My PUMA is flummoxed by Palin.

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“MA!”

“WHAT!”

“Did you hear??”

“What? McCain?”

“YES! Aw, Man! It’s only 8 or so in California…I thought I’d get to tell you.”

“No. I am listening to the NPR. Family Radio has become annoying. That man thinks the world will end in three years.”

“SO???”

“So what?”

“What do YOU think? You were so curious about whom he’d pick…”

“I was really disappointed when I heard it…my heart just went down to the floor. What’s wrong with this old man, has he lost his brain or something? She is a young girl. No experience. She is Governor of state with 8000 population for only two years. What’s she know?”

“I think…Alaska has more people than—“

“Who cares! Don’t interrupt! Point is, I can manage things better than she can. This is guaranteed losing ticket.”

“You wanted Joe Lieberman, didn’t you?”

“I did!”

“And why is that, Mummy?”

“Because he is a Democrat. Was. I mean, he is independent. Also, he was so nice to you, when you met with him and his wife.”

“Awesome reasoning, Ma. Anyway, if not Sarah, then whom?”

“I would rather he gone for that…kid…the Indian…the governor…”“Bobby Jindal?”

“Yes. Him. He is better than this Sarah. Or the other one.”

“WHICH one, Ma?”

“Oh, start naming the names, I will tell you.”

“Um…Pawlenty…Romney…”

“THAT ONE! The Romney.”

“(facetiously) Eeeew. You’d vote for a Mormon?”

“What is wrong with the Mormon?

“Well, what is wrong with a Muslim?”

“You are a smart Alex. Mormons are people, too.”

“So are Muslims. By the way, I think Mormons secretly convert people, who are in no position to object to such tomfoolery, since, oh, I don’t know…they’re DEAD.”

“Nooooo. That can’t be true.”

“Mom. We’re Orthodox. Officially, they’re heretics.”

“We are Orthodox, and we are religious. They didn’t secretly do anything to you. That’s why we have nothing to fear from a Mormon.”

“Are you implying Muslims are full of harm and that we should fear them, then?”

“I DID NOT SAY THAT. Are you putting this on your website? DON’T PUT LIES ON THAT WEBSITE ABOUT YOUR MOTHER.”

“It’s totally off the record, Ma.”

“You are a terrible liar, Latha.”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“Who is the Muslim??”

“No one. I was just being obnoxious.”

“I thought Obama was a Christian? Now I am confused.”

“He is Christian, not that it should matter. Whatever, I just wanted to know what my own PUMA thought of it all?”

“PUMA? What insult are you shamelessly calling your mother now?”

“Oh, you don’t know? PUMA. It stands for “Party Unity My…ah…I’m at work, so let’s go with Kundi. Party Unity My Kundi.”

“HAHAHAHA. So I am a PUMA, then?”

“You’re in good company, so is Abhi’s mom.”

“Who is Abhi?”

“The boy who started the website I write for–”

“Is he single?”

“Mom, seriously, that would be like marrying my brother. Besides, hello, I’m neither single nor looking? Have you no shame?”

“Vatewer. It’s a reflex, now. I just don’t know what I am going to do in this election.”

“Awww. You sound upset. You really wanted Hillary, didn’t you, Ma?”

“I did. She seems…she knows what she’s doing. She knows how the office would work. She has pull. She is tough. I wish I could vote for her.”

“You could always vote for Obama. He’s a democrat.”

“I’m not democrat.”

“Are you finally coming out of the closet, and admitting you’re a republican? I CALLED IT. I so called it, when I was in high school.

“I am not democrat OR republican.”

“Then? You’re an independent?”

“If some other candidate could come and be independent, I’d be happy. Now I feel like I have no choices.”

“You can do one of three things. You can vote for Obama, vote for McCain, or not vote at all, in which case, I will love you a little bit less.”

“Are we running a fashion parade here? Miss congeniality? What the hell? I can’t vote for McCain now…I don’t want that woman in the white house. Maybe he likes having the young girls around, who knows.”

