Party Über Alles?

When the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates voted today, it was pretty clear who their picks would be.

Except for one. When Sarah Palin voted in Wasilla, Alaska today, she naturally voted for the McCain-Palin ticket.  But when reporters questioned her about whether or not she voted for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska the VP-candidate was not so forthcoming.

Stevens, an 84 year-old who is the the Senate’s longest-serving Republican in US history was recently convicted of seven felony charges, regarding ethics violations.  Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison.   Stevens is currently running for his seventh term in the senate.  If Stevens wins, he would be the first convicted US senator ever elected.

Although Palin did not endorse Stevens, she did issue a very ambiguous statement on the matter saying “I’m confident Senator Stevens will do what’s right for the people of Alaska.”  She also reportedly called for him to step down after the conviction charges.

Palin’s response to reporters about her voting choices today were equally vague.  “I am also exercising my right to privacy, and I don’t have to tell anybody who I vote for. Nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also,” said Palin.

While the most recent polls show Stevens trailing Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by eight points in the race, many are questioning Palin’s morals if indeed, she chose party over everything and checked the box for Stevens.

And it has all come down to this

Nearly two years. That’s how long the current election has lasted. The part that has been visible to the public anyways. These two years alone average Americans like us have slogged through were painfully long enough…I can’t even imagine how those who’ve worked with the Obama and McCain campaigns are feeling right about now.

In those two years our lives have all changed in some way. The writers of this blog graduated from high school and are now college freshman, fighting uphill battles against lack of money for students, dismal futures ahead of us in the job market and adulthood. I’m sure some of you had kids, lost or gained new jobs. Maybe lost some money in the stock market. One of the pivotal moments for me personally during the past two years was when, after two previous tries to see Barack Obama speak at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore. and at the University of Oregon, I finally got to see the candidate up close along with a record 72,000 people (until St. Louis broke that record this fall) on Portland’s waterfront.

And that’s how one man affected my vote.

Although it may not have had an entirely clear purpose for most of it’s existence, the point of this blog was to gauge how one woman might have affected YOUR vote. It’s been an interesting fall. Ever since Palin was nominated as McCain’s VP, the campaigns grew a whole new set of teeth and claws and the candidates began pummeling each other with metaphorical hockey sticks. And the entire time, we’ve wanted to know how did that appeal to you? Did Palin’s support of special needs kids sway your vote? How about the way mainstream media portrayed her? Did media outlets like Fox News help her gain your support when they defended her against the “liberal media?” Did Tina Fey’s portrayal of her on SNL make you take a step back and say “holy shit this woman could actually be running this country?!”

Please let us know. We would love to have some feedback on your opinions of Palin, the election and perhaps just the experience of voting in general. The current polls have Obama leading by various amounts of points. We want to know WHY.

Long Time Democrat Votes for Palin

Wendy Button has written speeches for  John Edwards, Hillary and Bill Clinton and even Barack Obama. So why would such a die hard democrat vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin in the 2008 election? The democratic speechwriter has always believed in the democratic views in the past but is turned off by the nasty slandering that has festered in this election.

“Here we are about a week out and it’s déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palin’s wardrobe? Where’s the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt?” writes Button on her blog that is posted on The Daily Beast.com.

She also goes on to say that she does not agree with Governor Sarah Palin on many things, and even admits that she was one of the early skeptics of this odd pick for a running mate. Button has come to like Palin for her real, hockey mom, persona. “When someone fights her way to get scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line, that shows determination and humility you can’t learn from reading Reinhold Niebuhr.” Button writes.

Her blog is recomended reading for anybody that has yet to decide on who they will be casting their vote for this tuesday. Her opinions are highly educated and informed. Button gives insight on what the words in Obamas Speaches really mean.

If a long time democratic woman like Wendy Button will change teams this late in the election with her job on the line, who knows what will happen between now and November 4. America may be watching Palin for longer then the polls are suggesting.

Just to lighten the mood…

Update on “Typical Women?”

You have to hand it to Anderson Cooper. He is one journalist who gets the right information in the news before anything can mislead the masses. In this short clip of breaking news, Cooper confirms that Palins use of tax payers dollars to fund travel for her children to be at her side were in fact unnecessary.

Thank you CNN for clearing that up. Now America can rest assured that Sarah Palin would undoubtedly have a positive influence on white house expenses.

Typical Woman?

Women sure are good at spending money. That’s the stereotype that seems to be confirmed by Sarah Palin anyway. The issue of her unnecessary spending as the Alaska Governor has been pulled back from the dead with the help of AP and Anderson Cooper. Cooper discusses the possibility that Palin not only spent state funds to pay for her children to travel across the country with her to political conferences, but also covered it up. The idea is that Palin may have covered these expenses by amending reports to say that the trips were official family business.

Former Sr. Adviser to Mitt Romney, Bay Buchanan, made a good point when she said that bringing the family along is part of the territory, but how much of a woman’s personal life should cross over into her political life.

ABC news reported that Sarah Palin spent $150,000 on clothing and accessories since she entered the political race in September; that’s 150,000 Republican Party campaign dollars that generous supporters sent to McCain/Palin fund raising committees.

There is dispute over whether or not these transactions are legal, but the more controversial issue here is honesty. Why would a woman who preaches about being an average middle class gal need cloths from Saks and Neiman Marcus?

