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Palin a hit with local GOP members
BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Saturday, August 30, 2008 1:02 AM EDT


History-making choice Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin acknowledge supporters after McCain introduced Palin as his vice presidential running mate Friday at Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Associated Press)




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Alaska governor seen appealing to both women and conservatives
About three weeks ago, state Rep. Betty Poirier received an invitation to a reception at the Republican National Convention for a little-known governor from Alaska.

Intrigued, Poirier started researching Gov. Sarah Palin.

Little did she know that by the time the convention came along, Palin would be Sen. John McCain's pick as his vice presidential running mate.

Poirier, R-North Attleboro, and other Republican activists said Friday they were surprised and impressed by McCain's selection, although they were a little disappointed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did not get the nod.

"I'm very excited," Poirier said. "She's young, she's vibrant, she has executive experience.
"I had mixed feelings at first because I was rooting for Mitt Romney, but now I think it was a brilliant pick."

Danielle Fish, a Republican State Committee member from Mansfield, said she was also hoping for Romney and believes he still has a role to play in national politics.

"Palin was definitely a surprise," she said.

Fish said she does not know much about Palin yet, but the Alaska governor should be popular with the party because she has strong conservative credentials and she can attract women voters.

"She holds a lot of promise. I look forward to finding out more about her," Fish said.

Poirier said politically Palin has a lot to offer the ticket.

She is the mother of five children, a former athlete, a former beauty queen, her son is in the Army and is headed for Iraq, she is a former mayor and is now governor, Poirier said.

McCain has been courting supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton who are angry she did not win the Democratic nomination, and having a woman on the ticket will help McCain with that task, Poirier and Fish said.

But, state Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, said he believes Palin will be just as attractive to men because she is a member of the National Rifle Association, a hunter and a fisherwoman.

Her surprise selection also "stole the thunder" from Democratic nominee Barack Obama just hours after his historical address before 84,000 supporters in Denver, Lepper said.
He said time will tell if Palin was a good pick, but at first blush she appears to be someone who can excite the conservative base of the party while appealing to undecided voters.

Lepper and Poirier both said Palin got off to a good start at her announcement ceremony by coming off on television as a very likeable candidate.
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socal1 wrote on Aug 31, 2008 7:55 AM:

" Paul-Good question about my distain for the war in Iraq. Here are a few of them: 1. When the war started my son was 13, he is now 18 and I don't want him having to go to war 2. In the past few years I have seen how the US gov. takes care of its veterans...low amount of life insurance for the families and worse, inadequate care for the disabled (instead of reporting only how many military death their have been, the gov. should include how many have been maimed and crippled who will be given inadequate financial support for rehabilitiation). 3. There is no exit strategy. 4. Innocent civilian lives are being killed. 5. I've seen firsthand, Paul, by you own postings here in this forum, what can tragically happen to a person's personality and outlook on life once they've been to war. By your own words you say you went to war in the middle east and by your own words you sound unbalanced. I don't wish that on anyone especially my child. Better for me to hear you call me names for my opinions than to hear my child or anyone's child has been killed in Iraq or worse mained/crippled and the US gov. wants me to pay for the airfare home. You seem to have gone to war for none of the reasons our country stands for. "

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realist wrote on Aug 31, 2008 12:22 AM:

" There are those who will criticize Gov. Palin for her lack of experience. Somehow I thing that her two years of executive experience as a state governor trump Obama's few years of experience as a Senator. A role in which you get to sit there and criticize everything. A governor on the hand has to make decisions.
I think the fact that Alaska has to deal with the Canadian government and the Russians has more foreign policy experience than the Senator who took a trip to the mid-east. Oh, btw, Gov Palin visited servicemen from the state of Alaska while they were deployed in the mid-east.
I have no problem with her. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 8:40 PM:

" celt chooses to be a pessimist and I choose to be an optimist. They said the same thing about Reagan when he ran in 1980. By the way, I read that Obama gave a $1 million federal payoff, er, earmark to the University of Chicago Hospital after they gave his wife a 160% pay raise. What's up with that? "

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Paul Couturier wrote on Aug 30, 2008 7:32 PM:

" Hey suckal, WHY are you SO OBSESSED with having America LOSE the war on terrorism? Is it because you're a gutless, hate-filled, anti-military extremist with close raghead friends named sodom insane and osama been lying??

If we were to pull the troops out, and your gutless ragheaded terrorist buddies follow us home to commit ANOTHER 9/11-type attack, will you blame President Bush for pulling the troops out too soon???? "

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jimr28 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 6:52 PM:

" This choice just cost McCain my vote as would the choice of Romney. I will be writing in Ron Paul for President. "

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celt wrote on Aug 30, 2008 5:53 PM:

" McCain's age and health are legitimate concerns as they would be for any candidate for president. Unless you can foresee the future, you have no basis to make the assertion that, "Palin is not going to be running the country." The Honorable Sarah Palin Governor of the great state of Alaska could become the leader of the free world overnight and most American citizens have no idea who she is. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 4:48 PM:

" celt is fear-mongering about McCain's health. His medical history is attached and I see nothing there to be concerned about.
http://www.johnmccain.com/downloads/JSM_HealthRecords_052308.pdf
It's not Ms. Palin - it's Governor Palin; please don't diminish her status through overt sexism. "

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celt wrote on Aug 30, 2008 4:31 PM:

" Socal1 and Ms. DeMarinis, you're both wrong about the VP slot. McCain is in his 70's and has his share of health problems. It is very possible that his VP, were he to get elected, would have to take over. Ms. Palin is not ready for the most important position in the free world. "

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socal1 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 2:44 PM:

" Anna-you're right about the VP slot. I agree with you, VP slot is really a nothing position, except for Cheney, I don't remember a VP doing much of anything. When the campaigns 1st got underway, when the field was wide open, I told people that I was considering voting for McCain should he get his party's nomination. McCain would have been my 1st vote for a republican as president and I have been voting since 1972. My last mainstream presidential vote was for McGovern, not Carter, not Dukakis, not Clinton, not Gore, not Kerry. My #1 issue in this election is the war in Iraq. I disagree with it and how it is being handled. If McCain says he would end the war during his 1st term, I would vote for him. But he can't say it because he needs the "continue" the war votes. So I can't vote for him. Right or wrong, I cast my vote for whomever is going to get us out of Iraq now. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 2:28 PM:

" As I recall, the last time a VP "ran the country" was about 30 minutes while Reagan was having a bullet removed from his chest and GHWB was acting Pres. Palin is not going to be running the country. She's running for VP. McCain will be running the country and I am very confident in his ability to do so. As to Palin's experience, quality of experience always trumps quantity. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 2:22 PM:

" But the "zero" is running for President and she'll have time as VP to hone her Presidential skills. Between the two sets of candidates, I feel much safer and more optimistic voting for McCain/ Palin that I would Obama/Biden, and I say that as an American, not a Republican. Obama blew it when he didn't pick Hillary as his VP. I don't care for her at all, but I would have felt better with her and Bill back at the White House making sure Obama didn't break any of the toys that he played with. So much for Obama's self-described "good judgment." Actually, the Dems blew it by nominating a light-weight. Hillary against McCain would have been a landslide. I suppose it's too late for you folks to return the defective product and exchange it for the better one? Tenure means the time in service. The word is absolutely appropriate. "

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socal1 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:30 PM:

" Anna-let's be honest here, either side would think it laughable to say that 1.5 years as govenor should be considered "tenure". And I do mean both parties would make light of the other party if you try to sell 1.5 years as enough experience to lead this country. I read your posts from yesterday. Do you really want me to believe that an intelligent woman as yourself (I'm sincere went I say that I consider you intelligent) considers 1.5 years as govenor enough experience to lead this country? On a scale from 1 to 100 Obama is a zero and Palin a 1.5. I would say the difference is negligible or in my own words-laughable. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:13 PM:

" Hi socal. You must have missed my posts over the past day because I have been talking up Governor Palin a lot. You omit in your note above her tenure as Governor of one of our most important energy-rich states. You should provide complete, not partial, infomation. She doesn't need me to build her up because she has a more substantial and impressive record than either Obama or Biden. Palin has accomplished more in her nearly 2 years as Governor than Obama has in his 147 days in the US Senate (the rest of the time he has been on the campaign trail and when he did show up for votes, he often voted "Present"). Maybe you should be instructing jose and Getitright. "

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socal1 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 12:44 PM:

" Good afternoon Anna,

To quote one of your heroes, "there you go again" putting down Biden instead of building up Palin. Let's all agree that Biden is a poor choice, the worse, better to have Bin Laden than Biden. All you have to do is look at the current affairs of Attleboro to know that time on the council or being mayor doesn't make you ready for anything other than being human. Palin could be a great pick, only time will tell, but please try to stay with the subject of the news article. It makes for a more rational conversation. Palin was suppose to direct attention to McCain, not Biden. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 11:54 AM:

" And about that seasoned Democrat VP pick, people are saying Joe Biden has done nothing since he was in his 20s other than sit in the Senate. He is a caricature of the worst sort of Washington politician, a person of limited ability who is intimately tied to various interests and lobbyists and who, in more than three decades, has done nothing to improve the way Washington works or to contribute creatively to any public policy issue. Biden is a Washington insider in the worst sense of the word. So much for Obama's new politics and being a change-agent. "

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Anna DeMarinis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 11:48 AM:

" Jose: if you think most Dem women voted for Hillary for a reason other than she is a woman, you're dreaming. Palin already has replaced Hillary, who is not any ticket, while Palin is. As mayor of a city and governor of a very important "energy independence" state, Palin already has more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined. The Senate is little more than a blather chamber. "

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jose21 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 10:38 AM:

" Sodo they assume women are stupid enough to vote for McCain just because he picked a woman VP? I think that is an insult to women. This lady was mayor of a town of 7k not to long ago. "

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GetitRight wrote on Aug 30, 2008 10:16 AM:

" What a plunder! Do Repubs really think Palin can replace Ms. Clinton? AND Of course Lepper and his conservative side-kick love Palin, they'd fall behind any Republican. Let's all cheer that hatemonger Mitt was brushed aside. "

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