Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced his vice presidential running mate yesterday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, 44.
Casey Mayville reports for Government Technology, “Elected governor in 2006, Palin became Alaska’s first female governor, as well as its youngest. She will be the first politician from Alaska to run on a national ticket in a campaign for vice president.”
“Palin has made efforts to expand the use of technology in Alaska. In 2007, Palin announced a new online training program for workforce development. The Work Ready/College Ready program helped to assess skills and offered training courses,” Mayville reports. “‘The skills needed to enter many vocations are similar to the skills needed to get into college,’ explained Palin at the time. ‘Work Ready/College Ready lets students know what level of skill they need for the occupations they’re interested in, how well they match up in those skill levels and it provides training to reach their goals.'”
Full article here.
More about Alaska’s “Work Ready/College Ready” program that was announced by Sarah Palin last August via GovTech here.
Carrie Tait reports for The Financial Post,” Ms. Palin, 44, is a lifetime NRA member who is in charge of a conservative state. She’s bullish on drilling offshore and opening up more of the contentious Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production. ‘People are realizing, too, there’s been some deception, I think, from some on what ANWR is all about. Of the 20 million acres up there, we’re looking at 2,000 acres as a footprint,’ she said in the interview. ‘With new technology, with directional drilling, maybe that footprint [will] shrink even more.'”
MacDailyNews Note: CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo talks with Sarah Palin about ANWR drilling, which also touches on technology, in an 11:41 video interview here.
Stefanie Olsen reports for CNET, “Mead Treadwell, a technology-focused venture capitalist and chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, a federal advisory commission to President Bush and Congress on Arctic research issues, said he met Palin when she was the mayor of Wasilla, a small town in Alaska. Treadwell said that she has long been open-minded about the need for technology to solve problems.”
“‘We’re a natural energy economy and you can’t drill on- or offshore without bringing the best technology, like 3D seismic technology to find areas for drilling, directional drilling to exploit it, and satellites. She’s supportive of new tech,’ Treadwell said,” Olsen reports.
“Palin’s father-in-law was at one time staff officer at the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, the state’s seed capital fund for technology. According to Treadwell, she was critical of her incumbent Republican rival Frank Murkowski in 2006 when he shut the foundation down. In her inaugural address as governor, she emphasized the value of research into science and technology,” Olsen reports.
“Despite Alaska’s absence of a big tech industry, the state’s chief industries, oil and gas, as well as some telecommunications, require cutting-edge technology. Treadwell said that in discussions with Palin about balancing development vs. the environment, she typically points to technology as a solution,” Olsen reports.
Full article here.
While we’re still exploring exactly which tech devices Palin uses currently, Bridget Carey reported yesterday for The Miami Herald of “the BlackBerry-wielding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who had bloggers buzzing early Friday about her tech-centric lifestyle. She’s also three years younger than Obama.”
MacDailyNews Take: Send Palin an iPhone immediately, Apple!
As for Obama’s V.P. pick, Joseph Biden, 65, Carey reports, “The technology issue isn’t so much of his wired lifestyle as it is about his past stances on technology issues like Internet freedom and privacy. Biden has spoken out against peer-to-peer networks that allow the sharing of music and other copyrighted material. On the topic of Internet privacy, he is in favor of allowing communications companies to hand over a user’s personal information to the government, but with the intention to crack down on child porn and piracy.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Michael R.,” “Dennis,” and “Jen” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: If anyone has links to articles and/or photos of Palin and technology (listening to her iPod, using a Mac, or even a ratty old Dell) or any of the other candidates – Biden, McCain, and/or Obama – please send them to the MacDailyNews Webmaster (link below) for inclusion in this or future articles.
Rheinhard “On the subject of user rights vs. MPAA, etc., Obama is strongly supported by Dr. Lawrence Lessig (a LEADING crusader against the ridiculous abuse of coyright in the country, and on net neutrality — you shouldn’t consider yourself “up” on the intersection of tech & the law if you don’t know who Lessig is, and he is a major advisor to Obama on these matters!)”
If I voted on technology issues, I might vote for Obama based on what you posted here, if it was a big issue to me, I would have done my own research, however.
But just don’t care that much, certainly not enough to raise to the level of an issue I’d select a president.
“Palin is supposed to be good on tech because she vaguely “supports research”? On what? How many dinosaurs could fit into Noah’s Ark? Whether drilling in ANWR would be totally awesome or just great?”
Sheesh, you had a reasonable post until you just leaped right into the loony bin. Coockoo Coockoo!
But to answer your point, yes we need to drill in ANWR, and offshore, and anywhere else we can poke a hole, while we simultaneously look for other forms of energy, including and especially nuclear power.
