Apathy

Whenever the subject comes up about conservatives feeling apathetic about voting in this election, we're met with a barrage of voices screaming "You better vote or else you're being unpatriotic! If you stay home you're going to let our country burn to the ground! If you don't vote you're disrepecting people who have died to give you the right to vote! If I have to hold my nose and vote for Romney, you have to too! You voted for McCain in '08 so why can't you vote for Romney now?! I don't care who the nominee is I'm voting against Obama!"

I wonder if these people would be so hard-core about voting for the Republican nominee, whoever it is, if the nominee were Palin. Sure, now they're all hell bent on evicting Obama, now that Palin is out. But before she was out, they were hell bent on discouraging her run. THAT was their goal. They kept saying she was unelectable - well if Romney is so electable why are you trying so hard to convince everyone to vote for him? Sure, he's electable if you tell everyone to vote for him and he's the only one standing. When people use their CHOICE to either vote or not vote, or nominate someone they actually agree with, then he's not so electable anymore.

Lesson for people who say "I like Palin, but she's unelectable"

Today Scott Brown announced that he is in favor of repealing DADT.

…Brown’s backing means that – on paper – supporters of the repeal have 61 senators in favor of the bill.

This is a lesson to everyone who says that Sarah Palin is unelectable. Scott Brown was certainly electable. He was the one with enough appeal to attract "moderates and independents." He was massively propped up by establishment Republicans and the Tea Party alike as a candidate for everyone. By the way, the fact that he failed to thank the Tea Party in his acceptance speech was a bad omen.

Now we see his true colors. He may have been against ObamaCare, but he seems pretty Left on everything else, even fiscal matters. Now his vote could mean a repeal of DADT - a vote that we all thought would go the other way. He's also said that he won't be in favor of repealing ObamaCare now that it's here.

This is a lesson to show us that "electability" means nothing! It does absolutely no good to elect these people when they vote against what we believe in. They won the election - so what? We sacrificed everything to get him there. We know Palin will vote the way we believe. We know she has conservative values. We can vote for her and if she wins the general election, great! If she doesn't, a Democrat will be in office. If we vote for a RINO who wins the general election, essentially a Democrat will be in office, too.

This is also a lesson to us regarding the MSM and RINO news outlets like NRO and The Atlantic. Scott Brown was the darling of those places, and to some extent, the MSM as well. He was the kind of candidate, like McCain, that the media loves to prop up. We need to learn our lesson so these mistakes don't happen anymore.

Palin is a genius for featuring Kate Gosselin on Sarah Palin's Alaska

Ever since she was announced as McCain's VP pick, Palin has been compared to Kate Gosselin by deranged PDS sufferers. They say she's just a mom who is trying to be famous like Kate. They say she seeks the limelight while other people raise her kids, and that she uses her kids as props like Kate. They say both try to make themselves look like good moms but are really phony divas who don't take the time to educate their kids. I've also heard them say that electing her would be like electing Kate Gosselin.

I was a little nervous when I heard that Kate would be featured on Sarah Palin's Alaska. I thought Palin would be selling herself short by hanging out with her. But I soon found out once again that this was brilliant strategic move by Palin. By standing side by side with her, people can see the gigantic, grand canyon of a stark contrast between the two.

Kate proved herself to be the phony, rude diva she is. Viewers could see that Palin is a great mom who knew exactly how to entertain the kids. She also loves her kids more than life. Kate was shown in her full temper tantrum glory by complaining, making rude comments about her hosts' home, and throwing food on the ground that she deemed unacceptable to her. Worst of all, Kate paid no attention to her children while Sarah, her brother, father, Willow and Bristol (who was there but wasn't shown) played with Kate's kids and did fun kid stuff with them. Kate's kids had a fantastic time while Kate pouted under a tent. Kate yanked her kids from the campsite when they were having fun. It was awful. Kate missed out on a great educational opportunity for her kids because of her own diva-ish behavior. Palin, on the other hand, takes every opportunity to give her kids a geography or life lesson, which she did in this episode. Palin also mentioned that Kate's kids stayed with a nanny. That comment stands alone in contrast to Palin, who never has needed one despite having five kids, a career and a young child with Down Syndrome.

Kate told Sarah "you're really going to stay here seriously?" meaning she thought that they were going to play for the cameras for an hour or so before packing up and heading to a 5-star hotel. Sarah responded "yeah" like duh, of course I'm going to stay here. That showed the haters that yes, Sarah really is an outdoor person. She really does camp with her family. It's not just an image she created.

