Why Sarah Palin was Good for the McCain Ticket

Editor's note: Although this site is primarily geared towards California news, we from time to time step outside the state and see what is going on around the nation and the rest of the world.

Now that the dust has settled, many pundits are coming out and giving their two cents about the impact Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had on the GOP ticket. There are even reports of some McCain staffers, who of course do not want their names released, saying she was a drag on the ticket.

Well, we believe Palin was good for the ticket overall. While she made some miscues along the way, McCain would have likely lost by double digit points instead of six had Palin not been on the ticket.

First, she brought energy to the ticket. With all due respect to McCain, he does and did not fire up the crowds. Palin continuously outdrew McCain at events and her crowds grew as time went on.

Second, she fired up the base, something McCain had trouble doing. Donations and volunteers to the GOP ticket skyrocketed following the GOP Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul, with much of that credit going to the pick of Palin.

Third, she proved a tireless campaigner, something that McCain also was. Unlike Joe Biden who can put you to sleep faster than a sleeping pill, Palin brought energy to the events she attended and excitement.

When all is said and done, McCain himself admitted he was to blame for the loss. We love McCain and appreciate all he's done for this country, but it was at the top of the ticket where some bad decisions were made. For those that say Palin was one of them, we disagree.

While Palin goes back to being Alaska's governor, don't be surprised to see her on the national stage again in a few years.

Next time, you will have a more seasoned Sarah Palin, someone the Democrats will be keeping an eye on. And that includes our friends in the liberal media....

Get Out and Vote Today

Whether you are for Barack Obama or John McCain, permitting gay marriage or banning it in California, approving or disapproving of your local Congressman, remember to go out and vote today.

Too many of us take that right for granted. All we need to do is look at places around the world where elections are pre-determined, there is no voting, etc.

While we support Sen. McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, win or lose tonight, we need to come together as a country.

So please, go out and vote!

Courtesy of CNN, the following map will provide you with closing times for the polls in your area.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/poll.closing/

Politics Flare Up at Emmy's; No Surprise Here

We may not have degrees from Harvard or been community organizers, but we are always amazed that the Hollywood elite (better known as the liberal lefties) are just so out of touch with most of the country.

And we also find it funny that these super rich stars don't mind the fact that if elected, Barack Obama will soak it to them when it comes to taxes. We guess they just don't mind paying more than their fair share of taxes, huh.

At Sunday night's yawnfest that was the Emmy Awards, which by the way tanked in the ratings, the Hollywood crowd took numerous shots at John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Shortly into the broadcast, co-host Howie Mandel fired the first moron remark, comparing a mostly failed comic routine involving him and his fellow reality show co-hosts to being on "Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere."

Laura Linney (won best lead actress in HBO's "John Adams"), who we frankly had not heard of before, then defended community organizers, saying her experience in working on the miniseries made her "so grateful and thankful for the community organizers that helped found our country."

Backstage, Linney noted, "Our founding fathers were community organizers," she said in the media tent. "I just feel it's been disparaged a bit. I don't feel anyone should be disrespected, no matter what party they're in. No matter who they are." Hmmm... wonder how Linney feels about mothers with five kids being in the political spotlight and being told by some that they need to choose between their careers and their families? We don't remember Linney addressing that issue.

Finally, there was the ever present Tina Fey, who got roars (and rightfully so) for her impersonation of Palin the other weekend on Saturday Night Live.

"I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5," said Fey, who won Emmys in comedy for her acting and writing. "So, if anyone can help me be done playing this lady, that would be good for me."

Even Stephen Colbert got into the hot air show with comments backstage. Questioned which actor he would cast as Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Colbert said, "[Don] Rickles, obviously, would be good. And maybe me for Sarah Palin, because I also have absolutely no business being vice president."

Well, Stephen, sounds sort of like you being cast for Barack Obama, because you also have absolutely no business being president.

Obama Supporter Stoops to New Low on Palin

Editor's note: As many of you who read this site know, the menu on here is often California news. From time to time, we look at national and world events, such as in the case of John McCain's pick for VP. This is another story on the current race for the White House.

We thought we had heard most of the trash the liberal media and others on the left would throw at Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin over the last week. Well, the garbage keeps coming.

On Friday, an original member of Barack Obama’s finance committee said that Palin is placing her career above her family by accepting the nomination as John McCain’s running mate.

According to FOX News, (www.foxnews.com) Howard Gutman made the case on “The Laura Ingraham Show,” telling Ingraham that the Alaska governor should focus her time and efforts on her unwed, pregnant teenage daughter.

“If my daughter had just come home at 17 years old and said, ‘Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant, we have a family problem,’ I wouldn’t say, ‘You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to take this private family problem … I’m going to go on the international stage and broadcast it to the world’,” he said.

Gutman later said: “If you take a daughter who’s got this emotional strife and subject her to the most intense scrutiny of the world at this time in her life, I think you’ve put your career above your family.”

The Obama campaign had the smarts and decency to reject Gutman’s comments.

“Obviously these comments do not reflect our frequently stated, crystal-clear view that families of the candidates should be off limits, and we hope that supporters on both sides will act accordingly,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail, pointing out that Gutman has apologized in a statement to ABC News.

Earlier in the week, Obama said anyone passing along rumors about Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy would be fired.

“I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits,” Obama said. “This shouldn’t be part of our politics.”

We commend Obama for doing the right thing and saying Palin's family is off limits, as should be Obama's.

