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Originally Posted by Fidei Defensor
"Vilely immoral"?!? OK. Either you throw around the term "vilely" loosely or one of us is lacking a moral compass. Still, glad to see the good folks of Alaska are getting state-sponsored rape kits -- Ms. Palin's best efforts to the contrary, I'm sure.  |
I don't throw it around loosely, only rarely and deservedly. It bothers me on its own standing merit and I'd lodge that strong objection no matter who did something like that.
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Originally Posted by Fidei Defensor
No one votes for a VP anymore. It's a package deal. And I think it's a poor strategy to make Ms. Palin the focus as Democrats seem to be doing now ... particularly when it exposes that she's the same sort of candidate their Presidential candidate is -- an inexperienced "rockstar" type who's popular based on charisma rather than accomplishment.
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I think the Dems would be better focused to return to the other issues and McCain, but given Palin has given the ticket a bounce, strategically they should knock her down if they can. VPs do matter. Bush 43's experience is telling of that. He helped unify the GOP libertarian and social conservatives as Reagan's VP and made the ticket very strong and winning for 2 terms. He then won himself, but part of the reason he lost his re-election bid was a weak VP, Quayle. Insofar as McCain's ticket, I'd wager most of his bounce pickups and extra energised base is precisely because of her, and not McCain, of whom many have not been happy.
Moreover, the rape kit issue is an issue. She can send lobbyists to Washington DC to get and spend millions of pork barrel cash on projects in Wasilla, but charges raped women hundreds to collect the rape evidence from them. People may judge that very harshly on fairness, wisdom, judgement, value system, etc.
And McCain has his hands quite smelled up here too, given he has been voting against the federal law repeatedly that seeks to prevent charging raped women for rape kit evidence. And Biden sponsored the law.
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Originally Posted by Fidei Defensor
I'm sure they'll try to. Vocal support for government funding of rape kits should settle the matter quickly. Unless the Democrats don't want to make the campaign about issues.
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I'm not so sure about that. It's pretty hard to credibly reverse engines when the record is the other way like that. People are going to ask why they were against it when it mattered, and only now for it because it's been detected and they don't want to be held accountable for it. McCain not only earlier voted against the federal act on the subject but voted again to to kill it off in 2007, so it's not even ancient history.
Recalling Bush 43, Dukakis got knocked off his early lead much the same way because of his earlier prison furlough programme that led to the Willie Horton ads, etc. Bush's commercials on that were devastating to Dukakis. This issue has, if employed effectively and repeatedly, 'Willie Horton' hitting power IMO. If Obama's camp has half a brain, they would maximise this issue given it's the kind of issue--especially as it concerns serious violence and violation of women--that can land hard on women and others. And given Biden sponsored the federal bill that McCain voted against twice, it packs even more punch. In fact, I suspect it would be Biden who will try to elevate his much quieter exposure by making the charges on the issue to focus the spotlight on it and bring bounce to him and against them.