According to the Washington Independent, this is Sarah Palin's own handwriting on an Earmark....
more here
This little gem outlines some of the state-funded projects that Wasilla City secured that year, including $1.2 million for storm water treatment and $605,000 for pedestrian pathways.
Then, slapped in the margin, former Mayor Sarah Palin — reformer extraordinaire — scribbled the following message:
Palin Writes:
Council: FYI This does not include our $ nearly One Milion Dollars from the Feds for our Airport Paving Project. We Did Well!!! with an SP for effect...
Yes Sarah, you did well to fool the press, but the Press isn't stupid... And neither is the voting public. From 538.com (my favorite take down of last night)...
In exceedingly plain English, I think there's a pretty big who the fuck does she think she is? factor. And not just among us Daily Kos reading, merlot-drinking liberals. I think Palin's speech will be instinctively unappealing to other whole demographics of voters, including particuarly working-class men (among whom there may be a misogyny factor) and professional post-menopausal women.
This point may be a little bit overstated, but the fact remains that Barack Obama is extremely well known and Palin is largely unknown, and when that is the case, your perception of the known commodity is more likely to influence your perception of the unknown commodity than the other way around. If there's a certain Italian restaurant that you've been going to for years, and some stranger stops you on the street and tells you that they don't know how to cook their pasta, you're going to think that the stranger is a kook -- not that the restaurant is poor.
The biggest response I've heard so far has been pretty universal: We still don't know who she is... and further why it matters. Put plainly, her hypocrisy is the biggest liability for Mrs. Palin.
Even after the speech last night, the focus group isn't moved...
A focus group of a dozen unmarried women who are either undecided voters or who are weak supporters of either Obama or McCain, convened in Las Vegas to discuss Palin’s speech as soon as it ended.
Two major themes emerged early on during their discussion: They still don’t feel they know enough about Palin — either personally or from a governing standpoint — and they are worried she doesn’t have the experience to take over the presidency should McCain die in office.
“The nation needs to know what her issues are,” said one woman, who, unprompted, added she needed to know more specifics about Palin’s policies because she worries about McCain’s advanced age.
Another woman quickly agreed: “He could just keel over at any moment,” she said, adding that she wants to know “just exactly what [Palin’s] going to do, more than just hearing about her family.”
Another woman chimed in, saying Palin should approach the campaign as someone who is “applying” for the job. “She has to apply for this job like she’s running for president. ... She’s going to have to sell herself.
It'll take alot more lipstick to make this "Pitbull" look anything other than a PIG...
Update: Thanks for making this onto the list. Since I had one piece of focus group info, I thought I'd add another I just came across... H/T Americablog
Detroit Free Press Focus Group
“Palin is a far better orator than McCain. But the tone of her speech is sarcastic, mean-spirited and divisive. Apparently, her role is to look good and throw out red meat for the base. …
“Palin has repeated her lie about ‘saying no’ to the bridge from nowhere. Has she no shame?”
-- James Melton, 45, Detroit Democrat
“Sarah Palin came across as the small town girl who made good. I knew that I disagreed with her on some issues before this evening. After listening to her speech … 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.”
-- Diane Murphy, 42, Sterling Heights 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 a someone running for the local PTA, much less for vice president.”
-- George Lentz, 66, Southfield independent
“Who is Sarah Palin? I'm sorry but I still don't know anymore about this young lady tonight than I did last night ... The way it looks to me, she's the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: because Hillary wasn't selected.”
-- Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent
"Sarah Palin is a self-described ‘pitbull with lipstick.’ She spent little time helping Americans learn who she is. She is a cool, poised speaker, but 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.”
-- Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent
“Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarksand distortions to be a major turn off. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog.”
-- Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent
“Sarah got as much applause as Hillary did, and had a friendly, appealing appearance.
Her delivery style reminded me of a high school valedictorian who also might have been a cheerleader. I thought she would appear more professional, more stateswomanly. She's no match for Joe Biden.”
-- Joellen Gilchrist, 64, Beverly Hills independent
Update II: More Focus Group Reaction from that Nevada one... with info this time it had alot of Clinton voters in the mix. i.e. "target audience"...
"I didn't expect to be as impressed as I was," said another respondent. But then another woman added: "Once she started mudslinging, I thought, it's the same old crap as other politicians. McCain used her to get the women's vote. And she's using McCain."
"Thank you," another woman responded. "That really upset me; there was no need for that. It was snippy."
"I'm not impressed with her at all as a person," one said, citing her "finger pointing" and general sarcasm after the group had generally agreed that she was a talented public speaker.
But in both groups, narrow majorities said they held a more negative view of Palin after her speech. "She comes off pretty cutthroat," said one.
When prompted to respond to Palin's steadfast opposition to abortion -- even in cases of rape or incest -- no woman in either group stepped forward to defend the Alaskan Republican. "I don't dig that," said one married woman, matter of factly.
And a focus group that is supremo-importante pour moi, my mom's email reaction from last night:
Didn't listen to her, don't like her, don't like how she paraded her family (future son-in-law) on stage as though being unwed and pregnant was a proud thing to be. Heard some of the sound bites on the news this morning. What can i say, but that she's nasty. Thinks she's cute by attacking the "left wing" like she did. Her anger just covers up her inadequateness at being a good VP. Her reference to her job as governor as compared to Obama's job as community leader was a low blow. I don't like her. Linda hates her and is putting up the Obama sign in our yard as soon as we get our yard cleaned up.
love,
mommmmmmmmmmmmm :)
Mom lives in the path of Gustav... And FYI Gallup and Rasmussen are both holding today; it would seem that Fred and Joe went over not so well, and I'd wager we'll see the same tomorrow.