Dirt
2021
How many Asian Americans are going to be hired by Obama? Bush has Elaine Chao, at least. Which, by percentage, is consistent with the actual makeup of the USA.
Obama must have had a staff as a state Senator and a US Senator. What’s the racial makeup of those people?
My guess would be black and white.
As James Fallows points out, a VP candidate had better know what the hell the Bush Doctrine is.
Lum
2023
Will Obama be good for the Jews?
MikeJ
2024
My guess would be that you’re wrong. No offense, just playing the odds here.
Here’s an article from the beginning of 2007.
Sen. Barack Obama’s top Senate staff is very racially diverse, but only five of the 15 highest paid people are female.
The inner circle of the paid political team Obama is hiring for his presidential run is not yet as ethnically diverse, and men considerably outnumber women, almost two to one.
A look at the 15 highest-paid Obama Senate staffers in Washington and Illinois shows six are black, two are Asian-American, five are white, one is Hispanic and one is Indian-American. The racial identities were provided by Obama’s office.
Dirt
2025
Who’s his chief strategist?
Lum
2026
“Will XXX be good for the Jews?” is a common stereotypical question asked by parochial Jews about any given politician.
Feel free to infer anything at all here.
JeffL
2027
Dude - she’s pretty, and she’s got spunk. Who the hell cares if she knows about all that policy stuff. Hasn’t America had enough of politicians with experience? We want CHANGE, dammit!!!
And she has spunk, by the way.
(oh - OK, she should have known. When you know that you’re going on the air to be grilled on foreign policy, national security, and your religious beliefs, you should at least be prepared. Another sign that McCain’s people don’t have their act together.)
Dirt
2028
Yes. Jewish people are far from under-represented in US government in most capacities.
Israel receives the biggest aid package that the USA offers to any nation as well as the best prices on our weapons.
JeffL
2029
No Eskimos? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Dirt
2030
Her husband is part “Eskimo”.
I was primarily making a Bush joke there, dude. I also am willing to take the word of the president of the Alaskan Juneteenth board at her word that Palin did not attend.
Marged
2032
Todd just got subpoenaed by AK’s Senate judiciary committee.
Dirt
2033
This is simple. The Republicans in Alaska are corrupt and in charge. Need I say more?
JeffL
2034
Oh, I believe that, just not so sure I want to label her as saying she wouldn’t hire anyone black.
Did you know she had spunk?
Dirt
2036
Or maybe, I take that issue more seriously than you do.
Maybe I’m wearing the ol’ lefty blinders here, but isn’t for instance a 33% female senior staff pretty damn diverse, given the makeup of the talent pool at the upper levels of national politics?
I’m thinking specifically of how the NBA/NFL/MLB took forever to get some decent racial diversity in senior coaching positions, because the abolishment of racially shitty hiring practices doesn’t magically make a bunch of (for example) black guys ready to take on head coaching responsibilities.
Well, here are the campaigns back in the primary season:
No telling how things have changed though.
Dirt
2039
I wish Hillary had been nominated.
Ebert weighs in with a nice column.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1156080,091008ebertpalin.article
And how can a politician her age have never have gone to Europe? My dad had died, my mom was working as a book-keeper and I had a job at the local newspaper when, at 19, I scraped together $240 for a charter flight to Europe. I had Arthur Frommer’s $5 a Day under my arm, started in London, even rented a Vespa and drove in the traffic of Rome. A few years later, I was able to send my mom, along with the $15 a Day book.
You don’t need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin’s travel record is that of a provincial, not someone who is equipped to deal with global issues.
But some people like that. She’s never traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Down Under? That makes her like them. She didn’t go to Harvard? Good for her! There a lot of hockey moms who haven’t seen London, but most of them would probably love to, if they had the dough. And they’d be proud if one of their kids won a scholarship to Harvard.
I trust the American people will see through Palin, and save the Republic in November. The most damning indictment against her is that she considered herself a good choice to be a heartbeat away. That shows bad judgment.
