Round 2: souls vs GUNSINWAR - "Sarah Palin" , page 1

As my opponent has pointed out, Sarah Palin may have been a cost to John McCain's presidency. Sarah Palin may have cost the republican party thousands, upon thousands of dollars. Even in her own governing state she may have spend too much. Sarah Palin may even be the inexperienced career politician she sets herself up to be. As my opponent agrees, it is the media that has control over the public perception attributed to each candidate, and in reality, this is the key point to this debate. The fact remains that the psychological operation conducted by the media helped sway votes in favor of John McCain and Sarah Palin, more importantly, due to her being a female. The final outcome may not have been to be victorious over the democratic presidential nominees, but instead to provide the unsuspecting masses, the ignorant voters, a brilliant show in order to seed the notion that public opinion and voting has an actual impact on the final outcome of the election. This was necessary in order to successfully instate the predetermined candidate chosen by the corporate interest groups already infiltrated within various key positions of government.

As I have stated before, John McCain's election was doomed for failure since the beginning. He never was out to win, but only to create a sense of competition and fairness, and unfairness in the election. John McCain showed a steady rise in popularity in the later months of 2007 with a peak in popularity well into 2008. He displayed a diminishing acceptance as Barack Obama was placed more into the spotlight by the media. Issues into immigration reform, the invasion of the Middle East, the endorsement by Bush. They had a toll on his popularity, most definitely. Barack Obama had this election in the bag. In the months leading up to the election, Barack Obama was the most popular candidate among Americans, easily above the 50th percentile. There was no way John McCain could win this election. At the same time, while this was happening, the womens favorite for president, Hillary Clinton, wife of William Clinton, let everyone down. Her continued display of inexperience, incompetence, and arrogance definitely ruined any credible standing among many democrat voters, men and women as well. The hope of having the first woman president had gone down the drain. Many voters must have felt betrayed by this, and with only two options. Either vote Democrat, and go for Barack Obama, or hope for the first female vice president, with Sarah Palin, a very attractive substitute to the failed, Hillary Clinton, but still a Republican. Sarah Palin's straight forward attitude, exuberant confidence, even her sex appeal, must have seemed like a golden beacon in treacherous waters for many. And this is where my focus will be.

The announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate was on August 29th, 2008. I would like to direct the audience and the judges to the following chart. 1 I have placed a still image of the chart itself for visual reference, but if you follow the link, there is an interactive version of the image you are viewing.

Reference 1

You can scroll over any point on the line chart to display a date with information on the percentage of registered voters who said they would support the specific candidate if the election would be held on that day. The range of dates are from March 7th through November 1st 2008. The dates are organized on a five day average through June 8th 2008 and a three day average from June 9th 2008. The figures are based on a combination of daily data composed by Gallup. More than 1,000 registered voters were questioned daily. Gallup claims a plus or minus 2 percent error margin. You can visit a link in the same reference provided to read about Gallup at the top of the page.

When analyzing the data, one can see that John McCain observed a seemingly “neck to neck” competition with Barack Obama throughout the date of range offered. The approval for the candidates keeps going up and down with no consistent lead from either opponent up until May 1st – June 4th 2008. This is when John McCain last saw any lead over Barrack Obama with 46% of the support. Barack Obama took off on a steady climb there after. As it can easily be seen. The next time John McCain surpassed or even came close to surpassing Barack Obama again was on September 4th. John McCain was awarded a consistent rise in approval with a peak of 49% on the 5th – 8th. He again lost the lead after the 15th of September ending with one point over Barack Obama with 47%.

For these few glorious days, we observed a seemingly hopeful rise over Barack Obama with John McCain. A lot of things were going on during this time, and you have to keep in mind that while this is all being recorded, the national media was aiding these carrier politicians in engaging in a childish war of personal attacks, smear campaigns, dirty tricks. The main objective was to create drama from a whole lot of nothing. What lacked was serious debate, about the serious issues. What lacked was the involvement from the people who really cared, and really mattered anyway. All of the actors we were sold, all engaged in these dirty tricks. The voting, now, uninformed masses, were voting on a whole a lot of irrational feelings of rage, hate, alienation, and maybe even racism and prejudice. A perfect mixture for ignorance. The media was telling everybody how and what to think. And it is no difference with Sarah Palin.

