Will the RNC replace Michael Steele with a hockey-mom?

GOP strategists are surely already considering who can best replace their controversy-laden RNC Chair - their principle questions are the timing and who will be able to insure the media spotlight stays on the party's message while inspiring both donors and voters, particularly the vocal, visible Teabaggers. Perhaps this time they'll turn to a woman?

After all, the most recent crop of Naval "Sailors of the Year" were all female, and women make up more than 50% of the U.S. population while turning out to vote more consistently than men.  In fact, if Representative Bachmann weren't seeking re-election she'd surely be in the running, but she'll have to wait her turn as elite GOP strategists have to be aware of the looming November election as they consider their "short list."

Who can inspire big donors? Who can keep the media focused on the GOP's talking points? Who has a photogenic face and comfort in front of the cameras?  Who has the balance of national recognition and all these other elements, and is available to step up and step in when the next gaffe strikes Michael Steele down?

The Thrilla from Wasilla.

It's what she's been waiting for. It won't matter that she's blown any credibility on international affairs, or quit her post as Governor --  the chair doesn't direct policy or even write speeches; the job responsibilities are largely smiling for the cameras and memorizing scripted phrases while insuring a good turn-out for fund-raising events.

I'm sure there are other possibile choices, not to mention that the GOP loves how she distracts the rest of the pundits already pondering future presidential hopefuls.  But the GOP still has Romney and Huckabee, plus Pawlenty and Coleman coming out of "middle America" with records they can ostensibly run on to work with  thus leaving the hockey mom free to court publicity without anybody questioning her readiness or suitability to be Commander-in-Chief.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Conservatives Can't Stand Being Outside The Lines So They Throw Bricks

O Willie's right. (Or Oliver Willis.) Conservatives, basically shut out of the policy-making process in Washington, have taken to throwing stones and acting, well, immature. But they keep stumbing all over themselves, you know? Take Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who's own attempt to get her voice into the mix is consistently mangled by some bad news coming from her own family.

And she's a well-known Conservative! If it's not her family issues, it's Rush Limbaugh running off at the mouth to get part of his $400 million, or Michael Steele trying to find his manhood, or Chip Saltsman stocking up on racist songs to put on a CD!

No wonder they're angry!

Gov. Sara Palin For Saxby Chambiss - Another Ill-Considered Palin Decision

Governor Sarah Palin made another opps again.  After being interviewed as a Turkey was being slaughtered in full view of TV cameras, then saying she basically didn't care, we have the Gov of SNL traveling down to Georgia to support a man who dodged the draft four times and called a decorated war veteran in Max Cleland, who lost both legs in war, soft on terrorism.  


Wow.  


Well I guess Sarah's not thinking about her future at all.  Because none of that was missed by the Alaska news folks .  

Gov. Sara Palin For Saxby Chambiss - Another Ill-Considered Palin Decision

Governor Sarah Palin made another opps again.  After being interviewed as a Turkey was being slaughtered in full view of TV cameras, then saying she basically didn't care, we have the Gov of SNL traveling down to Georgia to support a man who dodged the draft four times and called a decorated war veteran in Max Cleland, who lost both legs in war, soft on terrorism.

Wow.

Well I guess Sarah's not thinking about her future at all.  Because none of that was missed by the Alaska news folks .

Anne Marie Cox Says Sarah Palin Isn't Qualified To Be VP; Staying Here Doesn't Help

This from the infamous AMC .

Sarah Palin will become an Independent

 

Sarah Palin will become an Independent, breaking ranks with the GOP within two or three years.  The reason is that Palin has been treated terribly within the Republican Party of late and this, combined with the fact that she's still learning about World politics, will change her world view.  Palin will become more of a centrist and realize that she can have better success away from the GOP.  

Palin's $150,000 Makeover - Socialist Charge Is Racist

My commentary on the RNC's expenditure of $150,000 for Governor Palin and her family, and my assertion that the McCain / Palin Campaign's charge that Senator Obama is socialist is a racist claim that has it's basis in American civil rights history.

On iReport

Palin Doesn't Get That We're In Economic Trouble

I just watched CNN's Drew Griffin's interview with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and I've got to briefly share that she doesn't get the economic problem we're in.

On the matter of the Bailout plan and our financial problems, Palin fears that it would be used as a reason to "spend" and to have "big government" and that the "private sector" would be forgotten.

Man.

Memo to Governor Palin: it was the private sector that created the problem we're in.

Geez.