Now no one can say they are alike. Palin can point out how different they are because it's all captured on film. Anyone who tries to maintain that Palin and Kate are like peas in a pod will be slapped down immediately. So, having her on the show actually did more to open the eyes of people who might not have liked her before. Brilliant move.

McCain on the SOTU

I watched this on Fox & Friends this morning and I really liked what John McCain had to say about Obama's state of the union speech. I know Palin was on Hannity discussing it but I can't find the video.

Palin will campaign for McCain's Senate re-election bid

A video from the Washington Post

Video

Reading Going Rogue

My preordered copy arrived yesterday and I started reading it last night. I'll post a review when I finish it.

I can't help but wonder while I'm reading is what John McCain must be thinking - not in the context of backstabbing aides, but in the campaign as a whole. Reading this book, you get to see the real Sarah who is of course an amazing person. The family photos in the book could be your family, my family, anybody's family. She is a regular American citizen who worked hard to be elected governor without all the networking, finances and endorsements of uber rich elite career politicians. And yet McCain didn't seem to appreciate her. Somewhere there was greatness in him to choose Palin but then he went soft on fighting Obama during the campaign and didn't try hard enough to make sure Obama didn't win. Now we have someone in the White House who hates the America that Palin embodies so much. I just don't get it.

And that's not how Palin wrote the book, from that perspective - not at all. That's just what *I* was thinking while reading it. It's a great shame that she isn't our VP right now. Reading the book you know she is exactly the person we need. We already knew that, but reading Going Rogue just reinforces it. My heart is broken that McCain/Palin didn't win. But the silver lining is that hopefully it paved the way for her to run for President, without having the shackles of being only the VP, and win!

NYT: Palin is ungrateful to McCain

It's nice to know where the NYT stands on feminism and female equality. According to them women should be grateful for being picked for a high-profile job based on their merits. Women should be grateful for having the opportunity and not "complain" or "whine" if they get treated like dirt by the people who chose them. Or, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with reasons to hate Palin.

All in all, Ms. Palin emerges from “Going Rogue” as an eager player in the blame game, thoroughly ungrateful toward the McCain campaign for putting her on the national stage.

How about this? Palin earned the right to be picked as a running mate, based on her experience and merits. She also has the right to fight back against the people who tried to destroy her career. Michiko Kakutani, the author of this NYT review, apparently thinks that as a woman, Palin should just sit in the corner with her hands folded in her lap and not say anything ever again.

Kakutani shocked that Palin considered being VP a natural progression to her career. Why? If Palin were a man, I guarantee she would be praising her confidence and assuredness. I seem to remember many, many, people doing that when Bill Clinton said he and others close to him knew would be president someday - even his nanny said it when he was a baby. Talk about elitism.

I was wondering if the NYT would review Going Rogue. Not only did they review it, they got their top liberal attack dog to do it. And all she accomplished was pushing more sexist, liberal lies about Palin. NYT is not progressive, it's regressive. Wake up.

Obama's use of symbolism

Obama loves to use symbolism in his daily public life. I suppose it appeals to the idealogue in him, but it's almost creepy the way he acts like the world is a stage on which to interpret metaphors and symbols instead of being a leader of real people and solving real problems.

Take for instance today. It was announced that the 9/11 mastermind and other terrorists will be tried in a federal court civilian trial in New York City. This decision made by Obama shows a complete disregard for the massive loss of human life that happened right down the street from where the trial will take place. In fact, the courthouse was in the shadow of the World Trade Center towers, before the terrorists destroyed them and killed thousands of innocent Americans. He reduced the horrific acts of terror from being war crimes to simply "criminal acts." He's forcing the New Yorkers who are still reeling from this attack, to live alongside KSM while he defends himself against the atrocities he committed against them. The NYFD and NYPD will have to maintain security during the trial. Obama just forced them to them all to relive their personal hell each day the trial drags on.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but since it's a federal trial couldn't it be held anywhere like DC, Chicago, Seattle, anywhere? It didn't have to be in NYC. With this announcement, he's making a huge statement as to how he perceives the 9/11 attacks - no big deal to him at all. And that is symbolic. To him, who cares if it happened to the people of that city? He doesn't think they've suffered enough to warrant any backlash from the trial being held there.

I won't even get into the fact that it's going to be a civilian trial. It's detestable on so many levels and Andy McCarthy at The Corner speculates that the reason could be to use the information gathered during the trial to strengthen Obama's interrogation case against the CIA and top Bush administration officials. If that is one of the reasons, I will never forgive him.

