ace....I dont believe guilt by association should be relevant in this campaign.

But McCain/Palin and their supporters should not expect a double standard.

By the incessant raising of the issue of Wright, Rezko, Ayers.....they made the Palin-Stevens association relevant.....not me or any Obama supporters.

The issue now is if hey believe a convicted felon, who was one of Palin's political mentors with whom she had a close association for most of her political career and on whose PAC board she served, should resign his seat in the Senate....or to put it more bluntly in terms many McCain/Palin supporters will understand....should they throw Stevens under the bus?

Indeed, what is Sarah Palin not telling us about her association with 00's era corrupt politician Ted Stevens?

are you kidding me, where do you draw the line? Sarah/mccain are harping on someone obama knew when he was 8 and every little association over the past 40 yrs and they are going to gripe about "oh, well, lots of people were associated with stevens.

this is what is costing mccain the election: complete..utter hypocrisy.

period

Win or lose she will be here to stay unless they find something damning enough to boot her out of the governor's office. Say what you will about her but the GOP "evangelicals" that supported Bush are behind her even more than they were Bush. She has ignited that part of the party and can do no wrong no matter how silly she sounds, and she is now campaigning for 2012, hell it wouldn't surprise me if she wants to lose this election. There was talk of McCain pledging to only serve one term but that never was stated by McCain. The infighting on the McCain ticket is the last thing they want a week before the election. Palin/Coulter 2012!!!!

I'm hoping for Palin/Hasselback, personally. But I don't think she'll win the nomination in 2012, for the same reasons that Huckabee didn't win this year. She's simply too conservative, and so can't appeal to the moderates that you have to be able to appeal to to win an election. On top of that, she has a lot of baggage from this election that she would have to overcome. If I had to guess, I'd guess that Palin will run in 2012, she'll generally come in 3rd or 4th, and someone who didn't run this year will win the nomination.

You betcha... You're right about too conservative to win.

Hopefully extremes will begin to calm after people come to their senses after electing (as a knee-jerk reaction to the Bush years) an empty-suit cult-of-personality opportunistic limousine-liberal socialist.

otto....does that include calming your extemism with comments like the above?

On a more amusing note...here is an intereting scenario regarding Palin/Stevens.

Stevens wont drop out before next Tues and continues to campaign for reelction...and given his still popular support in Alaska, could conceivably win another 6 year term.

However, after his appeals run out and his conviction stands, he will be forced to resign or will be expelled from the Senate.

The Governor of Alaska must appoint a replacement to complete the term -- and she appoints the Governor of Alaska!

McCain and Palin refuse to speak to each other on the floor of the Senate for the next six years.

More like too batshit loony.


I'd vote Palin/Hasslehoff.

According to Alaska law, the Governor doesn't select the replacement; a special election would have to be held.

There is no double standard. Palin's reputation has been harmed by the relationship, she has been harmed based on her relationship with her church, and a few other relationships publicized in the media. McCain's reputation has been harmed by his association in the Keating 5 matter, even his association with Bush. In this election there has been a major focus on "associations", I find it interesting how you address this question.

I know a convicted felon, I would not throw him under the bus, or minimize my past relationship with him. In my view the problem is not knowing people who did wrong, but how one handles and explains the relationship. I know people who have views similar to Rev. Wright, I would not throw that person under the bus either - if a select few can't accept that, I say srew 'em.
-----Added 28/10/2008 at 11 : 16 : 26-----
Again, in my view the problem is Obama not being open and honest about his past relationships. He is hiding something about his real political views, I am not comfortable with that.

I said earlier that Palin wouldn't be able to pick a replacement. I wasn't entirely correct. From the Volokh Conspiracy (citing an election law blog):

Who knows, she may be the one to split the Republican party. I think something like 25% of the GOP are considered the "evangelicals" and she might bring over others based on her presence and charisma. Of course, she really hasn't told us what HER views are, we get bits and pieces but mainly it's McCain talking points so everyone is guessing based on her prior actions and affilations where she stands.

It appears that the McCain campaign wants her to stop talking about her $150,000 clothes in the final week of the election as the damage has been done and bringing it up only detracts from their talking points. I wonder if Palin doesn't think her persona as typical "hockey mom" is more important than this election? This issue and the "bridge to nowhere" could dog her for years.

Even McCain has called for Ted Stevens to step down.

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - McCain calls on convicted senator to step down - Blogs from CNN.com

I don't know if that means to step down from the election or to resign from the Senate. From what asaris quoted those could mean two very different things. It's kind of funny that Palin still refuses to comment on what she believes should happen.

To me this illustrates a problem with McCain. I think Steven's should have the opportunity to address the issue publicly before politicians start using the conviction for political fodder. Give the man a day or two to digest the conviction, decide what he is going to do, and announce it. If I were Steven's I would call a press conference and come clean, admit wrong doing, resign from the Senate, stop the campaign, and accept punishment with whatever honor he has left. McCain making political points on this is classless in my view. Hence another reason why I like Palin.

McCain has nothing to lose with his call for Stevens to step down.

Some may suggest Palin is waiting to see how its playing in Aaska, where Stevens is still popular....

Which is the more political or cynical response ...saying he should step down immediately because its the right thing to do.,......or waitng to say anything until you test the politcal winds at home?

she's not 'stupid' enough to piss off the people who put her in office, only the person who tapped her to be the vp nominee...

I am not sure you guys get the point. When a once respected and high powered individual falls, there is no added value in piling on other than for personal gain. The easiest thing to do is to say the Senator should step down, etc.

The right thing to do is to say that a convicted felon should step down.

The political thing to do, particularly if you are a protege, is to hedge your position to see how it will impact your future in the state.

He doesn't seem like he is going to take this opportunity and do the right thing though. He says he is still going to continue his campaign and says that he is going to try and overturn his conviction.

Now even Palin is calling for him to resign which I am sure was something she was forced to do to get in line with McCain

I agree. I think the increasing friction in the McCain/Palin camp is based on the fact that Palin does not like to be told what to do and the fact McCain is notorious for changing his views. I also think Stevens has the right to file an appeal.

As much as I don't care for Stevens, asking him to step down that soon after the conviction is laid down is a political move by McCain. If there was no election happening and he appeals you wouldn't hear a word about resigning (from the GOP side anyways) until the appeal was completed.

The Dems asking to step down that soon after the conviction is just par for the political landscape...