- Sarah Palin, Republican Nominee for Vice President

COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

And here’s a response by Fareed Zakaria:

“This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN’s Campbell Brown, have argued that it’s sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that’s causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.”

- “Rebuilding Homeownership,” the 2008 Republican Platform

You’re an intelligent guy. You know the current financial situation is dire. But I hope you know, like we know, that a massive bailout of financial institutions that have made poor investment decisions to the tune of $700 billion is irresponsible, it’s sickening, and it’s wrong. You’re using Main Street money to fund Wall Street habits.

It’s the equivalent, in our mind, of a crack-addict selling a portion of her baby’s weekly food so that she can buy more drugs.
It’s disgusting.

We’re going to have to feel the pain. It may happen in the next few weeks, or it may happen in the next few years. But the bailout just delays the inevitable. Those who made poor decisions must be responsible for them. Wall Street must face the consequences like millions of regular Americans already had to do.

Our challenge to you, Senator Obama: say no to the bailout, at least in its current scope. Stand up for us and tell Mr. Paulson and President Bush that the bailout is ridiculous. Point out how it’s antithetical to conservative principles, Democratic principles, and American principles. It’s a form of socialism. And that’s unacceptable.

The remaining banks will find a way to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. After all, that IS the American way.

- Time to Fight Back

It’s ads like this that will win you the election:

By emphasizing Senator McCain’s response to the current economic crisis in a dramatic way, you’re conveying to undecided voters that they need to be worried. The emotional impact this ad, and your recent joke, “the ‘ol boys network – in the McCain campaign that’s called a staff meeting” are what will gain you support.

The way to win this election is to frame it as a referendum on the Republican party. If you’re unhappy with the “stolen election” of 2000, Alberto Gonzales, Harriet Miers, going into war on false pretenses, Guantanamo Bay, Swift Boating, suppression of stem cell research, the tremendous increase in the national debt after Clinton’s surplus, loss of United States global standing, and general incompetence and scandal on the executive level, you need to vote Obama.

Like you would punish a little kid who did something wrong, you’ve got to convince voters to punish the Republican Party, the group of people who put Bush in power. We thrive on a system of justice in which criminals and liars must face punishment for their actions. This election is the American people’s chance to dole out punishment to the party that provided them a failed leadership that may take decades to fully recover from.

- Time to Fight Back

Fiorina: “No, I don’t. But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.”

More Fiorina: “I don’t think John McCain could run a major corporation. I don’t think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don’t think Joe Biden could run a major corporation. But on the other hand a major corporation is not the same as being the president or vice president of the United States. It is a fallacy to suggest that the country is like a company. So of course to run a business you have to have a lifetime of experience in business, but that’s not what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Joe Biden or Barack Obama are doing,” she said.

Steve McMahon: “She said that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama nor Sarah Palin could have run Hewlett-Packard, and apparently, neither could she, at least according to her board.”

Gibson: Did you ever travel outside the country prior to your trip to Kuwait and Germany last year?

Palin: Canada, Mexico, and then yeah that trip – it was the trip of a lifetime.

Gibson: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

Palin: I have not (angrily)! And I think if you go back to history…many vice-presidents – they may have the same answer. But Charlie, again…we have to remember the desire of this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big fat resume maybe, that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.

Gibson: What insight into Russian actions particularly in the last couple of weeks does the proximity of the state give you?

Palin: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.

- Senator Barack Obama