'Alaska Women Reject Palin' rally draws record crowds
By bluegal Saturday Sep 13, 2008 8:00pm
Mudflats (the go-to blog for Alaska politics):
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy...Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans.
There's a photo gallery (with some great signs) here, and a video of the crowd below.
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What the Hell is the top of the Democratic ticket doing attacking John McCain's #2? She's not going to materialize in the Obama cabinet if McCain, the #1 loses, after all. So, why attack the Veep Candidate and ignore the top of the other ticket, and let politics dance to the strings of Sarah Palin? The Hell?
mccains camp intentionally picked an extremely weak VP candidate so that the republicans can continually play the "victim" card. democrats need to point this out.
This will never see the light of day in the MSM. McCain will not permit it.
What a lovely clip :)
General_Rennenkampf @ 1:
It is not the Democratic ticket attacking Palin. This seems to be a spontaneous reaction from Alaska's women and it is quite heartening to see that women are not flocking to Republicans just because of a woman candidate. Like one of the posters said, "I vote with my brain, not with my gender."
Some women need to understand how anti-female McCain-Palin ticket views are! Anti-choice, anti-equality in pay, anti-middle class. One can go on and on. And they (McCain/Palin) are outright liers!
Barrett D @ 2:
That way lies defeat in a year that should be a cheap victory. Attack the second banana? Attack the person of the second banana instead of you know, her actual achievements (granted, she has fewer than Obama does. All the more reason to ignore her then, because that gives the GOP a ready-made line to trot out Obama's inexperience and lack of qualifications)?
Do you seriously want an utter disaster in 2008 instead of a mere mild disaster with Obama?
ABB @ 5:
Bull-shit.
The Democrats organized this, it's rather obvious, and from argumentum ad hominem (as opposed to actually discussing the war and the economy, Lord knows we can't discuss real issues in a presidential campaign), you could argue that Palin is a disaster for women. Fairly easy to round up a few people and get them to protest. This is as "spontaneous" as the Conventions were.
I hate McCane and Failin' Palin. They are lying and this day and all before the Repugs lose "will live in Infamy". MSM better get their ass in gear or the world will be laughing their asses off. I can hear them (all respected journalists from around the world) now "Well, now that John McCain and that empty shell (Failin', ship;s not sailin', your campaign's trailin') palin are now in power we can do what we want for our own purposes". Yeaoww.
Here is the nuts:
If the Republicans win this 2008 election, your country is toast. You have now shown the world that you don't care that you are the laughing stock. Can you find Europe on a map?? Idiots who think the Earth is 5000 years old. Yawn, how stupid can one person be, really??
Here is a quote for some of the Hillary supporters who are thinking of voting for McCain because of Palin - "There is nothing that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin share except a chromosome!"
General_Rennenkampf @ 1:
how is this obama's fault. the truth is coming out. and these women who organized this were threatened by the callers of a jerk radio commentator. looks like they got the best kind of revenge success.
Wow 1400 out of a total state population of only 600,000. That's .2% of the entire population. It would be like 60,000 showing up for an anti-Schwarzenegger rally in California!
Fuck McCain. His POW time is shit. Three. that's been said. Fuck him
General_Rennenkampf @ 1:
Because the veep is the only thing that's going to get the far right wing to come out and vote for that social hack McCain.
General_Rennenkampf @ 7:
prove or accept the fact that you've been duped by spin.
McCain has lost all respect and credibility.
This election could have been decided on "issues".
The same rediculous crap that is always debated.
The democrats are weak on defense, they will raise your taxes, they want to abort your babies, and they want gays and lesbians to seduce your children.
However, McCain made too many mistakes, those same claims can only be made by a campaign that is not contantly caught in a lie, is not proven out of touch, is not seen as too FUCKING OLD to run this country.
He's had it, he's lost, he knows it.
Let him do what he thinks will work.
Let Obama do what he knows will prevail.
THIS TIME, the better candidate WILL win.
