tagged w/ VP Nomination
-
Here at the Gritty and the Pretty, we've been a little hard on Sarah Palin, the GOP Vice Presidential nominee. She's irresistible, you have to admit. But with the financial collapse of Lehman, it looks like the election campaign will return to the important issues like the US Economy. That said, how could we ignore this? The Indoor Tanning Association released this statement today applauding Governor Palin's installation of a tanning bed at the Governor's mansion. We don't doubt for a minute it's to combat Vitamin D deficiency. Here is the ITA's offical statement:
"Today the Indoor Tanning Association addressed rumors that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was recently chosen as Presidential Nominee John McCain’s running-mate, had installed a tanning bed in the Governor’s mansion.
According to online reports, a Palin spokesman confirmed in 2007 that the Governor “did have a tanning bed put in the Governor’s Mansion,” Adding that, “It was done shortly after she took office [in early 2007] and moved into the mansion."
In locations such as Alaska, tanning beds provide important health benefits as a source of UV light. In the bleak winter months, many Americans experience vitamin D deficiency and the best way to manufacture vitamin D is through exposure to UV light. But it is impossible to get the requisite amount of vitamin D from the sun in cities north of 37 degrees latitude for as many as 6 months out of the year; people living as far north as Juneau, Alaska, are deprived of vitamin D from sunlight for even longer.
In addition to increasing the risk of many types of cancer and heart disease, vitamin D deficiency is also linked to many common wintertime complaints such as fatigue, depression and aches and pains.
While partisan bloggers and the sun scare industry will use this as an opportunity to undermine Gov. Palin and demonize the indoor tanning industry, the fact is that Governor Palin’s decision to get UV light from a tanning bed positively impacts her health. Moderate amounts of indoor tanning allow Governor Palin to experience the many health benefits that come with exposure to UV light,” said Dan Humiston, President of the Indoor Tanning Association and candidate for United States Congress (R-NY27). “Especially in dreary northern locations like Alaska, indoor tanning can help guard against wintertime depression and ward off diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency.
Kudos to Governor Palin for standing up to dermatologists and other members of the sun scare industry who are trying to frighten Americans away from UV light."
Tanning beds? I guess there's nothing really wrong with them but.... Owning a tanning bed is like having an above ground pool or a timeshare condo. It's like hot tubs. It's like Wonder Bread or frozen fish sticks with ketchup... It's like fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror.... It's like swinging ... Hmmm, does Sarah Palin swing? by Raoul E. CallejaHere at the Gritty and the Pretty, we've been a little hard on Sarah Palin, the... more
-
-
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The smart money thinks there's a better chance today than yesterday that John McCain will dump Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Before the Republican senator's presidential campaign disclosed the pregnancy of Palin's 17-year-old daughter, bookmakers in Britain and Ireland were offering 20-1 odds or higher on a bet that she would be forced off the ticket, meaning a 1 pound ($1.78) bet would pay 20 pounds. Now that same bet will pay no more than 8 pounds.
``While it is rare that a VP candidate gets dropped, it's not completely impossible,'' said Ken Robertson, political betting analyst at Paddy Power Plc, a Dublin-based gambling company. ``Lots of our punters are betting `Shocking' Sarah's days are numbered,'' he added, using a nickname he came up with for the first-term Alaska governor.
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The smart money thinks there's a better chance today than... more
-
-
For yet another day, Barack Obama kept everyone waiting.
Cable-news channels showed live shots of the homes of prospective running mates, while journalists scrambled to catch up with a late addition to the apparent short list, Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas). Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton learned that she was never formally vetted. And hoax text messages purporting to announce the pick continued to toy with emotions.
Obama, however, went about his day, offering no new hints as he spent the afternoon at a Chicago hotel preparing for his convention speech.
Republican John McCain spent the day at his Arizona ranch working with top aides on his nomination acceptance speech and the upcoming presidential debates. The group emerged only for a quick morning trip to Starbucks, where McCain ordered a cappuccino.
The unusual calm of the candidates stood in contrast to the continuing swirl of speculation about both their vice-presidential prospects, and the increasingly bitter exchanges between the campaigns over personal wealth and property.
Edwards, a nine-term congressman who has been championed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, confirmed an Associated Press report that he’s had what he calls “interactions” with Obama’s campaign over the last several months. But he declined to detail the nature of the contact. For yet another day, Barack Obama kept everyone waiting.
Cable-news channels... more
-
-
ivxx
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
There’s one Democrat who would seem to have little or no chance of being picked by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to be his running mate – his former opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
But it’s not for the reason you think.
Obama has often said, most recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 27, that Clinton “would be on anybody’s short list.”
But apparently not his.
“She was never vetted,” a Democratic official reported. “She was not asked for a single piece of paper. She and Senator Obama have never had a single conversation about it. How would he know if she’d take it?”
The official also said Clinton never met with Obama’s vetting team of Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy.
And the official said she was never asked for medical records or for any financial 2008 information about her or former President Bill Clinton. The last information the couple has disclosed about taxes and financial holdings was for 2007.
The Clintons also were not asked about donors to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.
“This would be the biggest leap of faith ever,” the official said. “She’s waiting for the text message like everyone else.”
An Obama aide said "absolutely exhaustive research was done on her over the course of the 16 month primary. She was researched more closely than any candidate in history."
There’s one Democrat who would seem to have little or no chance of being picked... more
-
-
ivxx
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes back. But his TV spot gives an oversimplified and misleading account of how Obama bought his own $1.6 million house in Chicago.
