
I don't generally follow party politics, and I usually lean slightly more democratic than republican (when forced to choose), but McCain TOTALLY won me with his VP nomination. I have nothing but respect and admiration for our governor Palin. I think I may have cheered out loud when I read that. Go Sarah!
PS: Don't worry, that's probably all the politics you'll get out of me for the whole rest of the election.
ETA: WHY I like Sarah Palin. Disclaimer: I don't generally follow politics, and I base this fondness on not much more than my own personal experiences... you want a fair, in-depth and researched opinion, that's not here. This is the stuff that affects me directly.
Point 1. She's tough and charismatic. She usually has a smile on her face and is upbeat and cheerful. I really like her get-it-done attitude. It's something I respect in anyone.
Point 2. She repealed the fee hikes for business licenses that her awful predecessor levied.
Point 3. She thinks ahead and gets it done. Alaska is going to get a natural gas pipeline someday soon. Not only is she working towards that, she's not considering 'oh, we've negotiated it' as the end of the deal. She's already allotted the money to improve our roads to the point where they will handle the construction equipment needed to make it happen. She's looked at things that slowed the 70's gas pipeline and thinking YEARS ahead.
Point 4. At the same time, she's managed to get an oil relief bill through the red tape so that every Alaskan is getting an extra $1200 with their PFD next month. I dunno that it's the best possible solution to the problem, but it Got Done, and I gotta give kudos to her for that.
Point 5. She doesn't say stupid things. There are so many people in politics that I otherwise like that just up and say Stupid Things periodically and make me cringe to support them. She hasn't done that (that I've noticed).
Point 6. Some folks are saying her 'husband is in oil' like this is a bad thing, but he is an oil operator, which is a far, far, FAR cry from being an oil CEO or an oil executive. An operator is a blue-collar, dirt-under-the-nails job. I like that, too. If we smear everyone who ever works in oil ever with the paintbrush of Slimy Big Oil Execubots, that would include a LOT of good, hardworking technicians I know and would be brutally unfair. I like politicians who come from families that work for a living.
Someone mentioned that she ran on a creationism in school campaign, too, but I honestly don't remember ever seeing that. Like I said, I don't pay much attention to politics.
As with all politics, I do suggest you do your own research and go with your own gut. But I feel GOOD about Palin being our VP.
PS: Don't worry, that's probably all the politics you'll get out of me for the whole rest of the election.
ETA: WHY I like Sarah Palin. Disclaimer: I don't generally follow politics, and I base this fondness on not much more than my own personal experiences... you want a fair, in-depth and researched opinion, that's not here. This is the stuff that affects me directly.
Point 1. She's tough and charismatic. She usually has a smile on her face and is upbeat and cheerful. I really like her get-it-done attitude. It's something I respect in anyone.
Point 2. She repealed the fee hikes for business licenses that her awful predecessor levied.
Point 3. She thinks ahead and gets it done. Alaska is going to get a natural gas pipeline someday soon. Not only is she working towards that, she's not considering 'oh, we've negotiated it' as the end of the deal. She's already allotted the money to improve our roads to the point where they will handle the construction equipment needed to make it happen. She's looked at things that slowed the 70's gas pipeline and thinking YEARS ahead.
Point 4. At the same time, she's managed to get an oil relief bill through the red tape so that every Alaskan is getting an extra $1200 with their PFD next month. I dunno that it's the best possible solution to the problem, but it Got Done, and I gotta give kudos to her for that.
Point 5. She doesn't say stupid things. There are so many people in politics that I otherwise like that just up and say Stupid Things periodically and make me cringe to support them. She hasn't done that (that I've noticed).
Point 6. Some folks are saying her 'husband is in oil' like this is a bad thing, but he is an oil operator, which is a far, far, FAR cry from being an oil CEO or an oil executive. An operator is a blue-collar, dirt-under-the-nails job. I like that, too. If we smear everyone who ever works in oil ever with the paintbrush of Slimy Big Oil Execubots, that would include a LOT of good, hardworking technicians I know and would be brutally unfair. I like politicians who come from families that work for a living.
Someone mentioned that she ran on a creationism in school campaign, too, but I honestly don't remember ever seeing that. Like I said, I don't pay much attention to politics.
As with all politics, I do suggest you do your own research and go with your own gut. But I feel GOOD about Palin being our VP.
no subject
You said you tended to lean Democratic usually. I just wondered why you lean Democratic normally, was it sort of a family tradition or was it based on any particular polices...you seem to be a small business owner so I reckon you care a lot about fiscal issues... do you have any social issues you care about?
I guess my feeling is that Palin seems to be a pretty rugged, energetic leader, a "go getter" so to speak, which is admirable, but at the end of the day (for me, anyway), she's still aggressively anti-choice (apparently she feels rape and incest aren't necessarily sufficient justifications for abortion), she still supports teaching creationism in schools, she's against comprehensive sex ed, and her fiscal experience is in Alaska, which has pretty unique economics that don't seem to translate to the rest of the country.
She's a very conservative veep for a pretty conservative ticket, and I'm just having a hard time seeing a Democrat, even a nominal one, voting for that.
no subject
Actions speak louder than words, and while I can't fault anyone for wanting to support and Rah-Rah for their governor in a Presidential/Vice-Presidential race, I see in Palin someone who will continue the overall conservative and creationist spiral that our country has been pushed down for the last eight years, and frankly, that scares me.
But, hey, I'm biased. Here's her wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_palin) for (hopefully) unbiased.
no subject
Yes they do--she may not be for gay marriage, but she did veto legislation that would stop same sex couples from getting benefits. That's an action.
I think what we need to remember here is that she is a REPUBLICAN. McCain picked a Republican as his VP. Do you really think that anyone he picked wouldn't have conservative values? It would have been a stupid political move to pick someone who was pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, etc, and whatever else you may think of him, McCain is not a stupid man.
The question isn't, does she share Republican conservative values. The question is, how does she measure up against other potentials?
And I think the answer is, she's right in line with the Straight Talk Express that McCain likes to claim as his trademark. She's tough on corruption, even in her own party, she's good on the environment, she gets things done.
PUTTING HOT BUTTON ISSUE ASIDE (and I know that's hard to do, but you have to, because ANY candidate for VP would have shared those values) I am very impressed with her overall.
I don't think there's a question that part of the reason McCain picked her was because of the strength a female VP brings to the team during this historic election. But not for one second do I think that's the only reason why he picked her.
no subject
no subject
no subject
I don't know if you've seen them, but check it out hbelow. I have a hard time not feeling like it's kind of insincere and pander-y. And then Palin's speech brings up the 18 million cracks thing, when earlier she'd called Hillary 'whiny'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHx2P3Yixyk
no subject
no subject
But eventually ideology matters, policy positions matter, and on that score I find Palin hard to be enthusiastic about, in terms of someone who has stated she leans Democratic. Which is why I was asking what, if any issues or policies she cared about, and if the McCain/Palin ticket actually supported them better than Obama/Biden.