Peace.
General_Rennenkampf @ 6:
i dont care, i'm canadian. i'm just pointing out why they picked sarah palin for VP. and its working.
this is a great example that the neocon MEDIA
shoving palin down the public's throat.
lies and deceptions and vendettas do not
qualify as pres or vp attributes, they do
however as reichwingneocon fascists
gop bigots.
Enough of Palin. We're all agreed she is a terrible VP pick. Back to bashing McPOW's empty policies, and his continuation of the Bush years.
(I'm hoping this all simmers down. It's her newness and wrongness creating all the buzz. The short attention span of the public might be a good thing. She'll be old news next week.)
THE FIGHT IS AGAINST McSAME. Don't forget.
There is a story about the Anchorage airport that has not come out yet. Alaskans know about it, but the press hasn't picked up on it yet. I hope it causes the kind of destruction to her credibility that she apparently deserves.
That's all good but it;s the press that focussing on Pailin, to the exclusion of all else. Just like the piece above pointed out..unless i misread that.. it was Pialin's group that got the coverage. If you hear Obama he always DOES focus on McCain. It's just that McCain's propaganda mill (MSM) don't want us focused on things that matter.
Right @ 8:
Like one of my friends said," This election is a referendum of American public's average IQ!" Let us see how stupid or smart we are!
Watched some McSame a while ago, and you know what it reminds me of? Nobody on this list will be able to identify with it, but if you were on the ground in Germany around 1944 , and heard the droning of those flights of B-17 bombers coming closer, that is the sound - the monotony of it. Then you waited to hear the explosions and guess how far away it was.
That is war that McSame never experienced. He was on the delivering side, I was on the receiving side.
don't believe the mcpalin hype. at its very core their platform is a lie.
General_Rennenkampf Says: What the Hell is the top of the Democratic ticket doing attacking John McCain’s #2? She’s not going to materialize in the Obama cabinet if McCain, the #1 loses, after all. So, why attack the Veep Candidate and ignore the top of the other ticket, and let politics dance to the strings of Sarah Palin? The Hell?
At this point, I think Obama is highlighting the myriad lies and failures (what you refer to as "attack") of both candidates. They deserve it.
And let's just remember this: the failure of Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, AIG, WaMu and Merrill are because of Republican mismanagement of the economy, i.e Bushonomics, of which Buffalo Chip McSurge is an adherent (at least as much as he understands economics, of course).
McCain/Palin: recipe for (more) disaster).
Roland @ 11:
and poll information is taken from sample of less than one percent of the us population but i bet you place a lot of weight on them
Although I like the protest, Do these women vote? How could a former PTA mom be afforded so much power in such a small amount of time? Did these people like the pork, and then decide they didn't like her? What gives?
Not living in Alaska, I can't say I actually knew how they felt. But this rally at least gives me a glimmer of hope.
Right @ 8:
Its toast now
The stock markets tomorrow are going to crash dive like a holed submarine.
heckvajob Chimpy, and also partner in crime Sen. WcCain (90%-W)
Its going to be tricksy to arrange their traditional annual Wall Street 10s billion dollar bonuses this year, without looking totally crooked.
Last year a mere $38 billion in bonuses paid out in WS in a fading economy and bubble deflation.
criticism of palin should always include that this was
poor judgement by republican john mccain.
Roland @ 11:
And it's still more than Palin got to her rally.
AAWRP = All-American Women Reject Palin.
Period.
they have a good idea, time to go crack open a bottle and laugh.
Ahhh... free speech and freedom to assemble. The truth comes out. Isn't it grand! :)
Applause to the Alaskans!
Not everyone in Alaska is a Red Neck after all
Zenrage @ 13:
Bingo.
Let's hope they vote.
And let's also hope people start to wake up and recognise that while the market is tanking, the millionaires who're running the U.S. are making a killing at their expense.