This isn't the first time he's used symbolism to express his beliefs:

Uses of symbolism during the 2008 election campaign

--During the 2008 election campaign Obama stopped wearing his flag pin. The flag pin was the symbol of our unification after the 9/11 attacks and every politician had been wearing them daily. His break from the pin signaled that voting for him would be a change or an end to the way we had been handling terrorism policy-wise since the attacks took place. George W. Bush represented unity and strength against terror; Obama would represent something else, but certainly not a continuation of Bush's policies. His decision was also symbolic in the way he perceived the attacks: they are over and we should move on. Removing the pin symbolized that we should go back to the we were before the attacks took place and not live with them in mind daily.

--Obama played the Jay-Z song "99 problems but a b*tch ain't one" after he won the Iowa primary and Hillary Clinton lost. You don't have to think too hard about the meaning of that disgusting use of symbolism.

--He also "flipped the bird" to Hillary while speaking about her during the campaign, and did the same thing to McCain during another speech.

Symbolism with foreign policy and leaders

--The bottom of Obama's shoes were photographed while he was on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The article states that it is an insult in the Arab world to show the bottom of your shoes to someone. Even though Israel doesn't necessarily share the custom, many felt insulted by the photo, which is exactly why Obama did it. He was insulting them in a subtle, symbolic way.

--He announced that he would scrap the missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, giving in to a demand from Russia, on the 70th anniversary of Russia's invasion of Poland. Poland and the Czech Republic were occupied by the Soviet Union for 40 years and have since had a strenuous relationship with Russia. This announcement on the anniversary of the invasion was a clear symbol that Obama is interested in appeasing Russia and communist rule. He does not like individual freedom nor expressions of it.

This month, two more major uses of symbolism

--Obama made a "shout-out" and spoke in a jovial manner for approximately two minutes before discussing the Ft. Hood massacre for the first time. He had hours to prepare a speech, and everyone was breathless waiting to hear what he would say. At that time there were already 12 confirmed dead. He knew, without a doubt, that the entire nation was waiting to watch his speech. He gives a display of smiles, happiness and gives a "shout out" to Joe Medicine Crow who says won the Congressional Medal of Honor; however, he had not won the CMH. That is a military decoration awarded to someone in combat. Crow won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians. Two symbols there. One is that he undermined the CMH as some worthless, toss-away award when in fact it's the highest military decoration anyone in the military could ever receive and it's the highest honor to receive it. Obama shows that he has no respect for the award or the military by mistakenly saying that a civilian won it. Obama himself was the one who awarded Crow the PMF on August 12, 2009 - a mere three months ago - and he "mistakenly" confuses it with the CMH? Please. This was a deliberate diss.

But the big symbol here was that Obama had zero empathy, zero respect and zero care for the acts of war on the United States on US soil. He had no feelings whatsoever that 12 military servicemen and women were murdered on their own base by a terrorist. He displayed his leadership and caring by goofing off for two minutes and giving shout outs instead of giving the dead the solemnity they deserve. But that's the symbol - he really was showing you what he really believes by doing that. You get to take away the meaning yourself.

--On Veterans Day last Wednesday he announced that he would wait several more weeks to decide on whether or not he will send more troops to Afghanistan, igorning his General's recommendation and leaving the troops already there flapping in the wind. It was also reported that if he does send more, it will be a far less amount than McChrystal's request. This was done on Veterans Day, the day we honor those who have served and are serving in the military. This symbol shows that he despises the military.


Whenever someone brings it to his attention that he offended someone by his symbolic gesture, Obama feigns ignorance - "Oh no, I didn't mean that!" or "What does that say about you that you would think of something like that?" So they get reduced to conspiracy theories and crazy ideas. But you can't deny that he does employ this technique to convey his true beliefs, add salt to the wound or to belittle something that someone holds dear.

New Going Rogue excerpt

From the Drudge front page:

HER TURN!
Fri Nov 13 2009 07:27:12 ET


Going Rogue: An American Life
by Sarah Palin
Chapter Four; Section 8, pages 255-257


By the third week in September, a “Free Sarah” campaign was under way and the press at large was growing increasingly critical of the McCain camp’s decision to keep me, my family and friends back home, and my governor’s staff all bottled up. Meanwhile, the question of which news outlet would land the first interview was a big deal, as it always is with a major party candidate.

From the beginning, Nicolle [Wallace] pushed for Katie Couric and the CBS Evening News. The campaign’s general strategy involved coming out with a network anchor, someone they felt had treated John well on the trail thus far. My suggestion was that we be consistent with that strategy and start talking to outlets like FOX and the Wall Street Journal. I really didn’t have a say in which press I was going to talk to, but for some reason Nicolle seemed compelled to get me on the Katie bandwagon.