“Ha. Well, I think her gender is definitely why she was chosen.”

“I know! Does he think I am stupid or something? I was not for Hillary because of that. He can’t expect me to jump up and down just because he picked a woman. What an idiot.”

“So…you do realize that Hillary and even Slick Willy are supporting Obama, right? And that they want you to vote for him, too?”

“Aren’t you at work? What have I told you about behaving in a professional Manner? GET OFF THE PHONE. If I were your Manager, I’d fire you for personal phone calls.”

“All right, all right. I love you too, Ma.”

“See you later crocodile.”

“After a while, alligator.”

425 thoughts on “My PUMA is flummoxed by Palin.”

  1. Yes, but John F. Kennedey would have not become POTUS without Lyndon Johnson, and dead people from Illinios.

    True – but it was not enough that Johnson was from Texas. It is that he was LBJ – the roughest, toughest, arm-twistingest legislator north of the Rio Grande.

    Yes – Palin’s look do help McCain, just as Obama’s looks help him. But John Edwards was better looking than Dick Cheney, but those good looks did not do John Kerry any good. But, I do expect Palin to be featured throughout PA, OH, and MI.

    Will some on the fence white voters be swayed by Palin’s looks? Maybe, but how many of them will show up to vote?

    BTW – LBJ was the last Democrat to win a majority of the white vote. White women are gonna be the most sought after demographic this year. So for all you folks hoping to get a few minutes to talk about improving immigration, harassment at the airports – both Obama and McCain will have to get back to you.

  2. Yes, but John F. Kennedey would have not become POTUS without Lyndon Johnson, and dead people from Illinios.

    illinois more important than texas. remember that the south was mostly democrat back then.

  3. Oh, no! McCain just picked A FEMALE OBAMA to run alongside him.

    One item you left out – Obama ran a campaign that beat the Clinton machine. He got the most votes over the course of primaries and caucuses. Palin was picked based on her looks over more qualified, but older, women – something which has bedeviled many working women.

  4. I love the more literary or comedic SM posts by ANNA. Next, could we have some Obama/Palin slash fiction. C’mon, you know America wants it ….

  5. 51 · KXB said

    Yes – Palin’s look do help McCain, just as Obama’s looks help him. But John Edwards was better looking than Dick Cheney, but those good looks did not do John Kerry any good. But, I do expect Palin to be featured throughout PA, OH, and MI

    You are mistaken…Looks is only a minor issue…It is the personal connection and appeal through looks, gender and background. Palin will score on this front which McCain lacks vis-a-vis Obama. Obama will have a tough time snatching the middle ground whites, working class votes from the heartlands.

  6. No pundit will bring it up though.

    Not sure if you include Rush in list of pundits, but on his show today, he said — “She is not shrill. She does not remind guys of their ex-wives. Rather they wish she was single”.

  7. Look, here’s what the tickets are going to look like when you go to vote in November: DEMOCRATS – President: inexperienced; Vice-president: Exprienced. REPUBLICAN – President: experienced; Vice-president: Inexperienced. Looks like everything’s evened out. The only decision to make is if you want an inexperienced president or an inexperienced vice-president. I don’t even like John McCain. But I know who I prefer

    Really? Obama fought hard to get here. He ran against one of the most influential political family and beat them at their game. Also, he won more than 18 millions votes nationwide.

    I think, John McCain insulted independent women by trying to play with their emotions. Also, Her under 2 years executive experience doesn’t count much. Alaska has just over half a million population and I don’t think governing such a state is THE most difficult job in the world.

  8. Hilarious! I swear this felt like it was me and my mom talking… especially her being a closeted Republican (despite her dislike with the Bush admin she still voted for him in the re-election today when I jokingly told her I think I’ll vote for McCain now..she goes “yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking..” BUSTED!! …..sigh…mothers…

  9. 1 · No von Mises said

    Tokenism with some nice traps. Dem’s need to attack with precision. On creationism, she delivered this gem: “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information.”