Sarah Palin Tackled By Terry Tate - Literally

This is undoubtedly hard to watch, at least for me. Then again, I just discovered "Terry Take" more myself today. In this video he tackles -- I mean tackles -- Sarah Palin just as she's being interviewed by CBS News' Katie Couric.

Take says he's an "equal opportunity hitter" -- the best office linebacker ever.

"Joe The Plumber" Lived In Alaska and Worked For Roto-Rooter

I happened by the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska, looking for "Troopergate" updates when I saw this story that , well, was front and center above the fold about how Joe Wurzelbacher AKA "Joe The Plumber" lived in Alaska, and I thought "It figures" because of his seemingly almost anti-tax "leave me alone" views that fit with some of the more extremist Alaskans we've come to know of since the rise of Sarah Palin.


Here's one series of paragraphs:

Alaska records show Wurzelbacher listed a North Pole address in 1992 and 1993, and Eielson Air Force Base address in '94 and '95. He applied for hunting permits, owned an old Ford and a new Dodge, and paid a $76 fine in Fairbanks court for speeding.

It was unclear Thursday afternoon whether Wurzelbacher registered to vote while living in Alaska, and if so with which party, Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai wrote in an e-mail.

Wurzelbacher's son was born in the Fairbanks area in 1995, Morrison said.

"Jennifer had called up to Joe to tell him that she was in labor and Joe made it down the stairs just in time, his baby was delivered on the wooden floor in their home," Morrison said.

"That was a huge thing for us ... We joked with them and said, 'OK, you did it the Alaskan way,' " said Morrison, who was living Outside at the time. She later married an Alaskan and moved here herself.

"I met (Joe) when he was working for Roto-Rooter," said her husband, John.

Morrison said Wurzelbacher served in the Air Force and that as far as she knows, he and her sister never met Gov. Sarah Palin, who is now Sen. John McCain's running mate.

But what also caught me was what he did while he lived in Alaska...

"I met (Joe) when he was working for Roto-Rooter," said her husband, John.

Sarah Palin's I.Q At 83 - Palin Academic Records Rounding The Blogsphere

At first I thought the blogger at the Silenced Majority Portal was kidding when he or she wrote  that Alaska Governor and GOP VP hopeful Sarah Palin's I.Q. was at 83.  I mean wow.  I'm not into I.Q.s, -- mine was rsnked at 156 when I was 7 years old -- but a score's a score.  


I thought it was a joke, but then I saw a pretty authentic-looking document that's also making the rounds on the blogsphere.   It's a compilation of her academic record and photos that someone (??) assembled and posted for view.  The link is here:


http://clapboard.org/temp/SarahPalinReport.pdf



In just looking through it, we find that her then-latest high school grades went like this:  she scored a B in English, a D in Foreign Language, and didn't get an A in anything.  Her SAT scores were 425 verbal and 416 for math.  


The report also has a LOT of media clippings, all negative, about Palin.  But what got my attention was the information about Bristol Palin's soon-to-be husband Levi Johnston.  It claims that his MySpace has race-hate words...

Bristol Palin's boyfriend, the father of her unborn child, refers to himself as proud to be a "fuckin' redneck" on his MySpace page (before his profile was removed). He also said if anyone “messes” with him, he would "kick their fuckin' ass." He uses the N-word freely, and under hobbies, says “I like to shoot shit" for fun.

Ah...OK!

The document also has her education and resume:

Education:

1978-1982: Wasilla High School, diploma, 2.2 GPA

1982: Hawaii Pacific College (dropped out)

1983: North Idaho Community College (dropped out)

1984-1985: University of Idaho (dropped out)

1985: Matanuska-Susitna Community College, AK (dropped out)

1986-1987: University of Idaho, BA Communications

Career (1978-1997):

1987-1989: Sports Reporter

KTUU-TV, KTVA-TV (Anchorage), and Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

1988-present: Co-owner, husbands fishing operation

1992-1996: Wasilla AK city council

1994-1997: Co-owner, snow machine dealership (failed)

Wow. Palin attended, let's see, five colleges in five years!  WTF?  What was up with that?  Think about it. You would have to sign up for a new college midway into the time you were at the existing college.

She's got some explaining to do there.  I've never seen a VP candidate with a resume like that.  I wonder if it has to do with that "83"....

Hmm....

I wonder who Sarah pissed off so badly they posted all of this information?  It's clear someone in Alaska's got it in for her.

Betty White Says Sarah Palin's A "Crazy Bitch"; Calls Obama Sexy

This is one funny video. Craig Ferguson hosts actress Betty White, who brings the house down by saying that Gov. Sarah Palin's "one crazy bitch" and then crowing that Barack Obama's one sexy man! Watch the video!

