Doctor Fate wrote:I think Stewart nails it.

That was great. Thanks.

I would think that the left is more fearful of Romney than Palin or Bachmann. He has a much better shot at winning the general election.

This is funny. Palin has made a lot of money since being named VP in 2008, partly due to the fact that her small core of loyal followers get upset when she is attacked by liberal media. Palin loves the attention, good or bad, it keeps the money flowing in. What is the complaint here again? We should piity poor Palin because she is so viciously attacked...which she really doesn't mind because she keeps making money. Maybe Palin should get out of the public spotlight, seeing as how she has no intention in running for political office.

Ray Jay wrote:I would think that the left is more fearful of Romney than Palin or Bachmann. He has a much better shot at winning the general election.

True--IF there is a real chance of Obama getting re-elected. We don't know that yet.

All it will take is one financial debacle and Obama gets crushed. Say there's another bank bailout . . . How bad would that be?

On the other hand, if unemployment is at 6.5%, inflation is low, gas prices are at $2, and we're on our way out of three wars, who wants to run against him?

Now, the truth will probably be somewhere in the middle, BUT I believe the situation will be such that any credible Republican can and will beat the President. Why?

Incompetence is Barack's real middle name.

Ricky, you make half of a decent point. It is true Palin has made a boatload of money off the media attention she has garnered. Now, you just mentioned that constant attention yourself, can you point to a liberal politician who has anywhere close to that scrutiny? Is the liberal main stream media trying to make Palin rich? or are they simply trying to unfairly pound on her? Yes, she did well by them but was it fair attention? If you say yes, please point to anyone on the liberal side who they persecuted as much as her, the list of candidates is pretty endless, from Obama's 50plus states to the whole litany of nonsense from Biden, none was barely mentioned by MSM ...why? is it fair? can you HONESTLY deny the MSM is biased?

Now, you just mentioned that constant attention yourself, can you point to a liberal politician who has anywhere close to that scrutiny?

Lately?
Anthony Weiner?
Not that he doesn't deserve it. .although be fair, his scandal gave us one of the best newspaper headlines in history in the New York Post
"Weiner Sticks it Out..."

Before him? Elliot Spitzer? Edwards? Hillary Clinton?
They've all undergone enormous scrutiny. Especially Hillary. Why they made a movie, from a Joe Klein novel, where she, played by an English Woman, cheated on her husband with a campaign aide...) Some actually handled all the scrutiny pretty well. So do most professional politicians.
Michelle Bachman has responded to the negatives about her earlier performances by improving her delivery and her preparedness.... She didn't whine and moan and blame the media for her failings. She realized she had to "deal with it". She's currently acting miles above where she was with her crazy pronouncements of the past...(quoting Indian newspapers about the cost of Obama's trip without checking...blaming flu epidemics on democratic Administrations...)
If Bachman keeps looking uncrazy (not always as easy as it sounds, there are so many things to rail nonsensically about) Palin won't run for sure. Becasue Bachman will be seen as a more capable version of Palin. (It was interesting that Bachman came out for States rights on marriage and also for a federal constitutional amendment on marriage. Logic doesn't appear to be a requirement for the nomination.)

You really want to compare Wiener's week of fame to Palin?
Palin has faced unfair criticisms for 4 years, Wiener faced fair criticism for one or two weeks now.
Spitzer same thing and now he hosts a TV show on CNN where he no longer faces constant scrutiny, he is a "respected" host.
Hillary? Not even close, she has faced many criticisms from the right wing idiots, but how much from the MSM and now she is a Secretary of State. Your examples are not even close, keep trying!

Another partial truth though, I agree with much of what you say about Bachman ...so far. Let's see how the MSM handles her as things progress, as a few have pointed out, the left seems to have no room for women who don't follow their rules and they get hammered especially hard. When NOW criticized Palin for running instead of staying home raising her family, that went against everything they stand for, yet that's what they did, Palin didn't conform to their standards. Bachman might be interesting.