What does it matter to Bush and Cheney if the market is tanking, so long as Halliburton, Carlyle and all the oil companies they're invested in are raking in record profits thanks to American taxpayer dollars?
Palin fans, please keep in mind that George Bush is "born again"... (the very air pregnant with sarcastic interpretion...)
... and where has that gotten us...?
now reach for your gag bags and enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881TR0a6J6U
theWalrus @ 24:
That failing's been built in by government bailouts. I've my own solution for CEO corruption, one that I shall not mention here, but as a hint, let's just say that Stalin had the right idea on some things.
Greed, my friend, is a powerful emotion. We're paying for their mistakes. Just let the damn depression happen already.
nomobull @ 14:
Duped by spin? This is the first I've heard of it and Savage and Hannity and Limbaugh make me physically ill. I cannot prove it, but if I were in the DNC, it's precisely what I would do. It makes too much political sense to be purely spontaneous, else records would show this happened before Palin became the Veep nominee on the Republican ticket. No such records exist.
My favorite sign was "Palin screws this working mom".
yellowdog @ 3:
I was just about to ask if this is only being covered on the blogs. It's up to Obama make it get into the MSM by pointing out that it happened even if John Bush tries to squelch it. Rather, it is up to Biden and the other surrogates. They just have to keep bringing it up whenever they're out there before the press. If anyone sees it on the MSM, please give us a heads up.
bamboozled @ 36:
The clever money left the country a year or three ago, they are offshore safe in foreign ports.
Why is this mot on the national news. What can we do to get this story on the news? We need to work at it. Let the powers to be do it - now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm not talking about Cable news, I'm talking about ABC, CBS and NBC. Make sure to send a special notice to kiss ass Gibson at ABC.
Fanon @ 35:
Exactly. She's the sole reason McCain has gone from nothing to even in the polls. Once people wake up and realise she's the year-and-a-half governor of a state with the population of metro Greenville, South Carolina, they might start to focus on McCain.
The fact that he's older than Reagan was when he took office.
That she has a 50% chance of inheriting the most important office in the world.
General_Rennenkampf @ 38:
So, if it was "organized" that makes it less powerful? Are all the protests you've attended "spontaneous"? At least their homemade signs were truly homemade. Not like the one's at Palin's first press conference and subsequent campaign stops which all look identical. So, at least that part is genuine.
If there is no reaction for the above, I'm getting the popcorn out
gonzalez@42, This is just another incident of MSM not doing it's job. What about the war protests? MSM calles them 'Hecklers". MSM thinks Palin is the savior of the RNC. Many average people say, 'No thanks'
Bravo to the women of Alaska!
Fanon @ 45:
Mazel Tov. Palin's an inexperienced BOTTOM OF THE TICKET. Beat MCCAIN, you beat PALIN. Attempt to beat PALIN, McCain WINS.
Wow, fantastic sign that says "I'm not stupid!" Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whats with all this talk about not attacking Palin? F-that. Attack the top of the ticket sure, but attack the bottom too, attack the whole darn thing! Attack the top for his horrible judgement, and attack the bottom for her horrible world view. Attack, attack, attack. Make stuff up that sounds true, I don't care, just do whatever it takes to not have Sarah Palin anywhere near any button.
ABB @ 9:
I doubt that quote came from any women contemplating voting for the Republican ticket.
McCain has lost all respect and credibility that he may have once had
This election could have been decided on issues.
Or it could have been decided on the same ridiculous crap that is always brought up.
The democrats are weak on defense, they will raise your taxes, they want to abort your babies, and they want gays and lesbians to seduce your children.
However, McCain made too many mistakes, those same claims can only be made by a campaign that is not constantly caught in a lie, is not proven out of touch, is not seen as lead by a "man" too FUCKING OLD to run this country (if you are too old and stubborn to learn how to use a computer, you are NOT qualified to be the POTUS).
He’s had it, he’s lost, he knows it.
Let him do what he thinks will work.
Let Obama do what he knows will prevail.
THIS TIME, the better candidate WILL win.
