The Vagina Card

[spicedogs]

McCain pulled a good one: He used the vagina card. I hope that people can see through that.

Comments

[divka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she's fairly pro-life too--which balances out the fact that he's not overtly religious himself.

But, yeah...my brother-in-law was just pointing out that he thinks the GOP will still have an issue with a female anywhere near the driver's seat of this country. I guess we'll see.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

She's pro-life, a creationist, and believer of capital punishment.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Yeah. She sounds like a real treat.

[cdsdame.livejournal.com]

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I'm Repuplican, conservative, pro-lfe, and anti-death penalty. I don't think any of those are particularly awful.

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

I don't really think she's going to help. She could be a real surprise, but I bet Biden will totally shred her in the debates.

[greyrider.livejournal.com]

Pro-life, to me, means governing over a woman's right to choose what to do or not to do with her body, and I don't feel the government has any place on that issue. I'm okay with individuals having those stances and opinions, but I'm all for civil disobedience when the government tries to tell a person what they can or cannot do to their own body.

I'm also pro-death penalty for rapists and child molesters, but that opinion isn't exactly unbiased.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Well, at least you are not a hypocrite as Sarah Palin is. She is pro-life and pro-capital punishment, as well as hunting and killing animals for sport.

However, I am a LIBERAL Democrat, who is prochoice, antideath penalty, and antihunting animals for fun. I believe in gun control and that not everybody should have a right to own one. I believe gay people should get married if they want to and should be able to adopt children. I believe that the poor should be helped and the rich should be taxed (and hubby and I make enough money to be part of that tax bracket). Those are some of my very "controversial" beliefs. I do believe that people ought to get along regardless of their beliefs. And, like greyrider I believe that the government should stay out making decisions for my body. And, I, too, don't think that my beliefs are particularly awful.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I figured that that would be the case. I just hope that people vote for brains. Look what happen for the past 8 years.

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

Don't remind me!

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

I think this is BRILLIANT move on McCain's part.

Hear me out...I'm on the other side of the fence of most of you, but think about it. Let me channel Steve Schmidt for a minute or two...

Many Hillaryites are still out for blood. They think she got a raw deal. They're wavering on pulling the lever for Obama for this reason. Now, this Palin woman is a gun-totin' hockey mom who is against abortion. But in the end, she is a woman and a likeable one at that. And if McCain gets elected, it only makes things easier for Hillary down the line. So those people are taken care of. As far as I can see online, the Hillaryites are thrilled by this. Some of them will even vote against Obama for this reason. So McCain just grabbed a nice chunk of the lady vote, which he desperately needed.

Palin also appeals to conservatives and evangelicals, something McCain failed to do up until this point. Many see him as not right-wing enough, not religious enough. She balances this out with her own life experience and practicalities. Now, I know most of you don't like evangelicals and probably see them as fanatics, but McCain needs their support to win. I think it's safe to say that many of them might have either held their nose and pulled the lever for McCain or maybe even stayed home in protest. It's quite a risk for McCain to gamble on what could have happened. McCain's not about to take that chance. This portion of the base was not energized before. They are now.

The whole lack of experience on Obama's part is now made a moot point. You won't see that argument really come up again. I think Obama is probably pretty happy about this and he can now focus on explaining why he is the right choice rather than why McCain is the wrong choice, and vice versa. I would rather see them both make compelling arguments on why they're the right choice than continue with this he has no experience, he owns ten houses finger-pointing bullshit.

As far as Biden goes, Kat, I see where you're going with the debates thing, but Biden will do no such thing. This woman is not Hillary Clinton. She's a softer entity who relies more on practicalities and pragmatism than of a long history in politics. That's appealing to a lot of people who are bored and kind of disenfranchiesed by these political types who bluster and talk and talk and talk, but can't answer a yes or no question to save their lives. Any in-your-face action by Biden against her in the debates would be a terrible mistake on his part and will be scorned. Hillary Clinton is/was a woman who mainly wanted to be seen as a man, but dropped the lady jears when she felt it was convenient. Sarah Palin is a woman who wants to be seen as an equal, but not a man. Biden would rather debate a man than a woman like this any day. He cannot take the gloves off with her. It is too much of a risk.

The woman is bullet-proof. Trust.

Regardless of whether you think McCain played the vagina card or not, the dude wants to win. And as far as choosing a conservative woman who believes in creationism and all that, what did you expect of him? If he picks someone pro-choice he loses the evangelicals, and maybe he picks up some women voters who won't go for Obama under any circumstances, but probably not enough of them to win this election. Now he's got everything he needs covered: some of the blue collar vote, the Hillary vote, the evangelicals, the independents (who, btw, are practically jitting right now at the photos of Palin holding a gun), etc. It's a win win for him.

BTW - you are going to see a MAJOR campaign shift on both sides right now. The foreplay is over and now it's time for the sex. I would not be a bit surprised if you see waaaaaay less sniping and more real argument where the candidates actually try to win votes on merit and not "vote for me because I'm not him".

This is a game-changer, guys. When November comes around and McCain takes this in a walk, go back and read this post. I promise not to gloat. XD

[boheme06.livejournal.com]

I really hope so too.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

And that's why I call it the Vaginal Vagina Card.

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

You need to make up a song for that. XD

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I'll write the music, if someone helps me with the words.

[mythicfeline.livejournal.com]

Well, her presence has seemed to electrify the Christian right, who I think have felt a bit conflicted about McCain. However, unless McCain is elected or if even he is and he doesn't die in office, her presence is a inconsequential one. Dick Cheney, aside, vice presidents are usually relegated to ceremonial roles and casting deciding votes in the Senate. Given that she is an outsider, she'll get some intros but if her knowledge and experience in foreign and national policy fails to impress, which I'm sure it will tout de suite, she'll be left to ribbon-cuttings and school openings, which I'm sure she'll be good at.

My impression was that McCain picked her because he prolly knows his chances aren't great, and he wasn't about to waste (or couldn't draft) a bona fide serious player.

What she does do in the campaign season is neutralize Biden. He's an attack dog par excellence, and he would make quick work of her, except if he won't (if he has any sense) because he would look like a man taking apart a new mother, a nursing mother at that from what I hear, of a Downs syndrome child. It's the figurative corollary of physically beating a woman.

It's a desperation move on McCain's part, IMO. It might work, but I think once the glow is off, it's going to be a tough choice to defend. This has the feeling of Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers for Supreme Court.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out at the RNC. My hometown is hosting, which cracks me up. I call it the People's Republic of St. Paul. LOL! But, I'm sure the GOP will find St. Paul people gracious, well-mannered. There's money to be made, after all.

[xgirl30]

The people's republic of St. Paul. I love it. (and it's very apropos.)
I too will be interested to see how the convention plays out. (I work about a block from the Xcel center so going to work on Tuesday should be fun. Not.)

I'm still shaking my head over Mccain's choice of a running mate. It makes me hope even more that Obama gets elected.

[mythicfeline.livejournal.com]

Well, it looks like Gustav might cast the deciding vote. I just turned on the TV to hear there is much commotion about what the GOP will do now that it appears that Gustav is likely to bear down on the Louisiana coast, awfully close to the anniversary of Katrina. Whoa, hard to say how that plays out, but if they do hold their fund-raiser as was mentioned that might earned them some easement for the debacle of the Bush administration in handling Katrina.

I can somewhat overlook his post 9/11 zeal and his Daddy-revenge against Iraq and can understand how it drove him to lose sight, but I can not forgive his condescending cruelty during Katrina. That will be on him and on his advisers for a long, long time.