John McCain has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate

The fiscal budget in Los Angeles is going to be over 7 billion for 2008-09
The fiscal budget for the State of Alaska was around 7 billion in 2002 (looking for more current numbers)

From what I know she has been a great Governor of Alaska, but on the experience tip, it just does not seem to have the substance required. She was a small town mayor and now is a small state governor. I am not sure she has the gravitas for the VP position.

McCain certainly made an interesting pick. Time will tell if it was the right one. My guess is that once the curiosity factor wears off, this will go down as a monumentally bad pick.



sources:
http://www.lacity.org/mayor/budget/pdf/Budget_Summary_FY08-09.pdf
http://citizensguide.uaa.alaska.edu/1.BUDGET_PIES/1.Slicing_the_Budget_Pie.htm
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/07_OMB/budget/index.htm (I can't get the pages to load)

 

Well in reading up on what she has accomplished, she actually seems like a good pick. She has outed several corrupt politicians and has kept most of her promises she made when she was running for Governor, like selling a jet that the previous Governor had purchased at the taxpayers expense...

It will also be interesting to see how well she can juggle a 5 month old baby (who has down syndrome), a couple other children, and run for VP at the same time....

 

She actually has 5 kids - eldest is in the military, the youngest has Downs, and 3 daughters. Quite a handful, to say the least, but if she can do it all, all the more power to her.

Again, I have to plead ignorance on her politics - but from what I've read, I wouldn't support her. That said, the more I read, the more I'm intrigued. I can understand why she'd enjoy a high approval rating in Alaska - my cursory read of her is that she "fits" the Alaskan mind.

 

Nope. It's a day or two old. I'm not sure, but I think I saw it in the Washington Times. In fact it might have been from the editorial section rather than the news. I scan thru a lot of stuff.

I think the article/editorial might have reviewed a lot of folks and suggested the woman who used to be head of HP, Carly Fiorina.

All old news anyway.

Frankly, the one thing that stuck w/ me vis a vis the potential candidates for VP is that if he had picked Romney the 2 guys would have owned 11 houses between them.

I admit that is a shallow vis a vis important topics of substance. Still that grabbed me. 11 houses. That is a lot.

Just imagine....a McCain/Romney ticket wins the election. That means they get the White House, the VP's home and Camp David on top of 11 homes that they own.

That makes 14. It would have been a great stimulous for the economy. Necessitates the hiring of a lot of maids and servants to clean up behind you. Plus with 14 places to live in...the press could never catch up with you. They wouldn't know where you are. The two guys could have done controversial things or nothing at all. Frankly it wouldn't have mattered. As long as they kept moving from place to place, the press and the public would have never had a chance at asking a question.

Its too bad that didn't happen. I'm sure the Onion, SNL, and political satirists would have had a field day with it.

 

Hahahah - that is pretty funny, brother.

 

What is the Alaska mind? I only know 3 people from Alaska and they were each extremely smart and down to earth. Me only knowing three people from an area does not give a lot of insight.

 

Very shrewed move because we saw how much support Hillary Clinton garnered from female voters, and by having Palin, as VP, Mccain could well get a lot of the voters who voted for Clinton and were anti Obama (even though it will be cross party voting).

If McCain was to choose his running mate purely on talent, he should of have gone for the Indian (Asian Indian and not native Indian) Bobby Jindal. But that was never going to happen for two reasons. Jindal is Indian and he is far too young at 36/37 years of age.

 

McCain probably didn't care about an experienced VP, he was looking to exploit the "America is mature" slogan by picking up a woman

 

It wasn't a pejorative, Homebiz - I admire the independence of spirit, and kind of wild-ass nature, of the Alaskans I have known. I was saying that politics aside, there's a lot about her that on first read I'm coming to admire on an impressionistic basis.

Might just be I'm a country boy at heart, who hates living in the city, and when I read she has a float plane, my head hit the keyboard in sheer envy...

 

Isn't that like half the state? Haha, I jest.

Alaska is small and not very populated compared to nearly everything but Montana. I think Alaskans tend to be self-sufficient and more of a outdoors lifestyle that your typical city dweller living in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, or Los Angeles.

 

Geraldine Anne Ferraro ran as VP in 84 and did not pull in the women voters. Clinton was more than just a magnet for women to follow. She had ideas.

I think McCain picked her for her intelligence and her integrity. Palin is a person that has ideas and wants to make a change in government.

I did not take it as belittling at all and did not mean to have my post come off in as though I thought that.

I did a lot of reading on Palin a few months back and thought she was one of the brightest three in politics.