Peace.
General_Rennenkampf @ 1:
If you wipe the lipstick off the pig what's left?
Whoa, cool. I hope it gets some traction in the media.
General @48
(I didn't want to quote all those long posts, again). Not necessarily so. I don't think you can ignore the Palin problem. I agree that you HAVE to absolutely attack McCain. However, my husband has an evangelical background (not one anymore!) and his mother was all set to vote for Obama because she can't stand McCain and Bush and the last eight years, BUT voila, enter Ms. Pitbull Palin with her pro-life stance and evangelical credentials and she is now in McCain's camp. Sorry for the run-on sentence.
So, I do think you need to deal with the Palin problem as part and parcel of the entire ticket problem.
Because the MSM and all her supporters paint Palin as Saint Sarah, this won't get any coverage in the corporate media. So I'm glad to see that this posting from Mudflats is getting generously spread around the progressive blogosphere. Plus I've emailed links to a couple of fellow Obama supporters, so hopefully they will pass it on to others.
Although I agree that the focus should ultimately be on John McCain, it still has some effect to bash Palin, because again it calls into question his judgment. It also brings into sharper focus the fact that Palin was chosen as a nakedly political move to draw women over to his ticket, PLUS the McCain campaign keeps pounding on how popular she is in Alaska. This proves she isn't as popular as they claim, so it's yet another lie (or at least exaggeration) committed by the McCain campaign.
But I'm still left with a certain amount of cynicism. Yes, it's true that this upcoming election does seem to be a referendum on the IQ of Americans, and right now, I can't help but be left with the impression that that IQ is damn low.
Very heartening to see this. Can we push this out to the MSM so the rest of the world can see that Palin is not universally loved by all Alaskans?
Attacking/Challenging palin is attacking/challenging
republican john mccain. mccain made this poor judgement he would rather win an election than be concerned about our national security.
some people are saying we should be able to review his
medical records by physician(s) he is a cancer survivor. this is real and serious.
i think we should always negative frame mccain with the palin pick this is a strategy that works....the (R)
play this well. it becomes viral.
I say three cheers for these women. And their families. They look like they are having fun.
Tomorrow will be fireworks in AK since some Republican Radio Hack released the names of the two organizers and started the hate mail/call brigade against them. Now they are planning a anti-anti group with all the hateful types.
Peter G @ 53:
Pork.
Fanon @ 55:
I've been raised an evangelical. I don't give a damn about Palin's inexperience and appeal to the Evangelicals. If it is reminded to them that a vote for Palin is a vote for McCain, that might stop them dead in its tracks. Palin should be dealt with, yes. Not to the exclusion of McCain. Then it's the Palin election, not the Obama-McCain election.
this is why what these women are doing in alaska and all
over is important. watch this short video on mccain's health issues......more than you may think. president palin could become a reality
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/53172-john-mccain-s-health-records-must-be...
Apparently Sarah can't control everyone in 'her' state...because, simply, she can't 'fire' ordinary citizens.
I worked for a woman once who reminds me so much of Sarah...loved being the centre of attention, was extremely comfortable speaking to large audiences, was enabled by a group of very sexist men, had no doubt about her 'mission' or her methods, and fired so many people it was shocking & way past the 'norm'.
That this woman, Sarah, has been presented with the opportunity to not only 'guide' an aging & faltering person, if he becomes elected to the presidency...but possibly allowed to use her need to control (to the nth degree), without benefit of any credible knowledge of economics, global issues, matters relating to areas other than Alaska, etc, etc...is so absurd as to be laughable...that is, if it wasn't reality.
Hope that the Americans who truly care about freedom & opportunity for all, can come together & rescue your country before it's too late.
Bankok@60, Let them. These women knew the risks. If MSM does it's job and reports it, so be it. It will let people know Palin isn't as popular as she seems. On the contrary, she's seems very polarizing. Doesn't she?