    Other parts from that interview, which you conveniently not quoted…either that or that is all you know of her views.

    “I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

    She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum. Members of the state school board, which sets minimum requirements, are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

    “I won’t have religion as a litmus test, or anybody’s personal opinion on evolution or creationism,” Palin said.

    Thank you.

  10. it shouldn’t be taught. it should be mocked. there’s no room for that in 21st century. evolve already.

  11. What’s great about McCain’s choice is that one way or the other, history is going to be made in November: a black president or a female veep. And given McCain’s age, we may soon see a female president, which has been a long time coming in American politics. Sure, she doesn’t have a lot of experience, but how much worse could she be than the current occupant of the White House?

  13. Palin is popular with the Republican base (at least at this stage) and has energized a group that wasn’t so energized about this whole McCain thing. I think that’s the more important point. The righty blogs sound about Palin the way the Kos kids sound about Obama…..

  14. “I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.” She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum. Members of the state school board, which sets minimum requirements, are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. “I won’t have religion as a litmus test, or anybody’s personal opinion on evolution or creationism,” Palin said.

    So she is better of the worst. noted.

  15. I would rather he gone for that…kid…the Indian…the governor…

    Do they refer to Arnold Schwarznegger as “that…kid…the Austrian…the governor…”?

  16. 63 · MD said

    Palin is popular with the Republican base (at least at this stage) and has energized a group that wasn’t so energized about this whole McCain thing.

    Really? I didn’t think anyone knew her outside of Alaska till today morning!! Wonder when and how she become popular [with the base]! They like her, but popular is a stretch.

  17. I think that McCain made a smart choice… no one from Obama’s campaign can say she’s inexperienced b/c that would be that pot calling the kettle black. Also, all those lost, uneducated Hilary supporters will now have someone to relate/turn to. Sarah Palin might be small town but some of our past Presidents have been as well (Truman, for example) and she’s only going for VP. Also, I’ve met Sarah Palin and think she will do great as a VP. Better than voting in Biden and his mortgage scandals. BTW, Alaska has a population of almost 700,000 and I’m proud to say I’m one of them.

  18. who knew mccain was such an ardent believer in the republican caricature of affirmative action, which he’s now affirmed with his token pick of a woman who is really quite unqualified? i guess he is a true maverick indeed.

    but as a desi, i do wonder why his tokenism did not choose the brown jindal, but rather a woman.

  19. 67 · AKresident said

    Also, all those lost, uneducated Hilary supporters will now have someone to relate/turn to.

    All? Bold word. Though you might not have intended to, you just insulted some mutineers’ mothers by calling them “uneducated”; also, this entire post is about a Hillary supporter who does not relate to nor care to turn to Palin.

    65 · VK said

    Do they refer to Arnold Schwarznegger as “that…kid…the Austrian…the governor…”?

    And “they” would be? Do you really think Jindal and the Terminator are analogous? Finally, FWIW, there is no need to find offense where there is none. We’re Christian. We’re brown. We’re neither pro-/anti-Jindal.

  20. Palin’s big oil and gas all the way.

    Big gas or big ass?

    Palin’s also big nose, and Palin’s very good friend is Biggus Dickus.

    I expect someone at the RNC to accidentally Freudian slip “Obama-Biden” into “Osama bin Laden”, which would be as regrettable as saying that the country’s run by Bush and Dick and their former buddy Colon Bowel.

  21. 33 · Kush Tandon said

    but I also know Democratic Party knows to loose elections from the jaws of victory, … The chattering class that is the present core base of Democratic Party tends to be myopic, and very self centered, and often destructive………just look comments of liberal democrats here @ SM, rather than build strong coalitions

    Well put.