WInd? Solar? Hydroelectric? Sure, those too.
m159: ” Then I realized that many of these posts from site to site, have an overly familiar ring to them, the same phrases, the same talking points, and personal endorsements. Smells like astroturf.”
I find that the overwhelmingly vast majority of posts from leftists on MDN and many other places I read, are just hugely and offensively overbearingly rude and ugly and full of bile.
I never considered it was just 1 angry bitter liberal, but you might be on to something…
I don’t know, seems like an obvious and cheap attempt to placate the Hilary supporters, and I’m not sure they’ll appreciate being thought of as so simple minded. I mean c’mon, was McCain so desperate to find a female running mate that he had to get one from Alaska? I find it VERY hard to believe that a governor from Alaska has her finger on the pulse of the American people.
While I never would have supported McCain to begin with, this appointment makes me worry even more about the Republicans possibly winning the presidency again.
Based on that CNBC interview, she gets my vote.
Here are the choices:
Democrats have a black/muslim guy with no experience who attended a racist church against whites and has the MOST liberal voting record in the senate. He claimed change, then picked the same old career politician who is a white male.
Republicans have McCain, who is the most experienced, fiscally responsible, and a war hero. He picked a female VP who is pro-life, pro guns, a political outsider and a fiscal conservative.
Easy choice for me…
Mac Attack: “Easy choice for me…”
I was voting for McCain before Palin, but now I’m voting with some enthusiasm.
madgunde: “I don’t know, seems like an obvious and cheap attempt to placate the Hilary supporters, and I’m not sure they’ll appreciate being thought of as so simple minded. “
Meh, you vastly overestimate the chances of a Hillary supporter who thinks like that would be willing to vote for McCain.
Far from being a cynical ploy, she’s actually qualified to be McCain’s VP based on her record of standing up against corruption, fighting for tax cuts and reform, and her conservative politics. Plus she already has a track record of fighting against wasteful spending by among other things, ending a silly bridge to nowhere project.
She’s a Washington outsider with a fresh perspective, that’s a perfect fit for McCain.
You might not vote for McCain, but based on your comments I highly doubt you can understand the mentality of someone who would. That’s fine with me, go vote for Obama.
twilightmoon:
My whole point is that McCain selected a VP candidate that he himself considers unqualified–(Using his Obama criticisms).
It does not matter if she turns out to be qualified–just as if Obama is elected there will be no mass exodus from the country.
McCain is crazy because he thinks nobody pays attention to his hypocritical decision making—or he is crazy because he does not.
It was a reckless political decision foe McCain to make—according to McCain and Karl Rove.
Reckless how? She has 10 years of Political experience, all executive, Obama less than 4 in state and us senate, most of his US senate experience was spent campaigning for president.
She accomplished cutting taxes in her town, then state, fighting injustice and corruption in a state oil board, forcing corrupt people to resign, cut out wasteful spending on a city and then state level, beat an incumbent governor of her own party, by the way, becoming the first and only female governor of Alaska.
Those are only a short list of the accomplishments she’s racked up in ten years. She’s a proven reformer and tax cutter. She’s done a lot, Obama, what has he done? Not one post in over 5 pages of this threat has been spent explaining his accomplishment or qualifications, Liberals just ASSUME that people KNOW he’s more qualified.
There’s an order of magnitude of difference between his (complete) lack of experience and qualifications, and hers. And the thick and endless condescension among liberals that everyone agrees with you or is an idiot needs to stop.
You guys need to come up with some facts that show why Obama is qualified. Heck I’d even be happy for a start if someone in this threat could POLITELY explain why Obama is as qualified as Sarah Palin, forget John McCain because that’s no contest.
Question: If Hillary had won the nomination, would Sarah Palin still have been the most qualified Republican to be VP?
maccam: “Question: If Hillary had won the nomination, would Sarah Palin still have been the most qualified Republican to be VP?”
Well, first you’re assuming that all Republicans agree that she is. I think she is because it’s not just who’s the most qualified Republican to be a “republican” VP but rather who is qualified to be a McCain VP. Those are different things, who will mesh with McCain and shares his views is not the same thing as “a Republican” who is qualified to be VP to a generic Republican presidency.
McCain saw someone with a fresh perspective, with a proven track record of reform, tax cutting, and fighting wasteful spending. McCain does not accept ear marks, she ended a very high profile ear mark in Alaska, the so-called Bridge to Nowhere.
I think by asking this question, you:
1. underestimate McCain.
2. completely misunderstand who McCain is and what his values are.
3. assume that all political decisions are calculated and expedient and self serving. McCain has already proven he’s not like that.