“Katie really likes you,” she said to me one day. “she’s a working mom and admires you as a working mom. She has teenage daughter like you. She just relates to you,” Nicolle said. “believe me, I know her very well. I’ve worked with her.” Nicolle had left her gig at CBS just a few months earlier to hook up with the McCain campaign. I had to trust her experience, as she had dealt with national politics more than I had. But something always struck me as peculiar about the way she recalled her days in the White House, when she was speaking on behalf of President George W. Bush. She didn't have much to say that was positive about her former boss or the job in general. Whenever I wanted to give a shout-out to the White House’s homeland security efforts after 9/11, we were told we couldn’t do it. I didn’t know if that was Nicolle’s call.

Nicolle went on to explain that Katie really needed a career boost. “She just has such low self-esteem,” Nicolle said. She added that Katie was going through a tough time. “She just feels she can’t trust anybody.”

I was thinking, And this has to do with John McCain’s campaign how?

Nicolle said. “She wants you to like her.”

Hearing all that, I almost started to feel sorry for her. Katie had tried to make a bold move from lively morning gal to serious anchor, but the new assignment wasn’t going very well.

“You know what? We’ll schedule a segment with her,” Nicolle said. “If it doesn’t go well, if there’s no chemistry, we won’t do any others.”

Meanwhile, the media blackout continued. It got so bad that a couple of times I had a friend in Anchorage track down phone numbers for me, and then I snuck in calls to folks like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and someone I thought was Larry Kudlow but turned out to be Neil Cavuto’s producer. I had a friend call Bill O’Reilly after I was inundated with supporters in Alaska asking why the campaign was “ignoring” his on-air requests for a McCain campaign interview. I had another friend scrambling to find Mark Levin’s number. Aboard the campaign plane I was within twenty-five feet of reporters for hours on end. Headquarters’ strategy was that I should not go to the back of the aircraft and talk to the press. At first this was subtle, but as the campaign wore on, Tracey or Tucker would call headquarters to request permission, and someone in DC would respond, “No! Absolutely not- block her if she tries to go back.”

Going Rogue with Hoffman endorsement

Palin has endorsed conservative Doug Hoffman over the “Republican” Dede Scozzafava in the special election of New York’s 23rd congressional district.

This is exactly the type of situation that Palin said she would like to help out on. Getting the RINOs out and real conservatives in is exactly what we need to do to stop this landslide into socialism. This is great news and will most definitely give Hoffman a substantial edge.

Now for the Going Rogue part? Minn. Governor Tim Pawlenty didn’t know anything about this race. I’m not kidding:

"You know I haven't been following that, I haven't studied the race at all," he said. "It's not that I would or wouldn't, I just don't know anything about it. I haven't taken the time to study their positions, their records, so I haven't taken a position on it."

And this man is supposed to be a 2012 frontrunner?? First he hires former McCain aides for his campaign and now he’s not paying attention to a wildly popular conservative vs. Republican special election that has gained immense national coverage? This makes me think that he’s on board with the RINOs and doesn’t want to publicly acknowledge himself that way, or he is incredibly stupid, one or the other.

This race is critical. The only way we’re going to change the direction of this country is to elect real conservatives. I keep hearing that a so called “third party” won’t ever win. I disagree. First, a conservative is not part of a third party. Secondly, the majority of Americans are sick and tired of RINOs and hard leftists. They’re tired of paying the government for wasteful programs. I think most Americans are ready to elect real conservatives, not squishy "Republicans" or RINOs. That was one of the reasons the Right was so down about McCain being the 2008 nominee.

Palin endorsing Hoffman is going to start an enormous wave of support for conservatives everywhere. She will be the catalyst for this change, while the other Republican RINOs sit on the sidelines.

Pawlenty hires McCain staffers

Lifted from Ace, again. He reports that Tim Pawlenty has hired Randy Scheunemann and other 2008 McCain campaign advisors to advise him. Even though Scheunemann was one of the "good ones" and a Palin defender then and now, this is a good move and Palin needs to move on with advisors she selects on her own. I'm of the mind that the entire McCain advisory staff is not fit to do any advising. The 2008 campaign and election was a disaster. Us regular citizens could have run a better campaign.

Palin got where she is today by being a beltway outsider and I think she needs advisors that are out of the beltway, too.

Pawlenty Hires Ex-McCain Staffers
Noted in this post over at Hot Air written by "Eeyore-pundit" himself (I keed, I keed; all the AP critics should read it anyway because he's got a good point).