    Remember Gore and then Kerry. Democratic Party has demonstrated how to screw things up. I just hope the Obama campaign has more brains than Obama devotees. Heck some commentators here even don’t realize that if Obama loses Moornam will be grating them for 4 long years on this board. 😉

  22. 63 · MD said

    Palin is popular with the Republican base (at least at this stage) and has energized a group that wasn’t so energized about this whole McCain thing. I think that’s the more important point. The righty blogs sound about Palin the way the Kos kids sound about Obama…..

    MD is exactly right. This pick is only secondarily about Palin’s potential crossover appeal, which I think is minimal. It’s actually about shoring up McCain’s base, especially on the right, while trying to restore some shine to his rather tarnished “maverick” image. So it’s a defensive more than an offensive pick for him. It was a good choice if only for that reason, and even better considering the mediocrity of the alternatives. But I don’t see how it improves the electoral map for him beyond helping his prospects of holding some Republican-leaing Southern and Western states where Obama is seriously challenging.

  23. Heck some commentators here even don’t realize that if Obama loses Moornam will be grating them for 4 long years on this board. 😉

    I’ll grate you folks either way – it’s the least I could do!

    no one from Obama’s campaign can say she’s inexperienced b/c that would be that pot calling the kettle black.

    Ahem…

    M. Nam

  24. 58 · Desi Mem said

    Hilarious! I swear this felt like it was me and my mom talking… especially her being a closeted Republican (despite her dislike with the Bush admin

    Chandare, Brimful, Wee!, Nayagan, AF, Desi Mem, Mode…thank you. 🙂

  25. 71 · pingpong said

    Palin’s big oil and gas all the way.
    Big gas or big ass? Palin’s also big nose, and Palin’s very good friend is Biggus Dickus. I expect someone at the RNC to accidentally Freudian slip “Obama-Biden” into “Osama bin Laden”, which would be as regrettable as saying that the country’s run by Bush and Dick and their former buddy Colon Bowel.

    You’ve got to laugh abit, love a little, drink a little.

    Can we get some SepiaMunity style regular video show like Pot Psychology?

    As per my personal prediction, the race is going to be tight down to the wire.

    Good Memorial Day weekend gents and ladies!

  26. karmabyte – she’s been a regular fixture (in terms of speculation) for months at NRO, Hot Air, Instapundit, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, etc, etc. So, at least on the blog world right, and the radio shows, she is known as a young and exicting ‘real’ conservative. That’s just me reporting what I’ve read and heard…..

  28. Population perspectives

    State of Alaska: 670,053

    -metro Atlanta counties-

    Fulton (992,137) Gwinnett (776,380) DeKalb (737,093) Cobb (691,905)

  30. As a proud PUMA: Hahahahahaha….

    Game, set, match McCain.

    And just to illustrate the class and graciousness of Hillary Clinton:

    HRC’s statement on Sarah Palin: “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain,” she says. “While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.” [basically – great for diversity, wrong on policy. no demeaning of her as a human being]

    Barack Obama’s statement on Sarah Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. ……” [basically – pot, meet kette. Well, she has as much foreign policy experience as does Barack. Oh wait, I forgot he spent three years in Indonesia as a pre-teen….Plus she’s been an elected official since 1996 – vs 1999 for Barack. And 2 yrs of executive experience vs ZERO for Barack.]

    Obama just got majorly pwned.

    Best is when the Republican ads start showing how Gov Palin went to visit US troops when in Germany last year. And Sen Obama couldnt be bothered to do so on his grand tour of Europe.

  31. As a proud PUMA: Hahahahahaha…. Game, set, match McCain.

    Well, if you want McCain as the President then sure.

    Just remember HRC is out of the equation now so it does not matter a whole lot what she says. Maybe McCain will use her statements in political advertisements but that is it.

    Hey, if you want a female ‘Dick Cheney’ in white house then you deserve her.

  32. 80 · Chevalier said

    Best is when the Republican ads start showing how Gov Palin went to visit US troops when in Germany last year. And Sen Obama couldnt be bothered to do so on his grand tour of Europe.

    chevalier, spoken like a true puma.

