respublica

McCain/Palin in St. Louis

Robert Cohen photo for the Post Dispatch.

photo via Founding Fathers

Actually they were part of a rally in O'Fallon Missouri late this afternoon with more than 23,000 people in attendance, most of whom waited at TR Hughes minor league ballpark for hours.  The line was half a mile long for much of the day. 

The wait was extended because McCain and Palin made a last minute decision this morning to head for the Mississippi gulf after reports of the impending hurricane, Gustav.

 

Sarah Palin interview on Alaskan oil exploration and etc

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo sat down with VP candidate, Sarah Paliln last week, well before she became a household name, and asked her about oil and gas development in Alaska as well as her chances of becoming McCain's running mate. 

Looks like at least one media person didn't find Palin an unknown quantity.

She actually called Biden and Obama naive on their energy policy.

Missouri-Illinois football

Missouri 52  Illinois 42.  A look back behind the scenes.

They were there, we you there?

Someone, somehow, got Charlie to wear Mizzou ears.

University of Missouri cross country, football and swimming alumni.  Guess which is the football guy.

Whoops.  How did an Illini fan get in here?  Okay, Tim is a Collinsville High School cross country teammate of Katie.

Adam and Joe, former Mizzou cross country teammates.  Adam was a standout runner for Parkway West and Joe a standout at Edwardsville High School.

It didn't take Charlie, a Hobart College alumnus, long to get into a Mizzou RAh! frame of mind.

Don't like Rasmussen? How about Zogby?

A Zogby poll taken Friday after the announcement by McCain of his choice for running mate, Sarah Palin, the national race is:

McCain/Palin 47%  Obama/Biden 45%

Where's the convention bounce?

The first Palin approval poll

From Rasmussen:

Positive reviews for Sarah Palin after yesterday's announcement came from

78 percent of republicans, 26 percent of democrats and 63 percent of undecideds.

That undecided number is key.

In contrast the day after Joe Biden was introduced as Obama's running mate only 43 percent of voters had a positive view of him.

Palin and women voters

All the media talk yesterday was how John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin was in part a sneaky trick to appeal to disaffected Clinton voters.

I disagree.  What happened was the choice of Palin has absolutely energized the republican base and especially women in that demographic who were rather uninterested in that part of the race so far. 

Hillary Clinton, however, put out a very classy response to the McCain/Palin ticket, partisan but only mildly so.

"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

Long weekend

It's the last long weekend of the summer, Katie and Charlie are here and heading for the Missouri-Illinois football game and tailgate today.  Speaker dog is now very old and slow, but he was glad to see Katie.

Then Dale and Charlie took a gator ride.

And the turkey slipped through the neighbors yard, hoping we had some birdseed.

Have a great weekend everyone.

So what have you done Sarah Palin?

A better question would be, what have you or I done?  As to Sarah Palin, her story is almost a Dreamworks movie.

Born to parents who were teachers and coaches and avid outdoor enthusiasts.
Sarah hunted moose.
She ran 5 and 10K road races.
She was a point guard on her high school basketball team which won the state tournament, her nickname was Sarah Barracuda for her intensity.  She played the championship game with a stress fracture in her foot but still managed to sink the winning free throw in the last 4 seconds.

At some point she also played hockey.

She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism (heh) and political science and paid for her education in part by being runner up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest.

She worked as a sports reporter for an Anchorage television station while also working as a commercial fisherman.

She also played the flute.

Her husband Todd is a native Yup'ik who as a member of the Steelworkers Union works in the Alaska oil fields.  He is a champion snowmobiler and won the 2000 mile Iron Dog race 4 times.

The Palins have 5 children, the oldest of whom is in the army and will be deployed to Iraq in September.

She was a member of the Wasilla city council and then mayor. 
She was appointed ethics commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas conservation commission.
She was elected governor of Alaska after an upset primary victory over incumbent governor Murkowsi.

Palin told Washington to keep their bridge to no where, if Alaska wanted a bridge, "we'd build it ourselves."

Her governorship also saw a strong ethics bill and the shelving of pork barrel projects.

Her approval rating in the state is 80%.

She also gave one heck of a speech today after John McCain introduced her.  She even appeared to have the whole thing put to memory. 

via VPilf

Could it be? Sarah Palin?

Update:  Yes it could be and it is!  This is so great it's hard to even take it in.

Back in February I put a Sarah Palin post up and again in June.  Part of her life story here.

All the news buzz this morning is about a charter flight which went to Anchorage last night and headed back to Dayton where John McCain is to announce his VP choice today.  Could it possibly be he has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin?

Or is it just another of those political wild goose chases?

How exciting that would be.  An interesting person, an energetic woman and not a boring suit.

Happy Birthday...

John McCain

And me.

Poor John McCain having to find a way to celebrate just after the DNC convention wraps up in all its fanfare.