Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin, “Small Town Mayor”
Outside The Beltway | OTB — ... said, “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Weekly Standard’s David Frum , who presumably wants McCain to win, echoed this: “If anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of the free world would be placed in the hands of a woman who until the day before Friday was a small-town mayor.”  The ...

Taking the Bait?
Real Clear Politics - TIME.com — ... over its response to Sarah Palin. It was almost as if, having taken the bait, they suddenly realized what they had done. Almost as exciting as how Palin performs on the stump will be watching how the Obama campaign reacts. A few mistakes on her part would make the Obama campaign's job easier of course. On the other hand, David Frum, writing in the National Post, seems to suggest that the "trap" line might be too clever by half: But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can [McCain] be if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency? ...

Sensible Criticism of Sarah Palin
GayPatriot — ... a more extended analysis of her weaknesses. While I don’t agree with Dale, he makes some pretty solid points, so make sure to check out his post — and, if you have time, the comments section which follows.  (H/t Instapundit.) I’ll make my case to Dale when we have dinner next Monday in Minnesota. Of those who blog National Review, David Frum offered the harshest assessment of Palin, wondering whether she was the irresponsible choice. Ramesh Ponnuru has been similarly skeptical, throwing cold water ...

The Palin Proxy War
Obsidian Wings — ... Elite neocon DC types, however, are having one of it. They don’t care much for the social issues anyway, so all they see is a small-town mayor and second-year governor being nominated during wartime. If anything, Palin’s more extreme abortion politics makes them even more wary of putting her on the ticket. For these reasons, you see people like Frum and ...

Some Conservatives Air Concerns Over Palin
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... "McCain's supporters argue that he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency?" Frum asks. "So this is the future of the Republican party you are looking at: a future in which national security has bumped down the list of priorities behind abortion politics, gender politics, and energy politics. Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and probably a shrewd one. It's not nearly so clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one." ...

Random Palin Thoughts and Links
Patterico's Pontifications — ... Wasilla, the town Palin led as mayor just a couple of years ago. So, what are you saying, James Rainey? She slept her way to the Number Two spot? You liberals. I love that respect for women that you have! Goldstein Does What He Does Best Jeff Goldstein has an excellent roundup of leftist insanity on Palin here. Fee Fi Fo Frum: Boy Did I Say Something Dumb David Frum: If anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of ...

Max Blumenthal: Council for National Policy “Hidden Hand Behind McCain’s Palin Pick”
Comments from Left Field — ... but a blatant pander to the religious right and an undeniable affirmation of its continued power within the contemporary GOP.  And now that Dobson has his low-rent Thatcher mock-up (if the Iron Lady weren’t still among the living she’d be doing a 720 in her grave) as requested, he suddenly seems to be considering a change of heart with regards to McCain’s acceptability. Imagine that. Related: publius believes the disparate reactions under the GOP big tent to the Palin nomination is indicative of ...

Comment on Palin and Experience by tgirsch
Comments for Lean Left — ... to be bad at math. Obama was elected to the US Senate in 2004, four years ago. So unless you want to apply a standard of “experience” that says McCain’s only got “about five years” in the senate, don’t go pulling out the actual days on the job crap. Besides, it’s not the “libs” who are concerned about her — we’re pretty much thrilled with that disastrous pick. It’s the conservatives who are expressing concern.

Questioning Their Motives
Outside The Beltway | OTB — ... reason I bitterly opposed the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court: neither was “qualified” by traditional standards for the exalted positions for which they were chosen. Miers and Palin were/are both nominally qualified and both probably had the tools to carry out their jobs but given the available talent pool, their selections made no sense. George Will , Christopher Buckley , David Brooks , Peggy Noonan , Charles Krauthammer , David Frum , Kathleen Parker , and other conservative commentators who are criticizing ...

Palin in 2012? No Way.
The Stump — ... Anyway, I'm not so sure that the distinction between mainstream and conservative publications matters much these days. Former Bush speechwriter and conservative-in-good-standing David Frum laid into Palin in the National Post--not exactly the house organ of the conservative movement. But I doubt it passed into the ether without right-wing blog-readers hearing about it first. (Likewise, I'd guess Kristol's pronouncements in the Times get as much play on conservative blogs as his pronouncements in The Weekly ...

Cleansing the Party
James Richardson's Skepticians — ... of political cover-ups. The migratory pattern of birds have shifted in Alaska : Palin is using too much hairspray for her signature “bee hive” hair style. No, Frum did not elect to run this story to highlight the party’s upper-echelon’s evasiveness, crippling ineptitude, or even poor decision making. This was, at its heart, a feeble, last attempt to spike Governor Palin’s soaring popularity with base supporters . Once characterizing Palin’s Vice Presidential nomination as “ irresponsible ,” Frum pledges to build a “ conservatism that can win again ” with his ...

Cleansing the Party
RedState: Conservative News and Community — ... Once characterizing Palin’s Vice Presidential nomination as “irresponsible,” Frum now pledges to build a “conservatism that can win again” with his new website, vis-à-vis cleansing the Party of Sarah Palin and social conservatives. His cause for “reform” seems increasingly shallow as the days progress. ...

Redeeming Sarah
Pajamas Media — ... , that famous species of sly and deceitful opportunists, who have feathered their careers by depicting Palin as a meeping leper. Even some of a Republican stamp have not held their fire. Former Bush speechwriter (author of the phrase “axis of evil”) David Frum also has it in for Palin. In article after interview, dating from August 2008 to ...