    As a proud PUMA: Hahahahahaha….

    just in case you are confused, woman != feminist – at least the conventional understanding of those terms (as as manju pointed out, “the oppressed often have a different relationship with their oppression than we think they should” – of course, he just changes the defn of “racist” and “feminist”) just the other day, i recall your complaining about obama for his lack of support of third-trimester abortions. and here you are all excited about a woman who doesn’t even want rape or incest exceptions to abortions of any sort.

  33. She described herself as “just your average hockey mom,”

    hockey mom = mother pucker?

  34. mcbush indeed. did anybody notice palin’s pronunciations – “eye-ran”, “eye-rack” and “nuke-u-lar”, in her speech?

  35. ANNA, it appears your mother is my mother, because I had this exact – absolutely unadulterated verbatim – conversation with my mother this afternoon. What is with desi PUMA moms???

  36. 80 · Chevalier said

    As a proud PUMA: Hahahahahaha…. Game, set, match McCain. And just to illustrate the class and graciousness of Hillary Clinton: HRC’s statement on Sarah Palin: “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain,” she says. “While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”[basically – great for diversity, wrong on policy. no demeaning of her as a human being] Barack Obama’s statement on Sarah Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. ……”[basically – pot, meet kette. Well, she has as much foreign policy experience as does Barack. Oh wait, I forgot he spent three years in Indonesia as a pre-teen….Plus she’s been an elected official since 1996 – vs 1999 for Barack. And 2 yrs of executive experience vs ZERO for Barack.] Obama just got majorly pwned. Best is when the Republican ads start showing how Gov Palin went to visit US troops when in Germany last year. And Sen Obama couldnt be bothered to do so on his grand tour of Europe.

    I’ve yet to hear any PUMA articulate a sensible policy based reason for this hatred. There are plenty of legitimate differences of opinion which might lead someone to choose McCain over Obama, but I think we all know what’s driving PUMAs. Visiting troops in Germany is pretty meaningless if you were pro-Iraq war. It’s like pushing someone in front of a car and then pretending to care by candystriping

  38. 80 · Chevalier said

    As a proud PUMA: Hahahahahaha…. Game, set, match McCain. And just to illustrate the class and graciousness of Hillary Clinton: HRC’s statement on Sarah Palin: “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain,” she says. “While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”[basically – great for diversity, wrong on policy. no demeaning of her as a human being] Barack Obama’s statement on Sarah Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. ……”[basically – pot, meet kette. Well, she has as much foreign policy experience as does Barack. Oh wait, I forgot he spent three years in Indonesia as a pre-teen….Plus she’s been an elected official since 1996 – vs 1999 for Barack. And 2 yrs of executive experience vs ZERO for Barack.] Obama just got majorly pwned. Best is when the Republican ads start showing how Gov Palin went to visit US troops when in Germany last year. And Sen Obama couldnt be bothered to do so on his grand tour of Europe.

    as a desi, the only thing i trust are numbers.

    13th district of illinois (BO’s state senate district)

    population stats: 781,037

    http://fastfacts.census.gov/servlet/ACSCWSFacts?_event=&geo_id=50000US1713&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US17%7C50000US1713&_street=&_county=&_cd=50000US1713&_cityTown=&_state=04000US17&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=500&_content=&_keyword=&_industry=

    state of alaska:

    population stats: 670,053

    http://fastfacts.census.gov/servlet/ACSCWSFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=04000US02&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=&_cd=&_state=04000US02&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_industry=

    so even as a state senator (not US senator) BO represented a larger constituency compared to Palin.

  40. He can’t expect me to jump up and down just because he picked a woman.

    I have to agree with A N N A’s mother. I had not really given credence to most of the criticisms about McCain’s anti-women behavior, but the cynicism and condescension displayed in his pick of somebody as anti-feminist and right wing as Sarah Palin is truly disgusting. As a woman, am I supposed to be so stupid that I will now vote for McCain purely because he now added some ovaries to the team?

