60 Minutes: Palin Said VP Selection Was 'God's Plan' -- Lieberman Was McCain's First Choice
(Just photos...story and videos are below)
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Video: Revelations From The Campaign -- CBS 60 Minutes, January 10, 2010
MORE VIDEO at the bottom
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Not trying to stir up controversy. My thoughts on Palin are here. I will say again, that McCain made a huge mistake in his choice of Palin. He would have won the election had he chosen Lieberman. I am convinced, and here's why:
- Conservatives upset over Lieberman would have had no other choice. Do you honestly think they would have voted for Obama? Lieberman is pro-life.
- Independents (20% of voters) would have been drawn to the candidacy of a Democrat and Republican together.
- Instead independents voted overwhelmingly for Obama because of the subconscious, yet pervasive fear that McCain would die and Sarah would become President.
- May I remind you that Sarah Palin didn't know about the Korean War, had no idea what the Federal Reserve did, and thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 911.
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Sarah Palin, Bailout Socialist >>
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Authors of a new book, "Game Change," and John McCain's former top campaign strategist reveal behind-the-scenes issues from the GOP and Democratic camps during the campaign. Anderson Cooper reports.
"Roughly up to a week before the convention, we were still talking very seriously about Senator Lieberman. But once word leaked out that he was under serious consideration, the blowback was ferocious," Schmidt remembered.
"Ferocious," because many conservatives thought Lieberman was far too liberal. Schmidt says they feared the Republican National Convention might reject him.
McCain couldn't risk that, so they needed a last-minute replacement.
"So, suddenly you're in a jam," Cooper remarked.
"We were," Schmidt acknowledged.
"That's the state of desperation they're in as they sit down with McCain that Sunday night over a dinner of deep fried burritos and say to him, 'What about Sarah Palin?'" author John Heilemann told Cooper.
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Sarah Palin's Tweets As Interpreted By William Shatner >>
Daily Show Video: Sarah Palin, Rogue Warrior >>
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Heilemann, of New York Magazine, and Mark Halperin, of Time, covered the campaign and spent the last two years interviewing 200 political insiders for their book, "Game Change."
Among their revelations is how McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, spotted Sarah Palin while searching the Internet for possible female vice presidential candidates.
"Rick Davis saw one interview she did with Charlie Rose where she was very much the Sarah Palin that people find appealing. She was lively, she was engaging, she popped off the screen. And he said, 'Wow, she jumps out,'" Halperin said.
"McCain boxed himself in. He needed a game-changing pick for vice president. And that left them with a last minute pick of someone who was, to McCain, a virtual stranger, and was, to his senior staffers, an absolute stranger," he added.
Just two days before McCain publicly announced his choice, Palin arrived in Arizona to meet with the senator and his top staffers, including chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt.
"I said, 'If this project goes forward you'll be one of the most famous people in the world by Friday. Will you be able to live with that?' She said she would be able to," Schmidt remembered.
Asked how Palin responded after McCain asked her to be his vice president, Schmidt said, "She was very calm. Nonplussed. I said, 'You don't seem nervous at all about this.' And she said, 'No, it's God's plan.'"
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Bonus Video: At the Wasilla Assembly of God, Sarah Palin tells the audience that the war in Iraq is God's will and the US is simply carrying out God's plan.
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DB here. I wish we could take God out of the discussion of war. As someone who was brought up in the Greek Orthodox church (I've been an atheist since my 20s), and taught about a kind, loving and forgiving God, I'm way beyond disgusted by the use of religion in the invocation of war.
A thought for believers: if there is a God, I'm pretty sure he doesn't support killing of innocents. Save God for soldiers in the bunkers, and not for the mouths of politicians.
Jan 11, 2010 at 11:51 PM
Reader Comments (55)
Thomas Jefferson
McCain aide: Palin believed candidacy 'God's plan'
It should not be used by nations to invoke war.
There can be plenty of reasons to fight wars legitimately...not one of them should involve God.
Politicians can discuss war without invoking God. It's disrespectful, unnecessary and insulting, to be honest.