The ad says Chicago power broker Tony Rezko got "political favors" including "$14 million from taxpayers." But there's no evidence of any connection to the Obama home purchase.
The $14 million was to build apartments for low-income seniors. Obama wrote a letter supporting the "worthy" project, but both men say Rezko didn't ask for the letter.
It says Rezko "purchased part of the property [Obama] couldn't afford." Rezko's wife did buy an adjoining tract but later sold the land at a profit. Obama paid market price for his home.
McCain launched the attack after Obama ran one capitalizing on McCain's inability to recall for an interviewer how many homes the McCains own. Obama's ad says it's seven. The best tally we've seen puts the figure at eight, counting all the apartments and homes owned by McCain's wife, Cindy, and various family trusts, for themselves and their children.On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes... more
-
-
ivxx
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
DENVER -- And so we wait. We wait here in Denver and in Washington and in Chicago and across the country. We wait for a leak, a wink, a cryptic message, a curious quotation, an unusual movement by a private plane, a slip of the tongue by Joe Biden.
Give credit to Barack Obama's team. So far they've orchestrated the vice presidential roll out deftly -- delaying it until the eve of the convention to assure that they dominate the last days before opening night with real news, while steadily ratcheting up the frenzy of speculation in the days beforehand.
The rumors are rife. Hard information precious. The candidate reportedly has called the losers -- but who? Any on the presumed shortest of short lists? Has he called Biden or Evan Bayh or Tim Kaine to say, 'Sorry, pal'?
Has he called some of those in the outer reaches of consideration who were not really in the hunt? A knowledgeable source said Friday morning that Bill Richardson was advised in the last 36 hours that he was not likely to be chosen. Who else might have gotten a call of condolences isn't known.
Has he called Hillary Clinton to tell her flat out that she was under consideration but that she did not make the cut? Or, if she was never under consideration, was she called simply as a courtesy to his most formidable rival and now his most important surrogate? Now that would be a piece of information that could move the markets.
Note to media: beware of false indicators and head fakes by the campaign. In 1984, Walter Mondale's campaign announced late one night that the candidate had made his decision and called his running mate -- and then sat back and watched the media scramble to find out who it was. One news organization discovered, seemingly authoritatively, that Geraldine Ferraro was on the manifest of a flight to Minneapolis. Except Mondale had sent a private plane to pick her up. Right name, wrong signal.DENVER -- And so we wait. We wait here in Denver and in Washington and in Chicago and... more
-
-
ivxx
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
ARIZONA - In a surprise move early this morning, Sen. John McCain announced that Barack Obama will be his running mate for the 2008 presidential election... [more]
--TheSkunk.org
ARIZONA - In a surprise move early this morning, Sen. John McCain announced that... more
-
-
John McCain’s Memorial Day bash at his Arizona retreat could provide the first public clues to the presumptive GOP nominee’s thinking in choosing his future running mate.
The weekend-long affair in Sedona, Ariz., is strictly “social,” his campaign says — but the guest list is a who’s who of politicians thought to be on McCain’s VP short list.
The three big names are Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Former White House budget director Rob Portman, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman were also said to be attending. Former GOP candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was reportedly invited, but did not plan to attend.
The guests arrived Friday for what was supposed to be a weekend of hiking, barbecuing and fishing.
So does the best fisherman win the prize?
McCain adviser Mark Salter said earlier in the week that no VP vetting is on the agenda, and McCain has cast it as an informal event.
“It’s just having a group of friends for Memorial Day weekend to visit us and enjoy one of the most beautiful places in America. It’s no more and it’s no less. I wanna assure you,” McCain told reporters Thursday.
But speculation was widespread, as reporters were not allowed on site and were mostly staked out at the end of McCain’s private road. Romney and Jindal could be seen joining the group at a local hotel restaurant Saturday.
The McCain camp recognizes the vice presidential pick as the next potential game-changer in the race. And with the campaign sending mixed signals about what type of voter he’s trying to court, his VP decision could make the crystal clear the kind of campaign he intends to run.
Radio talk show host Steve Malzberg told FOX News that whomever McCain chooses, it’ll take more than a weekend in Arizona for him to make up his mind.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s down to these three and that a decision will be made, even in his own mind, by the end of this barbecue weekend,” he said.
But the guessing about VP prospects was only rooted in hints from the potential candidates themselves.
Jindal acknowledged at a recent National Press Club appearance that he’s on “the list.”
And since dropping out of what was once a bitter primary race against McCain, Romney has endorsed the Arizona senator and pledged to help him win the nomination.
McCain said more than a month ago that his VP search efforts were in their “embryonic stages.”
The Arizona senator has picked former Reagan official Arthur Culvahouse to help him with the search, but McCain aides say the candidate is heading up the search effort himself.
This comes as Democratic sources say Obama is already assembling a team to begin his VP search - once he secures the nomination.
It will be a critical choice for both candidates.
The New York Times reported in an article Saturday on its Web site that several GOP strategists are concerned McCain hasn’t done enough since clinching the nomination and that he’s at a crossroads in terms of how he’s casting his candidacy.John McCain’s Memorial Day bash at his Arizona retreat could provide the first... more
-
-
kushan
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
Friends and close associates of both Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are now convinced that, assuming she loses the race for the presidential nomination, she is probably going to fight to be the vice presidential nominee on an Obama-for-president ticket.Friends and close associates of both Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are now... more
-
-
kushan
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