If this kind of frivolous spending is going on already, before Palin even enters office then what do we have to look forward to? This issue really brings out the question of whether America, or any country for that matter, should take stereotypes of a woman into consideration when she is running for a major government position.

$150,000 for Palin’s Beauty

From her bright red shoes up to her tightly fastened perfect suit Governor Sarah Palin embellishes the presence of Vice President. “The National Republican Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize Vice President candidate Sarah Palin and her family,” starting in late August writes Jeanne Cummings. Including two large purchases from Saks at $49,525.74 and Neiman Marcus for 75,062.63. That is not including her professional hair expenditures, “RNC has spent 4,716.49 through September.”

In a recent article from the Seattle Times titled “Health Insurance Costs, “the average single plan costs $4,400 and, “the annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100.”

Sarah Palin’s wardrobe expenses equal about 34 single employees annual health insurance cost and about 12 families with four children. Palin, however, and Presidental Candidate John McCain sympathize with average “Joe the plumber” whose annual income discovered by The Huffington’s Post is $37, 514. Not to mention, Republican Health Care Plan will not tax employers for providing health care coverages, medical expenses like the cost of a procedure, medication, or insurance claims.

However, do not be alarmed because, “it is remarkable that we’re spending all this time talking about pant suits, “said spokesperson Tracy Schmitt, “It was always the intent that the clothing will go to a charitable purpose after the campaign.”

With Palin’s expenditures gathering so much attention, it leaves the question, “how much does Democrat Vice President candidate Joe Biden spend on suits?” For surely, the media would never associate clothing expenses with Palin because she is a woman.

watch a slide show of Palin’s now famous wardrobe here

The fifteen minutes of fame it should have been…

Who should we blame for the disappointment that was this week’s Saturday Night Live? Should we blame the script writers or the influence the people working for Palin’s campaign had over them? The truth is that both are at fault.

In their own respects, each failed to gain anything from Palin’s stint on SNL–something that could’ve helped the election from either side.

SNL’s producers and script writers, in featuring Palin in only a tiny fraction of the show failed to deliver what the 14 million veiwers, a record amount in 14 years, wanted. And what did we want? Well some of us wanted yet another chance to laugh at the VP nominee. Others wanted her appearance on SNL to prove to the American people that she really is just like us, aside from the appearing on national television bit. They wanted to know that Palin can be relaxed, funny and self-depreciating. In short, they wanted to know that she is capable of being something other than a pitbull.

If SNL had featured Palin for longer on the show, like we were expecting, it could have been a huge boost for the McCain-Palin campaign. If she had been allowed to open up to the American people on SNL as more than a stiff, awkward prop, it could have done wonders for her image. Not to mention it would have helped her sketchy reputation for being so damn secretive with the media.

Then again, it was SNL’s Palin related skits featuring Tina Fey that put her in hot water in the first place. If Palin had played an active, rather than passive role in the show, it could’ve turned even more voters against her, cementing her as the laughingstock of the country. So much about Palin is considered laughable, that she might have just embarrassed herself, which perhaps is what all the folks in charge were afraid of.

In the end, it was the No Child Left Behind of television appearances. Much like with her previous interviews, we gained nothing and we learned nothing about Palin–from either side of the aisle

here’s a blog post from the Gaurdian about Saturday’s episode:

and the suspension keeps building…

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live

Originally uploaded by feastoffools

Sarah Palin spoke to Fox News today about her appearance on SNl which will be tomorrow night and said “I have no idea what to expect because I haven’t seen any scripts or anything else yet, but it will be fun. The opportunity to show American television watchers anyway that you get to have a sense of humor through all of this or even just this really would be wearin’, tearin’ on you so an opportunity to show that sense of humor and that side of all of this I look forward to it.”

I know we’re looking forward to it too Sarah.

On the same topic, Palin also spoke to the Indianpolis Star today about Tina Fey’s caricature of her on SNL.

Question: You have been widely criticized, including in parodies on “Saturday Night Live,” as ignorant and ill-informed. What do you need to do to overcome that image?

Answer: Well, you know, the media, it’s their prerogative how they want to capture someone and sort of caricaturize that person. And they have a lot of power in their ability to do that. I’ll just keep speaking to the American voter and letting them know about the plans that John McCain and I have to get this economy back on the right track. The plans that we have to put government back on the side of the American people and not allow the greed and the corruption and the self-dealings that have gone on in Washington, D.C., to affect policy and we’ll keep talking about our plans and our commitment to win the war against terrorism. That’s the task that I have at hand.

I can’t fight the person that buys ink by the barrelful, of course, but I think that the American voter is quite intelligent, wise, and discerning. They see through a lot of that characterization. I believe that the American voter knows Sen. McCain and I are quite capable and willing and able to serve them as president and vice president.

While it’s true that Palin isn’t exactly shown in the most positive light on SNl, the Daily Show or the Colbert Report, it doesn’t mean the image of her presented is completely unfounded. After all, the SNL spoof of Palins interview with Katie Couric borrowed lines directly from the real interview, even as exaggerated as they might have been. In this election, all lines continued to be blurred between comedy and reality when Palin is involved.

stay tuned…

Yes, I know most of America has been watching Sarah Palin each week on Saturday Night Live. Oops…I mean Tina Fey. However, John McCain announced on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight that the REAL Sarah Palin will be appearing on SNL soon. This should be interesting…and perhaps her comedy will come a little too close for comfort for most of us. Letterman also expressed his hopes that Palin will appear on his show in the future.