With the figures presented above I have demonstrated that there is a direct correlation with the positive rise in John McCain's approval and the selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate immediately after her selection. Her selection was announced at the end of August 2008, and on the eve of the Republican National Convention. To many undecided voters, Sarah Palin was a fresh addition to the John McCain campaign, her acceptance speech won her over with a 53% approval rating, according to Gallup. 2 The figures can be confirmed starting at the 7th paragraph of the article. There polling methods are described at the end of the article. I have included the graphical representation of the figures below.

Reference 2

With this new information we can further assert that Sarah Palin's announcement of the vice presidential nomination did have a positive impact on the presidential campaign of John McCain. In the days before her selection, John McCain was looking at a steady decline in approval among registered voters. The media made sure of it. But with this announcement, a new hype and bombardment of media coverage for Sarah Palin ensued. Her approval went up and naturally, John McCain's did as well. A very positive effect for his campaign, even if it was only for a short time.

John McCain's campaign was doomed to failure since the beginning. The media made sure of it. From the same graphical representation provided above, labeled Reference 1, this can also be observed. Sarah Palin did not ruin John McCain's election to the presidency, John McCain was ruined to begin with. Sarah Palin inspired a hopeful resurrection, but in the end, she is just a pawn herself, and her positive influence was only meant to be short lived, and for the purpose of continuing the show. Soon after, is when all of the negative attention to Sarah Palin really took off. Her purpose was fulfilled and was not needed anymore for now. The media was now ready to crucify her and the John McCain presidential election. Barack Obama was elected from the beginning, they just needed to soften the blow.

O.K let's step into second gear!

No more war, help the poor etc.
To be the President one has to be intelligent must listen, use your own descretion,” Help your fellow man”
This is what Obama with his famous words said “ CHANGE “ the American people needed a change after Bush..


I WANT YOU, THE JUDGE AND THE READER TO READ THIS DEBATE AND THINK FOR YOURSELF IF YOU WOULD HAVE SELECTED SUCH A PERSON AS SARAH PALIN TO BACK UP AND POSSIBLY TAKE ON THE ROLE OF PRESIDENT OF AMERICA.
WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE OUTCOME OF AMERICA?!

If one looks at Sarah Palin's history as Governor of Alaska, I would have felt ashamed to select such a person as my VICE PRESIDENT.

I agree with my opponent that McCain cost him his own demise by selecting Sarah Palin. He was so blind to see her past mistakes, that it had cost him the election

Republican VP candidate, Sarah Palin - under her mayoral leadership in Wasilla, Alaska, rape victims were charged for their own rape kits.

A rape kit is a sexual assault forensic evidence kit, used to collect DNA that can be used in criminal proceedings to assist in the conviction of those who commit sex crimes. The rape kit test is performed as soon as possible after a sexual assault or attack has been committed. It is usually humiliating and uncomfortable for the victim-imagine enduring that and then paying $800- $1200 just so that the criminal who assaulted you might be caught. This is one of the only ways and 100% accurate test to be conducted to prosecute an offender.
Let's put this into perspective. One of the services that almost every American agrees that the government should provide is policing and investigation into crime, especially of a violent nature. Rape, one of the most difficult to prosecute, disproportionately affects women--young women, in fact.
So, not only did she neglect to support women who were raped in getting the evidence they needed to get justice, but she doesn't believe they should have the right to choose what happens with their bodies after they've endured such violation. Is that not supposed to be one of the most important factors to ensure that criminals are placed behind bars! If an offender knows, “ hey, women don't have money for these kits! I could rape even more women! Who is going to catch me!,” why would they stop committing these crimes and violating the mothers and future mothers of the American generation!
Even in my country, a third world country, we don't charge women for rape kits!

Governor Palin is an active promoter of Alaska's aerial hunting program whereby wolves and bears are shot from the air or chased by airplanes to the point of exhaustion before the pilot lands the plane and a gunner shoots the animals point blank.

Palin offered a $150 bounty for wolves to entice hunters to kill more wolves in certain parts of the state, with hunters having to present a wolf's foreleg to collect the bounty.
But later this was stopped by the court!

Alaska wildlife agency personnel reportedly staked out a known wolf denning site – a practice that is illegal under Alaska law – and, using helicopters, gunned down 14 adult wolves from the air.
When they landed, they found 14 helpless pups in the nearby dens – infant wolves ,just weeks old – and methodically shot each one in the head. 28 wolves gunned down in all!

