[Rhodes22-list] Palin the rogue

Sat Oct 25 22:20:49 EDT 2008

Brad,

We share many of the same values, if not most.  We probably share a
tax bracket.  We do stand on different sides of how to view a few
percentage point change in tax rates.  I view it as more of the same,
you seem to view it as a fundamental shift.  The Bush tax breaks gave
more back to the middle class than the higher tax brackets.

I did read your atricle from Fred Smith.  He's a great leader.  I've
worked for some great leaders too.  They are divided on this election.

More to the point.  What I guess you are saying is that you see Sarah
Palin as having a better shot at swinging the vote with her message
than staying on message with McCain.  More power to you and yours.  I
would be more worried about the "real" John McCain I saw at the Alfred
Smith dinner closing the gap than I am the divisive Sarah Palin.

T-minus 10 days and counting.  I'll be glad when this is over.  Or at
least, when we get to the next chapter.

Dave

On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 6:51 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dave,
>
> No, I haven't written it off.  Kerry was leading in the polls at this
> same point.  Obama polled a lot higher going into the late primaries
> than the vote he actually got, hence, a consistent ass-kicking by
> Hillary in the closing days.  But, I'm a realist.
>
> The middle?  I skipped the middle.  I grew up working poor, spent the
> first ten years of my adult life working poor, and poof! overnight
> became so called "upper middle class".
>
> My wife and I have a bulls eye on our backs.  We already max out the
> limits on what we can save tax-free, we already have our tax
> deductions reduced, we can't participate in Roth IRA's,  we can't
> contribute to Coverdale ESA for our daughter's college - we're rich!
>
> The truth is, we're not rich.  My wife and I both have above average
> jobs that we both worked our asses off for and now find ourselves
> defined as "rich". Most people don't realize just how close to being
> "rich" they are, and trust me, this $250,000 threshold is an illusion.
>
> Am I in the "middle" philosophically?  If "in the middle" means I how
> I raised my boys, ie,
> "work hard, study in school, pay your bills, show-up on time", etc.,
> then I'm in the middle.
>
> Part of what being a conservative means to me is to help others get
> ahead.  I'm very proud of what our little company has donated on the
> Mississippi Gulf Coast after Katrina to help people get back on their
> feet.
>
> Hold a gun to my head and demand that I contribute, I quickly develop
> a different attitude.
>
> Did you read the article I posted earlier about my boss?  Fred has
> educated more people, moved more people into the middle and upper
> classes, helped buy more homes and educate more kids than a thousand
> 'community organizers'.
>
> Call me a radical for believing in free enterprise. An yes, Sarah
> Palin speaks to my sensibilities!
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 8:28 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Sure, I get that.  Only trouble is, she's not running for president.
>> Have you written off the election?  I think it's going to be close.
>>
>> What you don't seem to "get" is that more people in the middle are put
>> off by her persona and message than not, and the middle is what
>> carries every election.  Do you still see yourself as representing a
>> middle (i.e., moderate) view?
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 5:59 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dave,
>>>
>>> You don't get it do you?  Palin is the only conservative (actually
>>> more libertarian) in this race.  She isn't driving ANY conservatives
>>> away.  McCain has already done that, as well as some Republicans.
>>>
>>> You are smart enough to figure this all out on your own aren't you?
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 7:49 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Oh I saw it.  That's why I bothered to post this article.  She's a
>>>> loose cannon, playing a material role in driving conserviatve
>>>> comentators and undecided voters to Obama.  Yep, you go girl.  Drive
>>>> that wedge, nice and deep at about the 45th percentile.
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 5:38 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Herb,
>>>>>
>>>>> Dave didn't pay attention to my earlier post today.  He didn't listen
>>>>> to our excitement when Palin was named to the ticket.  He obviously
>>>>> missed the "Free Sarah Palin" movement early in the campaign.
>>>>>
>>>>> The longer they misunderstand Sarah Palin the better!
>>>>>
>>>>> Frankly, I'm not sure if Sarah can save John McCain from John McCain,
>>>>> but she's taken the gloves and is fighting for herself now.
>>>>>
>>>>> You go Girl!
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 7:34 PM, Herb Parsons <hparsons at parsonsys.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Some of us don't care if she makes McCain's aides happy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> David Bradley wrote:
>>>>>>> It looks like the McCain camp thinks Palin has turned rogue candidate.
>>>>>>>  Another example to me of lack of experience in the majors.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dave
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Story Highlights
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sources say there is brewing tension between McCain aides and Palin
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Palin aide says she is trying to take control of her message
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," says a McCain adviser
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> >From Dana Bash, Peter Hamby and John King CNN
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day,
>>>>>>> long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov.
>>>>>>> Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense,
>>>>>>> they are spilling out in public, sources say.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become
>>>>>>> increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going
