A wise comment from a guest on Bill Maher: Palin has been a governor as long as Tim Kaine

[question everything]

who, as we know, was in the last group from which Obama selected.

And is the only one of the four who actually has experience in running a government body. Which also explains why she, and not Senator Hutchinson was selected.

And I cannot believe how this board is hopping with speculations about her pregnancy. Is this how we are going to run our campaign?

[Kittycat]

1. I'm sorry - did I miss the announcement that Obama chose Kaine?

Oh wait - he chose Biden.

[question everything]

4. Kaine was among the top and no one compalined about his lack of experience

at least, not in the harsh words being hurled at Palin.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. Because before he was governor, he was liutenant governor and before that mayor of Richmond.

Richmond has a population of 200K. Before that he was on the city council.

And as far as governor, he has been governor for a year longer than Palin

[Political Heretic]

68. Exactly. There's NO COMPARISON.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[krkaufman]

60. Probably because.... OBAMA DIDN'T CHOOSE KAINE.

While McCain *did* select someone as his VP who is eminently unprepared for the Vice Presidency, let alone the Presidency -- which she could assume on January 20th, 2009, should the McCain/Palin ticket prevail in November.

In her own words, she has no clue what the VP job entails, and considers it an opportunity primarily to aid Alaska, rather than serving the nation.

Had Obama selected someone as unqualified and unprepared as Palin, I'd have expected Right Wing sites to be clamoring loudly about his failure to select a VP ready to assume the Presidency on January 20th, 2009.

[liberalpragmatist]

64. No, everyone complained about his experience

Which was a GIANT reason Obama went with Biden over him.

And Kaine's resume is STILL vastly more qualifying than Palin's.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Let's not overestimate the importance of our little coffee clatch.

We are glimpse into a bigger picture, but we DU'ers tend to be a bit more hardcore if you will on the issues.

[Eurobabe]

3. WTF cares about Bill Maher

I stopped watching his ridiculous show awhile ago. All he does it whine.

[question everything]

6. So did I. Was curious today and this is what a guest - I forgot her name -

she is from NPR, said.

[AlCzervik]

8. Michele Martin?

[question everything]

28. That's right. Thank you

She did not try to be just contrast others for the sake of arguing, just to pose questions to get the others, mostly Maher and his audience to take a different look at their opinions.

[KansasVoter]

10. I disagree. A great show because of the guests and he is on OUR side.

[Eurobabe]

29. Bill Maher is a poopyhead

That's all. I don't watch him anymore, he thinks he's a big shot.

[Doremus]

40. Same here. He's sounding more and more like Lou Dobbs.

Libertarianism is so icky.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

57. I never have. He's a narcissistic misogynist asswipe.

And the fact that this OP (a big Hillary Clinton supporter) is invoking him as an authority is very telling. Perhaps Question Everything(?) was unaware of how often Maher was smearing Senator Clinton during the primaries.

[Forkboy]

65. I like him when he talks about poltics. But as soon as he talks about women I cringe.

Guy has some serious issues there.

[mitchum]

5. You do realize the disconnect between dismissing questions about her very curious pregnancy...

and your user name?
We should use ANYTHING to destroy them

[question everything]

15. Her "curious pregnancy" is nothing more that gossip and innuendos

I see a dental hygienist every six months and was surprised to find out that she was 6 months pregnant in my last visit. She said that she did not show and did not talk about it, at least not with patients.

I think that if you go and conduct a survey you will find that different women show pregnancies in different ways.

Is this really the issue that we are going to debate? How low can we get? So much for having a different kind of a candidate and a different kind of campaign.

[mitchum]

25. I don't expect Obama to say,"What's up with this home sick with mono shit?"

He can run a different kind of campaign (and I admire him for that)
But I (and many others) will hit these lying, greedy, murderous fascist shitbags with anything and everything we can.
Now, go polish your halo.

