At Lunch With Juanita and Bubba
True story. On Friday, August 9th 2008, myownself, Juanita and her Bubba went to lunch. The headquarters was opened and manned so we took a lunch break. It was my first time at this Chinese buffet in Rosenberg. But it wasn’t the first time I went to a Chinese buffet that had TVs mounted around the room tuned to the news.
That afternoon, sitting with platesful of buffet dishes, we viewed a news report that John McCain had selected Sarah Palin to be his running mate.
I looked slack-jawed at Juanita then at equally shocked Bubba. And almost simultaneously we all stated the obvious: “Obama’s just won the election.”
And like it was 14 years ago, Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps on giving. Who on Earth could run for the one Congress seat allotted to Alaska, out spend her two opponents by a lot, and get creamed by a considerably less well-known Native American Democrat? Answer: Sarah Palin.
Congressman-elect Mary Peltola, is the first Democrat to win that seat in 50 years. Granted it’s only to complete Don Young’s last term, but the same three candidates will face-off in November for a full term. Only the former half governor could have achieved this feat.
Or am I being too pessimistic? Is this a continuation of the “Sarah Phenomenon” where she stinks up any given room by her mere presence? Or is this a continuation of the trend of the special election results we’ve all witnessed this year, where expectations of being handed a mid-term shellacking by the party not in power, is simply not happening? Is it that simple?
Sounds like a memorable lunch. That’s a day we should all remember where we were- the day the off-their-rocker politician movement started. She’s only gotten more off-her-rocker but she now has lots of competition. Go Mary Peltola!!!
1The next day after the result was announced (finally!), I went to ActBlue and donated to Peltola’s campaign. On a monthly basis!
2Sarah Palin is competing in a state-wide contest, and MANY wll recall her half-term stint as Governor, moments from her run with John McCain, the Tina Fey send-ups on SNL, and various well-publicized family melt-downs in the years since. She hasn’t been a full-time presence in Alaska for the past decade and apparently did not do a great deal of retail, press-the-flesh campaigning this summer.
From what I read, she’s managed to whine about the process of voting, complained that her main Republican opponent did not urge his backers to support her with their ranked choices, and then complained (and had surrogates complain) about the outcome.
This primary and the special election managed to get about 190,000 voters out. The 2018 midterm had about 280,000 voters. So, it will be the voters who were not engaged enough to vote who will be crucial to the decision. Here’s hoping Palin continues to whine, Peltola continues to carry on her fish-forward campaign, and Begich continues to be skeptical of Palin’s MAGA mindset.
3But the job is perfect for Palin!
It’s only 4.2 miles from the US Capitol to the Nordstrom’s at Pentagon City.
4I remember being equally amazed: “But she’s dirty!”
5I – nobody in particular – seemed to know more about Palin’s baggage than a US Senator and his campaign staff. As Ta-Nehisi Coates memorably wrote, R’s who loved Palin were “thinking about her with the wrong head”.
I’m pretty sure Sarah “Peter Principle”d herself out of politics about 14 years ago. But, it does illustrate my biggest issue with the structure of our Federal system. How is it that we still allow every State to have 2 Senators, when they barely have the population to support 1 Representative? I know, I know, there were a lot of give and take issues to get the smaller and slave-holder States to agree to signing off on The Constitution. That was over 200 years ago. My only Constitutional Amendment desire is that No State shall have more Senators than their Representatives. I’m looking at you Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware (sorry Joe),and Montana. Or, we can divide California, New York, and Texas into another 20 some-odd smaller states and equalize the Senate that way. Founding Fathers knew the Constitution would require amendment. I see 2 simple paths too equalizing the dysfunctional current makeup of the “Upper (yeah, right) House of the Legislative Branch.
6Tip O’Neill said all politics was local. If we can nationalize this in any way it would be to say that normal midterm trends don’t follow when you run an insane candidate. When the collective response to a president that criticized the radical wing of the Republican Party is to threaten to kill him then you know things are bad.