>>>>>>> rogue."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to
>>>>>>> "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged
>>>>>>> roll-out.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they
>>>>>>> privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an
>>>>>>> instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often
>>>>>>> used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the
>>>>>>> campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling
>>>>>>> reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of
>>>>>>> Michigan.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself
>>>>>>> more than the McCain campaign.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain
>>>>>>> adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us,
>>>>>>> her family or anyone else.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next
>>>>>>> leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as
>>>>>>> they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A Palin associate defended her, saying that she is "not good at
>>>>>>> process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls
>>>>>>> were answers to process questions.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Don't Miss
>>>>>>> Palin details plan for special-needs kids
>>>>>>> Election Center 2008
>>>>>>> But this Palin source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more
>>>>>>> control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news
>>>>>>> conference on a Colorado tarmac.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over
>>>>>>> after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt
>>>>>>> tried several times to end the unscheduled session.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing
>>>>>>> more," a different Palin adviser recently said, arguing that "it's not
>>>>>>> fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network
>>>>>>> interviews.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The Politico reported Saturday on Palin's frustration, specifically
>>>>>>> with McCain advisers Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. They helped
>>>>>>> decide to limit Palin's initial press contact to high-profile
>>>>>>> interviews with Charlie Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, which
>>>>>>> all McCain sources admit were highly damaging.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In response, Wallace e-mailed CNN the same quote she gave the
>>>>>>> Politico: "If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal
>>>>>>> belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended
>>>>>>> the decision to keep her press interaction limited after she was
>>>>>>> picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the
>>>>>>> missteps could have been a lot worse.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and
>>>>>>> international issues and on McCain's record.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was
>>>>>>> dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the
>>>>>>> process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was
>>>>>>> probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in
>>>>>>> history."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Schmitt came to the back of the plane Saturday to deliver a statement
>>>>>>> to traveling reporters: "Unnamed sources with their own agenda will
>>>>>>> say what they want, but from Gov. Palin down, we have one agenda, and
>>>>>>> that's to win on Election Day."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yet another senior McCain adviser lamented the public recriminations.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "This is what happens with a campaign that's behind; it brings out the
>>>>>>> worst in people, finger-pointing and scapegoating," this senior
>>>>>>> adviser said.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This adviser also decried the double standard, noting that Democratic
>>>>>>> nominee Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, has gone off
>>>>>>> the reservation as well, most recently by telling donors at a
>>>>>>> fundraiser that America's enemies will try to "test" Obama.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Tensions like those within the McCain-Palin campaign are not unusual;
>>>>>>> vice presidential candidates also have a history of butting heads with
>>>>>>> the top of the ticket.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> John Edwards and his inner circle repeatedly questioned Sen. John
>>>>>>> Kerry's strategy in 2004, and Kerry loyalists repeatedly aired in
>>>>>>> public their view that Edwards would not play the traditional attack
>>>>>>> dog role with relish because he wanted to protect his future political
>>>>>>> interests.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Even in a winning campaign like Bill Clinton's, some of Al Gore's
>>>>>>> aides in 1992 and again in 1996 questioned how Gore was being
>>>>>>> scheduled for campaign events.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jack Kemp's aides distrusted the Bob Dole camp and vice versa, and Dan
>>>>>>> Quayle loyalists had a list of gripes remarkably similar to those now
>>>>>>> being aired by Gov. Palin's aides.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that
>>>>>>> McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be
>>>>>>> looking after her own future.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic
>>>>>>> pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on
>>>>>>> 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature.
>>>>>>> She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day,
>>>>>>> voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and
>>>>>>> personally
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> David Bradley
>>>> +1.206.234.3977
>>>> dwbrad at gmail.com
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>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> David Bradley
>> +1.206.234.3977
>> dwbrad at gmail.com
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-- 
David Bradley
+1.206.234.3977
dwbrad at gmail.com