[emilyg]

46. Gossip stinks.

[mitchum]

49. Gossip is the father of history

[krawhitham]

26. Gee the same thing was said about Edwards last month

gossip and innuendos

[question everything]

33. Edwards admitted to his adultery and for many of us - myself included -

had he been our nominee it would have sank our chances to win the White House, as well as capturing Congress.

This is not France. Adultery does matter for most and even more so - lying about it until he got caught. Just as it was with Gary Hart. Again, it shows judgment. If you know that this would hurt your chances - otherwise why lying about it at first - why run anyway and hoping to keep it secret?

By the way, Maher did comment that once Edwards was out, no one is talking about poverty in our party.

See also

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=230x3590

[KansasVoter]

7. WRONG!!! Kaine has been one a year longer and he was Lt. Governor also which she lost!!!

[Barack_America]

9. Wrong. Kaine has been Governor longer, was Lt. Gov. before that...

and mayor of a large city even before that.

Not comparable at all.

[sfam]

31. Exactly. Kaine's experience is far different from hers, and BTW, Alaska is NOT Virginia...

Unlike Alaska, Virginia is like a real state with an actual population and stuff, and does interact with all sorts of national politics. Not to mention Atlantic Command is in Norfolk, which has the vast majority of our naval forces on the east coast.

[JBoy]

11. DU is running the Obama campaign?

Where's my f'n blackberry?

[valerief]

12. Since 1998, Kaine was on the Richmond city council, was mayor of Richmond,

was Lieutenant Governor of VA, and became Governor of VA. And he's a lawyer. I imagine if he made a political contribution a couple of years ago, he wouldn't have put his occupation as "housewife," unlike Palin.

[Heather MC]

61. Correction that's Head of PTA Soccer MOM

I am going out tomorrow and get elected treasury of the PTA so I can start to Qualify for VP one day

[SemiCharmedQuark]

13. Prior to being governor, he had experience as city council of Richmond, Mayor or Richmond (200 K)

And then Lieutenant Governor. He assumed the governorship in 2006. He's been governor for a full year longer than Palin.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. You've been here since 2004, so you know this board runs rampant with

speculation and inuendo all the time, so why should Gov. Palin be treated differently? She is, afterall, OUR opponent.

And, by the way, I have the same problems with people like Bill Maher spreading disinformation. He whined about all the things the Dems should have been saying (as if he watched every speech), and Michelle quite correctly pointed out to him that every one of the topics he's complaining about were discussed in speech after speech, but the M$M gets to decide who gets in prime time. So for all the whiners, if you feel your pet issue wasn't discussed ad nauseum, please choose C-Span next time.

[CakeGrrl]

16. A wise counterpoint: GWB was a governor too; look where that's gotten us

It's not about tenure; it's about judgement. Hers is pretty untested in a sparsely populated state.

Apart from that, she's simply on the wrong side of the big issues. Not everyone is on the pregnancy scandal train. There's enough to oppose her without going there.

[question everything]

36. For over 40 years, it was a given that only governors get elected Presidents.

After all, the last senator elected was JFK in 1960. Certainly our own two - Carter and Clinton - were. The idea being that governor have had experience in governing, in dealing with budgets, and resources, and policies and how to accomplish them with the given resources.

And, yes, there are many issues worth debating her. Concentrating on her pregnancy lowers the debate into a level that I doubt Obama and Biden wished to have.

(And no, I am not a mind reader of either of them but this is the message that we got last night).

[LooseWilly]

62. Is this a debate? Or a "brain storming" session?

Seems to me more like the latter.
Are we debating the merits of the contribution of a guest on Bill Maher's show regarding the possible thinking behind the McCain choice of a Governor, despite a jaw-dropping lack of experience that would seem to be relevant to the VP, let alone Presidential, job? Or are we debating whether or not the pregnancy issue is "debate-worthy"?

It seems to me more like a brain storming session... and personally, it feels like a group get together to try to make some sense of what otherwise feels like a bewildering choice.