7While I’m certainly a supporter [and will be contributor] of Rep-elect Mary Peltola [D-AK], she may not be what many of y’all consider ‘the ideal Democrat’.
Saw her interviewed on the PBS Newshour and she’s extremely ‘bipartisan’ and accommodating towards Rethugs, which is probably just being practical for Alaska.
But she, Native Alaskan and mother, grandmother, did mention that she personally has 176 long rifles at home [and no telling how many shotguns and pistols].
So she’ll likely be a fairly conservative Democrat on some issues dear to the hearts of more liberal ones. I don’t even know how one could store 176 rifles and ammunition at home, that’s almost a company-sized arsenal.
Well, Peltola will certainly kick Scarah Palin’s twittering tail again in November. Yet another unexpected Democratic House pickup will hopefully help give us a more solid majority there.
8176 rifles? Is she going for the Bert Gummer Best Gol-darned Rec Room prize?
At least when someone hands her a 30-06 hunting rifle, she won’t have to ask “Does it kick?” the way Palin did on her much-touted hunting trip. [ … If I was on that hunting trip, I’d assure her “no, not at all”. And then I’d stand way, way behind her]
9I remember when McCain picked Palin for his running mate I was driving in my car listening to the radio. She came on giving her acceptance speech and I remember thinking (or saying out loud) “My god, she sounds like a ditzy teenager!” Everybody made a big deal about the open-toed red heels and trendy glasses she was wearing. Like this was supposed to appeal to women and they would vote for her because of it.
10I erred slightly, Mary Peltola actually said she had “176 long guns in my home”. So who’s counting? :]
All in all, Rep-elect Peltola [D-AK] sounds like a very reasonable person. She served in the Alaska Lege with Palin, and imo the contrast couldn’t be more stark.
A most reasonable person vs. raving ‘tard lunatic MAGAot.
Here’s the full PBS NewsHour Peltola interview video and transcript :
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/rep-elect-mary-peltola-on-her-win-in-alaska-and-democrats-chances-of-holding-the-house
Here’s the relevant snippet [notice the lack of ‘word salad’, just intelligent discourse] :
“Judy Woodruff:
And Republicans are clearly going to be trying, are trying to tie you to the national Democratic Party.
I want to ask you about one issue. President Biden in the last few days has been talking about an assault weapons ban. Is this something you would support if it came up for a vote, which I understand it may come up in the months to come?
Mary Peltola:
Well, I will need to look more carefully at the details of that proposal.
I think it is noteworthy that Bethel, Alaska, my hometown, had the first school shooting in our nation. I think that many of us — I’m a mom. I’m a grandmother. Of course, I’m very concerned about this epidemic that we’re seeing.
But I do want to make sure that Alaskans understand that I am a staunch advocate for our Second Amendment rights. I myself have 176 long guns in my home. We are avid hunters. We are very, very tied to our subsistence resources and having access to wild game.
And, really, the most important factor in terms of being a successful hunter is having access to guns and ammunition.”
11Surly, WRT to the 30-06, you’d best stay more than three miles behind Palin firing one.
12The 30-06 cartridge has an effective range of 3,000-5,500 yards, 1.7-3.125 miles. My M1 Garand has always been my favorite rifle, there’s just nothing else like it [or because it was one of my first large caliber experiences]. Kaching…
“And, really, the most important factor in terms of being a successful hunter is having access to guns and ammunition.”
With good aim, hunters might manage with less equipment and ammo.
13Palin still sounds like a ditzy teenager. Even more tragically, she dresses like one.
It’s a real shame. She would have been a fine addition to the Crackpot Caucus of Boebert, Greene, Gosar, Jordan and Gaetz. A replacement for Goemert and Cawthorn. Oh, well…
14Sandridge @11 While the shooting in Bethel was before Columbine, I think of Cleveland Elementary in San Diego as the site of first school shooting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPtu5V3kHTM
15That day turned my forever GOP husband into a Democrat….in a way, I have been grateful to Sarah, the turkey killer……remember that?
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