Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain (AP)

[jefferson_dem]

Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - By claiming that Democrat Barack Obama is "palling around with terrorists" and doesn't see the U.S. like other Americans, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin targeted key goals for a faltering campaign.

And though she may have scored a political hit each time, her attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret.

First, Palin's attack shows that her energetic debate with rival Joe Biden may be just the beginning, not the end, of a sharpened role in the battle to win the presidency.

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin told a group of donors in Englewood, Colo. A deliberate attempt to smear Obama, McCain's ticket-mate echoed the line at three separate events Saturday.

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism."

Her reference to Obama's relationship with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground, was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.

Obama, who was a child when the Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers' radical views and actions.

<SNIP>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081005/ap_on_el_pr/palin_s_words_analysis

[TwilightGardener]

1. Hey, from AP, no less! Good stuff. Glad to see even the media acknowledges

that the brainless bitch is full of shit. Now, about that Alaska Independence Party...

[BumRushDaShow]

2. AP, so this goes everywhere. Good. n/t

[Arkana]

3. This one squeezed through Ron Fournier's Cheeto-stained grip, it seems.

[liberalmuse]

4. My nephew's High School principal was in the Weather Underground.

He's a good guy. I'm sick of the blatant lies coming from the McCain campaign. They're insulting.

[liberal N proud]

5. Not only could it expose McCain to his past...

Palin just interjected race into the campaign. Obama sees the country differently. It could be seen as blacks see the country differently.

[msongs]

6. who thinks todd palin likes black people? nt

[Hope And Change]

7. K & R!

[Tesla]

10. That would mean every citizen of Crawford Texas would be under investigation for treason!

I mean they live by the biggest traitor that the US has had YET!

[rocktivity]

8. Palin has backfired on McCain, period.

And by extention, McCain has backfired on himself. His living monument to his judgment is what has precipitated Obama's "surge"--the last of the undecided voters see either the blatant absurdity or the inherent danger of the McCain/Palin ticket.

Welcome to the beginning of the end.

:headbang:
rocknation

[PBS Poll-435]

9. Oh yeah?

She fucked a secessionist at least 4, maybe 5 times.

The largest crisis that the USA has ever faced was the "War Between the States" that resulted from selfish secessionist efforts.

[Stagecoach]

11. It's October; the tactics are changing

First it was trying to simply attack Obama.....that hasn't worked. Now they're trying to add to the attacks, by using fear tactics now. Stuff that's not true....but anything to try and put doubt in voter's minds by scaring them. I just don't believe these tactics are going to work when there's real issues on the table, such as the economic situation this country is in.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. DUers, please go to the article at Yahoo and vote it up. It's doing very poorly now with 60 votes

mostly negative.

[electron_blue]

13. On MTP today: Palin threw McCain under the bus at the debate, has

given up on 2008 and has her eyes on 2012

[CANDO]

14. "American Exceptionalism"

Let there be no doubt this is straight out of the hard core right wing ideological world view. It basically says we are the one country in the world that's blessed by god almighty and we can do no wrong, and anyone challenging it to live up to it's stated ideals is just an America hater.

[bluedawg12]

16. "Exceptionlism" = Mainfest destiny

This should be attacked, as it is a diversion from the true feelings of American people who think that we are headed down the wrong track.

Obama voices the true mood of the people, and they turn it around into an anti-American diatribe against our candidate.


>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism
American exceptionalism (cf. "exceptionalism") refers to the belief that the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations, because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institutions.

Certain persons view American exceptionalism as a product of veiled nationalistic chauvinism. The term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies to refer to a willful nationalistic ignorance of faults committed by the American government.<1>

Dorothy Ross, in Origins of American Social Science (1991), argued that there are three generic varieties of American exceptionalism:

supernaturalist explanations which emphasize the causal potency of God in selecting America as a "city on a hill" to serve as an example for the rest of the world, genetic interpretations which emphasize racial traits, ethnicity, or gender, and
environmental explanations such as geography, climate, availability of natural resources, social structure, and type of political economy.

The term was first used in respect of the United States by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831.<2> American exceptionalism is close to the idea of Manifest Destiny...


American exceptionalism during the Cold War was often cast by the mass media as the American Way of Life personifying "liberty" engaged in a battle with tyranny as represented by communism.<<

[Karenina]

17. It's a mentality that seriously hinders Americans.

[jenmito]

15. Obama (or a 527) should point out that both Palins found America so imperfect that they wanted

to secede from it as members of the AIP. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI

[Shallah Kali]

19. Salon.com on the AIP connection - links

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/index.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/

[No Elephants]

18. I am not sure Obama denounced Ayers views, nor do I think he should. He did denounce he conduct.

[noise]

20. Perception over reality

The GOP has tried to redefine patriotism as authoritarianism. This seems to be Palin's belief.

This is the type of attitude that justified torture as not torture, a safe and legal tactic.

[No Elephants]

21. Doesn't "exceptionalism" mean that America and Americans are superior to everyone else? Uber alles