# McCain Supporters -- a question about Palin **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 29, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697 "2008-09-29T13:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/121 "2008-09-30T15:06:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Perhaps the title of the thread should be changed to “McCain Supporters - Shut Up While the Democrats Tell You What to Think”. Hunh, I don’t recall **Twickster** claiming to be some sort of spokesperson for the Democratic party, and I’d very much like to hear how asking a (IMO) legitimate question, specifically requesting information from McCain supporters, becomes telling them what to think. In any event, you never seem to have any problem with trying to tell people what to think, so what’s with all the manufactured outrage? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/122 "2008-09-30T15:07:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > To say that Palin is not answering questions on the trail is nonsense. Three cites of Palin taking questions on the trail? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/123 "2008-09-30T15:07:51Z")
I’m going to answer this from the viewpoint of my Mom, a McCain supporter. I asked her what she thought of Palin and she said she was nervous about her. I asked why and she said she was unproven and McCain is old. I asked if she had seen the interviews and she said she had seen only pieces. I asked what she thought of Palin being so sequestered and she said she hadn’t realized that those three interviews were the only ones Palin had done. When I asked if that worried her, she said it did but that she would probably still vote for McCain. Two points: My mother only “probably” voting for McCain is a shocker. My family is in oil, for goodness sake. And I doubt she’s unusual in not knowing the extent of the lockdown on Palin. It’s harder to see what isn’t there than to see what is. ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/124 "2008-09-30T15:18:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Perhaps stuff like this has some effect on our thinking - [Cite.](http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/28/palin-responds-to-federal-bail-out/) > > Democrats hate her guts. And the MSM resents that they haven’t been given enough opportunities for attack interviews. So? > > Regards, > Shodan You don’t know what their political affiliation is. They could very well have been Republicans. Chances are good that that’s the case actually. You know they would never send her anywhere but the most conservative neighborhood they could find. Chester County’s Main Line is my guess. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/125 "2008-09-30T15:24:14Z")
> [@Burton](#): > > Chester County’s Main Line is my guess. The Main Line isn’t in Chester County; it’s in Montgomery and Delaware Counties. [/nitpick] The two public appearances were both in Center City Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/126 "2008-09-30T15:31:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’ve pointed out that she’s drawn a crowd of 60,000 against Biden’s small numbers of 200-600. That implies that she’s getting better support. Have her appear in Daley Plaza in Chicago…or Deeley Plaza in more conservative Dallas if you prefer. If she draws 60,000 supporters then you’ve got something. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/127 "2008-09-30T15:35:08Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The Main Line isn’t in Chester County; it’s in Montgomery and Delaware Counties. [/nitpick] > > The two public appearances were both in Center City Philadelphia. This might be of passing interest. [**Palin: Pakistan remark was a response to a voter**](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080930/ap_on_el_pr/palin_pakistan) and this. **The Sarah Palin pity party** [Everyone seems to be oozing sympathy for the fumbling vice-presidential nominee. Please. Cry me a freaking river.](http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/09/30/palin_pity/) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/128 "2008-09-30T16:00:23Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > **The Sarah Palin pity party** > [Everyone seems to be oozing sympathy for the fumbling vice-presidential nominee. Please. Cry me a freaking river.](http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/09/30/palin_pity/) Good link, thanks. From it: > [@](#): > > …there are any number of women who could have been John McCain’s running mate – from Olympia Snowe to Christine Todd Whitman to Kay Bailey Hutchison to Elizabeth Dole to Condoleezza Rice – who would not have provoked this reaction. Democrats might well have been repulsed and infuriated by these women’s policy positions. But we would not have been sitting around worrying about how scared they looked. and this: > [@](#): > > I agree with Coates that the McCain camp was craven, sexist and disrespectful in its choice of Palin, but I don’t agree that the Alaska governor was a passive victim of their Machiavellian plotting. A very successful woman, Palin has the wherewithal to move forward consciously. What she did was move forward thoughtlessly and overconfidently, without considering that her abilities or qualifications would ever be questioned. . ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/129 "2008-09-30T16:06:04Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The Main Line isn’t in Chester County; it’s in Montgomery and Delaware Counties. [/nitpick] > > The two public appearances were both in Center City Philadelphia. I beg to differ, maybe part of Wayne, Stratford, Devon, Berwyn, Dalesford, and Paoli are all in Chester County. Montgomery County is upscale now too but it’s not and never has been the Main Line. Center City is where many of the people residing in those places work. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/130 "2008-09-30T16:09:28Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Why do you keep bringing up the word “hate?” You’ve used this word several times in this thread alone to describe the way you think some people feel about Sarah Palin. For example, you said “Democrats hate her guts.” Huh? I don’t hate her. Why would I hate her? I definitely don’t want her to be VPOTUS, but hate? Of course not. > > I don’t regularly talk with you in GD, but is this one of your usual techniques? To sidetrack the conversation by making people defend themselves against spurious accusations? Shodan hates any who oppose him, and assumes the same of everyone else. I haven’t been here long and I’ve already recognized him as one of the most hateful people on the board. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/131 "2008-09-30T16:11:01Z")