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wrong...i'm saying politicians need to stop saying "God is on our side" when they are discussing war...
it's makes us just as insane as our radical enemies...the war itself from their standpoint might very well be motivated by religion, i'm not dsiputing this of course...i'm simply asking that politicians stop saying that god is on our side and has a plan for this war...
that's insulting and plays to the lowest common denominator of intelligence...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126325759617425583.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us
"I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it."
--George W. Bush commenting to Texas evangelist James Robinson in the run-up to his presidential campaign
Study 1 Samuel and you will see that God had intended man to live under a Patriarchal society. Political systems have characterized the pagan nations around Israel, nations which originated in rebellion against Godly Families.
http://vftonline.org/XianAnarch/1sam8.htm
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the egoism of man..and woman (in the case of palin)...if god exists, he doesn't plan for anyone to become president, i'm quite sure...
"They have transgressed the Covenant, and trespassed against my Law. They have set up kings, but not by Me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they make them idols, that they may be cut off. I have written to him the great things of My Law, but they were counted as a strange thing. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth palaces, and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities." (Hosea 8:1, 4,12,14)
I think the idols of today would be Federal Reserve Notes.
When people want a slave-State, God will grant them their wish as an act of judgment. It is the familiar hell over the unfamiliar heaven thing...
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very nice...
If we're going to analyze the past, shall we examine Obama's deficits as well? He was abysmal in the first several debates. Cringe inducing. Clinton pulverized him. (Now there is someone with outstanding intelligence and knowledge. Plus she has balls that would put many a man to shame. Can’t help it--I still love her and there is no cure.) And after the benefit of a full year of on the job training I am convinced Obama is still a complete cultural dunderhead. Having narcissistic personality disorder does prevent people from appreciating the nuances other face, I guess. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OtYO-WwXOo
I think the bit about Palin’s education is somewhat of a red herring. I mean, come on—we all knew plenty of people who bandied about in their early 20’s trying to figure out where they were going. That’s the time to do that kind of thing—so what? I never saw the same criticism of Obama, even though he admitted to being a drug user and goof off throughout high school and switched colleges once. If we’re going to delve deep into these peoples’ early years, maybe we should find out at what age they were potty trained or stopped sucking their thumbs, too--could be indicators of something.
The whole thing about Palin that gets me boiling is the misogyny and lack of fair comparisons. Obama gets treated like a pansy girlie man, the media fussing all over his delicate sensibilities, yet Palin gets ripped at every stutter. What gives? I'm not defending her policies or her 'per se', just commenting on the unfairness of it all. http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/08/08/did-obama-joker-poster-cross-the-line/#more-29867
She was only in the spotlight 2 months yet the lewdness and violence she inspired were copious. And the media not only missed that hate, they helped perpetrate it. Disgusting. This is why she’s so popular now—many of us just want to see her stick it to the idiots that did those things to her. We are cheering her on (although it doesn’t necessarily mean we want her as a president). As for that book, I wouldn't give two plugged nickles what any of those people say about Palin now. Oh please. TIME magazine is the antithesis of journalism. As for Schmidt--enjoy your 15 minutes, pal.
DB, I have to strenuously disagree with you about Lieberman. (What the heck is he nowadays, anyway? Oh yeah, I forgot--the Opportunist Party.) Speaking from a [quasi] feminist perspective—a forum in which I have squandered a hell of a lot of time--I can tell you without a doubt that Lieberman for VP would have been an unmitigated disaster. May I remind you that more people voted for Hillary than Obama in the primaries. His ultimate coronation was the result of some weird democratic party algebra done on (I am now convinced) some central banker’s slide rule. And we were furious. Palin was our opportunity to stick it to the democratic party. Many a woman swallowed her pride and voted for McCain. You wouldn't have believed the existential angst that induced. The sting of Obama winning—and the continuing pain of his idiotic reign—was and is debilitating. There is more bad will out there than ever before.
With Lieberman, first of all there is that Israel issue, which connects to the wars. ‘nuff said. Then there is the choice issue. It would have been a resounding NO to two old guys with no hope in hell of truly identifying with this situation. I seriously doubt they’ve spent more than five minutes between them pondering the intricacies of that topic. To them, it’s all political. To us, it’s intensely personal—and it should be safeguarded as a personal decision. I’ll probably summon Gobias’ wrath with comments like that, but I don’t really care anymore. Someone has to say it.