Quick summary: Pawlenty is hiring two former McCain staffers, including Randy Scheunemann, who was Sarah's more aggressive defender among the insiders from Team McCain. Does this mean that Scheunemann has soured on Sarah and is looking for greener pastures? Does it mean that she's unlikely to run in 2012?


My thoughts? It's too damn early to tell. Maybe RS has had a change of heart and now loves him some Minnesota Nice. Maybe he's just looking for a paycheck and Pawlenty is willing to hire him 3 years out while Palin wants to wait a while to assemble her team. Maybe.....she's just not that into him?


One question that I have to ask: Is it really VITAL for Sarah to hire former McCain staffers for a potential 2012 presidential run? Its not like that team really covered itself in glory the last time they were on the field, now is it?


continued.

McCain says there were "clearly" tensions between Palin and his advisors during campaign

Above: Palin received flowers last week as her son Track's brigade is going out for re-deployment (Boston Globe).

McCain admitted that there were "clearly" tensions between his campaign advisors and Palin's "camp" during the campaign.

It seems to me that if there were clearly tensions between Palin and his advisors then the person at the top needed to do something about it at the time. It's like parenting, you don't let your children just fight it out, especially when something as big as POTUS is at stake. What does that say about McCain, that he clearly noticed tensions but apparently did nothing? We know Palin isn't the type to complain and I'm sure that she didn't have a "camp." I'm sure all the complaining came from McCain's advisors directly to him. We know Palin has a huge amount of respect for McCain and she was painstakingly committed to winning the election. She would never do something to jeopardize it. She's the type who takes hits and keeps on carrying on. So these advisors are clearly the ones who brought anything to McCain's attention, and it seems like McCain just left Palin to fend for herself.

Secondly, it's amazing that now McCain admits that there were clear tensions between his staff and her during the campaign - just in time for Palin's book to be released. I don't recall him admitting so much previously. It seems to me that he's doing a preemptive strike should anything be said about it in the book.

I have a great amount of respect for McCain, too. And I believe that he only has the best wishes for Palin at this point. I don't think that he believes what Palin's critics say about her. But it would be my wish if he disowned those advisors publicly and called them out for the backstabbing jerks they are. They deserve to have their careers ruined for what they did to Palin. But I know that's not how it works in Washington and McCain has been around a long, long time. We're just fortunate that we have Palin to turn Washington around hopefully in a few years.

Palin will be a strong force in 2012, McCain says
Last year’s Republican nominee for president predicted yesterday that Sarah Palin will remain a “formidable force’’ in the GOP, despite criticisms that the former vice presidential candidate lacked the substance and policy knowledge needed for national office.

Senator John McCain of Arizona said on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ he is still very fond of the former Alaska governor, whom he chose as his running mate for the Republican ticket in 2008. He said that there is a strong field of Republicans considering the 2012 presidential race, and that “Sarah is one of them.’’

McCain acknowledged that “there were clearly tensions’’ between some of his top campaign advisers and Palin’s camp during the run-up to the election, but he said that is natural in a hard-fought campaign. He said that although he does not always agree with Palin, her political popularity with many GOP voters is obvious.

“When we selected or asked Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party,’’ McCain said. “We were ahead in the polls, until the stock market crashed. And she still is a formidable force in the Republican Party.’’ -- WASHINGTON POST

Nothing to see here! Move along!

I remember during the election last year when Obama had much higher poll ratings than McCain and the corrupt media* would not stop talking about it. They kept saying Obama was going to win in a landslide. I thought they used that tactic to dissuade Republicans from even voting.

Well, today Obama's approval rating index is at -8, which means there are 38% who strongly disapprove of Obama, and 30% who strongly approve: 8% more disapproving.

Where's the media now?? Crickets.

*I've decided to call MSM "corrupt media" for the time being.

The Left is projecting again

Some of the most vile comments about Palin left in the comment section of places like ADN described Palin as "narcissistic," "craves attention," "can't stay out of the spotlight," "addicted to fame," "cares more about her popularity than the people of Alaska" and more.

But this weekend, their Dear Leader Obama will be a guest on five different news shows, with a final appearance on David Letterman's show on Monday.

As usual, the Left is projecting. The Obama-followers don't realize that Obama is the one who's addicted to fame, narcissistic and loves to see himself on TV and hear his own voice. He had two major primetime speeches this summer and also had the ABC health care primetime special. He's had so many speeches that Fox has finally stopped interrupting their primetime lineup for him because they're losing money. Even ABC news thinks that Obama is over-exposed.

The reason he does this is because he has no substance whatsoever. He has nothing to offer except the sound of his voice. He is a puppet whose campaign platform was "hope and change" with zero specific ideas on how to get anything done. And the voters fell in love with this "hope and change" rhetoric.