> [@Burton](#): > > I beg to differ, maybe part of Wayne, Stratford, Devon, Berwyn, Dalesford, and Paoli are all in Chester County. > > Montgomery County is upscale now too but it’s not and never has been the Main Line. > > Center City is where many of the people residing in those places work. The Main Line refers to the train line, now the R5 Paoli train, that runs through there. Bala Cynwyd through Ardmore or so is Montgomery County; Haverford out through … Wayne, I think? is Delaware County. The last 1/4 or 1/3 of it is indeed in Chester County. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/132 "2008-09-30T16:20:53Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > Shodan hates any who oppose him, and assumes the same of everyone else. I haven’t been here long and I’ve already recognized him as one of the most hateful people on the board. Your first sentence is an observation (correct or incorrect) about actions. Your second sentence is a personal remark about a poster that really does not need to be expressed outside the **BBQ Pit**. [/Modding] ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/133 "2008-09-30T16:37:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The Main Line refers to the train line, now the R5 Paoli train, that runs through there. Bala Cynwyd through Ardmore or so is Montgomery County; Haverford out through … Wayne, I think? is Delaware County. The last 1/4 or 1/3 of it is indeed in Chester County. I stand corrected. I was always under the impression Montgomery was all on the other side of the river for some reason. I haven’t lived around there since 1984 though. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/134 "2008-09-30T16:53:41Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > Shodan hates any who oppose him, and assumes the same of everyone else. I haven’t been here long and I’ve already recognized him as one of the most hateful people on the board. That is a completely untrue statement. Please note [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415370) thread, in the OP of which, **Shodan** offers to sponsor 3 people who could not pay for the membership here. Is this the action of a hateful or hate-filled person? Why would he appreciate this message board so much, if he hates people who oppose him? God knows, there’s enough of them around here. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/135 "2008-09-30T17:51:55Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > [If you like.](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11425.html) Clark was talking about a specific set of so-called qualifications, and was not saying that McCain was unqualified. He’d be qualified because of his time in the Senate even if he had been a draft dodger. Is it odd that a general, with major executive responsibilities, would dispute that a fairly low level officer’s qualifications were equal? If Fiorina said that a first level manager wasn’t the same thing as being a CEO in terms of management experience, would you object? > [@](#): > > So why doesn’t he do it? Is it because he is too delicate? For that matter, why doesn’t he appear at pro-life rallies and try to convince them to vote for him? > > Regards, > Shodan Do what? Walk into KKK meetings? He’s clearly making optimal use of his time, as a good manager should. If Philadelphia was such an awful place for Palin, why was she there? Couldn’t she cram in some more conducive clime? No one would have thought that odd. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/136 "2008-09-30T18:02:21Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > The Main Line refers to the train line, now the R5 Paoli train, that runs through there. Bala Cynwyd through Ardmore or so is Montgomery County; Haverford out through … Wayne, I think? is Delaware County. The last 1/4 or 1/3 of it is indeed in Chester County. The train line (and the term Main Line) runs clear across the state. It’s not limited to the range of the local trains. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/137 "2008-09-30T18:03:10Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > 60,000 people\* out of a **planned community** of ready-made-consistently-Republican-voting military people. Being impressed by Palin being able to draw a substantial number of people out of that crowd is like being shocked that synagogues will be filled with Jews tomorrow. > > \*A figure I don’t even remotely believe. Their campaign has a reputation for overstating the size of their crowds. It doesn’t really matter where Palin is drawing the crowds. She is clearly the more dynamic and charismatic of the two VP candidates. Biden couldn’t draw 6,000 people to a rally if he gave out free donuts and booze. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/138 "2008-09-30T18:10:54Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s fine I’m just pointing out that 3 sit-down interviews are not the same as a question posed by traveling media. **To say that Palin is not answering questions on the trail is nonsense.** – my bolding Great. Can you link to some/all of these responses on the trail? I need some deep thoughts just about now and nothing better than a Palin quote to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/139 "2008-09-30T18:26:59Z")
> [@treis](#): > > It doesn’t really matter where Palin is drawing the crowds. She is clearly the more dynamic and charismatic of the two VP candidates. Biden couldn’t draw 6,000 people to a rally if he gave out free donuts and booze. I doubt many people would dispute this. The Dems didn’t need two charismatic candidates, after all. How odd that the deficiency of drawing big crowds as applied to Obama now becomes an asset for Palin. The minor difference is that Obama isn’t afraid to go on Face the Nation, knows his stuff, and doesn’t say things that taken nearly verbatim are the funniest part of an SNL bit. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697/140 "2008-09-30T18:27:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [hijack]The train line (and the term Main Line) runs clear across the state. It’s not limited to the range of the local trains. > [/hijack] [hijack]As a shorthand for a certain social class (one embodied by the folks in _Philadelphia Story_, for instance – which was actually set on the Main Line), it refers to the string of Philly suburbs on that line. As a referent to “socially unobjectionable” (“mainline churches,” as opposed to Pentecostalists, e.g.), it isn’t so limited geographically, though I believe that is the etymology of the usage. But, yes, that set of railroad tracks does run out well beyond the Philadelphia region.[/hijack] twicks, who, believe it or not, grew up on the Main Line [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-supporters-a-question-about-palin/465697.md?page=8)