Has Obama?
Mr. Reeee is a moron. There I said it. He sounds like all the other unrealistic (let’s us technology to get off oil instead of drilling our own) libtards… Er, what do you do about those 250M vehicles on the road?
Why is it alright for all the libtard socialist countries you guys love so much to drill for oil but not us? Canada, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain.. and then the country with the libtards favorite world leader. Chavez… Doh!
Another point I think liberals here are missing is that McCain was likely looking for a Washington outsider. Washington has a way of corrupting and changing people. If my instincts are right here, that already disqualifies a great number of “more qualified” individuals.
Ben Dover: “Why is it alright for all the libtard socialist countries you guys love so much to drill for oil but not us?”
How about China drilling a few miles past our national waterspace in the Gulf? Doh!
Heck there’s nothing stopping them from slant drilling into our own oil supply.
@cccap1
Palin is not running for President. Obama is.
Washington needs to be run like a business. Legislators don’t understand how to do it. That’s why JFK was the last sitting legislator to become President. I personally don’t like either Obama or McCain.
BTW – McCain’s pick for VP has re-energized the Republican base. THAT is what is important…
She is all surface, no sense.
MILF? Well it would be cool if some pics or gossip emerged of her with some Football team or something….
She is, of course, a complete phony.
She will say anythng to get to a position of power.
Meteoric rise – I wonder who she f**ked (literally or figuratively) to get there?
Anyway, as a wise man said here (Harvey, actually) – the election will be rigged to ensure that Obama loses.
There is NO democracy in the USA – if voting changed anything, it would be illegal.
Chinese do slant drilling!
Very funny, if slightly racist. LOL!
Oh and Palin is just a face to reassure the American people while they are being screwed again.
If any country needs a serious clean out via violent revolution, its the totally corrupt USA.
DONT give up your guns, boys and girls……
“If any country needs a serious clean out via violent revolution, its the totally corrupt USA.
DONT give up your guns, boys and girls……”
Say you want a revolution… well, you know….
“It turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling.” – Sarah Palin
Yo, Macca
Sarah Palin has accomplished more in her tenure in public office than that empty suit, BS artist, Obama.
Remember Bill Clinton was a governor before he took office. Listen to Huckabee’s comment which states that a governor makes more far reaching decisions in a week that most senators make in a year.
“Probably because she loves him and wants to maintain the vows that say he’s her husband until death do them part.”
That’s complete BS. She cynically decided to take it to maintain a lifestyle and a political future. She knows that if she’d kicked Bill to the curb, her chances of becoming a senator or president would be 0%. Oh well, same eventual outcome on the president thing…
Here we go!
Zogby, 8/30/2008:
McCain/Palin: 47%
Obama/Biden: 45%
Negative “bounce” for Obama and the Ol’ Plagiarist.
Those who do not get a convention bounce or, worse, lose voters, do not fare well in elections.
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews1547.html
I lo-o-o-ove my iPhone.
“you make the assumption that our “system of carefully rehearsed moves” is not 500-1000 hours per year of practice involving actual hand to hand combat conditions.”
Really, people attack you with real knives and guns, take you to the ground, knee you in the nuts, gouge your eyes and bite any body part you put in the way? How many bullet wounds and cuts have you sustained in your training. How many broken necks and backs have you inflicted upon your training partners. If it’s as “real world” as you say, In 1000 hours, I’d bet plenty, since someone has to lose each time you engage. Most “Black Belts” get their belts just for showing up to training enough and wouldn’t feel comfortable or competent taking a real knife off an upset 7 year old.
I do not think, actually that Palin is any more or less qualified to be pres than any of the other candidates. Or George Bush or me, for that matter.
I am a big fan of the idea of the president coming from anywhere. So my point really is not about what I think.
I do believe that John McCain either did not mean that Obama was not qualified–or that he did not consider Palin’s qualifications sufficient.
She is younger, has only held her Governorship for 18 months–Obama has been Senator for three years, Obama also has run a very successful national campaign and toppled the Clinton machine (no republican can say that)–Obama has shown a gift for inspiration, management and leadership during this campaign—people have enough information to make their decision.
So all I am trying to assert here is that Palins qualifications failed the McCain test–so I think McCain has really gambled here.
Over 18 million americans think Obama is ready–I’m not sure 1000 Alaskans think Palin is ready.
This is all I am saying.
“That’s a flat out lie (and a bizarre lie at that). “
Exactly what executive experience do the others have that you’re referring to? You would need to have been part of a state or the federal government’s executive branch to claim that. She’s the only one who is. So however small you may think her experience is, the others all have less in that particular area.