After McCain/Palin lost the election last year Palin hunkered down in Alaska and didn't make any appearances until the end of the congressional session. She was totally focused on her job and didn't give a whit about her "fame;" she only cared about doing what was best for Alaska. She accomplished so much when she got back, too. Because she has more to offer than lofty rhetoric.

The Left is projecting what they know is true about Obama onto Palin, which is a false projection. Palin is none of those things. While Obama is everything they accuse her of.

Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
ABC News Blog

Obama Over-Exposure?
September 16, 2009 8:33 AM

This Sunday, President Obama will be interviewed on five shows -- ABC News’ “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” CNN’s “State of the Nation”, CBS’s “Face the Nation”, NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Univision’s “Al Punto with Jorge Ramos."

It's a rare feat called "the Full Ginsburg." In modern media lore, the first time someone pulled a five-show feat was 11 years ago, in 1998, when Monica Lewinsky’s attorney William Ginsburg made the rounds to defend his client. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, did a Full Ginsburg in 2007 after launching her presidential bid.

For both Ginsburg and Clinton, Fox News Sunday made the cut, and Univision didn’t. Such is not the case for President Obama; Democrats say the Fox News Sunday audience is largely entrenched in their opposition to the president, essentially unconvincible, and thus submitting to an interview might not be the best use of President Obama's time.

The day that sparked a new fire for conservatism

Today is Sarah Palin Day - August 29 - the anniversary of the day John McCain announced his running mate.

This is what happened to me that day.

Up to that point I was very disappointed in the election season. After McCain won the nomination I pretty much gave up all hope. Obama winning his nomination and then picking Joe Biden as his running mate just made me want to turn off the TV forever. Needless to say I had a barely nominal interest in who McCain picked as running mate. After watching Obama's DNC speech I almost didn't want to know who McCain picked for fear of feeling kicked in the stomach again.

Then on August 29 around 11am came an email from my cube-mate who sits next to me. He didn't want to say anything out loud given the hostile work environment we're in. The email said "check CNN." I went to CNN and saw Palin's face. I was SHOCKED!! I had no idea who Palin was, but I was at once extremely excited! In an instant, I was shaken out of my election doldrums and intensely riveted and engrossed in it. I looked up everything I could find on Palin. I called my husband with the news. After work I called my dad and mom.

I watched her speech when I got home. I was in tears listening to the words coming out of her mouth - limited government, lower taxes, individual liberty - I couldn't believe someone like her existed and she was the governor of Alaska! All I could think was that I was just so happy and so proud that McCain picked her. McCain talked about her start in politics, how she joined the PTA, and I still was in a state of shock that someone like her, and everyday woman just like me, was picked as the VP candidate. I watched the wall-to-wall coverage on the cable news networks that evening. Conservatives were so happy with her. She sparked new life into the election and our beliefs.

It was definitely one of the best days ever and it changed my life. For me it sparked a desire to really get behind the conservative movement, and try to elect the most conservative, everyday Americans we can. It changed my views on the Republican party. But most of all as a woman, that day definitely inspired me that I could have it all - the career, family, everything - just like Palin. And she is someone who I agree with politically on nearly everything. I could relate to her and I was supremely impressed by her servant's heart.

Sarah is a shining star and she's just starting the journey of her political career. We'll be here with you each step of the way!

Here is the video coverage McCain's announcement speech, and Palin's introduction speech. It's well worth it to watch again. It'll send chills down your spine.

From CSPAN on youtube: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announces Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.

A Million Voices for Sarah Palin

This Sarah Palin tribute video always gets me pumped up and it's one of my favorites. In celebration of our almost one-year anniversary of Palin being introduced to us on the national stage as McCain's running mate, I'll post it here now.

I've bookmarked this video but you can also find it at the excellent Palin news source - The Book of Sarah. They keep all the Palin information you could ever need handy. Much thanks to them!


A Million Voices for Sarah Palin

Palin enjoying last days as Governor among grateful Alaskans

No matter what happens Palin's base always seems to grow, but none are more loyal than the Alaskan stalwarts who have been there from the beginning. These citizens were personally affected by Palin's governorship decisions and they carry a badge of honor that they were the ones who elected her which allowed her to be picked as McCain's running mate. They seem very sad that Palin is leaving, but know that she'll go on to bigger things, and will always have Alaska in mind. Palin's "farewell tour" indicates that her huge base of support in Alaska is as strong as ever and will continue to grow.