 

Try Alaskan Brewing Company Smoked Porter for a sample of "wild." One of the best ales I've ever had. I once had an extended conversation with Marcy ____ (forget her last name), co-owner of the company, with her husband. Fantastic person, extremely generous with her time and thoughts, and having some serious chutzpah to found a regional brewery in the middle of Alaska, where receiving even raw materials can be hit or miss, at times.

My only other direct experience was while at theater school, became friends with a guy studying there, formerly a member of the Perseverance Theater Company, out of Douglas. A true picture of independence, and a great artist. Through him, met Molly Smith, the Artistic Director, also an amazing artist.

I've read Alaskan writers as well. Horribly small sample, I know, but what I've come to know, I do admire. So much so, I've thought of a move there - convincing my wife, and young son, is another matter....

 

I'd be hard pressed to find anyone brighter than Obama, personally. The man has some serious stones, intellectually, and in fact, this may hurt him - both in terms of being perceived as an "effete snob" (thank you, I think it was, Spiro Agnew), and in terms of making necessary decisions when it comes to hammertime. After George Bush, whom I feel has almost made a personal mission of eschewing intellectual achievement as a thing to be striven for ("I got "C's" in college - and hell, look where I am"), I'd be very glad to see someone bright in the oval office.

But I also know this isn't itself a panacea - I personally think this was one of Clinton's key problems, the ability to read, dissect, and engage every point of view, with its twin, an inability to take definitive action once all things received a reasonable airing.

As to Palin, I don't yet see where she is, or was, on things that matter most to me - the war, foreign policy, the economy, education, healthcare.

 

Sadly my knowledge of Alaska is limited to what I have read in the news over the years and, from a couple episodes of the TV show Northern Exposure - but I don't take anything from TV too seriously.

It does sound like a neat place for the independent minded, which I am, and those who love nature and the outdoors, which I do. I would love to visit someday.

 

On a lighter note, its just as well that McCain didn't pick Romney. If I recall, I believe he said he "didn't REMEMBER how many houses he owned" The poor guy would have suffered if he shuffled through as many as 14 houses rather than a meager 7.

On a more serious note....I was taken by Browntwn's comment here....

I was taken by the use of the word "gravitas". I have no idea if Palin has gravitas or not. I would substitute the word, judgement.

As we discuss candidates one emphasizes experience, etc. I think the more telling issue is judgement, which of course is difficult to assess (judge).

Harry Truman moved to President from Vice President, upon the death of Roosevelt. While VP he had virtually no exposure to big questions and issues. He was not blessed with years and years of depth of experience prior to becoming VP.

He faced enormous stress and issues while as President; WWII, the atomic bomb, Korea, national potential crisis in facing a steel strike, dealing with McArthur, deciding on recognizing Israel, and other issues. Upon leaving office he had low popularity ratings that compared to Bush. A few decades later and continuously since historians treat him well. I read in depth about a couple of his decisions, most significantly about his decision in recognizing Israel.

He knew nothing of the issue and brought in his advisors, and the experts of the time, who thoroughly debated this issue and absolutely disagreed on what to do. He struggled with the issue and ultimately decided to recognize the new nation based on many combinations of arguments....and appeals that appeared to hit at his heart from people he deeply trusted.

He listened and evaluated the arguments from all sides.

I think one thing we have seen in the past 8 years is a President who shut down the door on one side of arguments and pretty much followed the advise on many issues from just 2 people, Cheney and Rove....each with a very one-sided view on things. Bush only seemed to veer from their opinions and open up to other advice after so much went wrong.

I believe Obama, McCain, and Biden all have a more mature attitude that will bring better judgement. I frankly know knowing about Palin and will be interested to read up on her history and listen to her.

 

Earl, I posted before reading your post - amazing to me we are pondering along similar lines. This notion of curiosity, and engagement of dissimilar views, is one of the early reasons I supported Obama; seeing OJT as not necessarily a bad thing, when the job is impossible to truly know from the outside. In other words, thinking on Obama's native gifts, coupled with his willingness to sit down and listen, well, early on, this was a draw for me.

 

As I said in my first post, from what I know she has been a great Governor of Alaska. John McCain is an older candidate for President and one who has has bouts with cancer. I am not sure that Palin, if it would become necessary, has the gravitas to represent the United States of America on the world stage. It is a hard thing to put my finger on - and I was not sure that was the right word to use to express my thoughts.

 

I'll vote for gravitas, when drinking Willamette or Nuits-St. Georges pinot, and judgement, when drinking an ESB. Both are great, by my taste.

 

She's from Wasilla, Alaska.

I was there last month and it was one of the scariest places I've ever been. The people there were incredibly large and abrasive! Luckily we were just passing through on our way to Hatcher Pass.

 

Uh huh, yet I have changed my stances on many things over the course of my life if I find my way of thinking to be wrong.

Such as 'in god we trust'