Tom:

When NOW criticized Palin for running instead of staying home raising her family, that went against everything they stand for, yet that's what they did,

Do you have a link for that statement? I couldn't find one.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076943/posts

A spokeswoman for the National Organization for Women, noting Palin’s opposition to abortion rights and support of other parts of the social conservative agenda, told Politico, “She's more a conservative man than she is a woman on women's issues. Very disappointing."

not part of NOW, but a feminist just the same all the same in my mind:
Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Reimer penned an outrageous piece slamming Palin three times for her choice to bring her baby to term. “You want to look good to the evangelicals? Choose a running mate with a Down syndrome child.” Later: “I don’t know what I’ll do if she trots out the story of her 5-month-old baby to shore up the Republican base.” Reimer then sketches Palin as “a woman who made the decision to carry to term a baby she knew to be developmentally disabled.”

Reimer’s contempt for Gov. Palin turned to pathetic pre-teen jealousy: “She won’t be able to hold her own against Joe Biden in a vice presidential debate. But wait until the swimsuit portion of the competition.”


..maybe I should say "Feminists" instead of NOW, and be more general?
They did go after her pretty badly

so your original statement had truthiness, but was not really accurate. NOW didn't criticise Palin for running instead of staying home with her family.

Palin has faced unfair criticisms for 4 years,

Its part of being a political animal. Its part of wanting the public spotlight.
You can't clamour for the spot light then complain when, under the spotlight you suffer what you consider to be unfair scrutiny. You have to expect scrutiny and have to expect a certain measure of it to be "unfair".
Thats what is particularly galling about Palin and which as you may have noted I applauded Michelle Bachman for ..
Its how Palin reacts to things. She's always the victim. Its always the "lamestream medias " fault. (her term.
Now, she cricizes the media then she joins it? She invites attention then complains when the attention resullts in scrutiny. She gets elected Governor then finds governing tedious....and quits. She quits everything once it takes effort. It took her what 4 colleges to get a journalism degree?
She's a dilletant more than a real political character with genuine well learned principals. If she were dedicated to the craft of being a politician I'd think she'd be better prepared to handle scrutiny. And she'd certainly be better prepared to avoid some of the negatives.
She has a ton and a half of charisma. and a ton and a half of self confidence. And the attention span of a 5 year old, which serves her poorly in demonstrating a genuine grasp on any issue. All you get are "talking points" and platitudes.
I predict she'll declare for the Presidency, and after a set back will quit and blame the media.

Ray Jay wrote:so your original statement had truthiness, but was not really accurate. NOW didn't criticise Palin for running instead of staying home with her family.

Not really. On Sept 5, 2008 NOW President Kim Gandy said,

“It would be best for everyone if Sarah Palin would just stay home and raise her kids. When you have one child with Down syndrome and another with an unwanted pregnancy who won’t even consider the ease and convenience of abortion, you need to be a better mother, not Vice President.”

http://carbolicsmoke.com/2008/09/05/fem ... -her-kids/

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky
What part can you not understand?
Unfair criticisms is part of a political life, we agree
Spotlight? we agree

But why can you not admit SHE has faced more than her share?
You want to paint this as all her fault, yet when you go through things you simply find her being dragged through the mud more than any other.

She did not know what the "Bush Doctrine" was?
...the person who coined the term says she nailed it

You yourself bring up a message made to children and try to infer she's stupid because she simplified a statement so children would understand.

Her claim that she could see Russia from her home was an obvious expression and not one of fact yet it was harped upon.

The intense scrutiny over her emails...has anyone else gone through that? (and did any of these liberal people chage their mind about her after finding only GOOD things that pained her as more intelligent than they assumed?)

It took her 4 colleges to get a degree?
...so, she got that degree. Are we to tell people they should quit or praise them for following through? How about Biden's plagiarism in college?I guess it's better to cheat than to try hard?

You say she should simply be more able to handle scrutiny? Gee, that's sweet of you? Doesn't change the fact that nobody has faced what she has faced.

And talking points and platitudes?
Ummm, how is she any different from Biden or Obama?
and if the media maintains their unfairness, why shouldn't she complain about them? I guess it's ok that they fawn over Obama and ignore his gaffs (you made the claim that her stutters were so bad yet Obama's don't seem to bother you) yet they over-concentrate on any tiny slip she may make, real or imagined.
You have said nothing to prove the press has overreacted to things she has said and done, instead you buy into what they are selling you...why do you fail to make mention of the recent email scouring that showed her to be far more intelligent?

Thanks Russ, I knew I heard that before.

Does the defense have a rebuttal?