Palin: Alaska tour is thanks, not goodbye
By MATTHEW DALY (AP) – 1 hour ago

UNALAKLEET, Alaska — She was greeted like a rock star in Unalakleet, a fishing village on the Bering Sea. She danced with Eskimos in Kotzebue. And she watched grizzlies at a wildlife sanctuary on the Kenai Peninsula.

In all, Sarah Palin has been on eight trips outside her Anchorage base since announcing her resignation two weeks ago. Is this a farewell tour, the start of a possible presidential campaign for 2012?

Palin insists it isn't, although she still won't say what plans she has after she steps down as Alaska governor on July 26, with 18 months left to her first term.

"I am Alaskan. I've grown up here and I'm going to remain in Alaska," she told The Associated Press in an interview. "It's not farewell, it's more like thanks for letting me be here and I'll see you soon."

Palin has largely avoided the media limelight in the past two weeks and dodged questions about her future plans. But she hints she has a bigger role in mind, and she plans to launch her new platform by speaking her mind on the social networking site Twitter.

Palin said she is eager to begin life as a private citizen.

"Once I am 'Sarah Palin, Alaskan,' I can really call it like I see it," she said.

Palin waves off any talk of running for president.

"I look forward to continuing to work for Alaska and for energy independence and for the contribution that Alaska could and should be making to allow our nation to be more secure and more prosperous," she said.

Some have speculated she plans to build on her near celebrity status as a conservative talk show host, perhaps for Fox News, or launch a lucrative speaking tour. If her reception Friday in Unalakleet is any indication, she has a strong base of support.

More than 100 people packed a community center and bingo hall to greet the outgoing governor as she signed a bill continuing state subsidies for rural electricity.

The town, known locally as the place where the East wind blows, was an unlikely stop during Palin's final days. A remote collection of unpaved streets on the Bering Sea, the town is so remote that is only reachable by plane and most residents get around by ATV or by foot. There are few cars.

But this is what Palin loves best: Reaching out to Alaskans, no matter how remote. She barely had time to eat lunch — king crab and salmon and a barrage of homemade desserts — as families surged toward her, trying to shake her hand and get an autograph. Pictures of the governor were not enough. Residents wanted to talk to her and pose with her, even as an aide tried in vain to shield the governor and then get her to leave quietly.

Palin smiled through it all, basking in the attention. She nodded sympathetically as a man told her of a relative in Iraq. She hugged a mother whose baby has Down syndrome, as does Palin's youngest child Trig. She signed every post card and datebook thrust in front of her.

Palin says Alaska voters have accepted her decision to resign, even as she continues to receive criticism from the national media and even some fellow Republicans who question her decision to leave with 18 months left in her four-year term.

"We don't give a damn how they do it outside," she said, quoting a popular state bumper sticker. "We do it a different way up here. The pioneer spirit runs strong."

continued...

Firm date set for post-governor event, and some words from McCain

Palin is going to speak at a private gala for the Republican Women Federated of Simi Valley on August 8, the AP reports. The event will be at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The same article reports that John McCain appeared on "Meet the Press" on Sunday and had some kind words for the Gov.

"Oh, I don't think she quit," said Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 who plucked Palin out of near-obscurity and made her a household name. "I think she changed her priorities."

"She has the ability to ignite our party and to galvanize us and get us going again and give us a strong positive message."

National Review coverage

It's not my intention to bash Republicans in pointing out my disappointment in National Review and NRO. But I do feel compelled to defend Palin against needless attacks which, in my opinion, NRO has been indulging in since Palin announced her resignation. I simply want to change my perspective of what NRO represents and accept it for what it is.

I found a post by Anthony Dick posted July 8 that I wanted to highlight here. I feel like it underscores why I'm disappointed and why I no longer consider NRO a daily must-read.

But it wasn’t just the choices she [Palin] made; it was the way she presented herself in conformance with the stereotype of the red-state simpleton.

WFB [William F. Buckley] once remarked to me, in reference to the second-term plunge in popularity of the George W. Bush administration, that it is not enough for conservatives simply to be intelligent or sophisticated. They have to project these qualities, conspicuously and convincingly, in order to get past the visceral prejudices of elite opinion-makers...

Two questions of "why." Why would someone change who they are in order to appease people who hold visceral prejudices? Prejudices are bad, and they prevent people from seeing the real person, the real issues and it's not fair to judge others based on prejudices. Those are the people who need to change, not the ones who are simply being themselves. The second "why" is - why are the elite making opinions for the general public, why does their opinion matter? If they are elite it means they don't represent the realities of everyday Americans. They have special, unique life situations that don't trickle down. So they are not equipped to "make opinions." Elites don't make my opinion, thankyouverymuch.