Gobias, as an aside I want to apologize for lashing out at you the other day, even though you sort of asked for it. Why do you enjoy provoking me? We don’t have to be disrespectful to each other. And you don’t have to be on top all the time. (uh—it’s a joke, OK?)
As to your point about God as a motive for war being scarier than other motives, I think it IS scarier. It’s scary as hell because it provides people with an absolute. They can totally disconnect from any shred of personal responsibility for the pain and suffering they cause when God is ‘on their side’. The image of God is propped up as supposed proof of righteousness when it is really just a flimsy contrivance. It’s a cop out—for Christians AND Muslims AND Jews. People who use it are either living in fear, trying to gain something, or both.
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i'm not from the left, you know my intense views on government spending, but i can tell you why she bothers me...
she didn't know anything about the federal reserve; wasn't sure about the korean war; and thought saddamm was responsible for 911...
she's just plain dumb....low IQ ...she is merely a puppet...we can do so much better...
but independents definitely went away from mccain palin and toward obama...in numbers to suggest that palin bothered them...
perhaps lieberman wouldn't have brought victory as i thought...you make good points...but i hope you agree that the candidate should not have been sarah...
she's a likable character, yes...a presidential possibility, no...
i say get her a tv show...wait, she just got one...well, sort of...
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yes...
They wonder how and when, when I just wonder why...
Absolutely. Also, I think different people hate Clinton vs. those who hate Palin. Clinton is definitely the smartest in that whole bunch, but she's an authoritarian who's also personally revolting.
But Palin? Women seem to hate her more than men do. Among my blue-state friends, it's the women who really have it out for her. I think the big thing is that Palin just so obviously represents a certain kind of cultural conservatism that the left instinctively hates. She's a mom, she's youngish, she's pretty, she's an evangelical Christian (of some sort) and she's from "Alasker." The left expects people like her to be working at the checkout at the grocery store or to be cutting their hair. I'm all for elitism, but it's a pretty petty form of it you get from the Left in regard to Palin. I guess it's not unlike some people's reaction to Obama, except that the MSM share's the Left's distaste for people like Palin. Obama is their kind of guy, even if he isn't Middle America's kind of guy. People on the Left get their prejudices against Palin confirmed almost every day on SNL, The Daily Show and the like. People who find Obama culturally alien are often suspected of being racists.
I think that explains some of it.
Personally, I think Palin would be a really cool neighbor or whatever. What red-blooded man wouldn't want to chat her up at the church picnic? Like DB, I just don't want her as president. Obama and Clinton, on the other hand, I'd steer clear of (not that they'd be at the church picnic anyway).
Gobias, spare us your superstitious, tough guy, sunday night football inspired views on religion and war in the middle east.
There isn't a "God" in the christian sense. You have been brainwashed. "God" is a construct used to help people deal with things we cannot comprehend. Unfortunately, the fire and brimstone fairy tale monster who also loves you is regularly invoked shallow, sociopath alaskan beauty contestants to encourage people to kill each other. Sure it's "God's war". "God's war" in a country we invaded for no reason? Let's put Sarah Palin on the front lines with her kids. The world will be better off for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
There are 380 MILLION people in this country and this handful of clowns is the best we've got?!?!? I hope next time this country will examine the candidates' hearts and not their credentials. I'm honestly wondering if it takes genius to run this country. Genius can be totally devoid of goodness.
Very astute SNK, the worst atrocities man has ever conceived have always been done in the name of God, on all sides. Fear is the mind killer, and that is how all evil becomes justifiable.
It is a shame, when all three of the big religions come from the same place, Abraham...
Oops--I meant "It's enough to drive one to Buddism."
I knew what you meant.
I'm for the Jeffersonian notion of a natural elite -- the kind of elitism that puts Chris Whalen at Treasury rather than Turbo Tax Geithner, or that recognizes that I am far more capable of making choices on most things than, say, Nancy Pelosi or John McCain.
Nothing to do with bloodlines or caviar.