The left is looking for anything to sink its teeth into on Palin because she is a threat to their way of life. The irony here is that McCain, not Palin, is at the top of the Republican ticket. Perhaps, the left sees Palin being a force in the Republican Party for years to come and wants to neutralize her now?

Stick to the records if you want to criticize someone and get on with it.

We are still amazed how so few women on the left have come out in support of Palin. You certainly don't have to agree with her record and views, but you would think the Democratic Party, which has championed women's rights and causes for decades, would be a little more supportive.

Then again, this is the left we're talking about.

Media Lovefest with Obama and the Dems

Editor's note: As many of you who read this site know, the menu on here is often California news. From time to time, we look at national and world events, such as in the case of John McCain's pick for VP. This is another story on the current race for the White House.

We knew there would be a huge bias this week by the media against the Republicans and their get-together in Minneapolis-St. Paul. We just didn't realize it would be so over the top.

After watching a few minutes of MSNBC's coverage of the convention last night, you could just feel the heartburn inside of Keith Olbermann, having to actually be around so many Republicans at one time. Come on, Keith, lighten up a little bit and be thankful that you have the freedom to make your far left rants and raves on a nightly basis.

Now, we learn that Us Weekly, a magazine some of us didn't even know was still around, has really 'left' out mainstream America with its latest attack on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

For its most recent cover, due out on newsstands this Friday, the magazine displays a picture of Palin with the headline, “Babies, Lies & Scandal.” That is quite the contrast from its lovefest two months ago with Barack and Michelle Obama.

Us Weekly publisher Jann Wenner, who has donated more than $130,000 to the Democratic Party in the last 15 years, is a well-known supporter of Obama and the Dems. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you want to be taken seriously, you might want to try and offer a little more balance.

As long as we're not talking about corruption in office, what Palin's home life is like is the business of her and her family. The fact that she has a pregnant 17-year-old daughter is her business and that of her family. Even Obama had the decency to say the kids were off limits.

CNN's John Roberts asked the other night that if McCain and Palin are elected in November, would the Alaska governor be able to be a good mother to her baby son, who has Down's syndrome, while being Vice President at the same time? If you ever wondered before if Roberts leans left, now you know.

At the end of the day, John McCain's experience and ability to reach across party aisles makes him a better choice to be President. As for Sarah Palin, give the woman a chance and you might just like what you see. That is if the left leaning media will give you the truth.

Palin Choice Opens New Frontier for McCain

Editor's note: As many of you who read this site know, the menu on here is often California news. From time to time, we look at national and world events, such as in the case of John McCain's pick for VP.

While we were on vacation on the East Coast last week, we all saw the news of John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president.

Here are some thoughts from one Republican, your site's author.

* While the pick surprises many, we think it is a good, safe choice. Although some may question her experience, she does not come with a ton of Washington baggage, something many voters will find refreshing.

* She underlines Barack Obama's contention that 'Change' is needed in Washington, D.C. After speaking countless times about bringing change to the country and getting away from the Beltway Boys, what did Obama do in his pick for VP? He chose Joe Biden from Delaware as his running mate. Biden is someone who has experience, but is a definite insider and has Washington written all over him. Obama also likely selected Biden because of his (Obama's) lack of foreign policy experience.

* Palin will not win over 18 million Hillary supporters, but she gives women out there a second look at the November election. Being the mother of five kids, while she may be governor of our 49th state, she is also someone many moms out there can relate to in one way or another.

* While we liked Romney, the pick of Palin shows that McCain is not afraid to go outside the box. This could prove key if elected in that he will reach across party aisles and actually get some work done on behalf of the country.

* Although we are a pro-choice Republican, we do not believe abortion rights is anywhere near the top of the importance ticket. The economy, fighting terrorism and lessening our dependency on foreign oil are much higher topics of importance in our mind.

In all, we liked the pick, and think that November just got a little more interesting.

Obama Sports 24-Point Lead over McCain

While November may be months away, Democratic candidate Barack Obama holds a comfortable lead over Republican rival John McCain, according to the latest Field Poll.

As of this month, Obama holds a large 24-point lead over the Arizona senator, doubling his lead from a year ago.

Despite fears he would not reel them in, Obama has acquired many of Hillary Clinton's supporters, therefore boosting his support. Obama also has a 2-to-1 lead among California's likely female voters.

The latest Field Poll, run July 8-14, surveyed 672 probable California voters for the November presidential election.

Some of the poll highlights show:

-- Democrats back Obama 78 to 9 percent, compared with the softer support for McCain in his own party - 65 to 16 percent.

-- Three times as many Obama supporters as McCain voters describe themselves as "very enthusiastic" for their candidate - 51 to 17 percent; a full 27 percent of McCain's supporters describe themselves as "not enthusiastic," compared with just 5 percent of Obama's supporters.

-- Obama has a nearly 4-to-1 lead - 64 to 18 percent - among independent and decline-to-state voters in California, and he also leads by more than 2-to-1 among those Californians who describe themselves as holding "middle of the road" political philosophies.

-- In geographic areas, the Illinois senator has a 6-to-1 lead over McCain in the Bay Area and leads 61 to 27 percent in Los Angeles - two areas that make up 44 percent of the state's population. McCain leads Obama in one geographic area of the state, the Central Valley - but only by 40 to 39 percent. Finally, McCain leads Obama 44 to 35 percent in inland counties, but Obama leads McCain 62 to 24 percent in coastal counties.

-- Among Latino voters, Obama enjoys a huge edge - 64 to 21 percent - and he is widely preferred over McCain by Asians (59 to 23 percent) and by African Americans (89 to 5 percent).

The Field Poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points overall.