...elite opinion-makers who generally regard conservative ideas as some combination of boobish, evil, backward, boring, dangerous, and simplistic.

Whoa, back up there, Anthony. In addition to calling Palin those things, it sounds to me like he's saying that the elite opinion makers consider conservative ideas (his words) that way, including the right-leaning elite opinion makers. That's not good for the conservative movement. He puts down conservativism and props up what? What is his alternative? He doesn't say.

Overcoming these prejudices is, if not a prerequisite, at least a very helpful vehicle for receiving a fair hearing on the merits. Bill Buckley was, of course, a master at this project.

So he's saying that if someone presents themselves in a non-simpleton (his words) way, then they will receive a "fair hearing on the merits," fait accompli. Not only is that false but again, what does it say about these elite opinion makers that they cannot focus on the issues and are obsessed with appearances and language? Truly intelligent people are able to look past anything that might be a distraction and cut to the real issues, not at NRO. They are concerned with appearances.

The other thing that struck me was that he said it is a prerequisite to present yourself in a non-simpleton way. A prerequisite to what? Winning a presidential election or just receiving a fair hearing on the merits? I don't recall William F. Buckley winning a presidential election. And the candidate we nominated last year had all those qualities and he failed to receive the winning votes. Republicans never receive fair treatment by MSM or democrats so I wonder again why this is a prerequisite.

Sarah Palin seems either completely oblivious to it, or else too indignant to play that game. This may be a principled decision, but it is not without consequences.

Here is his baseless attack. Palin absolutely does not present herself as a "simpleton." She is a professional, classy, an intelligent speaker, has built vastly successful relationships with foreign countries in her role as governor, connects with voters in a powerfully persuasive way, able to juggle special interests along with what the general public wants. Her priorities are right; she has a very good handle on all the important issues. And putting all that aside, she's a mom of five who hasn't had the help of nannies and maids like most politicians. It's draining to constantly prove Palin's legitimacy to these "elite opinion makers" who outright refuse to look beyond their prejudices. If they have prejudices, it's not my problem or Palin's problem. They need to take a look at themselves first before "making an opinion" for the masses.

The bottom line is that we cannot rely on the Republican elite at NRO as any sort of source of support for Palin and I would also include the conservative movement in general. I see National Review as what it is - an elite subculture, a smaller group within a larger group. The larger group is us, the everyday Americans who are fed up with the way our government is going. The smaller group are people who more or less agree with some of the ideals of the larger group, but not reflective of the group as a whole due to their prejudices. They are a minority. If Palin has some good advisors she won't be listening to NRO's "advice."

The Vanity Fair piece and surrounding controversy shows Palin needs to find her own staff

I am completely shocked at the lengths people will go to tear each other down. Vanity Fair is running a hit piece on Palin, which is not anything new or unexpected. But I'm shocked at how the piece is reverberating throughout MSM, Beltway insiders, conservative bloggers and right-leaning media groups.

The Vanity Fair story says that McCain advisors, or someone within the McCain campaign might be alleging that Palin had postpartum depression during the campaign last year.

I don't think there were any doctors on the campaign who could have diagnosed her but if there were, I don't think any doctor would have leaked that information. So it had to be a campaign employee - and who of them would be fit to make such a diagnosis?? None of them. And it's atrocious that a magazine that allegedly supports women would try to tear down a female VP candidate by saying she had postpartum - I would think a pro-woman magazine would want to shoot down those stereotypes not engage in them. But hey, according to Vanity Fair now, if you had a baby recently, you're not fit for public office!

All of that ridiculousness aside, the story brings to light again that McCain has/had campaign advisors who are leaking information and attacking Palin anonymously.

Politico ran an article "Palin story sparks GOP family feud," that explained how the McCain campaign group and others inside the Beltway have been fighting over these leaks for months. All these "elite" Republican RINOs are losing their heads over Palin and are fighting in the sandbox.

This just proves that Palin can't trust anyone inside Washington. She can't hire the campaign managers that candidates traditionally use. She's a whole new animal. She needs to get her OWN people to run her campaign.

Some have accused her of not being organized enough to run a campaign. Well, she's not your typical candidate. She can't trust these people who are going tear her down from the inside. That's why it appears that she's still trying to gain her footing. She needs to find the right people who have the experience to run a campaign but also she can trust.

As for all this in-fighting in the GOP, all fingers can point to McCain. He's done so much damage to this party. His campaign people have brought Washington to a whole new low, attacking our own former VP candidate anonymously while McCain just turns a blind eye. Reading the Politico article, you can see how many careers McCain has influenced and we would just be a whole lot better off without RINOs like them.