40 years of a given that governors become presidents... not this time around. Unless McCain wins, and promptly drops dead. (Which, realistically, might be something that the right wing fundy freaks might be crossing their fingers and their Jeebus's in exuberant prayer for...). No matter what, a Senator will be elected president.

As for the pregnancy thing, I'm personally fascinated by the possibility, simply because I love to hear stories of the hypocrisy of Jesus freaks (no matter what brand of Jesus they prefer to spend their money on). Do I think it has some sort of bearing on Palin's competency to hold office as VP?... You gotta be kidding me?- She has no competency for this issue to mar in my opinion.

And, as to the guest on Maher's show's insightful remark... I must admit that I've heard several talking heads try to sell the idea that being the mayor of a town of 6-8k people was more relevant for the office than being a member of the US Senate. I think that's bullshit... but it's a point of view. Hell, by that rationale Gavin Newsom is more qualified to be president than Palin, because San Francisco has a higher population than the State of Alaska... and we won't even talk about LA.
I would venture to guess that Palin is there to re-assure the right wing evangelical freaks, and hopefully bring over the women who are more devoted to 'part-similarity' than actual feminist interests (Feminists For Life... barefoot and pregnant, but with the vote), not to mention the women bigots... and again I think that the evangelical right wing probably has already started drawing up lists for a 'next Cheney' to partner up with Palin should something 'terrible' happen to McCain.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

17. And Maher pointed out that she was mayor of a town of 8,500

and then performed for 18 months as the Governor of a state that barely has 650,000 people in it, the population of a mid-sized city. I'd be interested in knowing how well she did in running Alaska for the months she's been in office.

[Doremus]

45. Ooooh, good question

Let's see ... in her short 1-1/2 year tenure as Governor:

1. She's under investigation for firing a dept. head when he wouldn't fire her ex-BIL
2. Fired the board of the state owned dairy to hire sycophants and later had to close the dairy anyway

Seems like Palin has a fondness for the unitary executive doctrine. Unfortunately she's also demonstrated a marked lack of good judgment. Rather disconcerting to think she may one day have a finger on the button, no?

[DemsUnited]

18. Kaine is not under investigation for ethics violations.

Imagine if he was and Obama had picked him as a running mate.

Can you imagine what people would be saying about his judgement???

[still_one]

19. Big difference from Kaine which was NOT mentioned

palin is against ALL FORMS OF ABORTION, including rape, incest, and the life of the Mother

palin believes creationism is a viable theory

palin is against gay unions

palin is against regulation

palin is as hard right as they come

[question everything]

42. And this is where the debate should be

By the way, it was mentioned in the news earlier this day that domestic partners of government employees in Alaska do get health benefits.

The only comparable to Kaine was that both are new governors and that she is the only one of the four with some experience in governing.

[Ichingcarpenter]

21. He didn't say that the NPR woman said that

he said she was a joke

Don't lie.

[question everything]

39. Sigh! Please read my post, again: a comment from a GUEST on Bill Maher

I wish that people here will first read before they reply.

[Ichingcarpenter]

41. You thought she was WISE? She also sticks up for Juan Williams

You thought she was wise by defending Palin which she did?
Give me a break

[gabeana]

22. Lets see

Mayor of Richmond, population 200,000
Lt Governor and then Governor of Virginia population over 7 Million 12th largest pop in the union

Now lets see Palin mayor of a city of 6,500 and governor for 18 months of a state with 600,000 people
oh yeah I see the similarities

another stupid post, nice to see you haven't changed from the primaries

[SemiCharmedQuark]

23. Also, it's NOT a wise comment because Kaine has been governor a YEAR longer than Palin

She assumed office in Dec of 2006. Kaine was January 2006.

[Frank Booth]

24. You might want to read the web address of this site. It's a site for Democrats, so of

course we're going to try to diminish the accomplishments of our rivals.