Racist Palin Supporter Holds Obama Monkey Doll At Palin Rally

Well, if you need more proof that McCain / Palin rallies are drawing sick, mentally ill people, here you are. I present this big terrible sick idiot for your ridicule and pitty.  Folks like him muddle the Republican message, but I also think some of that racist rhetoric is causing racists to feel it's ok to, well,  be racist again.  


It's not.  It's a mental illness that, in this case, all should call that person on.  

Full "Troopergate" Report Here For Download

You've read the headlines and my blog, now read the full 265-page "Troopergate" scandal report and judge Sarah Palin's actions for yourself.  

Just click here to download it:

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/10/10/16/Branchflowerreport.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf

Sarah Palin Accused of Abuse of Power - Violated State Ethics Law

In her attempt to oust the Alaska State Trooper, Mike Wooten, who was her brother-in-law and accused of abusing her sister during their marriage, Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin was found guilty of violating a state ethics law.  

The Alaska Legislature's investigation determined that both Palins played a large role in attempts to strong arm subordinates to have Wooten removed.  One of the key persons involved as a victim was now former public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who explained in detail how Palin's husband Todd visited him or asked him to come to her office -- not his -- on the matter of Wooten.   


As the NY Times reports, ...

The report says she knowingly “permitted Todd Palin to use the governor’s office and the resources of the governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired.”

Further, it says, she “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.”

Now that the "cats out of the bag" what does it mean for Palin?  Well, she's not going to jail, but in the court of public opinion it totally removes her tag as a "good government reformer" because of the charge of abuse of power.  Moreover, it will almost certainly spillover onto Senator John McCain and open fresh questions regarding how well the McCain staff failed to "vet" Governor Palin.  


The other question is will this news impact McCain's overall polling, which was already behind Senator Obama's after the economic disaster, which shows no sign of abating.  This certainly can't help, but just how much it hurts will not be known until Tuesday, after the public's first two working days of media coverage of the matter.


The McCain staff is already spinning this as the work of "Obama supporters" but as it's an ethics violation, those powerful words will override such fingerpointing.  It's a scarlet letter of the worst kind to have as a public official. 

McCain Still Comes Off As REAL ANGRY; Some OF His Supporters Are Nuts

I just subjected myself to watch Senator John McCain and his running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin that was on MSNBC and CNN -- I skip Fox News when I can.

I've got to say that McCain and Palin are drawing the radical fringe movement and I can't help but wonder how many of them are White Supremacists.  Do they represent America? Well, considering that the audiences at these rallies are almost all white, the answer's no.

McCain and Palin are running for a part of America, not all of it.  That's the problem.

Thomas Muthee Prays Over Sarah Palin - Economics, Witches, and Isreal

This is the controversial video making the rounds and really casting light on the idea of the separation of church and state -- which does not seem to exist with Governor Palin. Draw your own conclusions but while I'm a powerful believer of God, I'm also very scared that only one perspective of him is presented and used to control Governments and people.

I'm going to research this in more depth.

Republican Sues Gov. Sarah Palin Over Email Use

The growing perception that Alaska Governor and GOP VP hopeful Sarah Palin has her own ethics problems is fed by stories like this one. According to the Washington Post, Palin is being sued by a Republican Alaska activist Andree McLeod for her use of private email accounts for public business. Here's the detail:

In a lawsuit filed in Alaska Superior Court, a Republican activist seeks to force Gov. Sarah Palin to produce copies of official correspondence she sent and received on private e-mail accounts.

Andrée McLeod filed the suit Wednesday and publicized it in a news release today. "Rather than using her state e-mail account, throughout her two-year tenure as Governor of Alaska, defendant Sarah Palin, as a matter of routine, has used, and, on information and belief, continues to use, (at least) two private e-mail accounts... to conduct official business of the State of Alaska," the suit alleges.

The suit is the latest front in a battle McLeod is waging over Palin's e-mail. In June, she filed an open-records request and received four boxes of redacted e-mails. But more than 1,100 others were withheld, an action Palin justified by claiming executive privilege. McLeod appealed that claim last month before going to court last week.

McLeod has questioned whether Palin was using private e-mail accounts to conduct state business in a manner that would skirt open-records laws. In one notable e-mail, a Palin aide apologized for discussing state business on a public account. "Whoops!" Palin aide Frank Bailey wrote, after addressing an e-mail to the governor's official state address. "Frank, this is not the Governor's personal account," a secretary reminded him.