"I am outraged by Sarah Palin's promotion of this cruel, unscientific and senseless practice, which has no place in modern America,"

actress and animal activist Ashley Judd

Due to a loophole in federal law, Alaska is the only state in the U.S. where a few hunters still use aircraft to shoot wolves or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank sometimes even with shot guns, making the animal suffer before it dies.
But the practice of "denning" – the killing of young wolves in the den – is prohibited even under Alaska law

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, predators kill more than 80 percent of the moose and caribou that die there in a given year. To keep predator populations in check, the state currently has five wolf-control programs covering about 9.4 percent of the state’s land area. “Successful programs allow humans to take more moose,” its Web site claims, “and healthy populations of wolves continue to thrive in Alaska.”
Reference 1


In 2005, before Palin was elected governor, Congress passed a $442-million earmark for constructing two Alaska bridges as part of an omnibus spending bill.
Because Gravina Island has a population of 50, the bridge became known nationally as the "Bridge to Nowhere". Following an outcry by the public and some members of the US Senate, Congress eliminated the bridge earmark from the spending bill but gave the allotted funds to Alaska as part of its general transportation fund.

In 2006, Palin ran for governor with a build-the-bridge plank in her platform,saying she would "not allow the spinmeisters to turn this into something that's so negative."Palin criticized the use of the word "nowhere" as insulting to local residents and urged speedy work on building the infrastructure "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

As governor, Palin canceled the Gravina Island Bridge in September 2007, saying that Congress had "little interest in spending any more money" due to what she called "inaccurate portrayals of the projects."Alaska chose not to return the $442 million in federal transportation funds.

In 2008, as a vice-presidential candidate, Palin characterized her position as having told Congress "thanks, but no thanks, on that bridge to nowhere." This angered some Alaskans in Ketchikan, who said that the claim was false and a betrayal of Palin's previous support for their community. Some critics complained that this statement was misleading, since she had expressed support for the spending project and kept the Federal money after the project was canceled.

Reference 2

If she can lie once she sure can lie again to the people of America!
This is all i have to state at this moment!

In my next Post I will show our Judges and readers how clever Sarah Palin really is when it comes to THE MEDIA
Thank you Judges and readers for your time!Back to my respected opponent souls

There is no denying that Sarah Palin is the inexperienced, unqualified, candidate for vice presidency that my opponent has pointed out be. There is no denying that this is part of her record. I'm sure there are more errors she has made, and will continue to make. But, let us not loose sight of the debate at hand. Did Sarah Palin have a positive impact on John McCain's campaign for presidency?

The controversy behind Sarah Palin's track record, her experience, her mistakes in her own governing state are what the media used in order to secure Barack Obama's election. There is no denying that the past presidential elections have been shrouded in fraud, corruption and corporate controls, and it is no different with this presidential election. All of these politicians are puppets and actors. It would be insane to assume that these people, knowing all of what they know about themselves, knowing that they are frauds, liars, and cheats, would put themselves to the scrutiny of an entire nation, and try to win an election supposedly based on the popular opinion of the people. The only way they bring themselves to doing this, is by playing the part, and letting the media do its job. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, John McCain. They all have tainted records, or no record at all. There supposed ideals are no more than cheap tricks in order to satisfy the ignorant belief systems of a divided nation. In essence, there is a choice for every kind of idiot. This point is reinforced further with the complete media black out, and disinterest in candidates who actually have raised the questions that non of these mainstream candidates would dare ask. The issues and solutions necessary for a real change have always been ignored.

When looking at the graph labeled Reference 1, provided earlier, it is clear that from the start date, John McCain and Barack Obama where in a head to head competition for the continuing months. Before that, John McCain in reality, never showed any real promise over Barack Obama, he continued on a downward trend, occasionally closing in on Barack Obama, but nothing significant. John McCain reached his lowest point at the end of July, and this was done all by himself, without the help of Sarah Palin. At the beginning of September 2008 is when John McCain's presidency experienced a jolt of hope. Coincidentally, right after the announcement of Sarah Palin as the running mate. This is correlation that Sarah Palin's positive effect on John McCain's election is true. The intent was never to secure the presidency with Sarah Palin. If John McCain wasn't just a tool, I would think that he would have picked a better choice. But he did not, and that comes to show that the intent was to hype up the Republicans, to sway female Democrat voters, to sway Joe the Plumber, and hockey moms all over. It most definitely worked to a degree. John McCain's approval rose and created this new found hope for the Republican presidency. This is confirmation that Sarah Palin had a positive effect on his campaign.