    McCain’s pick has definited swayed my vote: it goes to Obama. At least he had the dignity and decency to make a serious VP pick to bolster governance and build a good working team once he became president, rather than be like McCain and pick somebody whose experience consists of governing a state with population lower than most major cities, pushes an extreme conservative agenda, and hasn’t even really interacted with McCain enough in a sustained manner to make a determination of a collegial relationship.

    Truly disgusting. Women deserve better than McCain.

  41. This governor probably has never ever seen a black person in her life. I bet she thinks black people are a mythical creature like a unicorn or a frog prince. I cant get over how cheap this is!

    I do love the drama though because in the end your never safe in this world unless your rich and no amount of “Change” is going to change that fact, so just sit back and enjoy the show. Maybe I am being cynical but I have never in my life seen a decision made by a politician affect a rich person or help the middle class.

  42. so even as a state senator (not US senator) BO represented a larger constituency compared to Palin.

    And for some more numbers:

    Population of Wasilla, the Alaskan town responsible for the majority of Sarah Palin’s “executive” experience: 6000

    Number of votes Joe Biden received in the Iowa primary: 9,000

  43. Obama can still win because 99.9% of African Americans are behind him

    African-americans have always overwhelmingly supported the (until now always white) democratic nominee for President. Barack’s candidacy has just raised that support from around 80% to around 90%. Where is your evidence that it is 99.9%?

  44. most vp picks don’t matter. this matters a bit more than usual since mccain’s 72 and with every year the statistical chance of his facing health issues increases, and dramatically so. there’s some potential upside, politically speaking. but man, there are so many dangers. politicians in alaska don’t read from teleprompters. the crowd she spoke to today was likely the largest one she’s ever spoken to. there’s a knowledge gap. there’s also the scandals. there are two separate ones (troopergate as it’s known in alaska). the bigger one has an ongoing investigation that’s due to deliver a report.. drumroll FIVE days before the election. i think these political risks outweigh the mild expected benefits among the republican base.

    i am somewhat disturbed by what this decision (a more or less private, personal one made exclusively by mccain) tells us about his thought-process and ability to do risk assessment. there’s the political risk, outlined above, and then there’s the more broad national risk. it isn’t just about experience, it’s about knowledge. obama and biden are on the foreign relations cmte. and biden is its chair. obama has authored pieces of foreign-policy legislation. so far as we know, she has not said anything of consequence on the matter, besides comments a month ago that revealed a startling lack of understanding of mccain’s own position on iraq. mccain seems to have a very foolhardy choice here that offers the United States a non-trivial possibility that in a year or two, a person who was mayor of a town of 6000 18 months ago will be leading it. of course, everything could turn out well, but this is world of probabilities and risk; and in that regard this seems like a terrible choice on both political, and national-interest fronts.

  45. Barack’s candidacy has just raised that support from around 80% to around 90%. Where is your evidence that it is 99.9%?

    Dude, 99.9% is a statistical impossibility in a democracy, a few will break away be. Sure, it is around 90%

    Sure, 80% of blacks (the ones who vote or allowed to vote with all the felony barring laws in few states) have voted for white democrat candidates in past.

    This time around it will be 90% of a larger percentage of African American votes. Apart from that, they (African American) are raising money, and what not.

  46. her being married to an Eskimo

    Actually he is 25% eskimo, looks like the stereotypical blue collar white, belongs to a union, works as a fisherman, does not have a college degree, is a champion snowmobiler, family man, evangelical christian etc. Probably the main reason why Sarah Palin was picked for running mate is because the Palin family truly represents the Republican Party’s core constituency, in belief and lifestyle. And that constituency is predictably energized by the pick.

  47. This time around it will be 90% of a larger percentage of African American votes. Apart from that, they (African American) are raising money, and what not

    I meant a larger base number

  48. 99.9% is a statistical impossibility in a democracy, a few will break away be. Sure, it is around 90%

    In other words, you knowingly lied.