The American Spectator

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Palin's New Pals

9.2.08 @ 12:01AM

SELECTING SARAH
Re: W. James Antle III's Gamblin' Man:

This is a gamble I'm willing to live with.
-- Andrew J. Macfadyen, M.D.
Omaha, Nebraska

I haven't felt like this since Reagan ran in 1980. That's the year I registered and voted for the very first time. It didn't make a bit of difference to me what anyone else said because I knew the man's character. Boy oh boy did Reagan frustrate the Left! Yet through all the bitter ugliness the Left spewed, I never had a single doubt about Reagan, not ever.

I have not been a McC fan. Long ago I pegged him for a media whore who stabbed Bush in the back, and to me Bush is a saint for what he's done to keep us safe, and it's cost him a lot. But I have to hand it to ol' McC; his pick is perfect. Choosing a woman who outshines him takes some set of brass. McC hasn't made a false move, and his timing has been flawless. I'm impressed. Just like Reagan, Sarah Palin scares the bejeezus out of the Left. The Left can yadda-yadda-yadda all they want 'cause it don't mean a thing to this conservative.
-- Kitty Myers
Painted Post, New York

Columnist James Antle is entirely correct: The biggest downside with the pick of Sarah Palin for VP, and one that I haven't heard anyone else bring up, is that Alaska will most likely lose a hugely capable Governor. And to complicate matters even more, there's the still undecided race for U.S. House between her Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell and incumbent Don Young. What happens if Parnell ends up being the winner in that race?

You could almost hope for at this point, that Parnell, a firm "Palinista" loses the Congressional seat.

Wow! Amazing that nobody else has focused in on this most exciting and intriguing aspect of this big story.
-- Eric Dondero, Publisher
Libertarian Republican blog

The Democratic outcry against Palin is rich. Her selection could be compared to the Democratic Party's selection of Harry Truman in 1944. That was another wartime election which brought a foreign policy neophyte to the Vice Presidency. In fact, Truman's elevation was precisely to frustrate the possibility that Henry Wallace would be VP when a (secretly) ill FDR entered his fourth term. The heirs of the Henry Wallace Progressives have since taken over the Democratic Party and were nominated in Denver last week. Of course, what ultimately saved the situation was not Truman's national security background, but his basic common sense and fundamental perspective as an American patriot. I suspect that we have the same qualities in Governor Palin. Reminding the American people that Truman fought against the Obama's and Hillary's of 1948 would be appropriate...and cause further howling from the Democrats.
-- Craig A. Zimmerman

Is may just be me, but it is a little disturbing when a party's Vice Presidential candidate elicits more enthusiasm than its Presidential candidate. Yet, this is exactly what is happening in the Republican party. While I must say that I am happier with Gov. Palin on the ticket, there are several things that trouble me.

First, how can a President work well with a Vice President who is diametrically opposed to almost all of his positions? And if a VP can work under conditions like that, what does that say about that person's character? John McCain's positions, on most topics, are much closer to Joe Lieberman, or even Joe Biden, than they are to Sarah Palin. And how will he fare in the coming campaign, when he is personally overshadowed by his VP? This could turn out to be another Old What's His Name/Geraldine Ferraro ticket. Who remembers Fritz Mondale?

In fact, John McCain is not yet the official candidate of the Republican Party. It might be worth considering the nomination of Sarah Palin as the Republican nominee for President. After all, the race would still be a referendum on Barack Obama, but if he loses, there would be, not only a Conservative [granted a relatively unknown one], but the first woman in the White House.

This could prove historic for the Republican Party.
-- Michael Tobias

This comment from Quin Hillyer has convinced me of what I have suspected for some time: Quin Hillyer is the biggest ninny in your employ.
-- Curt Evans

True to form James Antle III, who was a fan of two-faced Jim "Judas" Webb and the liberal blue dog Democrats of 2006, reveals why the GOP and conservatives would be wise to ignore such people -- they are a major reason Democrats now control Congress. As for Pat Buchanan who cares what this faux conservative and revisionist historian of WW II thinks? He actually blames the Jews, the British and America for the final solution, WW II and Muslim extremism. This MSM "conservative" out of spite and to please his liberal masters has led the charge to undermine President Bush (a real conservative) and the GOP. This is why this toady is now a liberal favorite. As to the argument that the Governor of Alaska is as inexperienced as Barack Obama that's Democrat BS and MSM media spin to insulate their messiah and his cheater/plagiarist running mate Joe Biden from the truth.

This race isn't about the #2 it is about the #1 and at least John McCain knows we have 50 states as opposed to 57 or 58, the Presidency is for 4 or 8 years and not 10, wants to defeat Muslim terrorism not nurture it, work towards real energy independence and not line the pockets of special interests and anti-American despots, refuses to accept millions of dollars in potentially illegal foreign donations from Muslims with ties to terrorists, is a bona fide war hero and American citizen and picked a smart, intelligent, attractive, reformist with a 19 year old Soldier son deploying to Iraq with a Striker Brigade this September 11th. As long as McCain ignores the "wisdom" of James Antle III and Pat Buchanan he'll be the 44th President of the United States of America.

Letter to the Editor

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