John McCain did not win the presidential election, and frankly, he never stood a chance. The media definitely paid more attention to the Democratic nominees early on, and in turn, this means that the manipulation of public opinion was in effect. The media coverage for Barack Obama was hands down, the most prominent. Please direct your attention to Reference 3. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Jounalism has found that Barack Obama received the most positive attention by the media, and in contrast, John McCain received the most negative media attention from the candidates now taking main focus from the media in the early months of the 2008 Presidential election. The media engaged in placing John McCain in a negative light in order to sell Barack Obama as the best candidate. This was the same for Hillary Clinton. The negative coverage was obvious from the beginning., and this is necessary to shape the choice of many. Barack Obama seemed like the best choice, compared to the other candidates, despite uncertainty over Barack Obama himself.

And with this I assert that Sarah Palin had a positive effect on John McCain's campaign, even if it was short lived. It was not necessary for John McCain to win the presidential election to see this. The media controlled the entire aspect of this from the beginning, and it is a very important aspect into how all of this played out. Sarah Palin was a tool to both strengthen the Republican party and maybe, to secure its demise as well. The following is part of the conclusion from the study provided in Reference 3. This helps paint the picture of how the media chose to manipulate public opinion.

Once again, the game of politics—rather than the ideas or even the background of the personalities—has dominated how the press has presented the race for president...One other finding of this study is that the news media also appear to be preoccupied with the head-to-head contest of the first major African American candidate and the first serious female contender for a major party nomination on the Democratic side...There are other factors that may have tipped the press’ gaze more toward Democrats. The Republicans candidates with large war chests announced later than Democrats, and that would explain part of why Republicans received less news attention in the first five months of coverage.  But it does not explain all of the difference, for even after the GOP race had begun, Democrats continued to get more exposure. 

That tilt toward Democrats and elite candidates was truer of some outlets more than others. One news operation studied stands out as offering a contrast to these trends--The News Hour on PBS. It took a measurably different approach, focusing on all the candidates and offering audiences a broad look at their agendas for the country....

My opponent has failed to address the figures shown previously. Let not his attempts at clouding your perception distract you from the real debate at hand. Track records of the candidates alone do not ruin a politician's career. Even some negative attention can raise the awareness of the candidate. It only matters in what light the media chooses to portray this in. This is what shapes opinions. Sarah Palin's record does not cancel the fact that she made a positive impact in John McCain's campaign, as I have proven beyond a doubt.

As my opponent mentioned “ My opponent has failed to address the figures shown previously. “
I was on my way to get there, patience my friend!

Sarah Palin popularity decreased huge in September 22nd.

January 8th: 82 percent
July 22nd: 76 percent
July 31st: 78 percent
August 12th: 80 percent
September 2nd: 82 percent
September 22nd: 68 percent

This we can see from my opponents chart! There must be an reason why, remember the media has an powerful tool!

Posted: 09/3/08

Palin fired the longtime local police chief. The former police chief, Irl Stambaugh says he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association, he was trying to clean up drinking and concealed weapons in the town.

Stambaugh's lawyer, William Jermain, says the chief tried to move up the closing hours of local bars from 5 am to 2 am after a spurt of drunk driving accidents and arrests.
Odd coincidence: Palin's husband was charged with DUI back in 1986. Todd Palin.also belonged to the AIP, that Alaskan secessionist party whose founder often spews about how he hates America's government, and has cursed the flag.

Published: September 13, 2008
Reference 3

WASILLA, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal. So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

This is what the people of America read about Palin. Ouch there is decrease in popularity for McCain, as noted in my opponents chart.

On October 10, 2008

Palin's popularity has swooned as new information about the local abuse-of-power investigation known as Troopergate has trickled out, and as national and local media pick over her track record as a governor and small-town mayor.

Ouch there is decrease in popularity,look at the chart of my opponent.

