John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate to shore up his support from the religious right, which has been dominating the Republican Party in recent years. Choosing Palin will help McCain receive the support of the religious right but picking her comes at a tremendous cost. Palin’s extremist views remind voters of how radical the Republican Party has become. The use of dishonest Rove-style campaign tactics, which Palin showed she fully embraces with all the untrue statements in her acceptance speech, further alienates moderate and independent voters. Jake Tapper noted this in reviewing the responses of independents to Palin here in Michigan:
The Detroit Free Press invited a panel of Michigan voters to weigh-in on Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech last night. Their reactions run the gamut, but the independents didn’t seem to care for her very much.
Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent: “Her speech contained few statements about policy or the party platform. … I am not convinced that Palin’s experience as a mayor or governor in Alaska meet the qualifications to be vice president, much less one stroke or heart attack away from being commander in chief.”
Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent: “The way it looks to me, she’s the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: Because Hillary wasn’t selected.”
George Lentz, 66, Southfield independent: “I was completely underwhelmed. She was a Republican novelty act with a sophomoric script. It was not even a speech I would expect for someone running for the local PTA, much less for vice president.”
Diane Murphy, 42, Sterling Heights independent: “It appears that, once she makes up her mind, that is the end of it. We live in a gray world, not every answer is black and white.”
Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent: “Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarks and distortions to be a major turnoff. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog.”
Update: Tapper has issued an update and removed the first quote from his post writing that she appears to be an anti-war activist and “thus not particularly predisposed to have an open mind about Gov. Palin.” There was also a second anti-war activist who was interviewed by The Detroit Free Press but not quoted by Tapper.
At least three of these ‘independents’ in this article
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS15/80827001/&imw=Y
are not what a fair minded person would consider an independent:
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/04/michigan-independent-in-much-linked-palin-focus-group-is-a-cindy-sheehan-supporter/
Grain of salt, please.
Hotair is simply rejecting the idea that anyone who is critical of the current Republicans could be a conservative or independent.
This has been debunked. Even Tapper himself posted a retraction. A statement from the Free Press, which appears to have been duped, appars to be forthcoming.
One of the five quotes above were removed by Tapper as it turned out to have been from an anti-war activist who “was not particularly predisposed to have an open mind about Gov. Palin.” He has continued to post the other four quotes from independents.
Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI), a current Independent, will be in Birmingham, MI tonight (10/9) at 7:30p speaking to a crowd of voters about the election. Event is free and open to the public.
1025 E. Maple Rd.