General_Rennenkampf @ 62:
For these people it is all about Palin. They could care less about McCain. They actually hope he dies soon. Listen to what they say on the right wing blogs.
1400 people in Alaska? I say "Great!"
I haven't seen 1400 people in Miami in the streets since The Heat won the NBA Championship in 2006.
We all need to say to Sarah Palin about the VP ....."Thanks, but no thanks."
Jo @ 66:
Heh, so they're going from unworkable ideas that can keep the US intact to ideas that would make the US crumble within 100 years at most?
Aw, shit.
I've been saying this for months: screw the polls, the horse-race, the news-cycle winners, the hullabaloo of this or that new "scandal".
You democrats OWN THE STREET.
You can go anywhere in the country (well almost, some of the most traditionally republican areas even), & win an instant caucus if such a thing could be held. The ratio here seems pretty instructive about 1500 to 100, & this is in the state where she's the most popular governor ever!!! or some such nonsense. That whole "the crowds are a bad thing, he's a celebrity...ewww" line is the one stupidest tactic i've ever seen employed. Did they think those 75000 in denver or 70000 in oregan or how ever many tens of thousands where ever Obama wants them assembled next time are disqualified from voting by their attendance?
Call out McCain, insult the idiot, he deserves it...i say that cuz i enjoy it but,
It isn't necessary, this campaign is a steamroller.
Anybody have stats on the % of newly registered voters that don't vote in the election year they register in? i bet it's awfully small.
This anti-rally is unexpected and so great.
Here are some quotations and links that might be of interest:
Palin's media-induced lustre is beginning to fade as more and more Americans begin to look past her appearance to who she really is and what she actually stands for. Do we want a foreign policy challenged Sarah Palin a heartbeat from the presidency? Do women impregnated through rape or incest wish to be forced to carry such fetuses to term? Do we want Bible-thumping, war-mongering, fear-producing, book-banning Sarah in the White House with McCain who sings “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran".
As John Cole put it: "Sarah Palin is the distilled essence of wingnut. She has it all. She is dishonest. She is a religious nut. She is incurious. She is anti-science. She is inexperienced. She abuses her authority. She hides behind executive privilege. She is a big spender. She works from the gut and places a greater value on instinct than knowledge."
John Cole
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=11290
The Bush Doctrrine
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
JimboSlice @ 50:
Damn right. Do what ever it takes to keep her the f*ck out of Washington.
i never hear the comparison of palin to biden...comparing
(apples to apples) but comparing palin to obama in an
attempt to continue the theme that obama lacks
experience.
they claim obama lacks experience so they pick a
vice president nominee with the least amount of experience in modern history.
when you ask mccain or a mccain supporter about
palin's experience and/or ability to be a heartbeat away
you get a Question instead of an answer. this is linguistic framing.
when you vote it will say mccain/palin...this ticket is
more of a RISK.
General_Rennenkampf @ 69:
Sarah Palin is a Dominionist. She believes in the Rapture. The Rapture concludes with the total destruction of the planet. They want war, fire, hell and damnation. Death and more deaths.
Sarah Palin is a CULT. Cultists do not think. They are brainwashed.
She is deadly. She is your worst nightmare.
Read Chris Hedges' book, "AMERICAN FASCISTS: THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT AND THE WAR ON AMERICA".
Looks like a pretty hot time in Alaska!
constituent @ 73:
KKKarl Rove's plan IS working as intended.
Jo @ 74:
Fascism can't work in a region the size of the US. You can't govern 7 million square miles like a Tsar or a Soviet leader. That way lies a rapid crumbling of an already bad institution.
Incidentally, I did read Hedges' book, and the guy used "fascist" to mean "guys I don't like." The fascists of the 1930s are not today's Dominionists, and fascism will not be Dominionism in America. The equivalent of Dominionism in 1930s Europe was ultramontanism. The fascists were a separate category.
♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 60:
Doing something as vindictive as that will only hurt the wingnuts. It may even get the MSM to cover it.