As for Hillary, she's just abrasive as a person. For me, she is. I suspect you think that's sexism talking, but I don't feel that way about Elizabeth Warren. I love it, in fact, when she gets all ballsy and tough with Geithner.
For an example of Hillary's unloveableness, take that guy in the audience one time she accused of being a "plant." The guy was just asking a pointed question about her war lust, and she went off. But really it's just a subjective reaction I have to her. Lots of people feel this way, of course, including her husband.
On THAT subject, I prefer Elin Nordgeren (sp) or Jenny Sandford's response ANY day.
Gobias responds...Who has the bigger ego, the man who believes in God or the man who believes that he has no God. Maybe God exists to restrain the ego. Maybe the lack of faith is part of the greed and corruption of today. Nobody stops to ask themselves, what would Jesus do? Fewer people spend Sunday morning with their neighbors to see that their actions have consequences.
SNK says... She was only in the spotlight 2 months yet the lewdness and violence she inspired were copious. And the media not only missed that hate, they helped perpetrate it. Disgusting.
Gobias responds...Are you referring to Saturday Night Live or David Letterman?
SNK says... Gobias, as an aside I want to apologize for lashing out at you the other day, even though you sort of asked for it. Why do you enjoy provoking me? We don’t have to be disrespectful to each other. And you don’t have to be on top all the time. (uh—it’s a joke, OK?)
Gobias responds...Religion left unfettered is dangerous and the religious kick in the groin always has to be blocked or at least softened, we have the Dark Ages and the Radical Islamist Terrorists to prove that. On the other hand, when some poor guy needs a coat and a bowl of soup, thank God for the church groups and people who want to do good deeds for their salvation or for their own ego. There are also many hospitals that were funded and are supported by religious groups. When organized religion leaves the hospital and is replaced by Uncle Sam (Barry), then we will be missing out on a lot of compassion and good deeds and cash. If you libs had used even half of the energy you use to attack Sarah to attack Barry Soetoro’s lack of faith (not God bless America, God Damn America), we would all have been better off.
James says... But Palin? Women seem to hate her more than men do.
Gobias responds...Yes, the Hillary Clinton and Pelosi types want to poke her eyes out. The statement you made is unfounded. The hate is from the liberal elitist left. For example, Sarah on Oprah got huge ratings, mostly women. Yes, you will say those women hate her but she got rave reviews. Sarah’s book sales don’t show any bias to any demographic. The rest of what you said to this point was very well put. You are right about the church picnic, her appeal extends beyond her supporters and that is very frustrating to the left.
Gobias to DB...You always fear what you don’t understand.
Demonstrably not. It's founded on my personal experience with people I know. But yes, within the subset of liberal elitists, the women are more spiteful than the men. (Does this really matter?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
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i believe as gobias quoted jefferson, that "if my neighbors believes in 20 gods or 2, it does not affect me"
in war, god should be left for the soldiers in battle...not for the mouths of politicians...
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that's church...churches often do great things...
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Gobias to DB...You always fear what you don’t understand.
I was a religious studies minor...
we studied all religions...
all felt like santa claus...even down to the part about naughty or nice...
and my problem with hillary is that she's captured...she voted for TARP and the stimulus...
there would be no change whatsoever...
Modern religions like politics, have an agenda, to make money.
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absolutely...
Nightline followed it up with a story on love-sick puppies in Asia.
Palin For President?
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just for you gobias....
Did The Chinese Government Hack Google?
Of course it is, thinly veiled in agenda 21 and Codex Alimentarius. Fiat currency is the modern idol... Why would you believe the purity of the green movement?
Two Presidents have tried to right the wrong, and both were killed over it. As long as our Nation keeps borrowing its own money instead of coining it itself, the dollar will fall and debt will increase. A debt that the money does not exist to pay...
And the American people will suffer, but wait, next election will be different. I have been hearing that my whole life.
SNK, you are right, history always gets mangled, by the politicians that control education. So the real question is, do they mangle it as "the will of God" or to push agenda and propaganda? The truth is still out there for those that have plucked the scales from their eyes.
Overman is not a Godly man, Overman is consumed by many or all of the deadly sins...