Then what happens, the media start looking into your past..As what I have done in my first section of my debate, SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS, SHOOTING OF WOLVES, BRIDGE TO NOWHERE all this was brought out by the media. The people of America read,saw who and what this women really is. Note again my opponents chart, it went all down hill.


I now direct you to this short clip, Jack Cafferty on CNN, September 26, 2008.
I know clips is not allowed in debates, but Media plays an important role, and this evidence I would like to produce to the Judges and readers to state my claim SARAH PALIN DID COST MCCAIN THE ELECTION.

(Removed YouTube Video)


Over to my opponent!,

[edit on 12-23-2009 by chissler]

The numbers my opponent has presented show a rise of approval right after her selection at the end of August. This is a sign of a positive effect on her self, but maybe note entirely on John McCain and his campaign. I would like my opponent to point to where exactly these numbers can be found on the charts I have presented. I did not see those figures represented on the charts or within the links I have presented.

Regardless, there is no denying that Sarah Palin's decisions in her past are not good decisions. The picture she paints for herself is one of corruption. Most of all of these politicians are. One important aspect of this debate is that my opponent has not denied the picture I have painted of the way political elections are conducted in this country. The way the mainstream media puts these people out there is what matters. My opponent makes a point that it is Sarah Palin's record alone that caused John McCain's defeat in the election. Then I can assume that my opponent believes that John McCain showed promise of winning the election before Sarah Palin's selection? This would be a false idea. John McCain was already showing signs of decline in approval since the beginning. His lowest point in approval came in July at 40% and then again in November 2008. There is no denying that the spike in approval in the beginning of September was due to Sarah Palin being selected. John McCain was already defeated and did not show any positive improvements until Sarah Palin was selected as his running mate, and the short time after. The media had a large role to play in the amount of coverage for the candidates. As I have presented before, Democrats, and the hype of the first African American, or first woman to the presidency received much more coverage than Republicans. More importantly, John McCain has received the most negative news coverage since the beginning. Regardless of these things, John McCain saw a change, a positive change, in his campaign with Sarah Palin as his running mate. This is proof that she was a positive impact to John McCain's campaign. John McCain's approval increased after selecting Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, and more significantly within the Republican party itself.

One important aspect to this debate is that regardless of Sarah Palin's record, she has established her self as an influential figure within the Republican party. The media still paints it that the nation is half Democrat, half Republican. The results of the 2008 election were almost in half. This is important because as of October 1 – 4 2009, Sarah Palins' approval is above 69% within the republican party. Reference 4



This can easily get her into a future running of a major office within the party itself. Even rumors of a 2012 presidency play a role in this manipulation. This same chart shows that independents are almost in half about Sarah Palin. The seeds are planted. Regardless of who Democrats disapprove of, in the end, it will be how the media plays this out the next time around. It is no different in how the media played it this time around. They will make it about Democrats versus Republicans all over again.

The picture she paints for herself is one of corruption.

Which is a negative reflection on McCain!

The way the mainstream media puts these people out there is what matters

But once the media had the opportunity to interview the former beauty queen and small town mayor, her favourability ratings dropped dramatically. In an interview with ABC News, Palin appeared not to know what the "Bush Doctrine" is. Another television interview, this one with CBS, also didn't go well, with the governor often appearing confused about major issues and offering rambling, incoherent answers.

Which is a negative reflection on McCain and herself!

There is no denying that the spike in approval in the beginning of September was due to Sarah Palin being selected.

Her voting figures automatically included Alaskan populations vote of approximately 686293 which added to McCains popularity which can be seen on my opponents graph of an increase of popularity!As more and more negatives came out about Palin ("Troopergate," $150,000 spent on wardrobes and flubbed national television interviews) as i discussed previously(REFERENCE 3).Whereby we can see the decrease in popularity on my opponents graph as seen on the beginning of October 2008. A few days before the election, 59 percent of American voters thought Palin wasn't prepared to be vice president, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.
www.abc.net...

John McCain was already showing signs of decline in approval since the beginning.

Not since the beginning, his approval was increased in the beginning then decreased then increased then decreased as noted on your graph! The most significant decrease though, will be noted as of September when Palin was elected.

John McCain has received the most negative news coverage since the beginning.

Not true! The media concentrated on Obamas race, as the first black American President, Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father, the media attacked him on this too!

(Removed YouTube Video)


Over to my opponent for closing statement.



[edit on 12-23-2009 by chissler]