In Palin's case, she has pretty close to zero accomplishments, so we have to take what we get.

Anyway, besides the fact that Kaine has more substantive experience, Virginia is a state with deeper and more diverse issues than Alaska.

[Bobbie Jo]

27. Reality check: Shrub was a governor.

I know 2 terms, but this pick reminds me of the "type."

[Zynx]

30. Kaine has been governor a year longer and had been lieutenant governor for 4 years

as well as mayor of Richmond, which is a much larger city than what Sarah Palin was mayor of.

[MarjorieG]

32. Kaine didn't get it, Biden did. That's bottom line. We went for experience and readiness.

[demwing]

34. Question Everything?

EXCEPT that?

[kwenu]

35. What's so wise about that? Kaine isn't the pick for us and she's unqualified.

[PolNewf]

37. Kaine wasn't picked for exactly this reason

Anyone see her statement today claiming 13 years experience? She is actually claiming her time on a village city council.

[question everything]

43. City council is experience in governing.

Many politicians start small: school board, water commission, etc., then move to county and state and then to Federal. Not everyone jumps directly into top office.

[Ichingcarpenter]

47. Thank you

for your relative comparisons of Kaine's career and Her managing three Pizza huts.

[mitchum]

50. LMAO!!!

nicely done :)

[Ichingcarpenter]

52. Well, some pizza hunts make more money than the town she managed

at least in california and more employees

[Ichingcarpenter]

48. You really are poor at defending the opposition to our party but I have to admit

you are consistent and persistent like you have always been

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

51. Wow, you must really like her and stuff, since you keep defending her. Interesting.

[Ichingcarpenter]

53. To me Obama and the Clintons laid down the gauntlet. The primaries are over

I'm not taking this shit any more.

[washingdem]

58. When it's a town of 8,000? Does having a pet dog count as governing?

[NYC Liberal]

59. It's experience when you're looking to "pad the resume"

Had she done anything else substantial she wouldn't keep talking about it, you can bet on it.

[CreekDog]

67. Well Palin is attempting to jump directly into top office

what's your problem?

suddenly so worried about *fair* criticism of the unqualified Republican VP nominee? :eyes:

[4_Legs_Good]

44. Keep in mind, though, that at least Kaine made sense...

at least in that he's from a state that matters, and the pick would have likely delivered us a CRUCIAL state that may well deliver us the elections.

Palin is Alaska, a state they're very likely to win anyway, and that doesn't really matter all that much.

So while maybe Maher makes a little sense, the choice makes NO sense, just another in the long list of showings about McSame's poor judgement.

David

[washingdem]

54. Actually, no. Kaine was Lieutenant Governor for 4 years before becoming governor.

[Ichingcarpenter]

56. NO, this poster says its the same as managing three pizza huts in LA

I'm tired of their crap.

The primaries and the convention are over
the party has spoken

ENOUGH!!!!

We want Change

[mrreowwr_kittty]

55. Sorry, I can't hear you

The roar of the PUMA is too deafening. :eyes:

[Raine]

63. What an idiotic statement, WTF does Kaine

have to do with anything...HE WAS NOT CHOSEN...BIDEN WAS!!!!

[WCGreen]

66. Virginia is no Alaska....

[BeyondGeography]

69. Why are you still here?

[Skidmore]

70. I don't care how long she's been governor.

I don't want that woman to be anywhere near being able to obtain the VP office or the office of President. Period. I wouldn't vote for her for a city office even. Let's tackle the issues and not the experience factor beyond that she is clueless about what the job is.

[Vinca]

71. The population of Virginia is nearly 7 million people.

There are only about 750,000 in all of Alaska. Kaine has a law degree as well as a degree in economics. He was Lt. Gov. prior to becoming Gov. and Mayor of Richmond, a city with a population about a quarter of the State of Alaska. He wasn't chosen by Obama and there is no comparison.